For the next 240 miles we will encounter a total of 37 single lift locks, two sets of 2 flight locks, two hydraulic lift locks and one railway carriage crossing.
Heading out from Trenton to Port Severn for our 240 mile trek.
It’s nice to have a buddy boat to take your picture, thank you Barefoot’n
A long narrow entrance to the first lock
Another first. We have rafted up at anchor on the Tenn-Tom, but not in a lock. Pazza Bella is set and waiting for us. Should be interesting.
This is Mike, the Pazza (crazy in Italian) half. We were to be lock buddies for the 45 locks on the Trent Severn waterway. Won’t we have fun!!!
The conventional lift locks are still operated manually. Round and round he goes till the doors are closed or opened.
This lift was 20 feet.
Lock #5 at Trent had me a little nervous on the back side of the chamber,17 feet lift.
If we couldn’t keep track of which lock we are in, the sign at the top will keep us in the loop.
The lock masters house here at lock 5 was built in 1936 of red brick and stone. Most were shacks left over from the construction of the locks which have been rebuilt.
At lock #8 the lockmaster did not think we would all fit, we assured him we would. He and his assistant watched with total amazement. He radioed to the next lock and notified we were coming to let us in, ”They know what they’re doing. You won’t think they’ll fit, but they will. You won’t believe it till you see it,” said the lockmaster. His assistant said, “These are good boaters.” We came out being “Lock Stars.” That’s a term Seaglide used.
Twists and turns along the waterway give way to marshes for waterfowl
Glimpses of houses, farms and fields were seen between the tree lined banks.
Lock # 10, Haig’s Reach, was more intimidating than #5. A lift of 24 feet. We had to pull the boat forward to clear the dinghy of the closing door. Then drift back into rafting with our buddy. This was a good time to end our day once past this lock.
Another first, tying up on a lock wall overnight. After 10 locks we were pretty wore out. The next day would be a “flight lock” of two.
A new day and another first, a “flight lock” of 2 . What this means is, there are sequential locks when you have a substantial amount of rise in a short distance. We motored up to the blue line to wait for our lockage.
Ranney Falls # 11 and 12 is the first of two flight locks we will go through. A combined lift of 48 feet. The doors are open, in we go to the first chamber for a 24 feet lift, then into the second chamber for another 24 feet lift.
See Grace, she’s checking the clearance for our bow pulpit.
I shall call this, “the giraffe lock “. This is Veronica, the “Bella” (beautiful in Italian) half.
Each lock master puts his personal touch on his lock grounds. Unfortunately, someone had stolen his pump so, no running water in the fall today.
The little figure on top is an Inuksuk meaning “likeness of a person” in Inuit language. It is a marker or signpost in Northern Canada. They are made of rock slabs, in the shape of a person with their arms and legs stretched out to guide or channel caribou into areas where the Inuit can harvest them. The longer arm shows you the way. An open leg found near water points to a safe channel.
A pair of osprey
A release of water at this lock had us all a little edgy. We asked if that was normal, he said yes.
Ok, enough is enough! I really don’t like the water spilling over the doors behind us.
Our second flight of 2 locks, #16 and 17. A total of 76 feet
We were getting lock punchy and came up with a few songs. “Let me lock you, lock you gently, don’t you know, that I will lock you, like you have never been locked before.” And…”We will, we will, lock you.
A carved eagle out of a tree stump
A monument at Bewdley, ON Canada for Joseph Scriven, author of the well known hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”.
Lock 18 and another exhausting day of 8 locks. We tied up to the blue line and met for docktails on Barefootn before dinner at Banjos in Hastings.
Vicki and Grace
Mike and Veronica, Pazza Bella
Larry and Cindy
Jeff and Heidi
Vicki and Randy, Barefootn
Tied on the wall at Hastings.
Rice Lake. Love the clouds in Canada.
Lock #19 Scott’s Mills, one of the oldest locks, shows off the original hand cut limestone slab blocks that made this lock 150 years ago.
Canadians love their flower beds. After the long winters, they are first in line for spring plantings (May 1).
