No We're Not Lost!

7/18/11 Monday     Had a nice thunderstorm last night that knocked the power out at the marina for an hour. Right on Que our inverter kicked in and kept our refrigeration going.

Plans for today were to go as far as Burleigh Falls lock and spend the night on the wall. That lasted until we were part way across Clear Lake. It was such a nice day that we decided to pull in behind Tanner Island and anchor. Kind of a tight spot once the anchor was set but enough room to stay off the rocks. We enjoyed the down time and I even broke down and suggested playing a game of Dominoes!

Domino Champion!

All was well until just after dinner when another thunderstorm rolled through. This one brought some strong wind and hail the diameter of a fifty cent piece followed by some heavy rain that lasted until 10pm. We both thought the boat would be damaged. Fortunately everything survived intact. During the storm I sat at the helm watching the rain on the radar, listening to the Canadian version of NOAA which broadcasts in both French & English, and had the keys on just in case the anchor decided to lose it's grip on the bottom.

7/19/11 Tuesday     So today we thought we'd get to Bobcaygeon and Lock 32. Pam was looking forward to it since she had been told there was a shoe store right near the lock. That plan got derailed when we arrived at the Burleigh Falls lock and pulled in to the Blue Line to await the lock opening and found that the storm had knocked the power out for all of Burleigh Falls including the lock. (This lock is not of the manual variety like some of the others.) Estimated time of opening would be noon. OK. We wait. Of course noon came and went and one of the lock attendants walked down to tell us it would now be 6pm. Uff Da! We did find out though that the General Store was operating on a generator so we walked over and bought some cream for Pam's coffee and an ice cream cone for each of us.

Island church we passed on way to Burleigh Falls

Burleigh Falls General Store.

Finally at 3:30pm they restored power so we locked through and tied off to the upper wall for the night where we were joined by the crew of Coconuts. It was a tough day which deserved a cocktail reward once we were secure!

7/20/11 Wednesday     Pam hasn't given up on the shoe store and reminded me of our original plans to stop. We worked our way through the locks along with Coconuts and arrived at Bobcaygeon at 1:15pm in time to get cleaned up and check out the town. It's a nice little town with a few bar/restaurants, the mandatory ice cream shop and of course Bigley's (the shoe store). Shoes, shoes, and more shoes! Plenty to choose from if you wanted to pay the price! To say Pam was disappointed is an understatement. As a consolation we had dinner out at one of the local establishments.

Shoot the gap!

 

7/21/11 Thursday     Hot! Hot! Hot! We left Bobcaygeon at 9:10am and quit for the day at 11:45am above the lock at Fenelon Falls. Of course the decision to stop was made easier because of the recent addition of power outlets on the upper lock wall.

The local sports shop had a sale on water socks so I purchased a pair and walked a block to the beach and went for a swim.

Not exactly Vanna White!

Tourist & Coconuts @ Fenelon Falls

It was so hot the local kids were swimming out to the swing span on the train bridge and jumping off! Try that in the states!

In line to jump off the bridge.

Oh! And Pam found a pair of sandals at one of the local shops! We're all happy now!

7/22/11 Friday     A big day today as we transited the Trent Canal and the Kirkfield Lift Lock. The pictures tell the story of the canal. Shallow and narrow with rocks on both sides waiting to slice into the fiberglass on Tourist. Slow is the name of the game in the canal.

Sign stating vessels over 40' must announce a securite' over the VHF as they enter the canal.

Steady as she goes!

Rocks along the edges of the canal.

We are now descending in the locks which made driving into Kirkfield all the more thrilling. Nice view if your nerves can take it!

Approaching Kirkfield Lock.

View from the front of the lock!

Coconuts coming through the Hole in the Wall.

We ended the day tied to the upper wall at Lock 40 with Coconuts. To our surprise a couple from Midland, Ont. who we had met earlier in our travels, walked a mile from the previous lock with their charts in hand to show us some of their favorite places in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Canadian hospitality at it's finest!

Chart review.

We ended the day with a bonfire in the fire pit beside the lock. Bru & Sandy from Coconuts even cooked dinner over the fire! Now that's roughing it!

Lock 40 pyromaniacs.

7/23/11 Saturday     An easy day consisting of only two locks and some open water running across Lake Simcoe. A beautiful lake that deserves more time on it than we have. Came through Orchard Point and got waked as bad as I've ever been rocked by some muscle head in a 35 Meridian trying to impress his overly inflated girlfriend. Shortly after we pulled into Port of Orillia Marina. A convenient location to town but a little shy on power on the docks. Every time someone new plugs in the breaker pops. As a bonus the bottom is covered with weeds that grow nearly to the surface. We were told that the bottom had just been mowed. I think the only mowing that took place was by boats coming and going. After we were in our slip the dockhands came around and raked the weeds from behind Tourist.

