Engineering Marvels pt 1

The first lift lock was interesting, but not scary as we were entering from the bottom and being raised in elevation.

Exiting our first lift lock (Peterborough #21).

Loons!! And baby loons…awesome.  I love waking up to the sound of loons, it makes me giggle.

Our view most days in the Trent Severn Waterway.

I think this ‘Hell’s Gate’ is heavenly!

Most islands have a cottage.

The channel is very narrow and winding in places.

Some islands were really just a rock, luckily, this one had a few trees.

This church exemplifies the sense of community in this location of many islands.  There are no roads or cars here.  The dock on the right side of the church is the ‘parking lot’ for boats.

Some of the structures are unusual.  I was fascinated by the deck that looks like a huge folding table. Also, what is in the window?

Yep, it is a horses butt, or possibly a tiny moose?  Anyway…who taxidermies something like that?  It didn’t move, so it wasn’t a home invader.

Stopping in the small towns was great fun! 

Bobcaygeon (pronounced Bob Cajun- even though a cruiser from Louisiana disagreed) was one of our favorite stops, with everything we needed, and more!  Every Thursday there is a free concert at the park, which is right next to the lock wall. Every Saturday there is an amazing farmers market a few blocks from the lock wall.

Everything is in bloom, and the lily pad fields are beautiful!

The Trent Canal is very narrow.

And the bank is very jagged and sharp, but I had to inch as close as I could get - to allow another boat to pass😬. Super happy there was to wind on this particular day!

And then we reached the point where our locks stopped going up, and started going down…

 Kirkfield lock #36.  The goal here is to pilot your boat to the edge of the 50 ft drop off. Yikes, this feels VERY wrong!  I already have a slight issue with heights, but I never thought that fear would come into play while on the boat.  I will admit, my heart was racing a little…how did I end up with helm duty for this?  My strategy is to just focus my attention on the exact location I need to put the boat.  Block out everything else, and just put the boat on the ‘X’…easy peasy!  Be brave!!  As soon as we were secured, and the engine was off, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

After exiting this lock, we tied to the wall to explore and learn more.  This is the view from under the lift chamber that just brought us down.

I was able to launch the drone for a better angle.

And this is how it works!  If you are interested in learning more, there are numerous YouTube video if you Google Peterborough or Kirkfield Lift locks.

I originally planned to cover the remainder of the Trent Severn Waterway in one post, but there was just too much.  So, an Engineering Marvels pt 2 will be following this post in a day or two.

Old Blog Post

Sorry for any confusion caused by the recent blog post that was mysteriously emailed today, but that post is from September 2021.  We are not on the northeast coast of the US.  We are in Georgian Bay.  I have no idea why FeedBurner resent that post…but hope you enjoy the ‘blast from the past’

Locks Glorious Locks!

We entered the Trent Severn Waterway on July 2.  Our trip thus far has been amazing!  The towns are quaint and welcoming, the people are friendly and very interested in our lifestyle, and the locks range from “this one looks easy” to “are you kidding me!” 

Upon arrival at our first lock I attempted to hail the lock tender on the VHF, no answer.  I then called the phone number listed for this lock and reached a very friendly voice.  I wanted to confirm procedures and clarify a few basic questions.  #1) Should we radio each lock as we arrive to let them know we would like to lock through (this is a must on most other waterways, for both bridges and locks).  Here, the answer was different, and refreshingly easy…”if you are waiting for the lock, just come up to the blue line.  The blue line is only for boats ready to lock through.  If you want to talk with someone it is best to call, as we have a VHF radio in the building, but we are never in the building.  However, we do carry the phone.”

Lock #1…this one looks easy!

Many of the lock gates are opened manually.

Word of warning…when approaching the lock , STAY IN THE CHANNEL!  Many lock entrance areas have underwater walls (to cut down on current coming from the spillway), but they can be hard to see unless the sun is at the right angle.

And in other places the walls aren’t hidden at all.

This spillway is dumping a lot of water.

The scenery is beautiful!  I love old barns.

