Warsaw, Ontario

First thing we did on the morning of Sunday, July 29 was to walk across the street to a very good supermarket called Metro to do a little grocery shopping.  And by 9:30 we were underway on our foray through the Trent Severn Waterway.  Within a mile we encountered the first of the 44 locks we would be going through on the 240 miles of this historic waterway.

This waterway took 90 years to complete.  The desire was to find a good route  (free of possible military intervention by Americans)  to transport men and supplies from northern Canada to to the southern border.  Efforts to build a route from Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario began in 1834 in bits and pieces but was frequently thwarted and was not entirely completed until 1920.  Today the waterway is a wonderful draw for boaters, tourists and an important source of electric power due to the many locks and dams. 

The route took us through serene low lying flatlands, farmlands and other areas with lots of summer cottages.

Throughout the day we went through a total of 10 locks and met a number of interesting people.  We chatted with Phyllis and Bob, aboard the sailboat Gabriel whose mast was stepped due to the low bridges encountered en route.  They were returning to their home in Michigan having traveled all the way to the Florida Keys. 

After awhile we ended up in the same locks as a huge old tourist canal boat that had seen much better days.  It was being crewed by four men who were taking it further into Ontario to be totally refurbished.  It was rather unwieldy, traveling like a wide barge and it struggled just a little inside the locks.  Because the boat was so large, the locks could only handle two, maybe three, additional boats if they weren’t too large.  And the third one could only be accommodated if it rafted up to ours.  So that’s how we got to meet Laurie and Bob on Misbehaving.  They rafted up to us for three of the locks.

One bit of excitement occurred when Jonny who was busily chatting with the small boat behind us in the lock, neglected to tend his line.  As the lock lifted, the line that he had tied became so tight that try as he might, he was unable to free it.  Finally he called Lynn who was handling the line on the bow of the boat to get the knife from the fly bridge and he cut the line.  It was his favorite line but had he not done it, we would have had a big problem!  Another story for the archives...

We decided to stop for the night on the lock wall at lock #10, Hague’s Reach.  We were the only boat docked at this peaceful park-like setting.  

The lock master gave us the keys to the squeaky clean bathroom and we were set for the night.  We celebrated our first day on the beautiful Trent-Severn Waterway with some liquid refreshments.

Afterwards, we had sausage and peppers for dinner on the aft deck.  Georgio, however, decided to be naughty and jumped off of the boat onto the grassy lawn.  This is the first time he had ventured so far from the boat, in fact only the second time he even tried to get off of it. Jonny spotted him halfway across the lawn near a picnic table and when he called him, Georgio froze and then quickly returned to the boat.  After that he had to stay inside with all the doors closed.  He wasn’t happy about that at all since he really likes to sleep on the aft deck chairs at night. That’s no longer possible if we are docked on a level basis with the shoreline.

We did manage to have another spectacular sunset after a busy and eventful day of travel.

Trenton, Ontario

We set off from our Picton anchorage on Saturday, July 28 at 8 a.m. for a beautiful cruise to Trenton.  The water was like glimmer glass and the sky was clear and sunny.  There was very little boat traffic on the wide open waters of Quinte Bay.  As the day wore on, clouds started to roll in and  ind and waters kicked up so we were very glad we left early.

When we got close to Trenton we called the marina about where to get a pump-out as this, excellent in every other way, marina did not have one.  They told us that the pump-out located nearby was not functioning and we would have to backtrack for an hour to find one!  Jonny, as ever resourceful, thought to call the yacht club which we were directly across from to see if they had one.  They did and only charged us $15 which is low for Canada!

The Trent Port Marina where we had reservations is hands-down the nicest marina we’ve ever been to.  The city has obviously decided to invest in it since this is the entryway to the Trent-Severn Waterway, a fantastic cruising ground that draws people from far and wide.  It is an especially popular part of those who cruise all or part of the Great Loop.  The grounds of this marina were exquisite, as well landscaped as any high end hotel. 

The marina building is very contemporary with an almost sailboat-like appearance.

The washrooms are are laid out as self-contained, nicely decorated pods, each containing its own large shower, sink, toilet and spacious dressing area and each bigger than our bathrooms in our Miami Beach home!  The laundry facilities are free and include detergent and dryer sheets.  There is a very comfortable and inviting cruisers lounge with computers available for use.  An herb garden invited cruisers to help themselves to a wide variety of fresh herbs which Lynn eagerly  availed herself of.

Two grocery stores are across the street from the marina and the center of town, just a couple of blocks away.  This marina is so attractive that a wedding was taking place the afternoon we were there.  Clearly, Trent Port Marina deserved all of its five star ratings!

We spent the afternoon cleaning Zendo and dining on board.  We were visited by this tiny boat with its happy occupants!  

It was after sunset when we finally walked into town.  It looked like a nice town but almost everything was closed by 9 p.m.  Apparently there is live music several nights a week and farmer’s markets twice a week but we missed both.

We returned to Zendo to finalize our plans for the following day when we would start our journey on the Trent Severn Waterway on our way to the Georgian Bay and North Channel.