Pitchfork full of weeds @ Orillia

Later in the afternoon we were met by Bill & Mary Toon, Canadian friends from Florida who had driven over to say hello and go out to dinner.

7/24/11 Sunday     We left Orillia at 9am and continued west toward Georgian Bay. Two locks and we were at the Big Chute Railway. Big Chute RR is basically a travellift on rails that you drive the boat into. The staff tightens the slings to steady the boats while they rest on the floor of the rail car. It then travels up, over the road, and down the bank on the other side and deposits the boats back in the water to continue on. Quite an engineering marvel.



Big Chute Railway

Ridin' the Chute

Down the other side.

We pulled in to the courtesy dock above the Chute to walk over and see how this thing operates. It looked

simple enough so we went back to Tourist and marked the spots where the slings should go with painters tape. We cast off and motored over to the Blue line to await our turn. We were third in line behind two smaller boats. When we pulled up it didn't appear as though there was enough room for us. Even so we were motioned in until told to stop. They started to tighten the slings but I quickly protested the placement of the straps since I thought they would be right over our water intakes for the engines. One of the workers got down from his station and looked under the bottom. Once back up he rolled the carriage back into the water and repositioned Tourist so that we wouldn't damage the thru hulls. 7 minutes later we were splashed into the water on the other side of the road. We made a hard right turn and tied up to one of the docks to spend the night. We were joined a short time later by Crawdad and Grianan, two other looper boats.

7/25/11 Monday     We awoke to a rainy dreary day. We have a short run of only 15 miles today but one that takes us through a couple of narrow areas and through our last lock of the Trent/Severn system. Not a good picture taking day. We made it through the lock to find the narrowest channel we have seen to date. Fortunately it was only for a short distance but it required my full attention. To further complicate things, once through the lock the bouyage changes form green on the right to red on the right. That lasts until you go a mile and then it changes back to green on the right if you avoid taking the Potato Channel. A lot to think about when you're looking through rain drops.

Anyway we made it safely through and arrived at Queen's Cove Marina in Victoria Harbour, Ont. where we will be for a couple of nights re-supplying and visiting with Bill & Mary who live nearby.

Lots of Locks!

7/14/11 Thursday     Today we departed Campbellford and continued our voyage. The highlight was transiting the Healy Falls flight locks. Two locks connected to one another each with a 27' vertical lift.

Healy Falls Flight Lock.

We did 20.3 miles today and quit on the upper side of Lock 18 in Hastings, Ont. Once again Pam made me drag our dirty clothes to the laundromat. Oh well. At least my 2 pair of briefs are clean again. Four more days. I feel so fresh!

The glamorous side of cruising.
7/15/11 Friday     We snuck out of Hastings at 7:35am. Only one lock today before we get to Peterborough and 38 miles. We crossed Rice Lake before entering the Otonabee River and continuing on to Peterborough.

Rice Lake.
Our only lock for the day was Lock 19. Once through we tied to the wall and called it a day. Lock 19 was a little different in that it was still made of the original limestone blocks set in place in 1844. The staff was very friendly and proud of their lock.

LeRoy, the lock 19 mascot.

Our moorage above lock 19.

We stayed on the wall at 19 for 2 nights. The guide book said it was a short walk to downtown Peterborough. We chose to drop the dinghy in and go by water. Just around the corner and across Little Lake and we were there. The marina let us tie up for free while we explored the town. Pam was on a mission to find some shoes. Imagine that! Fortunately for the pocketbook, she found none that she liked. Later that evening we returned to the Holiday Inn to listen to Fathead, a blues band that was very good!
Our spot on the wall turned out to be a good choice since we had it all to ourselves for both nights.

One unusual thing we found was a dish called Poutine. we thought we were ordering cheese curds and ended up with curds mixed with fries smothered in gravy. Not what we thought but very good. How can you go wrong with gravy?

Poutine. Styrofoam makes for the best presentation of food don't you think!

Man made geyser in Little Lake @ Peterborough.
7/17/11 Sunday     Time to leave Peterborough and continue on. Only a mile and we were at Lock 20. Great! We're the only boat in the chamber. Another mile and we are at the Peterborough lift lock #21. An engineering marvel and the highest lift lock in the world with a 65' vertical lift. It opened in 1904 and looks much the same today as it did back then. Basically 2 pans of water that counterbalance each other. One foot of water is added to the upper pan to make it lower and raise the other pan. Unfortunately they were only using one of the pans because of a mechanical issue. Both pans still went up & down but only one contained boats. The result was a delay in our travels and an end to our being alone in the locks.

Peterborough Lift Lock video.

