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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

After our stay at Bobcaygeon, we had to wait on boats to lock through Lock #32. We could see the boat traffic from the dock we were staying at so we waited for an opening.

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The lock was filling up with smaller boats and we thought we would need to wait for the next lock through but they called us in for the lift. Our buddy boat “Getaweigh” did not make this lock so when we exited the lock we just went slow until they caught up with us on Sturgeon Lake. The lake has a lot of cottages and summer homes.

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We went through the Fenelon Falls Lock together and we hoped to get a space on the wall so we could get some lunch. There was only one space so “Getaweigh” took that and Chris and I went on to the next lock 4 miles away to try to grab a spot on the wall.

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Rosedale Lock was nice – they had nice park along the lock wall. This was one of the best kept locks of the trip. Bubba and Anne decided to come up and spend the night with us as it was really busy at Fenelon Falls. They had lunch and shopped around then come on to Rosedale.

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We left early from the marina to travel to the lock (#27) to make sure we were first to go through after following all the boats we did yesterday. We were at the lock at 8AM which is an hour before they open. We decided to travel through 4 locks and 37 miles.

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It was nice day to begin with, but a storm was coming our way and it got to us just when we entered a narrow channel of the canal called “Hells Gate” The wind made it difficult to keep in the channel but we made it. The land is not sandy up here like in the south so if you run aground you hit rocks!

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In this area it seems like every rock had a house on it. One even had a church!

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Once we passed through the next set of locks, we entered into more a more lake like area and began to see many house boats. We learned that they are mostly rentals and have no radios – so we tried to stay clear of them.

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We ended up at Bobcaygeon – at Gordon’s Marina. The lock wall was full so we were glad we go in at the marina. The town was small and appeared to have one family who ran all the businesses, the Bigley’s. We ate out and of course got some ice cream! It was delicious!

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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In the evening of our arrival we chilled out at the bar at the marina and watched the park beside the marina fill with people for a Musicfest. They had a Tom Petty Tribute band playing. We go some poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds) and walked around checking out the event. We watched a few songs and then went back to listen from the boat. Nice evening after a long day.

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Since we were tired of traveling through the many locks (19 so far) of the Trent-Severn canal system, so we decided to spend a day in Peterborough, ON.  It was also a three-day weekend in Canada and busy with boaters.

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We had to fuel our boat and get a pump out and also move to a new slip because we had borrowed one for Saturday night from a slip owner.  Chris loved the help we got from the fuel dock crew.

Once we got settled, we decided to get some lunch and listen to music.  They had a band called Gunslingers at and outdoor venue that we could see from the boat. 

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We then walked around the town to see what was there.  Since it was Sunday not much was open.  We did see a sign that indicated that the Ash Trees in Canada are facing the same issues with the Emerald Ash Beetle as we are in Kentucky.

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We got in line at the first lock of the day – Lock 13. We wanted to try to make it to Peterborough, ON. It would include 58 miles to travel and 7 locks.

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There were many cottages and many boats out on Saturday. It was a bit crazy. We also passed by a party that had Elvis singing at it!

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It was a long day but we made it to Peterborough!

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Trent Port Marina was large and very nice. Everyone was friendly and would stop to talk. But it was nice weather and we were ready to begin to cruise the Trent -Severn Waterway.

We had a big day ahead of us – we wanted to travel through 12 locks and go 38 miles to Campbell Ford.

We started up the canal from Trent and was welcomed by the Trent -Severn Sign on the bridge. There was a number of businesses and such along the way to the first lock.

We reached the first lock early. They do not open until 9AM but we wanted to be first so we could make sure we could complete the days travel plans. The first lock took longer than the other because we needed to purchase a pass for the canal and they did a great job explaining how the canal and lock systems work. The locks are managed by the Canada Park system and the staff are mostly college kids working for the summer. The locks are opened manually which was interesting to watch. One down – 11 more to go.

Lock 2 we were still getting a feel for the technique.

As we followed the canal we noticed that the markers were a bit different. They are taller and since this is a recreational waterway they have placed more than enough so you do not get lost. Signs a a bit different also.

After lock 3 and 4 they all started to look the same. We made pretty good time as we went. The first 6 locks were within the first 5 miles of the canal. We were glad to get a bit of a break between Lock 6 and 7 because there was 6 miles between the locks.

In the longer stretches between locks we got to see some of the country side. Wild life and the houses and docks that people put on the river. We had never seen swans outside a zoo before!

A few more locks (12 total) we reached our destination. Campbell Ford, ON.

Campbell Ford is known for being the home of the person who designed the two dollar Canadian Coin,. They had a wall that you could tie up to and spend the night,

The weather looked Okay to make a crossing of Lake Ontario. We headed out at 7AM to begin the 62 mile trip. Bubba and Anne would follow us since they would be cruising faster than us. As we left the canal, we saw a few fishing boats about 20 minutes out. The waves were a bit larger than we expected so our ride was bumpy for the first half of the trip.

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We saw a white lighthouse as we approached the inlet into Canada that we selected. We headed up the Murray Canal and had to pay $4.90 to have the swing bridges moved. They collect the money as you go past in a small container that they extend out to your boat. We also needed to check in with customs which we did over the phone. The bridge tender allowed us to tie off while we did this so we paid him directly.

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We then traveled up the canal about 6 miles into a bay where we saw our final destination for the day. Trent Port Marina.

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We had eight locks to go through today in 24 miles. We were going to get to Oswego, NY and be ready to cross Lake Ontario. Here is where we left the Erie Canal and headed north up the Oswego Canal.

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This waterway is also river-like. Lots of trees. There was a canal maintenance building with a few boats being worked on.

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Bubba and Anne on Getaweigh were traveling with us. We were two boats in the first lock at Phenoix, NY. This town has a wall you can over night on and they have kids who will help run errands for you. Today it appears they were out getting rid of Duck Weed by pulling it up by hand and loading it into the canoes. Yuck, talk about look out for leaches!

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We liked this sign on one of the bridges and this swan reminded us of our friends back home (Karen Strange) who likes to float on the river. Also saw some wind damage from the day before. Wind just missed us but tipped over a number of trees along the waterway.

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By Lock 2 we had three boats going through the locks. Ron and Vickie were on Tropical Dreamers and Chris and I had met them at Ess-Kay Marina.

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In Lock 3 we had a fourth and fifth boat join us – Desiderata (Lee and Cindy)! Chris and I had met them in Cape May, NJ. And Tuscobia (Rod and Julie) we had met them at Ess-Kay also.

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At the last lock of the day we could see Lake Ontario. We stopped at Oswego Marina and chilled out for the evening.

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We were watching the weather for crossing Lake Ontario. It was still iffy and there was a weekend celebration called Harborfest in Oswego so boat slips were limited. With the lake water being high due to the huge amounts of rain they have recieved this year, some marinas directly on the lake did not have electric.

We learned that Bubba and Anne from “Getaweigh” was in the next marina up the canal. We decided to move and meet up with them. It was a nice sunny morning and we headed out and through the last lock of the Erie canal that we will go through. The Erie Canal is 540 miles long but we are not going to travel the full length because we want to travel via Canada and the fact that there is a 15 ft fixed bridge that we cannot get under if we went the full length.

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We docked at Pirates Cove Marina. The marina owners Patty and Paul were very nice and welcomed us. We took a cruise up the canal with Bubba and Anne because they needed to get fuel. Then we went out to dinner. We hung out the next day doing chores such as laundry. It rained a few times so we just relaxed as we prepared to travel up the Oswego Canal on Wednesday.

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