Update 7/17/07 - On the Trent Severn

Hello to all.

We are presently in Orillia, Ontario at approximately mile 199 on the Trent Severn Waterway. Its been a varied trip up the waterway with lots to see and some very narrow and shallow spots. In the process, at Balsam Lake, we reached the highest point (above Sea level) anywhere in the world that a boat can travel under its own power.

After my last update, the next stop was Cambellford. There we visited the Chocolate Factory and the Military Museum. The Military Museum is a private collection of airplanes, vehicles and equipment of all kinds from WWI though the 1970’s. In addition, in the body shop across the way they manufacture cars to order. These cars have modern running gear but classic bodies such as 1957 Chevrolets. The bodies are copies custom built out of fiberglass. Very interesting!

From there, we stopped at Lock 17-Healy Falls which is peaceful and remote. We walked over to see the falls and enjoyed a quiet evening there. After that it was Hastings for the weekend. Hastings is a nice small town where the lock is located right in the middle of town. We enjoyed the farmer’s market and the Legion Yard sale and walked around quite a bit. Jean leaned about Poutine – a local dish consisting of French Fries, cheese and gravy and we had a nice fish and chips dinner with Ron and Angela from Jolly Tolly.

Sure hope they open they bridge!

Our Anniversary - Hastings Ontario

After 3 nights in Hastings we went to Lock 19 which is near Peterborough. We walked into town to find the Chamber of Commerce and Boaters World and to see the marina since we were staying at the lock. The next morning we went to the Peterborough lift lock where our youngest son Bill joined us. After a tour of the visitors center we went up the lock and proceeded on, finally stopping a lock 26 (Lakefield) for the night.

The pans of the Peterborough Lift Lock

The Peterborough lift lock is the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world. You drive your boat into a pan about 6 feet deep and large enough to accommodate approximately 6 boats like Sun Cat. A similar pan is 65 feet above and next to you for the boats going down. Each pan sits on a large column that essentially is a hydraulic cylinder like we steer the boat with. When the boats are loaded, the gates are closed and an extra foot of water let into the top pan. This makes the top pan 130 tons heavier than the bottom pan and a valve between the two columns is opened and the top pan comes down and pushes the bottom one up. Simple but still amazing!

After the lift lock we traveled through 5 conventional locks in the next 7 miles before stopping at lock 26 for the night. Bill got a quick but intense lesson in locking that day!

The next stop was the village of Buckhorn. Buckhorn is small and we walked around a bit. We did find the bakery and got to try some (more) local bread. After that it was on to Bobcaygeon, which was very busy. We walked around quite a bit, found the bakery again and also toured the museum which was primarily about the town’s start as a lumbering center.

Bill & Jean in Buckhorn

After that it was on to Fenlon Falls which is a very active tourist town with a pretty waterfall. We stayed at the top of the lock next to a very pretty park but right near the center of everything.

Docked in Fenlon Falls

The next day was probably the hardest we had. We went through our last “up” lock at Rosedale and went out into Balsam Lake which is 840 feet above sea level. Then we went into the Trent Canal. This was a real nail biter. It was so narrow we could not have turned the boat around if we wanted to and there were few places wide enough to pass another boat. The sides were rock lined and the whole canal was only 6 feet or so deep. We then started down beginning with the Kirkfield Hydraulic lift lock which is the second highest lift lock in the world. However for us it was a down so we drove into a pan which was over 50 feet above the canal below. That was followed by two lakes both of which had only narrow shallow channels with lots of weed. The second (Canal Lake)had so much weed we had to stop several times to reverse the props to clear off the weeds. We then went through a series of down locks, stopping at lock 39 for the night. Lock 39 is a quiet park setting with nothing but farms around it although we did get some train noise.

Sun Cat at Lock 39

After that it was 3 more locks and then across Lake Sincoe, arriving at Orilla on Sunday afternoon. That evening we attended at “pot luck” with other loopers including Sea Knight, Irish Eyes, Sue Sea Q, Restless Spirit and Sequel. We also took Bill out to dinner to celebrate his birthday. The next day we rented a car and drove him back to Peterborough to get his car for him to start his drive home. It was nice to get in a visit with him and he was a big help going through the locks.

Today we are going to get the bikes out and play tourist. We're continuing to have a great time in Canada and are looking forward to the AGLCA Rendezvous coming up.


Steve and Jean

M/V Sun Cat