Picton, Ontario

On Friday, July 27 we cruised through the western end of the 1000 Islands completing our sojourn through this special part of the world.  We left our dock at the 1000 Island Playhouse in Gananoque at 7 a.m. on a beautiful, partly sunny day.  There were white caps on the water but it was not a rough ride. 

After cruising past Kingston we re-entered the big waters of Lake Ontario briefly before entering the protected Bay of  Quinte.

We had a long day of cruising and though it was sunny, it was so windy that we had to alternatively put on and take off our windbreakers.  Fortunately, the water just had a slight chop because we were mainly in protected passageways.  We settled into our long day cruising routine listening to the radio with Jonny at the helm and Lynn knitting and working on her new needlepoint project. Georgio continued roaming around the boat making himself comfortable wherever he landed.

After reading some good food reviews in Picton we decided to stop there for the night. It looked like a cool town up a little branch off of the bay.  We tried to reserve a slip at one of the marinas (or at least a mooring ball) but none were available.  So we cruised a bit further out from the harbor and found a good place to anchor close enough to dinghy into town. 

We dinghied about a mile to get to town but there was no town dock to tie up to.  We had to call a couple  hotels and marinas before we found somewhere that would let us tie up!  Once we secured our dinghy, we walked up the hill to this good-sized little town.  Strolling the streets we found nice, up-to-date shops and a vibrant center.

We found the Acoustic Cafe’ which had won a number of local awards for the quality of its food and beer. Even as early as 6 p.m., it was full but we were able to score a table in the bar until 7 when it was reserved and also when the live music was to begin.  We ordered beers and sandwiches and settled in to await the live music.  Then our server informed us that the reservation for our table was cancelled so we were free to stay and enjoy the performer which we did.

By 8 p.m. we dinghied back to Zendo.  The outboard which was just overhauled was running sluggishly so we will have to have that looked at.  The next day we would leave for Trenton, Ontario, the official start of the next phase of our journey on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

Gananoque, Ontario

We had a short cruise on Thursday, July 26 heading for Gananoque, Ontario.  The first thing we had to do was to go through customs.  We had been staying on the New York side of the 1000 Islands for five days and now we planned to spend a couple of days on the Canadian side. We headed over to Rockport, a little hamlet where we thought we could sign in quickly.  As we approached the customs dock, the local dockmaster told us we could just call in and give them our number.  But our phone service was very spotty at the time cutting back and forth between our U.S. and Canadian carriers so we pulled up to the dock.  We finally reached customs by phone.  The customs agent, as always, asked about our ship’s store.  When Jonny listed our rather extensive inventory of wine, beer and liquor he admonished us for having too much but let it go because we were on the loop! This is the second time we were excused for being in Canada for an extended period of time!

We walked around Rockport, a cute little bend-in-the-road kind of place.  There were some old time stores and charming vintage signage.

The predominant activity was the array of tour boats that drew buses and cars requiring extensive parking lots throughout the tiny hamlet.  We imagined it must have been a lot prettier before they “paved paradise and put up the parking lots”!  Even though it was still morning, we indulged ourselves by sharing an ice cream cone before returning to Zendo.

Resuming our cruise, we went by some minuscule islets and some homes on larger islands that were quite attractive.  Many of these 1000 Islands homes (of all sizes) seem to be summer homes. 

A few hours later we arrived in Gananoque by 1 p.m. This larger town of 5200 was recommended particularly because it has an excellent community  theatre and one of David and Mary Ann’s favorite restaurants.  The theatre is located on the waterfront and has docks available for patrons to attend the shows there.

It makes sense since so many  people, especially the summer residents, get around these islands by boat since most of the islands are not accessible by car.  We had purchased tickets for the show that night and planned to staying overnight so they charged us a fee of $30 for the privilege.  We tied up at the outside dock space assigned to us but we were a little concerned because it was very rolly.  But we figured the river traffic would settle down as the day wore on and so it did. 

We had early dinner reservations before the show so we had a light lunch on board before venturing into town.  Gananoque is quite a nice community.  We walked up the hill and over a bridge and stopped at the visitor’s center to get a lay of the land.  The downtown area was appealing with attractive architecture and a nice variety of shops.

Lynn wanted to see the sculpture garden in a nearby park.  In trying to find it we passed the local brew pub three times until Jonny couldn’t stand it any more and decided to stop for a beer while Lynn found the garden.  The sculptures were scattered through a park that overlooked a scenic waterfall.  

After returning to Zendo to change our clothes, we walked back into town for dinner.  Riva was in a beautifully restored historic inn and we had a delicious dinner there.

We walked back to the theatre and saw Harvest.  It was an excellent two person production of a story written by a Canadian about a retirement aged couple who unknowingly rented their farmhouse to pot growers and encountered all kinds of problems as a result. The actors were terrific and the show was both touching and funny.  Apparently this theatre has productions six nights a week all through the summer.  No wonder it was so highly recommended!

All we had to do was walk outside the theatre to return to Zendo.  We went right to bed as we were planning to leave for our last cruise in the 1000 Islands early the next morning.