We planned on 7 locks and a stop above lock 7 for the evening. But when purchasing our lock transit pass at lock one, we mentioned this and they said the lock 7 area was under construction and no tie ups are allowed. So we chose lock 6 instead. That made our day a 7 mile day instead of the 15 or so we had planned. Locks are 32' wide...two boats our size could not fit side by side in the lock with fenders deployed. Narrow!
Some of the areas like the above photo were clogged with weeds growing from the bottom of the 7 foot depths. Our large 31 inch 5 blade propellers were magnets for these and at times our speed dropped to 3 MPH or less. We then knew it was time to stop and reverse the engines to clear off the weeds. Maybe we are clearing the way for the rest of the Looper clan behind us?
The Trent Severn is 240 miles long, lifts a boat from 243 feet above sea level at Trenton, to 840 feet at Balsam Lake (lock 35) then back down to 576 feet at Port Severn (Georgian Bay of Lake Huron). There are 44 locks including one which is actually a railway that pulls you out of the water, over a hill and into the next portion of the water way. They are actually having some difficulty with this lock, The Big Chute, with boats over 30 feet or so as of this writing. Hopefully that is cleared up in a couple weeks when we will be arriving there! Our lockage pass was $219 Canadian for our one way 47' boat pass. This works out to less than $4 per lock US dollars, a pretty good value given the beauty we have seen thus far.
Frankford was a nice stop with a nice walkin
g area along the lock to the downtown area. We were able to get a few groceries, check out the community and get a nice walk in here. Weather was just fantastic.
And Tom got a chance to operate one of the lock gates. As we were walking back from one of our walks, one lockmaster was mowing and the other was just starting to close one side of the wall. So I asked if I could do the other and he said "sure". They are a bit tough to get moving but once they do they are well geared and really require little effort to move to the closed position.
Lockmaster is supervising from the other side!
This was a flight lock (two right in a row) just prior to Cambellford.
Some videos too: 1st lock opening, doors opening to scond lock
On Saturday night we had 5 boats there, four of which were Loopers.
The famous $2 coin sculpture in the park.
We stayed two nights so we were able to take a nice long walk back to lock 11, Ranney Falls, where there is a suspension bridge across the falls area.
Julie made it across even though she could see through the bridge....she did not look down!
A sort of warning sign? This was near the suspension bridge entrance!
It was a 3+ mile round trip with great trails and birds and flowers along the way.
It was another spectacular day.
In the evening we went to the local theatre and saw The Book Club. Very funny.
A map of the area we will be cruising
Hastings our next stop was another 6 locks, 20 miles, away. At the last lock the lockmaster asked about our destination for the day. We told him we had reservations at the Hastings Marina and he picked up his cell phone and called the marina for our slip assignment! That is just one example of how friendly the lock operators are. They are all so welcoming and full of local information they are willing to share. Really a nice experience.
A really cool sculpture at Hastings.
Hastings was a small town so we took a walk around town, got a couple items at the grocery store and waited for the Fed Ex truck to deliver Julie's repaired laptop we had shipped back to HP in California from Clayton NY. Fed Ex had tried to deliver it on Friday and no one at the marina would sign for it. So Julie spent time on the phone trying to arrange another delivery attempt and she was clear to them that the marina closed at 4 PM. They said it would be delivered by 5 PM. So when the marina personnel left at 4 for the day, Julie went to a shady picnic table near the office and waited. And yes, around 4:30 or so the Fed ex truck arrived with her computer! Success, the computer now works again!
We only have one lock and 39 miles today, so we did not leave until around 8:30.
Rice Lake is a pretty large (but shallow) lake and one wants to get a day without significant winds to cross it. We hit that for sure, there was hardly a ripple on it. Just a few fishermen (or women) on the lake. The waterway got very narrow on the entrance to the Otonabee River but was a beautiful portion of the trip. We shared the one lock with a Jet Ski, the first lock on the Trent Severn that we have shared with another vessel. I guess that shows how early in the season we really are . The lock hours do not even get to "peak season" until June 22.
Peterborough is a fairly large town. We took a walk through downtown to check things out a bit. The grocery store right near the marina. A nice offering of groceries here.
We also took a walk over to the lift lock that we will go through on Friday. They also had a museum on site that told the story of the waterway and specifically the building of this lock in 1904. It took five years to dig the canals, pour the concrete (unreinforced too, poured in one foot pours) and only steam power in those days! It is quite an interesting place and we look forward to going through the lock. It is the world's largest lift lock working with gravity and the hydraulics provided by water/weight/gravity. Very interesting engineering. And an easy lock for boaters as all one needs to do is tie off and enjoy the ride as the water level in the lock basin does not change. The entire "bath tub" raises or lowers on a hydraulic ram.
Going up....a 90 second 65' ride.
From the museum.
And today.
And here is a quiz for you. What must they do if no boats are being lowered in the upper chamber and a lock full of boats in the lower waiting for the lift? Remember, the upper lock has to be heavier to create the power to raise the lower one. Do they need to add extra water (more weight than normal) to account for the weight of the number of boats in the lower chamber? Well, simple physics applies. A boat displaces its own weight in water so no adjustments need be made, they just have the extra foot of water in the upper lock as always. Here is a link to the lock if you want to learn more. Pretty amazing this was all done in 1904!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterborough_Lift_Lock
We had a great conversation with the lock operator, Rob. He gave us good information on a different route back to our boat along with restaurant and shopping recommendations. They are so friendly....and he said he would be looking for us on Friday!
A big thunderstorm rolled through and much debris entered the marina basin. Hopefully the huge railroad tie (tough to see in the photo) was towed away by marina personnel! You can see the murky water and some debris in this photo
More soon....