Our route took us through 7 locks today. Past Trent University and their rowing team practice area. And through some shallow, winding, and narrow passages on our way to Lakefield for our overnight stay at the marina.

Trent University rowers.

Following Coconuts, a 49' Krogen Express on the way to Lakefield.

Internet reception is great on our Verizon air card. Unfortunately usage in Canada is another charge even though we were under the impression that it was included in our plan. May have to resort to going to the library to get online! On the bright side I'm getting to be a texting whiz! I'm up to complete sentences now. Not lengthy but a sentence! If you want to contact us text Pam.

Headin up the Trent

7/12/11 Tuesday     Time to leave Trenton but we can't get out! The marina filled up after our arrival yesterday and the result was us ending up with very little wiggle room to get out as all the other boats were staying. We were able to convince a couple fellow boaters that it would be prudent for them to move forward a few feet rather than to have an anchor impression along their sides.

Tourist entering the Trent-Severn Waterway.

You can see by the above that we made it out. Thanks to our friends on M/V Sweet Pea for the photo.

About a mile and a half upstream we arrived at Lock 1. They got us in the chamber. Raised us up. And then said come inside. Lock 1 is where you get your transit pass and mooring pass for the waterway. Not a cheap proposition. Over $600.00 for Tourist! Once paid they opened the upper gates and we were on our way.

Canal before Lock 1.

Entering Lock 1.

The chambers aren't very wide so we were glad to be entering by ourselves. You can see above how much room we have on either side of us.

Locks 1 thru 6 are all in a row with only a mile or so between each of them. The fenders stay out and we look like a rental houseboat! Fortunately the lockmasters communicate with each other resulting in the gates being open by the time you arrive at the next lock. Pull in. Tie off. And enjoy the ride.

One of the interesting things at these locks is that the gates are opened by hand. The lockmaster has to manually push a lever around in circles to open the gates!

Lockmaster opening the gates by hand.

The weather was hot so by the time we made it though the first 6 locks we decided to call it a day and tie off to the upper lock wall. This decision was made a bit easier by the fact that Lock 6 has power pedestals along the upper wall so we could plug in and turn on the AC. Cost for this. $9.80 to plug in to the Hydro.
Our stopping was meant to happen since we tied up right next to Tourist Park at Frankford, Ont.

View from the cockpit of Lock 6.

Later that day we walked over town and ended up at a place called Dimitri's for dinner. Good food and plenty of it for a reasonable price.

Pam's meal at Dimitri's! No she didn't clean her plate.

7/13/11 Wednesday     We left Lock 6 around 8:20am and continued upstream. By the way Pam likes the hours of operation on the Trent. 8:30am to 7pm! No more dawn departures for a few days.

Along the way we passed this sign that clearly gets it's message across.

Do Not Anchor!

We also shared the water with a flock of geese.

Which side should I pass on. The 1 or the 2 whistle side?

When we arrived at lock 9 the gates were closed so we pulled into the blue line to wait where we were joined by another small boat. Not long and the gates opened. Once the chamber was clear the lockmaster gave us a hand signal to enter.

Boats leaving Lock 9.

By the time we arrived at Lock 10 the rain clouds were overhead. The lock attendant told us we could not stay in the lock if there was lightning. They raised us up and just as they got the gates opened it hit. High winds and heavy rain. Hind sight being 20/20 I should have stayed put but I didn't. As we pulled away from the wall a big blast of wind pushed our stern into one of the safety ladders in the chamber and knocked an end cap off of our transom moulding. Damn! I'll try to get a picture of the damage and also of how vicious these ladders are. I've not seen anything like them in all the locks we've been through.

Our last two locks 11 & 12 were flight locks. One lock opens into the next. We rose 48' total.

Looking back from Lock 12.

A short distance later we arrived in Campbellford where we tied up to the seawall near the visitors center. They have power here and a wireless connection for a fee. Did I mention it was raining when we pulled in? Another bad hair day!
We strolled around town. Took the obligatory picture of the Tooney in Old Mill Park. And found a supermarket that charges you to use a shopping cart. What?

Canadian Tooney.

Tourist @ Old Mill Park.

Lucky for us we were here on Wednesday because it was music in the park night! Starting at 6 and lasting till 8 the Lions club sponsors this every Wednesday by getting local bands to play for free and then passing the hat with the collection going to a local charity or need. Last year they used the collection money to help buy a CT scanner at the local hospital.
Pam & I sat on the bow of Tourist and enjoyed the music although 8pm is getting on towards my bedtime!

Our view of the bandstand.

 

Oh Canada!

Friday 7/8/11     Following a quiet night behind Boldt Castle we pulled the anchor to find it had grown a few whiskers. This was some of the most vile smelling stuff I've ever encountered in any anchorage.

Anchor Beard.

