Orillia, Ontario

Before we left the attractive lock wall at Fenelon Falls on Saturday, August 4, Lynn wanted to see the 1812 re-enactment in the park next to us.  Even though it was not scheduled to begin until 11 a.m. participants had been gathering since the day before and a number of them had stayed overnight in tents.  They were already in costume and setting up their areas so we strolled through and talked to a few of them.  One was chopping wood, another was cooking over an open fire.  There were all kinds of festivities planned for the day but we decided to move on.

We tied up at the blue line of the Fenelon Falls lock around 9:30 and went through the lock with three other boats.  This was a busy day of locking.  We went through a total of eight locks, almost always with a full load.  It was slow going as we had to wait for all the boats to load and sometimes we had to wait for the locks to open. The Kirkfield Lift Lock was the coolest because we started at the top on a huge tray and dropped down smoothly from there.  We didn’t have a bird’s eye view at the front of the lock but it was still a trip.

We cruised through Balsam Lake early in the day but most of the time we were on the very narrow Trent Canal which had been blasted out of rock and was not more than 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep.  It was lined with cottages whose owners were out in full force enjoying the beautiful weather  and holiday weekend.  People were swimming off their docks very close to the passing boats since the waterway was so narrow.  

Fortunately, the few boats that passed us going the opposite way were very small.  Frankly we don’t know how we would have handled a 60 foot boat coming in the opposite direction.

We had friendly lockmates throughout the day and one told us about a great marina near where we planned to anchor that was offering free dockage for transients this weekend!  So we called and they confirmed that they still had space.

We wanted to get across Lake Simcoe today because it was expected to be a rougher passage the following day.  Lake Simcoe is huge - the biggest body of water we’ve seen since Lake Ontario.  It was fun to be out in the wide open spaces having spent so much time in twisty turning narrow passageways.

We arrived at the Starport Marina at 6:30.  It’s the only marina we’ve ever seen where all the slips are covered.  They directed us to one at the very end of this large marina.  All the boats were docked stern in so they could take advantage of the picnic tables on all the docks.   But we had such a hard time making the turn in a tight space to go stern in that we said the hell with it and went bow in which is our usual practice anyway.

We had a relaxing drink to recuperate from our long day.  Jonny went to shower while Lynn made a dinner of crab cakes, boiled potatoes and green beans.  All was good until we looked for Georgio who had disappeared.  We spent the next hour looking in all of his typical hiding places then walking the docks and the surrounding grounds in the dark to find him.  As of 10:30, no Georgio.  We didn’t think he would go on the dock because there is quite a gap between our boat and the small finger piers. We were getting frantic but finally, hoping that he would return, we tried to go to sleep.  Around midnight we heard him jump back aboard and need less to say we were incredibly relieved!  He is definitely getting bolder and we will need to be much more careful going forward!

Burleigh Falls, Ontario

We left Peterborough Marina at 8:30 on Thursday August 2 so we could be on the blue line waiting for the luck to open.  There were so many boats in the marina that we didn’t want to be stuck in a long queue.  Luckily we bought, we were the first in line!  This was the Peterborough Lift Lock, the largest of its kind in the country.  Boats actually tie up onto a huge tray and the entire tray is lifted up to the higher water level while the tray across from it is lowered.  It’s an amazing piece of equipment and is definitely one of the gentlest locking experiences we have had. Jonny had taken photos f it from land the day before.  You don’t get quite the same view of it from inside but we have photos of both.

We went through a total of seven locks, many of them within a mile of each other. For most of them, we were with the same boats  - one was a big refurbished houseboat.  They are usually hard to control especially in the confines and turbulence of locks, but the owner of this one was very capable.  Here’s a photo of the houseboat next to the lift lock.

Everywhere we go people are so friendly.  We received some more advice about towns to visit and where to rent a car in the Georgian Bay for our upcoming side trip to Toronto. 

We were torn between anchoring in Stoney Lake (called that for good reason) or by the lock wall in Burleigh Falls.  We cruised through Stoney Lake but didn’t find a good place to anchor immediately due to the number of rocks and cottages. 

So we went on to check out the lock wall in Burleigh Falls.   It was located in a very small area with what looked like minimal grounds to explore and it was also next to a highway.  Fortunately, we found a good wide open anchorage just around the corner and set our anchor there.  Our anchorage was in a very pleasant spot with no other boats around and within view of the lock so we could make another early start.    

Lynn spent an hour with Verizon getting them to fix the fact that she was not receiving any phone calls.  To relax, we each took turns paddleboarding on the calm waters.  Jonny made a delicious omelet for dinner with the colorful mushrooms from the farmer’s market.  And after another fabulous sunset we called it an early night.  As of this date, we have gone through 27 locks on the Trent-Severn and have 17 more to go.  We’re past the halfway point in numbers of locks and a little under halfway through in terms of mileage with 114 miles traveled out of the 240 mile waterway.

Peterborough, Ontario

We planned a long cruise for Wednesday, July 31 traversing Rice Lake, one of the largest bodies of water on the Trent-Severn.  It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 70’s.  We had a day of smooth sailing with very little boat traffic, surprising since it was the beginning of a long four day weekend in Canada.  Once we got off of the lake we turned onto the very sinuous and picturesque Ononabee River.  This is a beautiful stretch of water.   The way it wound through the countryside it reminded us of the St. John’s River in Florida

The scenery was a combination of wooded banks and cottage colonies, some quite modest and others that were newer and larger.  

