Still in the Trent Severn and Loving it! Bobcaygeon to Campbellford, July 15-28, 2019

We left Bobcaygeon on July 14 and targeted Harrington Bay in Buckhorn Lake for an anchorage location.  Yes we are actually going through the narrow passage on the left, you have to trust your charts!  You can see the small island on the map below too.

Upon arrival we found the deepest hole in the harbor to minimize any weeds in our swimming and floating area.  The late afternoon was spent floating in the lake to cool off.  This floating in warm fresh water is getting addictive!   The only annoying thing was the young people on a jet ski harassing the loons.  I was ready to launch the dinghy to go confront them but they roared off after a few minutes.  Jerks.  It was a very nice anchorage although a bit of a challenge clearing the anchor of weeds in the morning as we left for the Buckhorn lock. 

We stayed above the lock at a floating dock with power on our starboard side so that we could enjoy the view of Buckhorn Lake from the cockpit seating on Sum Escape.  

Even in the rain it is a nice view!

We were able to swim off the boat here and floated again to beat the heat….after disconnecting electric power from the shore based power pedestal of course.  We also educated the crew on another boat about ESD (Electric Shock Drowning) as they had not plugged into power yet and we asked them to warn us when they did so we could exit the water first.
On Wednesday Tim and one of his friends Charlie arrived aboard Nellie May, a trailerable Ranger Tug.  We met Tim and Mary in South Carolina in 2018 and stayed in contact with them as we learned that they would be restarting their Loop this summer too.  Mary is back home in South Dakota but Tim and one of his lifelong friends are doing another portion of the Loop.  Tom had breakfast with Tim and Charlie and enjoyed catching up.  

By the way, in another it’s a small world story, Charlie met us at the Grand Haven Salmon Fest last September and still had our boat card to prove it!  We hope our paths cross again and wish Nellie may and crew safe travels.  And Twila is on the boat on the left above (On Business).  We met her and Andy in Sept 2015 on the Illinois River, passed them on the Trent Severn going opposite directions last summer and recently spent time with them at Little Current in June.  Andy asked if we had boat problems as they had been to Lake Superior and back already.  Yes we are going slow by choice.  Crazy how small this cruising world really is!

We were able to walk to the Buckhorn Farmers market as well.  Well, it was really a craft market with one lonely vegetable vendor!  But it was a great walk and we were able to see the Adam and Eve Rocks along the way.  Legend has it if a couple holds hands and each touches one of the rocks good fortune will come their way.  Of course, we did this!

One other tidbit from Buckhorn.  We found real salt at the local general store.  Real salt you ask?  Yes, we were trying to find salt in Orillia, Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon.  Every box or cannister we could find listed sugar as one of the ingredients!  Sugar in salt?  Who would have figured!  Anyways, we now have salt for our popcorn again.

We contacted two Harbor Hosts of the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) for recommendations for anchorages on Stoney Lake, our next planned stop. Sailing races along the way.

They both had the same spot in mind, the SE corner of Juniper Island.  

One evening we had dinner on the back deck enjoying the loons and ospreys.

We counted 10 ospreys in the air at one point.  They were all around our anchorage.  Beautiful birds.

Loons too.

It was a great recommendation and we spent three nights at anchor there.  We took a couple dinghy rides, one over to the General Store and pavilion area on Juniper Island.  The cottage owners association has tennis courts, a general store, a sailing/yacht club and many organized activities.  The pavilion is restored to appear as it did in the steamship era.  What a storied facility it is.

 

Note that the dinghy dock is full of small fishing boats.  That is the transportation for every child of about 10 years and older.  Some were even old wooden boats.  Very cool.

We dinghyed to McCracken’s Landing to the restaurant in the lighthouse.  Locals tell us it was just opened under new management and had great food.  And yes it was very good and the beer was local and cold too.  

A little dinghy ride through multiple islands after dinner.

