Part
2 – Trent-Severn & Guests
TRUTH & EXCUSES: WIFI has been scarce and we have been to busy to haul the computer to a coffee shop or pub to upload this, but here is an update on the last month or so......
Taking
our time to reach Peterborough, ON where we were to meet up with Paul and Amanda,
we made stops at most of the scenic places along the Trent River. The
underwhelming Healy Falls was a quiet stop, but the town of Hastings was an
interesting place and not just for the farmer’s market, ice cream and
fishing. While we were docked on their
wall, we met a man who claimed his grandfather was responsible for Panama City
Beach (our hailing port) becoming a winter home for Canadian snow birds. He told us his grandfather was passing
through one fall as a mom and pop motel was closing for the season. The
grandfather offered to bring a bunch of friends from Hastings, Ontario the next
winter if the motel owner would stay open.
So, he claimed, began the winter trek from Ontario to Panama City Beach
and the founding of the Noah’s Ark and other snow bird activities which thrive
today. What a small world this is. Steve
also caught some fish just after the opening day madness for bass season in
this fishing paradise!
After
Hastings we spent a night on the hook – a real change from our stays on dock
walls where visitors were frequent and ice cream was handy. Fortunately, the
winds were calm, the bugs few and the temps mild. We could see the historic retreat community
of Hiawatha which reminded us of the popular spots on Martha’s Vineyard where
church groups relaxed and built similar retreats.
Before
meeting the kids at the Toronto airport, we spent a couple nights on the wall
at lock 19 – it was included in our seasonal pass and a short walk from Fanz’s
Deli. This gem should not be missed by folks who like food. If only we had freezer space to stock all the
temping goodies displayed. We did add a
few sausages to our stores and some fresh and smoked salmon plus the broccoli,
cauliflower and cheddar salad. No suffering here.
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| the flavor of the Peterborough Marina - rarely is this empty! |
To
rent a car for the trip to the airport, we docked at the Peterborough Marina
which is conveniently located in the heart of this charming town. The town sits just off the main canal on a
small lake (Little Lake) between locks 19 and 20. Its well-stocked stores provided a new horn
to replace our sick one as well as bountiful choices for eating out,
resupplying ships stores, and generally contributing to the local economy
(buttons and yarn???). On our first
night in the marina we were treated to a free Blues Concert on the neighboring
dock – we did not even have to leave our back deck to enjoy the music.
With
the kids safely on board we headed through the exciting lock 21 – the
Peterborough lift lock – a unique marvel – an elevator for boats. The 60+ foot lift is accomplished by driving
the boat into a big tub which then is lifted up while the other side comes
down. All this is the result of balance
and delicate weighting of the tub moving up being lighter than the tub moving
down. We stopped long enough to walk the shore and view the museum and watch
the hundreds of paddlers who were trying for a record. We had locked through
just ahead of this hour-long attempt to lock more paddlers through in one hour
than a similar lift in Scotland. It all added to the excitement of this
impressive mechanical marvel.
The
next day we cruised into Lakefield – a pleasant stop with a street of shops and
few delicious choices for lunch. We had
a bite at the Bistro then beers and the Canoe and Paddle before filling up on
their ice cream. The crew deserved these treats after a long day learning to handle the ropes in locks. Dinner on board was “light”…
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| Amanda had to buy a few beers, but she caught on quickly |
Luck
was with us and we enjoyed a night at the very remote Lovesick Lock (L30) This
is a popular stop since it is scenic and very quiet. The only access is by water and even the lock
attendants must commute by boat. It also
can only accommodate a few boats our size, so we were lucky to have found a
spot there. Fishing was also good as was rock climbing!
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| catching bait critters |
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| walking the dam |
Buckhorn
was our next stop – another cute little town with handy ice cream options. The kids also were getting into the spirit of
tasting butter tarts which we had to seek out at each stop. It had been hard to
beat the ones we found at the Peterborough farmer’s market, but they worked
hard to continue the research.
Bobcaygeon
is another popular stop for cruisers and house boats. Several houseboat rentals start from here and
the novice operators along with the awkward craft make for excitement along the
docks – lots of fenders are also a smart move. We watched a houseboat sideswipe
a fellow looper’s boat across the canal from us. Quick thinking by the Amanda resulted in a
great video of the events and clear identification of the offending boat. Our
friends were not on their boat at the time and from our angle we could not
determine if any damage had been done, but the houseboat took off so we wanted
to make sure there was a record in case any claims were needed. Fortunately, there was no serious damage, but
our friends, Doreen and Greg, were grateful since they have a contract on their
boat and hope to finalize the sale in August.
The
shopping in Bobcaygeon was upscale catering to the smart and stylish cottage
owners both in home goods and clothing. There was also a bakery whose butter
tarts rivaled the DooDoo offerings from Peterborough. A special favorite was the rhubarb butter
tart! Oh yes, it is also the home of the Kawartha Dairy which has an outlet a
mere 10-minute walk from the dock. This
was a serious problem since we had to visit twice during our stop. It would have helped if the walk had been
longer or at least included more hills. The ice cream choices were beyond
numerous and the popularity attested by the Disneyland style covered waiting
line.
