TRENT LOCK (#5)

Had a lovely, quiet night at Healey Falls Lock. When we went over to the lock station in the morning before the lock attendants arrived, we noticed that there was no electricity in the washrooms. This lock, unlike many others, requires electricity to operate. Some of the older ones are completely manual, giving the lock attendants a good workout as they open and close the gates, but this one would not be at all operational without electricity. Around 9 AM, when the locks are scheduled to open, no one was around, so we walked up to the nearby lock to see what was up. That lock, only about a half mile away, had full power, but ours had none. We finally got word that a fuse on the power pole had blown (most likely due to curiosity which killed not the cat, but a raccoon or squirrel), and they had to wait for a workman to come and reset the fuse.

With the delayed start, we got through lock #15 a little after 10 AM, and had another day of multiple locks spaced, for the most part, a mile or so apart. This is just far apart to make preparing and eating lunch somewhat difficult. Elaine made sandwiches between one set of locks and we wolfed them down between another set.

Later in the afternoon, the locks were spaced out more, about 7 miles or so, so things were a bit less hectic. We thought we would overnight at lock #6, Frankford, but got there a bit earlier than planned so went on to the next lock, #5, Trent.

Old Lockmaster house

It has one of the older Lockmaster houses as its station, with the public washrooms inside the house. There are only a few of these original houses left, as they were built in the early 1900s and provided a place to live for the person who had to be available to run the lock. We, of course, got a key to the house as the lock attendants left for the night, and not only did they tell us they’s leave the porch light on for us, they said they had a couple of tomato plants and for us to help ourselves.

Fresh tomato, compliments of the lock attendants

We have contacted friends who live nearby in Belleville, to see if we could visit as we passed through, but they are taking their boat over to Kingston for a jazz festival this weekend. A quick email to the marina in Kingston got us a reservation for a slip Friday and Saturday nights, so that is our short-term goal; get to Kingston by Friday. It’s only about 50 miles away, so it might work out for a short day tomorrow to Bellville, do a little laundry and a few maintenance chores, then off to Kingston on Friday…

HEALEY FALLS LOCK

We left Peterborough after 9 AM and cleared the first lock by about 9:45. There weren’t any other locks for quite a space as we transited the Otonabee River for the next three hours before we hit Rice Lake. It was a cool morning in the low 60’s, but felt much cooler when we were going against the wind, which was blowing around 15 knots.

Otonabee River

The river is very circuitous, so when we were with the wind, we would take off a layer or two, but put them back on when we changed direction. This stretch of river is pretty, but without much personality or high points. I was amazed that the deciduous trees seem to be turning fall colors already. It’s still August, but there is a definite tinge of red and yellow as one scans the forest. It is a short summer season up here, surprising, since we are about at the 45th parallel. On the West Coast, the 45th parallel is between Salem and Portland, Oregon, which doesn’t feel to be as far north as it does here.

Starting to get Fall colors

Going across Rice Lake, we had the wind on our stern, so it was very comfortable, even though there were half to one foot waves. After the lake, a few more miles on the Trent River, and a few more locks, we were at Healey Falls, where we are spending the night. Healey Falls and Healey Dam have three locks, numbers 15, 16 and 17. Sixteen and seventeen are a double lock, so the lower gates of 17 are the upper gates of 16. In this situation, they can lock boats through going both directions, with the boats passing each other in the middle as the water level coincides. Between 15 and 16, which are only a few hundred yards apart, is a small lake and waterside park, and that is where we are tied up.

Lake at Healey Dam, powerplant in background

Each lock has a small “station,” or office, which includes space for the staff as well as public restrooms (“washrooms” here in Canada). Each lock also has park-like grounds with well-mown lawns, gardens, picnic tables and, often, fire pits. These are maintained by Parks Canada (as are the locks) and used quite a bit by the local population both for day use and for camping. There is an informal competition among the lock attendants to impress boaters with how nice their own lock is compared to all the others. The attendants are very sociable and helpful, chatting with you as you transit the locks and very willing to answer questions. When you stay overnight at a lock, the attendants leave when the locks close, but always make sure you have either the code or the key for the washroom to use overnight. These washrooms are impeccably maintained, and we have found several to be newly renovated, including one with a very nice shower.