Once the anchor was clean and my hands were scoured we rounded Boldt Castle and moved on. About 2 miles later we crossed the U.S./Canadian border and put up our Quarintine flag.

Quarintine Flag.

A short distance after we pulled in to the Ed Huck Marina in Rockport, Ontario to check in with Canadian Customs at the free phone located there. Since we were taking up so much of their fuel dock we decided to get a pump out. That was before we saw the price. $40.00! Unfortunately we had already committed and had to go through with it. It's illegal to pump overboard but apparently not to steal!

Canadian courtesy flag.

Anyway the check-in process was painless with no inspectors. Just a number issued that has to be recorded in case of a future inspection. It wasn't long and we were on our way through some of the prettiest scenery we've encountered yet. Very rocky and very deep. Along the way we spotted several places where stands have been built for the eagles to nest to keep them off the channel markers.

Eagles nest next to channel marker.

It was a short day of 16 miles that found us pulling into the 1000 Island Playhouse in Gananaque for our overnight.

1000 Island Playhouse. (http://www.1000islandsplayhouse.com/)

 The main reason for this stop was the novelty of going to a play by boat. We saw The Drowning Girls performed in the round. Good acting although the play left a bit too much to interpretation for me. Still a lot of fun.

Saturday 7/9/11     We departed Gananaque about 8:15 and headed west. Still beautiful scenery. Then our new chartplotter stopped showing details like shoals and depths and channel markers. Not good. This is why we have paper charts to back up the electronics.

You can see where the boat icon is, that there is no definition on the map.

Using our paper charts we made our way to Kingston, The oldest community in Canada. As we neared our destination we passed Fort Henry. Shortly after we arrived at Confederation Basin Marina where we had been told earlier that a slip was available for us. Oops! No slip but we could tie to the sea wall and wait to see if anything opened up. We ended up an hour later backing into a 26' slip that became available. Tourist stuck out like a horn on a rhino's nose.

Fort Henry.

Kingston quickly became one of our favorite stops. We walked around checking out the old buildings and noticed that there was an overabundance of restaurants within walking distance of the marina. Our choice for the evening was Curry Original (http://www.curryoriginal.ca/) an Indian restaurant that didn't disappoint. Pam quickly proclaimed it one of her favorites so far. I know we could have spent more time in Kingston but sometimes you just have to keep moving.

Scenes around Kingston.

The water up here is clear thus allowing the sun to shine deeper into it which promotes the growth of the thick bottom vegitation that gets intertwined on our anchor and rode. The picture below is in about 10' of water next to one of the docks at Confederation Basin.

Bottom growth at Confederation Basin.

Before we left Kingston we(Pam) got caught up on laundry and I was able to download the Canadian charts to something called an SD card and install them into the plotter. Miracle of miracles. They Work!

Saturday 7/9/11     It's 28 degrees outside. Why am I sweating? Maybe because that's 82 and some change in the U.S. I'm too old to learn this stuff. Guess I'll stick to stepping outside each morning to see what it's like.

Our travels took us from Kingston via the North Channel, Adolphus Reach, and Long Reach to an anchorage at Whitlow Point just off of Long Reach. Get your maps out and find these places! We had a mostly pleasant ride with one exception where we had exposure to the waves from Lake Ontario. Our anchorage was great with only 2 other boats coming in after us. We snuggled up close to shore and dropped the hook. One of the other boats was anchored out further and was being rocked by some kids wake boarding around them. At one point the anchored boater was yelling at them about their waves but to no avail. They kept at it until almost dark. Reminded me of my youth.

Sunrise at Whitlow Point.

Sunday 7/10/11     Anchor up at 6:30. Clean the weeds off and head out by 6:40. Back onto Long Reach and then a hard left onto the Bay of Quinte for our ride to Trenton where we will start our journey on the Trent-Severn Waterway. A peaceful ride but one that requires a close lookout while transiting the Telegraph Narrows.
We pulled into Fraser Park Marina in Trenton about 10:45am. Topped off the fuel tanks and tied off on the wall next to the park. (fuel is 1.39 per litre) The marina staff was right there to assist with docking which is reassuring since the wall is concrete! First order of business. Wash the boat! Tourist hasn't had a bath since Brewerton and was starting to look like a fly strip with all of the flying bugs that have decided to make her their final resting place. As usual I recieved several words of encouragement from passers by, but no offers to help.
Later in the day we walked around town noticing several music shops. Must be a happy place! Our walk concluded back at the marina where one of us had an ice cream cone to put back those calories that he had just burned off.

Start of the Trent-Severn.

Tourist tucked in at Fraser Park Marina.

The marina later in the day. 7 looper boats in total. we've been crossing paths with the green boat since St. Augustine, Fl.