Hastings

Friday, July 10

It was a very quiet evening in an older small marina, we were far and away the largest boat, and most of the others were all locals. The only power available was a 20 amp circuit on a long extension cord; we ran the generator and stayed on the inverter for the night. We were serenaded all evening by a choir of bull frogs.

This morning the local blue heron that had been around last night was standing on a finger pier right across from us. Diana took this picture from the door of the boat.

At 8:30 Tom the mechanic and his assistant Rick were down at the boat to look at the stuffing box. They had a terrible time getting to it since with the “V” drives it is behind the engine and under the drive housing. They final got it loosened, added one more round of stuffing and tightened it back up. It is still dripping more then I would like, hopefully the new stuffing will swell a little.

It was an absolutely perfect morning; cool earlier but with bright sunshine and light winds it warmed quickly. By 11:00 we were off. Today’s journey was down the rest of the Otonabee River about 18 miles, into Rice Lake for another 12 and 4 miles into the Trent River to the next lock at Hastings, ON.

This stretch of the Otonabee is easy boating with good water (12 to 20 feet) through the entire river. Most of the shore is undeveloped and much is low and marshy, there are occasional stretches of a few homes and cottages. The traffic was light except for many fishermen. We did pass two couples out for a quiet kayak trip.

We came around one corner to see in the middle of undeveloped shore this beautiful old home, it look like it has been there a very long time, Diana was a little slow getting the camera out. The captain was pushing eight miles an hour so things go by in a hurry.

Rice Lake is some 20 miles long and 2 to 3 wide is a large shallow lake. Large areas of the shore are productive wild rice beds, thus the name. The navigation is straight forward, the Otonabee enters the north side west of the middle and the Trent River exits at the south east corner. It is almost a straight shot for 12 miles. The only tricky part is there use to be a railroad trestle across the lake, the trestle is long gone but the underwater cribs it sat on are still there. There are buoys to get you safely through, you just have to find them.

Hastings is a lovely little town right along the river. The guide book said the best tie up was above the lock. As we approached we could see several boats already tied up but it look like enough room for us just in front of the boat at the left of the picture. We went in and tied up and Diana took pictures from the bow looking past the other boats at a very low bridge that is just upstream from the lock gate. The lock attend swings the bridge when he opens the gate. From the other side of the bow the view is of town.

I went exploring, found a RBC bank for an ATM, a grocery store and the town laundry. While Diana did a load of laundry I pick up a few items at the grocery and work on posting the Peterborough blog entries. There is a village marina right across the river and I can pick up their Wi-Fi from the boat.

When Diana got back from the laundry we walked to the bridge and a pizzeria right next to it. The pizza was good and there are left over for another day. After dinner we went for a short walk.

Another very good day.

Peterborough

Thursday, July 9

First no more complaints about the weather (at least for a while). Yesterday was forecast high near 70, light wind and 60% chance of rain, actual three or for periods of light sprinkles (never more than five minutes) light winds and high in the mid 70s. Today was more light winds, beautiful clear skies and high near 80. About perfect except if we were racing sailboats.

The plain for today had been to do less than 20 miles with seven locks and go into the Peterborough Municipal Marina, right down town. Last night I decided that a change was needed. For almost the entire trip I have been getting an accumulation of water in the bilge under the engines. There are stuffing boxes around the drive shaft where it goes through the hull, they are designed to be water lubricated and should leak a very little (or their too tight).

There are three section of the bilge divided by stringers, one under each engine and one in the middle, there is an automatic bilge pump in the middle. The stuffing boxes have been leaking enough that every third or fourth day I would go down and bail the water out, either with a sponge and bucket or use the small shop-vac we have on board. Port engine has been worse than the starboard, but in the last few days the starboard has gotten worse and I need to bail almost daily.

I found in the guide small marina about four miles (and one more lock) beyond Peterborough that showed mechanical services. I called and Tom said he could help us, if we came in tonight he would work on the stuffing boxes in the morning when the engines were cool. I called Peterborough Marina and cancelled our reservation.

With the idea of a relatively long day we got underway a little before 8:00. We cruised the short distance out of the Young’s Point channel into Katchewanooka Lake, the last of the beautiful Kawartha Lakes. It was a six mile run to the first lock of the day at Lakefield. The geology of the area has changed; we are out of the heavy granite and into limestone with much different shorelines. There are more marshy areas and the shoreline is much softer. From Lakefield to Rice Lake we will be in the Ontonabee River. We have been seeing more raptors in this area both osprey and about six bald eagles.