Healey Falls Lock park area

There is a charge to tie your boat up overnight “on the wall” at the locks, but we purchased a season pass for all of National Parks Canada. This allows us free moorage at all of the locks and at any dock in any National Park in Canada. There was a National Park in Georgian Bay with several docking sites and there are sites along the St. Lawrence River, where we are headed next.

The site here at Healey Falls is one of the prettiest ones we have seen, and we are the only boat here. We barbecued some great steaks for dinner and are now relaxing as the sun goes down, listening to the Canada Geese honk as they fly by, starting their migration south for the winter…

NOTES FROM ELAINE:

So we have been on our journey for 18 weeks now and it has become apparent that Dave and I have different tastes. Not Venus/Mars different - probably more tangential. My eyes light up when we get to a city - stores, museums, historic sites. Dave hunts for the pastoral setting - lakes, fishing, trees and seclusion. Dave says dips in the lake are "refreshing". I call that an euphemism for "cold". I must admit however that I am stunned by the beauty of the landscapes that we have seen. And he tolerates my side trips to more "touristy" places, even though I know that in the scheme of things he would rather forgo these side trips. I prefer to think that I am broadening our horizons - or perhaps he is trying to keep his first mate happy. Despite the circumstances we have experienced and seen some astounding scenery and wildlife on this trip and met some of the most interesting people ever. And I guess that is what this trek is all about. 

RETURNING TO PETERBOROUGH

There was only one other boat moored at Lakefield lock last night, and that Toronto-based sailboat started down river about the same time we did, so we ended up locking down together, along with another powerboat (a Krogen 42) which showed up when the lock opened. Since this stretch of the Otonabee River has several locks, each spaced a mile or two apart, the three boats ended up locking through all of them together. It was a fairly leisurely pace for the morning, since the sailboat travels pretty slowly, we ended up going at his pace as far as the Peterborough Lift Lock where they stopped off to tour the Visitor Center.

Elaine, at the controls of the lock

At the top of the lock, ready to be lowered

We went through one more lock with the Krogen, then decided to tie up to the lower lock wall in Peterborough since the wind was strengthening and the skies looked quite threatening.

Dark skies over Peterborough

If we had continued, it would have put us in Rice Lake about the time winds of 25 knots were forecast. Rice Lake is a very shallow, long lake running Southwest to Northeast, and the wind was from the Southwest, so this amount of wind would have built up an uncomfortable about of chop. Since we're not in any hurry we will just wait it out overnight where we are, and where we are tied up has a nice park and a view of the fountain in Little Lake.

Our site for the night

Once securely tied up to the lock wall, we grabbed our rain jackets and went for a walk to a recommended butcher shop a little over a mile away. As dark as the skies were, it didn’t rain, and we picked up meat for several meals.

Back at the boat, we tried sitting up on the flybridge for cocktails, but it was just too cold and windy, so went below, waiting for this weather to pass…

LAKEFIELD

At anchor in Cameron Lake, woke up completely enveloped in dense fog. I could tell the sun was up, but not where it was, and the shoreline cottages near where we anchored were non-existent. Although we could have weighed anchor, there was hardly any point, since the lock did not open for another hour and a half at 9 AM. After coffee, I took advantage of the wet boat and wiped it down, getting at least some of the accumulated dirt off of her. Every morning I try to get rid of all the cob webs on the boat. I even bought a special brush to use, which demolishes the webs without harming the finish on the boat. I am convinced that if I just let the spider webs go, I would never have to secure anything to the boat - everything would be totally encased in webs.

Combining spider webs and fog...

 Right at nine AM the fog lifted, so we pulled up the anchor and headed over to the lock. We were through the lock by 9:30 and on our way. As we go through the locks, we are surprised by the number of comments we receive about our boat, especially from those who remember the boat heading north the first part of July. Not only the lock attendants (who remember which boats we went through with, as well as our position in the lock) but also from locals who spend a lot of time at the locks watching the boats go through. It's not unusual to here someone say "How was your trip? Did you enjoy it up north? Where are you off to now?" Of course,what many people notice is the hailing port under the name of our boat. They usually ask "Did you bring that all the way from San Francisco?" Thus starts the conversation of how we bought it on the East Coast, have been cruising on & off for three years, have been from New England to the Bahamas and back again, and now are enjoying Canada. All this in a space of the few minutes it takes to go through a lock. Elaine is up at the bow handling the bow line while I handle the stern line, so we don't always hear each other's conversations. It would be interesting to know how much alike, or different, our comments are.