One of the things I love most about this Waterway is the ability to tie to a lock wall if you want to visit a town or socialize, and the numerous opportunities to anchor in beautiful locations to enjoy a bit of peace and tranquility…and nature!  I spent an entertaining evening at anchor watching this red winged blackbird hop across lily pads foraging for dinner. He (only males have the red coloring) frequently pecks at things invisible to me - I’m guessing insects. However, every time he came to a flower bud (which didn’t actually look ready to open) he pried it open with his foot and beak.

I believe he was stealing the seeds.

Welcome to lock 11/12.  This is a first!  This waterway will introduce us to 3 ‘firsts’ (for us) in the area of lock type. The 1st (first) is a Flight Lock, it is actually two locks consecutively stepped together.  This picture shows why it is important to get tied to the blue wall, before they start dumping the water out of the lock.  In tight quarters like this, it is impossible to hold station with the currents created from this surge of water.  At some lock entrances it is easy to stand off in more open water to avoid these currents.

Once the gates are opened, all is calm, and it is easy to enter.  All of the locks on this waterway have cables running down the lock wall, which makes it very easy to secure your line to the cables to keep your boat stationary as the water rises or falls.  Once secure, the water will rise to the level indicated by the black on the walls, then the next set of doors will open, and we will immediately move into the next lock.

This picture was taken from the top of the second lock.  You can see the river about 65 feet below.

There were a lot of people watching the boats enter the lock, and we noticed a young man flying a drone as we entered the lock.  As it turns out, we met a wonderful family, and they were very interested in our lifestyle.  

Click this link https://vimeo.com/726812750/52297e6755 to see their video.

Our new friends (from left to right) Shital, Vedant, and Prashant. Once we got through the locks we tied to the wall and gave this great family a tour of our boat.

We took a mid day break from traveling to explore the area, and take a nice walk around the park.

A suspension bridge led to the hiking trails on the other side of the river.

That boat is getting ready to turn to port (left) to enter the flight lock.

We crossed the dam to head back to the boat.  This river was beautiful from every angle.

Once underway again, we made it through two more locks before stopping for the night.  This picture is lock #14.

We are currently visiting the town of Oralia, between locks 41 and 42.  We expected to be cruising Georgian Bay by now, but there was a problem at Big Chute (lock 44) last week, and no big boats (over 30 ft) could get through…so, once again, we had to slow down and enjoy the towns, people, and scenery.

Our next post will include lift locks…and the Big Chute…

are you kidding me??

Welcome To Canada

Our 48 mile trip across Lake Ontario was smooth, and uneventful.  We tucked into Prinyer’s Cove in the afternoon, and dropped the anchor.  Now for the check in process…because of Covid the check in process for boaters had changed many times, and luckily for us, changed again the day before we arrived.  On June 20 an announcement was made that the Telephone Reporting System (TRS) would reopen for 246 marinas in Ontario.  This meant that all we had to do was place a call, answer a few questions, and place an 11 digit number (our entry approval number) in a visible location on the starboard side of the boat.  WOW!  That was sooo easy.  If the TRS had not reopened, we would have had to appear at an ‘official’ entry site in Kingston or Trenton.

Another boat that crossed with us had to dock at the marina and wait for a Customs agent to arrive from Trenton to board their boat, because they declared a shotgun.  They were allowed to bring the gun into Canada, but the Customs official had to see the gun to approve it.

Oswego has a impressive breakwater system for Lake Ontario.

This breakwater is made to take a beating!

A beautiful evening in Prinyer’s cove.  We planned to head directly to the Trent Severn waterway to start working our way through the 45 locks required to get to Georgian Bay.  However, we received word that the locks were closed…

Time to slow our roll!  That’s alright, we still had some business to take care of before entering the waterway.  

We relocated to Belleville, which looked like a fairly large town.  Our ‘business’ list included:

1) buy a Canadian courtesy flag (how could I have forgotten to order one…ugh!)