At Lakefield there is a narrow channel around the dam to the lock. We head in and around the corner meet a large trawler headed the other way. We slowed to almost a stop and pulled to the side and he squeezed by. We got to the lock and tied to the blue line as they were locking others up. The first out was a lovely 44 foot trawler cat with a 19 foot beam. I sure glad we didn’t meet him in the narrow channel.

The lock staff said they would leave the gates open and we could go in and tie up, but they had to go back to the dam and make adjustments to the water flow, it would be 15 or 20 minutes. It made for a bit of a slow start. Soon they were back and we were on our way.

From here on the next four locks are between a mile and a half and half a mile apart, the lock masters communicate with each other and try to be ready for you. The next two the gates were open and we went right in. Diana got a picture along the river bank of this blue heron contemplating the morning breakfast menu. Also a picture looking back at the dam structure as we left a lock.

At the next lock the lower gates were open and they were waiting for boats going the other way. When they finally exited there were not only the three big boats pictured but four more small boats in the back corner of the lock. They do an amazing job of squeezing boats into the lock.

We were soon through that lock and the next and then it was on five miles to the lift lock. Much of that is in a channel separate from the Ontonabee River; most is remote and scenic until you come to Trent University which sits right beside the water. This building looked like it could be the library. Soon we had the lift lock in site with the Island Princess coming out. She is a seventy foot tour boat that runs out of Peterborough, through a conventional lock, then the lift lock, and turns around for the return trip.

We had been locking through the earlier locks with a Mainship and a small I/O, we loaded and the lock staff said they would like to get the Island Princess in too. We all squeezed forward and she just got in.

The Peterborough Lock is the highest lift lock in the world at 65 feet, but the operation is the same as Kirkfield. See the Kirkfield entry for details of operation. The biggest differance in the two locks is that Kirkfield has a lot of structural steel and Peterborough is mostly concrete. Because of the problem I have with too many pictures I have created a separate pictures only blog entry of all the pictures from the lift lock.

It was very different to stand on the boat and look down on the roof of the visitor’s center and the cars across the way. Another highlight of our trip.

We proceed down to the next lock only half a mile away and the three of us locked through together, the small boat had turned around and were going back up at Peterborough. The Island Princess apparently had been a lunch cruise, they were serving cake as we locked through, I didn’t manage to get any. We exited the lock and the Island Princess turn into little lake past the fountain to their dock while we continued down river to the last lock of the day about a mile ahead.

I have praised the helpful Parks Canada lock staff in the past, today at Lock 19, Scotts Mills; we meet Chad the champion of hospitality (at least so far). He was friendly and helpful. He asked for our camera and took pictures of us together on the boat, and then he suggested we should know how the lock works and invited us to close the gate.

We left Chad and had another few miles to the little marina with the mechanic; we got there just before 4:00 closing. It was a long day, but very enjoyable, we are both exhausted.

Pictures of Peterborough Lift Lock

Young’s Point

Wednesday, July 8

First, Happy Anniversary to us, we are celebrating fourteen years today.

We started out the day by heading out of Big Bob Channel and leaving Bobcaygeon behind us. Gordon Marina was just across the way from the lock wall, I found last night I could just barely get their Wi-Fi signal on the boat.

We were quickly out into Pigeon Lake, another of the beautiful lakes in the area. It is about ¾ to a mile and a half wide and long. Our route took us in one side down about five miles and out the other side. There is at least five miles more both north and south of where we entered. Somewhere on the lake is the Pigeon Lake Yacht Club. They race scow similar to what I have always sailed. They have M-16s, M-20s and a few “E”s. I was only able to locate the club, maybe before the return trip I can get the location.

We continue to see many lovely homes, many still just summer places. Big boathouses are part of many of them, both new and old.

From Pigeon the Gannon Narrows led to Buckhorn Lake. We continued the ten mile length of Buckhorn to the first lock of the day, Buckhorn Lock. We got off the boat while they readied the lock just long enough to get a picture of the large buck statue at the lock and a picture of Memories on the blue line.

The lock leads to Lower Buckhorn Lake, it is small and shallower. The channel passes close to many small islands. At the end of Lower Buckhorn is the Lovesick Lock leading to Lovesick Lake. This lock is located between two islands and the lock staff comes to work by boat. Since the only access is by water it is the most remote of the locks and a very pretty setting. All the locks are nice park areas but Lovesick is special.