We also dinghyed over to the resort on the north end of the lake.  Another stored facility built in 1885, it appears to be struggling for business but did have a few travelers staying there.  Ten years ago they had a marina too but it was closed to business now.  We found a great trail and roads for our exercise walk around that area. 

When we returned to the boat another small boat was circling it.  The couple came over to talk.  Ron and Betsy turned out to be the cottage owners from the beautiful cottage on the point of the next island to our NE.  Ron was retired US Navy and said that our boat passed inspection…clean waterline and scuppers, he was only unable to monitor our radio protocol to issue his “full report”.  Anyways, we were invited to cocktails at their cottage and learned that Betsy’s family purchased a vacant YWCA camp in the 1950s and methodically remodeled and added on over the years.  They have a wonderful location on Eagle Mount Island, a screened in porch with a breeze at all times, no air conditioning required. They winter in Boca Grande Florida so we hope we can see them when we are in Longboat Key this winter.  Thanks so much for the wonderful Canadian hospitality Ron and Betsy!

Sunday before we pulled anchor we attended church service at St. Peters on the Rock, a small chapel/church only accessible by boat.  They have two dinghy docks for parking, we attended the 8AM service and the local Anglican bishop Priscilla was there for a special occasion.  Checking the chart on my Navionics phone app, our dinghy navigation device.

Website gives the address of the Church...Stoney Lake at Hell's Gate.  The charts show Hell's Gate and Devil's Elbow right at the church coordinates!

A local resident whose relatives actually built the church in 1914 was turning 90 so a big party was held.  We got to meet Sonny (the 90 year old) and learned that she and her husband and children actually lived on a 50 foot sailing ketch that they had built, travelling up and down the East coast between Canada and the Bahamas.  She mentioned that Man-O-War Cay was a favorite stop in the Abacos.  We have anchored and visited there too, in fact that last time was last sinter when our friends Vicki and David from Hopetown took us there for lunch aboard their day boat.  Sonny even did a reading at the service on Sunday and did a wonderful job on it.  The service was backdropped with the sounds of loons, osprey and an occasional fishing boat. It was another unique travel method to get to Sunday service…so now we can add dinghy transportation to golf cart, walking and bicycles to church….
After church we pulled anchor and took a shortcut route through island cottage country relying on Navionics and Aqua maps to guide us.  The plotted route on my phone app.

We had been through most of the shortcut route with the dinghy but when we came through with Sum Escape dogs ran out to bark and cottage residents waved and pointed toward charted rocks.  I guess they were a bit concerned and surprised to see us come through saving ourselves a few miles of backtracking.  Fishermen had to pull anchor and move out of the way as they knew this narrow passage was our only way through.

Our next stop was Young’s Point lock wall.  We stayed here last year and wanted to walk back over to the restaurant that had gluten free chicken wings and other menu items as well as shop at the Lockstop shopping location.  We got a nice space in the shade on the lock wall, made it to the restaurant before they closed at 2PM and took a nice walk around the area.  When we returned a rental houseboat pulled in the spot in front of us.  Another small world story.  We noted “Michigan” tee shirts on a couple of the occupants of the boat and they walked over to announce they were from Newago Michigan after seeing our Muskegon port of call.  Julie asked them if they know Hilde and Bob R., a family that was good friends with Julie’s parents when Julie was growing up.  “Oh my yes” was the response…yet another small world experience.