Since it is Sunday, and the weather was nice, there were many, many boaters out on the water today. This includes the ones who just rented a houseboat on Friday and are still learning how to handle it (don't go through the locks with them!). Then there are the unique operators who totally ignore almost all of the rules and are very entertaining to watch, as long as they stay their distance, although, at times, I had to take evasive action. I am really amazed that there are not more boating accidents around here.

We targeted a lock to stay at for the night, but when we got there, we found a busy highway running right next to it, so decided to head on down river to Lakefield, a very nice little town which we had stopped at, just to look around a while, on our way north.  After being on the water an extra hour or two, we tied to the lock wall, then walked the short distance into town for dinner at Cassis Bistro. It was a very nice meal, and a restaurant we would recommend if you are in the area…

CAMERON LAKE

I thought we’d make an early start today, leaving Orillia and getting, maybe, to Bobcaygeon. However, little did I realize that Elaine had her sites on the Orillia Farmer’s Market which takes place each Saturday morning, so by the time she returned from the market, it was almost 10 AM. We left under sunny, clear skies and had a nice crossing of Lake Simcoe which, for about half the time, had a surface like glass.

The rest of the day is a sort of blur consisting of lock after lock and narrow canal after narrow canal. Luckily, we did not have to wait much - once you’re moving on through the system the lock attendants let the other locks, and the bridge tenders, know that you are coming through, so most of the time the lock and/or bridge is just opening as you arrive.

A countryside that reminded me of the canals in France

Much of the narrow canal we went through today is also very shallow and, now that summer is fully here, very weedy. The water is actually fairly clear, so one can readily see weeds in the water, but there’s nothing you can do but go right over them. There are a couple of issues with this maneuver, however. One is that there are fresh water pick-ups on the bottom of the boat to bring water into the engine to cool it. Once the water is sucked in, it goes through a strainer which is checked daily and emptied out when needed, but the potential big problem is if the pick-up itself gets clogged with weed or grass so no water gets to the engine and it overheats. The other problem is getting the weeds and grass caught up in the propellor as you go through all this muck. The occasional weed just gets chopped up either by the propellor itself or a blade that I have installed on the propellor shaft. But when you have to go slowly most of the day through all these weeds (there is a 10 km/hr speed limit in these canals), some can accumulate on the prop and decrease its efficiency.

Through these canals, I had to go to a higher and higher RPM to maintain the same speed, so this meant a detour off of the channel when we got to a lake, and a quick dive with a knife to clean off all of the weeds. Luckily it was a warm sunny day, and the water wasn’t too cold.

At anchor on Cameron Lake

It looked like Fenelon Falls was going to be our overnight, but we got there a bit late in the afternoon and the Saturday crowd had already taken all of the spots on the lock wall. We headed back out on to nearby Cameron Lake and anchored. Nice time for a beer, a swim and a tasty pasta dinner with fresh salad from the Farmer’s Market this morning before watching another gorgeous sunset…

STARTING THE RETURN TRIP

One day at a time. Keep that going for 365 days and you’ll get another birthday. After thinking I would never see another birthday a couple of years ago, each one is just that much sweeter. On this one, we got the boat ready for another stage in our voyage. The day started with a strong rain/windstorm, necessitating a second cup of coffee while the storm blew through. Later, it was time for checking the engines, fuel, water, etc. and replenishing our food stores before a quiet dinner (and another beautiful sunset).

This morning, we were ready to head out early to retrace our route through the Trent-Severn Waterway, even though the wind stayed up all night and the sky still looked a bit threatening. Around 7:30, we left Midland, putting on an extra layer of fleece to be comfortable on the flybridge, and headed out to the lock at Severn which opened at 9 AM. We had to wait a few minutes, but locked through just as the rain started. It only lasted about half an hour, but it did portend a few more showers throughout the day. The forecast was for diminishing winds and clearing skies as the day wore on, but that didn’t happen.