Another style of hand control for the doors. The flood valve control is on the door, also turned by hand.
These ducks were working hard for a snack.
Bottoms up
A change in our routine. This lock was shorter in length so we split our teams. The lockmaster calls the larger boats in first then fills the space with smaller craft. Most of the locks measure 154 feet in length by 32 feet width. Our 4 boats will fill the chamber.
Arriving to Peterborough we passed the Centennial Fountain in the middle of Little Lake shooting its 250 foot water spout. During summer it gives a multi color light show in the evening.
Peterborough Marina on Little Lake. Darrf V is on the wall
Group shot before heading for a Mexican dinner. Ray and Arlene have joined us from Darrf V
Clock Tower in Peterborough
Peterborough began settlement in 1820 by the areas first white settler, Adam Scott. Later the town was named after Peter Robinson who led 2,000 Irish immigrants to encourage the emigration of paupers.
Peterborough was internationally renown for exquisite handcrafted canoes up until the 1960’s,
The group decided to take a bike ride to see the massive engineering concrete wonder that would be a major highlight of our trip.
Peterborough Hydraulic Lift Lock built between 1896 - 1904
Considered the world’s largest unreinforced concrete hydraulic lift. With two pans it will transfer your boat 65 feet in about 2 minutes. The left pan is up and the right pan is lowered.
The two 7 1/2 ft diameter rams lift the 140 ft long by 32 feet wide chamber pans, each holding 228,000 gallons weighing 1,700 tons 65 feet.
Window inside the structure over the lowered chamber pan
On a busy summer day they can complete 20-30 transfers
View from the top on the gate, thanks to the lockmaster. They like loopers.
Looking down from the gate
Control room and panel
How it works
Single lane road through the concrete structure
Watching the transfer
Had a very good meal here, New Orleans flavor
Del Crary Park is also the site of Peterborough’s annual free outdoor concerts. Three thousand plus attend these concerts every week during the summer months.
The Party Animals
A local artist, Whitney Rose
Canada's up and coming artist of the year, Pia Isabella
August 1, 2013 was a monumental day.
Locking through the largest hydraulic lift in the world.
Most loopers refer to the pan as “bathtub”
This time we tie our lines to the rails on the pan and secure tightly. As soon as we were secure the ride began.
Everyone had cameras in hand snapping away.
Two minutes seemed a blink! No time for sightseeing, had to get the lines off.
At the Pent House level, time to exit.
Wow what a ride!
Passing the control room were I stood to take the pictures the day before, pretty cool! Not to mention the excellent job the captain has done so far through all the locks. That's my man!
21 locks down 24 more to go, woohoo.
Canada geese
Float planes are a good way of transportation from lake to lake
Or for taking sightseeing tours for the summer cottage renters.
Just like back home on the river. They enjoy wave runners in the summer and convert to snow mobiles in the winter when the waters have frozen over.
Lock #27 Young’s Point, another 7 locks completed today.
It’s not just ice cream, It’s Kawartha Ice Cream. Our new favorite thing to eat! Never will your taste buds be so happy. It is a mission to taste ALL the flavors before we leave Canada.
He likes the ice cream too!
One of the oldest bridges on the Trent Severn Waterway
This building was used as the Post office, General store and anything else you needed to conduct. It is now a B & B with a nice restaurant.
Iced tea in Canada is made from powdered tea and lemon mix. Great, if you like lemon in your instant tea. Our waitress asked how we make iced tea in the US. She quickly found a tea pot and brewed a pot for us. Now when the next group of Loopers come in, she can serve iced tea the US way. She was happy, we were happy. A win win for sure.
Buda even happy
The General Store. We had our first taste of Butter Tarts from here. A very sweet creamy take on our pecan pie.
Stony Lake, one of the many Kawartha Lakes Canadians love to vacation on. Water so pristine with scenery to die for and great fishing. If you are lucky, you may have a pair of Loons serenade you in the evening at anchor or tied to a dock.
This lake gave us a glimpse of what we will see in the Georgian Bay. Massive granite boulders, evergreen trees, lovely cottages and plenty of recreational water activities.