On Monday July 22 we left to go to the Lakefield Marina for a needed pump out and a fill up of our fresh water tanks.  Upon arrival we were told they could not accommodate us as they had overnight guests blocking the access to the pump out area.  This is a problem for us as the next spot to get a pump out has a broken machine, we want to spend some time at a couple stops along the way and we cannot do it without fresh water and a holding tank with some capacity.  We don’t want to hurry through and skip stopping at the next few planned stops only to get these services.  So we tied up a mile or so beyond the marina at the Lakefield lock and walked back to talk with the marina in person instead of phone.  When we arrived we noted that a house boat could be moved back about 30 feet on their wall and we could easily moor and pump out and get water.  They agreed so we told them we would walk back to the boat and come back for these services.  This was about 2PM and we knew that we were taking a chance on getting our wall space back at the lock as it is a popular stop with good access to groceries, shopping etc.   When we finished the pump out and watering task, we called the lockmaster who said he had four boats in the lock coming up but we could probably get there before they were out of the lock.  As we approached the lock wall area, we could see the boats almost to the top of the lock.  But we were very lucky, our wall spot was still there, we quickly tied back up and as the boats exited the lock, the rest of the wall space was quickly consumed.  Whew, a close one!  But now with our approximate 260 gallon fresh water and 75 gallon black water capacity we are good for a couple weeks before we need to be finding these services again.  By then we will be in Trenton or Kingston, both cities with large marinas, so this will be good timing. 

We headed back out to do some shopping and get some groceries.  We found a great produce market and got fresh local raspberries, strawberries and blueberries as well as asparagus.  All in all, a great productive day with over 6 miles of walking logged.

We would be remiss to not share the length of our last few travel days.  Since July 9^th we have traveled the following daily miles…4, 6, 12, 12, 8, 11, 7 and 5 miles.  Yes, in 8 travel days we only averaged about 7 or 8 miles a day!  We are truly enjoying the Kawartha Lakes section of the Trent Severn!

Our next stop was the Peterborough lift lock.  We took a space along the wall above the lock and had a nice conversation with the lockmaster.  We asked about a tour and he said not today and for good reason.  He and his crew were up the entire night replacing the seals in the lock cylinder and had now operated the lock all day.  Very understandable, we’ll try tomorrow.  We had a nice conversation with Bill and Laurie (iFloat) who shared many details about the Rideau and Ottawa river portions of our plan.  They also were baking pizzas on their grill and told us where we might find small stones like they were using.  We hope to see them further on as we continue our travels. 
We walked to town (yes up and over the large hill between) and checked out the walking route to the marina and park area where the Wednesday night outdoor concerts take place.  A couple miles one way but very doable.  We also found the small pizza stones that will fit on our gas grill so we can bake pizzas outside.  Looking forward to trying them out!  Had a cold one at a local craft brewery and got a few groceries before returning to the boat.

Wednesday morning, I went to the men’s room and found no power there.  Hmmm.  Well it turned out that when the lockmaster came to work around 8:45 he found no power at the entire lock complex.  Test well drillers had knicked or cut a 600 volt underground line.  So the lock was out of service and the next few hours were spent digging and finding the issue and devising a work around/temporary repairs.  

The lock opened for a test run and then we were allowed to transit the lock around 1:30 or so.  So again, no tour, but very understandable as to why.

We went the vast distance to the next lock, Ashburnham….1 mile away and got a great spot at the end of the wall overlooking Little Lake and the Peterborough area.  

It was a much closer walk to the concert from here and was a delightfully shady spot.  Peterborough has the oldest free outdoor concert series in Canada every Wednesday and Saturday in the summer time.  Last year we came through a week too early to enjoy it. But this year we walked to the concert and saw The Sheepdogs, a popular Canadian band.  Didn’t recognize any of their music but they were good musicians and the lead singer had a very good voice.

We set out for Hastings around 8AM.  We transited the one lock of the day and meandered our way through the Otanabee River out to Rice Lake, a very large lake renowned for fishing.  We encountered many fishing boats along the way and it was a beautiful day with slight breezes.  Julie thought it looked like a good anchoring lake so we checked out Margaret Island and found it to be clear without weeds and with the forecasted low winds, a great spot for the evening.  So we stopped 8 miles short of our planned destination and had a nice afternoon there.  Winds were higher than forecasted though so Julie could not enjoy the floating chairs until the wind and waves subsided later in the day.  A thunderstorm just skirted us and then the winds calmed all night long.  A very nice stay on the hook.