We passed back though the Big Chute - the rail car type lock which lifted us up out of the water and rode a rail over to the next lake - and kept on going, amazed at how different things looked compared to traveling the opposite direction a couple of months ago. We were also surprised at the lack of traffic on the waterway. One would think all the summer vacations would still be in full swing, but maybe the weather dampened (literally) the plans.

A slow train on an even slower bridge

The only hiccup in the day was having to wait for a railway swing bridge for almost 45 minutes. There was no way to communicate with this bridge other than a horn signal, but that seemed a bit superfluous since the railway workers were standing on the bridge looking at us. It appeared that the bridge tenders just had no interest in opening for the boats waiting to go by as we waited half an hour until a train finally showed up and rolled across the bridge, which they then started to open about ten minutes later. By this time it was well into the afternoon, and we were about an hour away from Orillia, so we decided to make that our stop for the night.

Dark skies over Lake Couchiching

The wind finally died down about two hours after we pulled into the slip, but the forecast is for sunny skies tomorrow with light winds. Hopefully we will get adequate rest tonight, but it is the beginning of the weekend, and the partying, both in the marina and the park nearby, has already started…

BACK AT IT!

Got back to the boat yesterday. It was fun to be back home in California for a short while, and we took advantage of being there by seeing family and friends, catching up with doctors, dentists, etc. and, of course, Elaine getting to her High School reunion in Modesto.

We left for the San Francisco airport around 3:30 AM on Monday, boarded our plane around 5:15 then waited at the gate for over an hour while some minor maintenance on one engine was completed. While that was going on, there was a small earthquake (4.0), but it was big enough to trigger protocols which shut down the runways until they were inspected. We finally lifted off around 7:30, which made for a tight connection in Chicago, but we made it. However, as we taxied out for take-off, we were #14 in line. Due to bad weather, there was a minimum 2 minute separation, so it took well over half an hour to get airborne. Once we landed in Toronto, we were informed that the “alley” was too congested for us to move off of the taxiway, so we sat between runways for another 45 minutes. All in all, we spent 4.5 hours in the air, but over 8 hours on the planes for our flights. 

[While I’m in a whining mood, I must comment on Toronto Pearson Airport. Leaving Toronto, we arrived more than 2 hours prior to our flight time, and just barely made our flight after standing in incredible lines for check-in, US Customs clearance and security checks. Upon returning, we were in just as incredible lines for Canadian Customs & Border Patrol clearance. Although staff was tolerant and, for the most part, polite, it was very obvious that there are significant systems issues with their international passenger processes. Toronto is a very large, cosmopolitan city (largest in Canada) and should be prepared to handle the significant passenger through-put. They are not.]

We spent a couple of days with friends in Toronto (thanks, John & Kathe!) then caught a ride back to Midland to get “home” to the boat. All the travel caught up with us yesterday, both of us feeling pretty wiped out, so we sat by the lake, swam and pretty much did nothing for the day. This morning a forecasted storm system rolled through and when I got up and looked outside, it looked like an epic Cecile B. DeMille biblical storm scene with grey waves, whitecaps, torrential rain coming down sideways, lightening and thunder. I kind of expected Moses to come walking by, leading a horde of people ready to walk across the lakebed.

We’ll spend today as a “prep” day, getting everything ready on the boat and taking a run to the store for some provisioning so we can depart tomorrow. We are about an hour from the north/west terminus of the Trent-Severn Waterway and we’ll retrace our route back through the 45 locks to get to Lake Ontario. Depending on time and weather, we would like to take a short detour into the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River before getting to the south shore of the lake and down the Oswego Canal to Brewerton, NY.

We have made arrangements to have the boat stored on the hard for the winter inside a heated shed where she will be available for showing, since we have decided to list her for sale. In preparation for that, we will take off and store all of our personal items, have some routine mechanical work done and get her polished and waxed. I suspect that we will be ready to head back to the West Coast in late September.

In the meantime, our cruising adventure restarts tomorrow…