An island church for the cottage dwellers.
Native Indians traveled these waterway by canoe more than 3 thousand years ago.
Stay inside the channel markers to avoid a bump on submerged boulders.
“Summer of 42” Beautiful old wooden boat.
Lock #30 Lovesick is unique in that it is on an island, only accessible by boat.
Legend has it that two individuals who were in love were rejected and went to these islands to wither away. When it rains, the rocks turn pink from their broken hearts.
The Lockmaster was kind enough to take this picture.
We raised from one lake to another.
Lock # 32 Bobcaygeon.
Built in 1833 it is the first and oldest lock on the Trent Severn Waterway.
It is also one of the busiest locks during the summer. Tourists come just to watch the boats lock through. From skilled to novice, you will be entertained.
Only 5 locks today because of all the weekend boaters coming in for the free concert and farmers market in town.
The Kawartha Lakes are the Houseboat Capitol of Canada. We were advised to stay clear of this lock on a weekend to avoid the rookie captains in their rented houseboats, oh well.
Back at lock #28 we did see a houseboat sideways in the chamber, that explains it!
Bigley’s is big in Bobcaygeon. Their shoe department has over 40,000 Pairs of shoes. Shoppers come from around the world to buy that perfect pair or two or three of shoes.
Kawartha Dairy Limited store has all the ice cream flavors but we can only eat one cone at a time.
Lock #34 Fenelon Falls is one of the newer ones on the waterway. Notice the shrubs spelling out the locks name.
Fenelon Falls Generating Plant
Settled in the 1830’s original buildings still stand from days gone by.
We have now reached the highest elevation of 840 feet above sea level on the waterway at Balsam Lake. From this point on we will be descending and locking down.
Going through the narrows, a doe swam across the Trent Canal in front of us.
This section of canal was land cut through the Canadian Shield, a geological feature that covers half the country. It is narrow and shallow. Rubble is piled on both sides of the river from the rock bottom.
Marsh fields
Lock #36 Kirkfield Hydraulic Lift Lock with an open structure. The 2nd largest lift lock in the world.
Our first lock down, 49 feet. We tie to the pan and enjoy the ride.
This time we know what to expect.
From the Pent House…
To the first floor
Doors are opening, please exit slowly. Thank you very much.
The ram that lifts the pan, similar looking to Peterborough.
The doors drop down 6 feet below the water for boats to clear. Our draft is 3 ft 9 in.
The 50 feet canal entrance into the pan is an aqueduct of sorts with an access road below. Similar to Peterborough.
Sun setting on the lock structure. We are tied up on the wall.
The worlds 2nd largest lift lock
How it works
A dream began in 1827 and completed in 1920. And has been going strong ever since.
Canal Lake is a shallow man made lake
Hole in the Wall Bridge constructed in 1905 has a 28 foot clearance
While wiping down the rails and windows waiting for the swing bridge, a resident on his dock, sipping his morning cup of Joe, asked me if I would like a cup of coffee. I politely said thanks anyway and remarked on what a wonderful view he has of the golf course across the water.
Heading out to Lake Simco. The largest lake on the Trent Severn Waterway, 20 miles long 16 miles wide. Lake Simco is named for Sir John Simco whom abolished slavery in 1793, long before America.
At Port of Orillia marina, a local gave the captains a briefing for the days journey to Georgian Bay. He had a beautifully restored mahogany Chris - Craft, “Class of Fifty One.”
Grace and I after another full day of locking. Are we having fun yet?
Uh oh, Naked babies on the lose.
More water art/sculptures “His Masters Voice” and Puppy.
When entering the McDonald’s Cut narrow passages a “security” must be announced. Not enough room for large boats to pass without bumping into a submerged boulder on the shoulder. The cut was done without machinery in 1905
Lock #44 Big Chute Marine Railway. Another highlight of the Trent-Severn Waterway. The original railway dates back to 1917. The current railway system to 1978. It is a 7- minute ride to travel 600 feet across land with a 58 foot elevation change. It can carry 110 tons and vessels up to 100 feet in length.