On Friday July 26 we set off to do 6 locks and targeted the city park wall in Campbellford for a couple days.  A spider on a lock wall along the way.  Julie was watching it closely so it did not jump aboard!  It was much larger than it appears!

A step lock along the way.  We dropped about 150 feet in our travels today.

In fact when we arrived we learned that they still had their pay for two nights and get the third free deal.  The six locks took us from our 8AM departure until we tied up at about 2PM in Campbellford.  

We passed a number of Loopers headed north as we have been doing since entering the Trent Severn system way back in early July.  We took a nice walk over to lock 12, Ranney Falls and walked across the suspension bridge and through the local park/campground each day.  

They also had a farmer’s market on Saturday morning where we got some nice local produce.  And of course, Tom had to stand in line at the famous Dooher’s Bakery (4^th generation of family already working there) for a great apple fritter.  Saturday night we celebrated Julie's Mom's birthday (she would have been 90 years old) with a Manhattan and snacks on the stern deck.

We also went up the hill to Mass on Sunday and to the small local downtown movie theatre and saw Toy Story 4…what a hoot.
We have been in the Trent Severn waterway since July 2 (it is now the 28th).  The guide books say 7 or 8 days to traverse the waterway, but we purposely slowed down so as not to enter the Rideau waterway until after the crazy busy "construction holiday" from July 22 to Aug 4.  And we certainly enjoyed the time!
More in a couple weeks.....

Penatang to Bobcaygeon. July 2-14, 2019.

On Monday around 5 PM we left the Ojibway docks and headed for Pentang, Dave and Sue’s home port to watch the fireworks, get a deep charge on the batteries and do some laundry after 16 days.  The fireworks were very nice and the marina had us in a great spot to view them. 

It was hard to say good bye on Tuesday but we look forward to seeing all our Canadian friends in Florida this winter!  Thanks so much for all the great times over the last 6 days!!!

On Tuesday July 2 we entered the Trent Severn waterway at Port Severn.

Coming through Little Chute, a narrow swift current cut before arriving at the Big Chute Railway.

We went through two locks including the Big Chute Railway.  It was not nearly as exciting going up the hill as it was coming down last year, but was still a great ride. 

We stayed on the floating docks above the lock that night and enjoyed a short swim as well.  Not here though....a photo from our walk around the grounds of the lock and dam.  This rapids is what the railway gets us through.  An interesting note on the railway.  The authorities did not want to put in a lock as it would have allowed lamprey eels to enter the waterway through the still water.  It is a very interesting "lock".

We headed to Orillia on Wednesday.  Approaching the Swift Rapids lock.

Lake Couchiching, waiting on lock blue line.

Waited 45 minutes at this railroad bridge...no phone, no radio, the guidebooks just say be patient, it will open unless a train is coming.  Well a train did arrive about 30 minutes after we arrived and it finally opened 10 minutes after it passed.

Orillia had a deal, so we took them up on their “3 for 2” special and stayed three nights.  Met a few Loopers, had dinner with Pam and John (who we met last year at this marina), did re-provisioning at the local supermarket and performed our chores such as laundry and varnishing.  We also went back to our respective salons for haircuts and such.  Always a great stop in Orillia!  Even got to say hi to Wally the mechanic who worked on our boat here last year who was not surprisingly working on another Looper’s boat.  Thanks for coming out to see us Pam and John. 

We were also surprised when we arrived back at the boat on Friday evening after a walk.  On the table were freshly cleaned local strawberries and rhubarb!  Thanks so much Steve and Lauretta, another Canadian couple (brother and sister in law of Dave) we met last year.  They joined us earlier at Ojibway via dinghy so knew we would be in Orillia.  So kind.

