Slow Going – Travel Day 3

We traveled 10 miles today and went through 7 more locks which took us 5.5 hours to complete. Yup averaged 2 miles per hour! We waited until 11 AM to leave since we saw a number of boats leave to go through the locks. This gave us time to go to the grocery and visit a boating store before we left Peterborough. We had to wait on a few downstream boats before we could get through lock #20. This was because the lift lock was having some electrical issues and this backed up a few boats.  

Peterborough Lift (Lock #21) is the world’s highest hydraulic pan lift lock. We floated up the 65-foot vertical lift in a pan (tub) full of water!  The lift lock was completed in 1904.  Each of the two pans weighs 1300 tons when filled. With one pan up and the other one down the two balance each other. A boat displaces it won weight in water. When it is time to lower one pan and raise the other, one extra foot of water (130 tons) is allowed ot enter the upper pan.  This extra weight allows the upper pan to push down and raise the lower pan to the top level.  The two pans are locked in place and the extra water is let out of the lower pan. Boats enter and exit the upper and lower pans and the process is repeated in reverse. Yea, floating in the air was a weird feeling.

We passed Trent University, which seemed to be a very nice campus.

We had to wait at lock 23 again as there were three boats ahead of us.  Then waited again at Lock 26 on four boats that were ahead of us.

We finally reached the marina (Lakefield Marina) at 5:50PM and were ready to relax. Good thing we made a reservation because the wall by the lock was too full to stop over night.