It is only a couple of miles across Lovesick, past more beautiful islands, and sometimes the channel runs close between them even though there appears to be more room on either side (just not much water). Then it is through Burleigh Falls Lock. No picture of the lock but this is the outflow from the dam rejoining the channel.

We are now in Stony Lake, there is no question how it got its name. The channel actually goes thru just a short section of the end of a larger lake, but it is a tight winding channel through lots of rock. Stretches of the channel have names like “Hurricane Bend” and “Hell’s Gate”. Just after leaving Hell’s Gate, St Peter’s Anglican Church sits on its own private island. Worshippers come from all around the area come by boat for services; they have a large floating dock on the backside of the island.

Once we are through all the rocks we are into Clear Lake, it is a nice straight, open three mile run to the other end where we come to Young’s Point Lock. We planned to spend the night on the lower wall, as we approached it looked pretty busy. We tied to the blue line and I went to check, there was a rental houseboat on the lower wall but it looked like there was room behind him.

We locked on through and when we got out he was ready to lock up, we went on by to give him room to get out and turn around then we went in where he had been. Young’s Point was settled by the Young family from Ireland in 1825. Three generations were active in the area and they ran a steamboat company from this location. When the Trent Waterway was proposed they donated the land for this lock.

The grandson lived in a home right next to the lock. Today his home is the Lockside Trading Company. They have a little bit of everything, furniture, cast iron drawer pulls, clothes and much more. Most importantly they have ice cream; we had an anniversary ice cream cone.

If you note in the picture of Memories on the lower wall there is a power pole upper center of the picture. There is an Osprey nest on it, but from the boat we can only see the bottom of the nest. Diana had to walk up the grass a ways to get the picture of adult and young then the adult and young with the other adult just leaving.

We have been seeing lots of birds. There were other Osprey as we traveled today and although we see loons regularly, today there seemed to be more and closer. We heard them many times today.

Another glorious day.

Bobcaygeon day two

Tuesday, July 7

First a word about the blog, I am finding that keeping the blog updated is taking more time than I can afford to put into it. I can write the text and then copy it to the blog when I get internet access, but the pictures must then be uploaded to the blog and they all go at the front and must be dragged and dropped to where I want them. It is a slow and frustrating process. The solution I am going to try is to reduce the number of pictures I put in each days entry. The scenery is going to still be beautiful and the locks interesting but the number of pictures will just be fewer. I will try this for a few days and see how it works. Your feedback would be welcome.

Today was a non travel day. Bobcaygeon is an interesting little down and because it is on an island very compact, everything is in walking distance. Last night I found a hardware store that does propane tank exchanges so this morning I got a full container for the BBQ. I then found a coffee shop with Wi-Fi to do the last three blog entries and catch up on e-mail. Diana walked to the post office (far side of the island) to mail a couple of cards and then did some shopping on her way back.

Since it was a cold rainy morning, we had gotten a very slow start; it was now almost 1:00. While I was on the internet this morning I checked the Ontario Waterway Cruise’s web site for the schedule of the Kawartha Voyageur knowing she was somewhere in the area. It showed she should be through Bobcaygeon today. I check with the lockmaster on the way back and was told she was expected within the hour. This is the cruise we did in 2005 to interest Diana in this area.

Sure enough about 30 minutes later there she was. She is a big boat for these restricted waters. She locked through then pulled to the wall across from us for a couple hours before continuing to Rosedale for the evening. This gives the passengers a chance to stretch their legs, see the nice little town and keeps the local merchants happy to have the Kawartha Voyageur around.

We then had a late lunch and walked back into town for some groceries since it was only a block and a half. When we got back it looked like space had opened up on the wall below the lock, I went done and verified it and came back and told the lock master we would lock down when they could be ready for us.

We got underway did another 180 in tight quarters, but with less wind today, locked through and tied to the lower wall. The picture shows the view looking back at the lock from our new location. Now we can be on our way in the morning without waiting for the lock.

It was another good day, if somebody would just turn the heat on. The temperature has been in the low 50s over night and struggles to get to 70 during the day. This is well below normal for this area.

