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.