Trent-Severn, Travel Day 6

Weather was becoming a factor in our travels now. We had a great stretch but now a few fronts were coming through. We are heading for Lake Simcoe and this lake can get large waves in windy weather. So we need to time the next few days so we have good weather. We got up and saw a window of opportunity to get a few miles and through one more lock before the winds picked up.

We traveled over Balsam Lake. Balsam Lake is at 840 feet above sea level and is the highest point in the Trent Severn Waterway. This is the highest body of water, in the world, that you can reach with a boat under it’s own power. It is all down hill from here!

At the other side of the lake we entered a narrow canal that was built in 1920. We had to make “Securite” calls over the radio to warn any on coming traffic. It would have been difficult to pass a large boat like ours in this area. We wanted to get through this before the winds began to pick up also. This was a rocky canal and very narrow and only had 4-5 feet of water in it.

We then reached a small lake called Mitchell Lake – we did pass a couple boats here but there was some extra room. The water however was shallow.

We arrived at Kirkfield Lock. It was another lift lock. The lock is easy to use you do not have to tend to the rope because incoming or outgoing water is not moving your boat.

We had another small canal and then into a lake but the lake was very shallow. In the middle of the lake there is a bridge that looks like your are going through a “Hole in the Wall” thus it’s name. We learned at the marina later that this lake is filling in with grasses and that it has not been dredged in years. The charts said there should be 6 feet of water but we only saw 4 feet!

We arrived at Sunset Cove Marina about noon. We took some time to do some chores around the boat and to have a James Bond Movie Fest.