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.