Bobcaygeon

Monday, June 6

We left Kirkfield behind us and head out the long man made cut that leads to Balsam Lake. We are now at the highest point on the Trent Severn Waterway, 840.4 feet above sea level. I have read that this is the highest you can navigate a boat direct from the ocean. The area we are in now was the divide between the Trent water shed and the Severn. The area is all limestone and in the late 1800 they just trenched the canal through the rock and piled the rubble along the bank, the piles are still visible today.

We head across Balsam Lake and soon were head to the Rosedale Lock. This is our first down lock of the summer; it is only a four foot drop. From there it is only 3.5 miles to Fenelon Falls and the next lock. As you approach the channel into Fenelon Falls there is an old swing bridge that is permanently open but it looks a little intimidating but actually has lots of room.

We head for the lock and there is a row of small shops right across the street from the approach wall. We wait for a couple of boats to exit the lock then we lock through. It has been a bit cool this morning so we decide to tie to the wall below the lock and have a bowl of soup for lunch.

After lunch we got a picture of the garden in the park across the canal from us and took a short walk to stretch our legs. We got a picture of Memories and the falls.

We continue to be impressed with the helpful courteous Parks Canada staff at all of the locks. Without exception they have been very helpful and friendly.

We decide our break is over and get underway again. The next stretch is a river section heading from Fenelon Falls down to Sturgeon Lake. There are lovely homes and cottages along both banks and there appears to be no set back requirement in the building code.

Sturgeon is a beautiful large lake, it is “Y” shaped with most of it being one to two miles wide. Our route enters at the top of the “Y” goes down around the point and then up the other arm to exit at the top on the other side. The total distance we travel on the lake is just over twelve miles. There are now nice homes all around the lake, but the point was originally a summer area for people that arrived by train then a steam ferry out to the point. These are some of the homes along the point.

We exited Sturgeon Lake and were quickly at Bobcaygeon. Bobcaygeon is built on three islands in the river and a lovely little town with everything in walking distance. The two private islands as you approach the lock are in addition to the three the town is on.

We had planned to lock thru and spent the night on the lower wall. We pulled to the blue line and I went to check if there was space available, it didn’t look promising. After consultation with the lock staff we decide to do a “U” turn and tie across from the blue line for the night.

The area I had to turn the boat around is only about 80 feet wide and narrows as you approach the lock, in the other direction there was boats on both walls, and the wind was blowing towards the lock at about 20 and gusty. We made the turn without any problem and had lots of help with lines when we got to the other wall. The thruster helped a lot. I think I could have done it without them but it would have been tense and taken a lot more work.

I am very pleased with the thruster. With all the maneuvering in and out of locks they make life much easier.

We walked into town and found the chamber of commerce, they answered our questions for all the errands we need to do tomorrow.

Since we have an anniversary in a couple of days we walked back up town and had a lovely Italian dinner to celebrate a little early.

It was another good day.

Kirkfield Lift Lock

The two lift locks, the other is at Peterborough, are marvels of early twentieth century engineering, they are both over one hundred years old. The principal is a huge hydraulic ram that lifts a tub of water. The secret is that there are two pans and their hydraulic rams are cross connected. The cross connection is closed, the ends of the tubs fold down to allow boats access, and when they are loaded, the ends closed; the cross connection is opened and since the upper chamber has been loaded with an extra foot of water it becomes a giant teeter-totter.

Here are pictures of the far chamber up and the near down and then reversing their positions. Although the total time is longer because of opening and closing of valves and adding water when the chamber reaches the top, the actual travel time to go up 47 feet was just over two minutes. The size of the tank is 100 feet by 30 by 6 feet deep, note the lock attendants in the red shirts in the pictures for reference. There is also a road that runs under the approach to the upper end of the chambers.

Monday morning it was our turn. The pictures are looking forward and back as we entered the chamber, then Diana looking off the back, looking forward and back after we reached the top and finally looking down at the road as we exit the chamber. Amazingly the chambers go down into a pit that although below water level is dry. On the shady moist wall of this pit is a healthy growth of ferns.

The final picture is looking back as we leave the lock; in the middle distance are guard gates that can be closed to stop water from reaching the lock. This is done for maintenance and in the winter to dry the system out and prevent ice damage. In 2005 Diana and I cruised on the Kawartha Voyager, a cruise boat that plies these waters. The company has an arrangement with Parks Canada that they but the boat behind the guard gate and when the water is drained they have their vessel in dry dock for the winter.