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!
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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