We followed it all the way to Peterborough, our destination for the day.  Peterborough is a good sized city of 81,000.  We were lucky to get a slip in the marina as they were almost full.  On Wednesday and Friday nights they have a free concert in the park adjacent to the marina.

We arrived at this very comfortable marina at about 1:30.  We had a dice dockage with our aft deck facing away from the action on the docks and no boat across from us. It was a big marina that really caters to loopers.  That afternoon, we just relaxed on board, no boat chores, laundry or cleaning.  Even Jonny took it easy and nursed his hurt knee.  That evening we had burgers on the grill and zucchini from the farmer’s market and didn’t even go into town.   Very unusual for us!

The following morning Jonny walked into town for some boat supplies and the all essential, beer.  When he returned, we both went back into town to explore this good sized town with all the amenities.

We found another great farmer’s market where we loaded up on local cheeses, fruits, and vegetables including some very colorful mushrooms. 

We had lunch in a New Orleans themed restaurant where the portions were so huge that we ate Lynn’s and brought Jonny’s home to eat later. 

Returning to Zendo, Lynn resumed her online shopping for her sister Lisa’s birthday present and Jonny went for a bike ride to check out the unique lift lock at the next lock.  We had a light salad and corn on the cob from the farmer’s market for dinner.  

By 8 p.m. the band was starting to play at the park next door.  We walked over to check them out and we were somewhat surprised to see a fairly large crowd.  The opening act was just OK but the headliners, Dwayne Gretzky (!?),  was really quite good!  They played mostly cover songs from our era so we happily sang along and danced the whole night.  The band was big enough to have a sax player in addition to all the standard instruments and two talented female singers who had all the dance moves down pat!  It was a lot of fun and we stayed until the end of the show.

When we got back to Zendo, our dock mates, Sergio and Diane came over, as promised, to share their experience boating in the Georgian Bay. They were heading back home to Montreal and they reviewed charts and the places they stayed including pristine anchorages with us.  They were very enthusiastic about their time there and we’ve been looking forward to it as the highlight of this trip.

But before they started their review, they told us that they had seen Georgio walking on the dock while we were at the concert!  They knew he shouldn’t be off the boat so they watched to see what he would do and were ready to grab him and put him back.  Luckily, he strolled back onto the boat.  We had taken a chance and left him on the aft deck while we were out thinking that the boat was high enough off the dock that he wouldn’t roam.  Well, we were wrong so we won’t be leaving him on the aft deck when we’re away any more.  He is an indoor kitty and his front paws are declawed so it’s really not too safe for him to be out and about especially in strange places. 

By the time the events of the evening were over, it was midnight - well past our bedtime these days - and we went right to bed and fell fast asleep.

Hastings, Ontario

We awoke to a beautifully  quiet and calm anchorage by the Hagues Reach lock wall on Monday, June 30. 

We  were very glad we stayed here after the hectic day of locking we had the day before.  Jonny went for a bike ride first thing in the morning.  He rode into Campbellford and brought back butter tarts from Dooher’s, the highly regarded bakeery there. Butter tarts are a big thing in this neck of the woods and now we can see why.  They are delectable little sugary pies with a delicious flaky crust and a filling that is somethin like what you would find in a pecan pie.  Most of them are plain but some have raisins or pecans. Yum!

We went through our first two locks of the day right after we left our lock wall.  The first of them was one of the tallest we’ve seen and the design (really water stains)  looked like a huge piece of modern art!

Locks 11 and 12 are at Ramey Falls.  We tied up ther to explore huge suspension (pedestrians only) bridge that spans the river there. It was quite impressive!  

There was a lot of construction next to it because they are building a new dam there. 

We arrived in Campbellford, a slightly larger town than most in the area and worth exploring. When we tied up at the town dock we saw Laurie and Bob from Miss Behavin who we had gone through locks with the day before.  They had stayed over at the lock wall. We were glad we hadn’t, our location was so much nicer.  

Walking over to the bakery, we bought more butter tarts and one of their famous salted caramel doughnuts (there was a line when we arrived)!  Everything was delicious and we assuaged our guilt in buying more tarts by deciding to freeze some of them.

Resuming our cruise, we went through two more locks.  The lock tenders take pride in the flower gardens they nurture on their grounds.

It started to sprinkle as we were in lock 14.  Lynn tied up her line and scurried through the boat to get rain jackets and close the windows.  As soon as we left the lock it started to rain harder until it was pouring buckets as we were making our way across a wide open lake.  We were under quite a storm and one that had not been forecasted at all!  As we arrived at lock 15, it started to let up.  The lock tender came out to tell us that we would have to wait for her to run the lock for two cycles in order to empty it of the deluge of water that the rain produced!  So we hunkered down for a 30 minute wait.

So we continued on our way going through three more locks (a total of eight for the day).  We arrived at the town of Hastings at 5:30 and stayed at the lock wall right behind Change of Pace with Terri and Jeff. After chatting with them for awhile we wandered into town for the fish and chips that was recommended by several of the lock tenders.  The town was pretty good sized but nowhere near as attractive as Campbellford.

Jonny was nursing his knee because he had slipped and twisted it on the aft deck ladder while we were in one of the locks.  We took it easy that evening icing his knee and pumping him full of ibuprofen to try to prevent it from swelling.

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.