These next sets of photos are of another highlight lock system: BIG CHUTE RAILWAY
Everything looked A-OK underneath.
4 cables, one strong enough on its own, will transfer the rail on the tracks.
Evolution of the Railway
CAPTAINS LOG: Cindy has to take credit for this Blog. I just wanted to describe our latest (and last?) fiasco. Somewhere in the fine print on how to traverse the Big Chute railway, they mention that you might need to close the seacocks to the engines. This keeps the prime from running out of the engine driven fresh water pumps. The engine driven pumps have a rubber impeller and do not like to be ran without water. No one reminded us when we got to the railway.
Shortly after leaving the railway, Cindy and I smelled something hot with a faint smell of rubber to it. I looked at the gauges and immediately shut down the starboard engine. The temperature was pegged at full hot!! We continued for about seven miles to the next lock on one engine. I had a pretty good idea what we would find when we got there, but didn’t want to even think about it. First we needed to maneuver to a wall at the dock to get tied up. Of course, the wind was blowing from our port side and it made docking very difficult. I finally started the starboard engine an ran it for a minute or so just to make a decent arrival.
With help from Seaglide, Passa Bella and Barefoot’n, we finally got tied up to the wall just outside the lock.
Lock #45 Port Severn a drop of 12 feet. The smallest of the locks and our last lock, so happy for that. We had to lock individually so we had 2 hours to wait and…
CAPTAINS LOG; After tying up I reluctantly opened the hatch to the starboard engine. Just what I expected, antifreeze sprayed all over the engine compartment. I checked the prime on the raw water pump and it now had water but was not pumping. Only one thing to do. Work on an engine that was over 212 degrees. The water pump is not easily accessible, but it can be done and NOT need to get completely down into the engine compartment.
I always carry common spares, and Cindy had already located the spare impeller. The only thing left is to remove the old HOT one, and replace the new one in the HOT pump. Did I mention that the engine was HOT??? When replacing an impeller, it is important to try and find any of the missing rubber pieces of the impeller blades. The new impeller has 15 blades, each about 2 inches long, I took the cover off and fully expected to find some of the blades missing. “Some” of them were not missing, ALL of them were missing. All that was left was a rubber hub. So the first thing I needed to do was try and locate the missing pieces. The first place to look was in the pump itself (found a few) and then in the inputs to both the engine heat exchanger, and the transmission cooler.
Because this was a small lock, only one boat could go through at a time so I was voted the last to go through. This meant that I had about an hour and a half at this point, to locate the fragments, and put in the new impeller, The engine, by the way, was still very HOT!! I took the hoses off of both heat exchangers and fished around for pieces. The amount of small pieces I recovered was tremendous and impossible to try to put back together. I flushed out both of the heat exchangers and decided that it would have to do for now. If the engine still ran hot, then I would need to remove some of the piping and probably the heat exchangers themselves. Not an easy or quick job.
After a few choice words and a few 1st degree burns on my fingers, I got the new impeller in. I loosened a fitting and told Cindy to yell if water came out (it better) when I started the engine. It did!!! I tightened the fitting and started the engine again. The temperature came down immediately!! What a relief!
As we got it buttoned up, it was our turn to lock down that last lock. As it turned out, we didn’t miss a beat!! The other boats were waiting at the bottom and we pressed on. Although I admit I was spending a lot more time watching the gauges. I still didn’t know how the temperature would react when I put a load on the engine. It did just fine.
Its a good thing we had both engines. Some of the most rocky, narrow and shallow channels lay at the foot of this lock and I needed every bit of maneuverability that I could muster. Why was it I dismissed the need for thrusters (cheaters) before we left? Oh yeah, I remember, money!
CINDY’S Observations: What a way to end the 240 laboring miles of locks. Have I commented on how much I enjoy locks (not). Now,here comes another challenge. We will be encountering some of the most rugged granite outcroppings the Georgian Bay has to offer. They say there is a prop repair shop that saves every prop he replaces. He has thousands, I hope we don’t add to his prop mountain.
Follow our next blog to find out…