After Orillia we threw off lines bound for lock 37, where we spent a nice day last year.  On our way we stopped at Bay Port Marina for fuel and a pump out.  We joined Dock Links to save 5 cents per liter and the savings has already paid our membership fee.  We hope to garner future discounts on marina stays and fuel to make the membership worthwhile.  Fuel was about $4.50 a gallon US even after the discount. 

After completing five locks and arriving at lock 37, we tied to the wall and both looked at each other thinking what did we miss?  This is not the place we remembered.  So after assessing how tight a fit it was there for passing boats (neither of us was comfortable with the width), we talked to the lockmaster and found out that lock 38 (Talbot) was actually where we stayed.  They had added a floating dock last August so it looked different to us as we passed through.  So, as we saw some boats heading north on the system we jumped aboard, untied and got into the lock with them to go back to #38, Talbot where we had a great spot on the end of the floating dock overlooking the dam pool.  This lock is special to us as this is where we first learned in June of last year that we would be grandparents in February 2019.  It was so nice to be back.

Note the large cruise ship coming through the lock.  Also note that maintenance is being performed on Sum Escape (starboard upper deck).

You may want to do this trip without the work!

We tested the water and it was 82.5 degrees!  The pool was open!  We spent two nights on the dock here and took a long walk back to lock 37 and beyond on Sunday morning.

We are enjoying our Verizon Canadian plan (no additional cost) again this year.  The phone has worked virtually everywhere, although sometimes the signal is too weak for good data access.  But we have been in phone and text contact essentially 100% of our time in Canada.  We only rarely go over the 500 meg daily data limit so this plan works well for us.  It is so nice to be able to connect with family and friends as we continue our cruising lifestyle. 

We have also been “discovered” by friends and family many times on Nebo, an app which we use that tracks our position.  It has been great meeting up with fellow boaters and family and friends through this free app.  It is also nice to receive a text from time to time over this app.  Even when it is "big brother" watching....

On Monday July 8 we departed bound for an anchorage in Balsam Lake.  To us, arrival here begins the best part of the Trent Severn experience.  It is the area known as Kawartha Lakes and the waterway winds thorough many lakes and small communities where beautiful anchoring and small town lock wall accommodations are available.  We intend to spend a great deal of time slowly moving through this section.  Unfortunately, the good comes with a challenge, the approximately 6-7 mile Trent Canal section of the waterway.  It is carved out of the Canadian Shield rock and is very narrow, quite shallow and littered with dead heads lurking below the murky surface.  As we entered this section (we are southbound on the system) we radioed a Securite’ as required by the sign entering.  All boats over 40 feet are required to announce their intention of entering the canal as it is very narrow with very limited passing space.  We heard a Securite’ call from two boats (a 48 and a 58 footer) heading northbound entering the canal at the other end.  I assumed (let’s not dissect that word just yet) that we would meet at the Kirkfield lift lock where there is ample passing space.  

You gotta love it when a plan works out as we were loaded into the lower pan and the lockmaster said it would be a few minutes as they awaited a couple boats to load into the upper pan.  Luckily it was the 48 and 58, both Loopers but we could not read the boat names.  So that part of the plan did work out.  

Not too much further down the canal we had our first deadhead strike in the canal.  We both looked at each other and said what was that?  Later, we had another harder strike so Tom will be diving on the props and rudders after we get anchored to assess any damage.  We also hit bottom as we tried to get around a 20 some foot boat traversing the channel with one disabled engine.  Not a good day in the Trent Canal.  

DeVere and Carole, take note as you traverse this area in August.  I know the propensity of the captain is to go fast and this is an area where 5MPH is the recommended speed, especially with a large boat that displaces a lot of water in a skinny, shallow channel such as this. Plan on a slow one engine idle for this section. But I will say, all is well that ends well.  The dive revealed only some scuffing on the edges of the prop blades, I could not see any bends or chips.  We consider ourselves very fortunate and are glad the worst of the Trent in behind us.