2) buy fresh fruits and veggies (since we were not supposed to bring any with us)

3) exchange currency - we need some cash in our pockets

A lot of people enjoy the waterfront in this town.  From rowing clubs…

To sailboat races😁. These were remote controlled sailboats, but the race was still exciting!

We launched our bikes and tooled around Belleville all day, and successfully completed all of our ‘business’ task list.  Canada has very colorful money, and the exchange rate sounds like a deal!  I handed over $400 US dollars, and received $497 Canadian dollars👍

Once again…I will confess my ignorance as it pertains to global geography and politics.  #1) I was surprised to see Queen Elizabeth on the $20 bill. #2) I was even more surprised to read the line, “Whereas the undersigned will be navigating the waters of the Trent-Severn Waterway and WHEREAS these waters are owned by Her majesty the Queen…”😳 (this was on my lock pass paperwork). Clearly, I need to read up on Canadian history!

Awww…aren’t they cute?  It is peaceful to watch momma and poppa swim around with the babies.  However, these are Mute swans, which are invasive.  Originally from Europe and Asia, they were introduced as ornamental novelties in lakes and ponds in parks and estates in the 1870s. Of course, they didn’t stay put, and are now wild throughout North America.  In Ontario, the population was just over 500 in 1985, but over 3,000 in 2010. They are large and aggressive birds that harass other water fowl, and take over territories previously used by migratory indigenous swans.  They also destroy underwater vegetation by ripping out the root systems of most grasses.  Still, when it is just one little family they are kinda cute.

This week’s project…get screens on the salon windows!  (Sorry Dave, guess I should have done this sooner) 

As we crossed Lake Ontario, the boat filled with bugs, and our first night at anchor in Canada, introduced us to the Canadian mosquito.  If you have ever seen the original Jumanji movie, you probably thought the scene where the giant mosquitos drill through the roof of a car, or break the windshield with their proboscis, was introduced by a very creative thinker.  I believe the person responsible for that scene was either from, or had recently visited, Canada!

Being from the Chesapeake Bay, I have never seen this type of machine.  On the Chesapeake, it is our mission to save the SAV (submerged aquatic vegetation). We search for and nurture each tiny strand of grass we find.  We use the presence or absence of these grasses as a major indicator of ecosystem health, and a constant reminder of our failure to protect our waterway. 

So, it was hard for me to wrap my head around anyone wanting to mow it down with a contraption like this, but that is exactly what happens. The basket like structure on the right gets lowered into the water and the blades cut the grass. A conveyor belt then carries the cut grass past the operator and dumps it off the back.  This marina mowed daily to keep there fairways open.

This felt like an optical allusion…what do you see? 

We then moved to Indian Island to be close to the Canada Day celebration on July 1.

My next clue about grass problems came when Vicki, No Fixed Address, (you might remember we met Vicki and Aren in the Bahamas March 2020 -they happen to be from Ontario and have been sharing valuable pointers), told me that if we planned to anchor at Indian Island I needed to keep a sharp knife on the bow, as the area was “very weedy.”  Again, I had trouble visualizing what that might look like…

Ohhhh, this is very weedy!  We are anchored in 10 feet of water.  Where are the Mute Swans when you need them?

After one night at anchor, Keith suggested we move the boat for fear all of this grass might wrap around our props and get into our raw water intakes.

A sharp knife didn’t actually do the trick, but our handy machete has earned its place onboard!

Happy Canada Day!  We enjoyed the festivities at Centennial Park in Trenton, and had a front row seat to the fireworks.

As of the time of this posting we are in the Trent Severn Waterway, and have 19 locks down and only 26 to go before reaching Georgian Bay. I will include all of the lock adventures in my next post.  I am having trouble posting, because we are suffering from connectivity issues, again!  We are limited to .5 GB data usage per day with our Verizon plan.  We were hoping to purchase a Canadian SIM card to put in our hot spot, but to our shock and dismay…we can not purchase a SIM card unless we are Canadian citizens and/or have a Canadian credit card🤷🏼‍♀️

Sooo…we are going into Peterborough tomorrow to look for WiFi so I can post this blog, and we will figure out the next one in a week or two.