From
Bobcaygeon we cruised on to Fenelon Falls where a CanAR bus would take the kids
back to Toronto. Hopefully this stretch of the canal gave them a clear picture
of our summer cursing. As always it is a
pleasure to have them stay – such easy guests and so fun to have around - expert crew in locks as well. (Also,
glad they have the travel bug and are willing to join us in out of the way
places. But then, they just got back
from Morocco, are soon off to Peru and Paul managed a short dive weekend in
Belize. Must have our genes!)
We
stayed on the wall in Fenelon Falls, which for a small extra fee included both
water and power, an extra night before heading out to the lake to watch the
fireworks on Canada Day. That Saturday night before Canada Day the town
celebrated with midnight madness – music at several venues and the shops
remained open – until midnight!
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| museum at Fenelon Falls |
While
we were stopped on that wall, we watched the aftermath of a lock accident – a
small boat tipped over as they filled the lock because the boat had tied off to
the cables. Fortunately, the four passengers were quickly retrieved by others
in the lock, but it caused a several hour delay while the boat and all the
spilled contents were recovered. Then, a
big truck mashed a car on the bridge above the lock which blocked traffic for
miles and miles around the lock on this already congested holiday weekend.
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| one of several paddlers we shared lock and dock space with |
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| Rosedale - next to ice cream stand |
Stopping
at another remote dock – lock 35, we started locking down with the Kirkfield
Lift lock – where we entered at the top and were lowered 47 feet in the tub
similar to Lock 21 at Peterborough.
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| entering TUB at the top to go down |
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| back to doing the lines on our own |
In a
long day, we continued on to lock 39 where we stopped with several boats before
crossing Lake Simcoe to Orillia. This
sounds quick, but in fact, most of the locks are manual and we were traveling
with a full lock – four boats (2 motor vessels, 1 de-masted sailboat and one
paddler). We had to slowly move each
boat into the lock, hook up and then wait for the others to join us and safely
space them out to avoid any unwanted bumping on the way down. It was cozy and
leisurely since the lock operators did everything gently to keep the waters
calm for our ride down.
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| Krogen 52 coming in behind us in Lock |
This translates
into a long day to travel not any great distance. Oh, yes and the canals along this stretch are
very, very shallow – going slowly, taking a lot of care to stay in the middle
and announcing our progress to avoid meeting big boats at skinny spots.
not where you want to meet this guy.....
Before stopping we also safely passed through
the Hole in the Wall bridge where fellow boaters on a beautiful Krogen 52 took
our photo. (This is one of the boats we were sharing lock space with.)
After
sliding through the last two locks before the lake crossing – again with
several boats and at a snail’s pace, we arrived in Orillia for a break from
locking. This town was gearing up for a
major folk music festival and like Trent Port Marina has a sparkling new
headquarters adjacent to major shopping.
We also walked the trail to visit the Stephen Leacock home which is a
museum preserving this famous Canadian humorist’s work and memory. The free music on main street was a bonus as
was the rare treat of a cool matinee performance at the Orillia Opera House
studio theatre of Neil Simons “Plaza Suite”.
A funny show delivered by a lively cast in cool airconditioned
comfort. The heat wave made staying
three nights a great compromise. It also allowed a looper docktails with 5
other boats a first for our trip this year. Thanks to Gyspy for hosting this
group on this Cat Upper Deck!
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| Home of Gordon Lightfoot?? |
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| Leacock Home/Museum |
With
the weather finally cooling off, we headed for the last thrill on the
Trent-Severn Canal – the Big Chute. Rumors of mechanical problems at the chute
had dogged our progress, but fortunately, all the problems seem to have been
resolved and we arrived as they opened about 9:30 and proceeded to be loaded
and transported over the edge with a smooth chug-a-chug and barely a
wobble. It is a little disconcerting to
have our boat hauled out and carried over the road and cliff dropped back down
the other side, but the professionals operating the Chute made the process
smooth and flawless. We not only did not
have any delays, we were quickly in and out and on our way to the last lock in
the system – Lock 45.
At the docks
before this lock we took a lunch break and lifted our mast that has been on the
top deck since we left Trenton back in early June. Our lady looks happy again to have her
profile back to normal and we are happier having all the antenna and radar
working properly plus having access to our dink! For our last lock we again joined a full
complement of boats – following a local through the tricky waters between the
lock, the highway bridge and the Tug Channel until we reached open waters. This area is especially tricky since the
channel is NARROW, a wee bit shallow, can have currents, exposed to winds, and
the color regs change from Red Left to Red Right – at least for the first
section. We survived – even though two large boats were coming at us just as we
approached the bridge. Steve found he
COULD stop on a dime if needed and we were able to wait for them to clear
before continuing. Our next adventure
will be exploring the Georgian Bay and on to the North Channel…