We anchored in Balsam Lake off Grand Island and near Greeney Island. We struggled a bit getting a good anchor set, but after three attempts we felt relatively secure.  It was dead calm when we anchored and we were almost immediately welcomed by a loon. 

As always in an open anchorage such as this we started a track on Navionics and will set and an anchor alarm at night to be sure we are alerted if we drag anchor.   We also had a wonderful late afternoon float in the water.  Even scrubbed the slime off the water line as we floated for a bit.  The wind picked up a bit as we retired for the evening and with the fetch to the NW it was a bit noisy in the stateroom.  We registered a high gust of 18 knots but winds were only 4 knots or so in the morning.  A nice spot albeit a little weedy in spots.  A nice sunset.

As we left in the morning, the loon was there with its partner and baby!  So cool watching them dive and surface and feed the baby.  They are beautiful birds bothin sight and sound.
Leaving our anchorage.

We only travelled through one lock (Rosedale) and then anchored in Cranberry Bay, Cameron Lake.  From there we were able to dinghy over to Fenelon Falls and meet a few Loopers and determine their departure times so we could slip into this really crowded lock wall (with power!).  We spent a few minutes talking with Bill and Mindy (Hearken) who we had last seen in Waterford NY in May of 2018.  We also dinghyed over to Rosedale and took a nice walk, picking some wild flowers along the way.  We had a nice afternoon floating and relaxing in the water later in the afternoon.

Bill and Mindy let us know they were leaving Fenelon Falls at 8:15am so we targeted arriving at that same time.  They were leaving the harbor just as we were approaching it.  Thanks so much for your help Bill and Mindy!

Success, we were able to take their spot on the now not so crowded lock wall.

We spent two days meeting other Loopers, the harbor hosts Gary and Pam and did some catching up on the blog with wifi there.  This is always a great stop.

We also enjoyed some wi-fi to update our blog and such.  But we especially enjoyed seeing videos of Lucy our granddaughter as well as some video calls.

On July 12 we departed with the hope that we could get a lock wall spot in the equally if not busier Bobcaygeon lock.  Calling ahead to the lockmaster confirmed that it was full, we chose a shoreline anchorage in Sturgeon Lake near Ball Point.  Upon arrival a jet ski circled us.  We went outside and a local cottage owner named Ron introduced himself and offered us a ride to groceries, etc.  He is also a wanna be Looper so had lots of questions including how did we choose to anchor here.  He seemed surprised but it was simply a protected spot from predicted winds.  He said in his eight years of living here, he had never seen anyone anchor there.  Hmm, worked well for us.
It was cloudy and cool so we again used the day to perform some needed maintenance and cleaning tasks aboard.  You can at least see the fruits of my labor in the sides of the flybridge!

Fisherman were around all day....but did not see them land anything.

And Julie is such a good cook.  Dinner aboard, turkey soup complete with Raspberry rhubarb crisp.  Thanks again for the rhubarb Steve and Lauretta!

Leaving our anchorage to time arrival at the Bobcaygeon lock just as they opened proved to be a good strategy.  The walls above the lock were full but a call to the lockmaster confirmed space below (which is where we wanted to be as there is power available).  Here is our prime viewing spot for all the traffic coming and going in the lock.  Quiet now...Saturday morning.

 But check this out!  First lockage Sunday morning.

They really pack them in! Sunday morning, first lockage.

We will be leaving here tomorrow.  We took good advantage of wi-fi, shopping, laundry and generally enjoyed this town.  And a visit to the Kawartha ice cream factory for fresh ice cream was pretty darn good too!
Boats arriving for Docktails organized by Greg and Nancy on Tx Au (OK got it figured out?....Texas Gold).  It was great to meet a number of Loopers, some will be in Florida this winter and we hope our paths cross there.

The ladies wanted a picture with the lockmaster.  Even after a day at one of the busiest locks on the system, while emptying garbage, he was still smiling!

Thanks for following.