The Trent Severn Waterway is just about everything we hoped it would be. Scenic, peaceful cruising, quaint small towns, lock walls with ice cream shops nearby, and the friendliest people. We are thoroughly enjoying this!
This is going to be a longish post, with practically no pictures. We have had limited WiFi, and certainly not enough bandwidth to post a bunch of pictures. We'll catch up on the pictures when we can...we have another slew of them to share!
On Monday the 3rd, we left Peterborough with the plan to only travel about 10 miles. Less than a mile from the marina is the famous Peterborough Lift Lock. This is a marvel, and the largest of its kind...at least in North America. In simple terms, there are 2 very large, adjacent pans of water...one at the level that you are traveling on, and the other 65 feet either above you or below you depending on your direction of travel. You simply drive into the one in front of you, and then they either add or subtract water from the other pan, and Voila...you float in your pan of water, either up or down, while the other pan does just the opposite. Click here for more information that will better describe how this all works.
We stopped at the visitor center at the lift lock to see the lock from the land side, and get the full picture of how it all works. Then, around lunch time, we had our turn to ride it up. It is really quite something...it takes 15 minutes or so to load everyone in, and then it only takes about 3 minutes to raise all of the boats in the pan 65 feet. It was smooth as silk, and over before we knew it. A really neat experience.
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| The pan on the left is down, and if you look closely, you can see the top of some boats in the pan on the right. |
After this, it was just a nice easy cruise with a couple of locks up to our destination for the night - Lakefield. We stayed on the lock wall for the night, and enjoyed strolling around this quaint little town...and had a nice meal plus more Kawartha ice cream next door.
Then on Tuesday, we had our laziest day of travel thus far. We went through a whopping 2 locks, and traveled all of 6 miles. Again, we stopped on a lock wall for the night - this time in Young's Point above lock #28. There wasn't much of a town here, but it was a very relaxing day with beautiful weather to enjoy doing just about nothing. We are really enjoying these nights that we stay on the lock walls. We have no power or water, but with our generator, we have everything that we need. It is peaceful and quiet, they are all in small park-like settings, and the ones we are choosing are located near some sort of small town, restaurant or shop. And the weather is cool enough that we don't need our A/C...it's great!
After Young's Point, came Lovesick...a lovely stop basically located on an island. The lock workers even have to go to and from work in a boat. There was room here for a handful of boats, and we got there early enough that we snagged a spot. We are now starting to see the infamous rental houseboats that transit this part of the Trent Severn. It is rather easy to rent one of these things, and no boating experience is necessary. We try to steer clear of them, but with locks, all of the traffic gets funneled through the same small spots. We have yet to have a brush with one, but we've seen some near misses, terrible boat handling, boats about stuck sideways in the locks and all kinds of fun stuff. Our objective is to get through this area unscathed...so far so good.
We then stopped in Buckhorn, a popular tourist stop, and had a nice time here. We are starting to get caught by the armada of Loopers that are behind us. We have been ahead of most of the pack, but with our lazy pace, it is no surprise that we are seeing more now than previously. It's great to see familiar faces and be able to catch up with folks. Sometimes it just takes a bunch of team effort to make sure that everyone that needs a spot, finds a spot. Space is limited in some areas, so it can be a challenge.
Our next stop was Bobcaygeon (pronounced Bobkaygen) where we had a gathering of about 10 or so boats. Some of the lock wall had power hook-ups, which is unusual, so it was a bit like musical chairs to snag a spot that had power. We had fun here, and again found ourselves entertained by some of the houseboat traffic. No big crashes or anything, but some interesting piloting for certain.
And finally on Sunday, we moved on to Fenelon Falls, another very popular destination. This is another spot that has some power pedestals available, and after sitting in a spot with no power for about 4 hours, we were able to move to one with power as boats left in the afternoon. Sandy had a fun encounter with a local here...people are really curious about our boat and journey, and when parked at some of these busier lock walls, it is not uncommon to tell our tale 10 or more times a day to folks just meandering by. So, this one couple engaged her in conversation, and after Sandy taking their picture in front of our boat, she proceeded to follow them to their van. As it turns out, they have a small business that makes home made baked goods and other treats. The short version of the story is that she returned to the boat with 6 home made butter tarts, and a jar of strawberry jam. What fun...and delicious!
So the summary for the past week is...leisurely and enjoyable. We only traveled 64 miles...transiting 12 locks, and visiting 6 different locations. This is just what we were hoping to do in our time here...and we are having a ball!
Pictures to follow when we can make it happen...thanks for reading.
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