Our first day on the Trent-Severn was a long one! We couldn’t start quite as early as we might have liked since we had to wait for the marina staff to pump out Mer Sea before getting underway. We had pretty much distance to cover, about thirty-seven statute miles, and, more importantly, twelve locks!
The locks on this canal system work pretty much the same way as the ones on the Rideau Canal, but the lock tenders are in no way comparable. We’d heard this, but had a hard time believing it, since it’s the same clientele using the waterway (pleasure boaters) and the same government department (Parks Canada). But without a doubt, the Rideau lock tenders are friendlier, more helpful, and more enthusiastic about their jobs. The Trent-Severn guys aren’t really bad, we’re just spoiled, and have come to expect the help and good cheer we encountered on the Rideau.
When you travel for a stretch on one of these canals you end up traveling with the same boats, since a certain number of you fit into the lock, and then get to the next lock at about the same time, etc. As it turned out, this first part of the waterway has a lock practically every mile, so there’s no time to do much more than reset your lines and grab a drink of water before it’s time for the next lock. One of the boats traveling through with us this first day had a really difficult time getting secured in the locks, and it was a big production at each lock as he swung around and scrambled down from his flybridge and tried to grab the cable at the stern – as I said, it was quite a production. We were glad he always went into the lock first, as the amount of room required for his maneuvers would have surely meant damage to any boat in the lock with him. We’re kind of hoping that he either pushes ahead or drops behind us for the rest of our trip!
We finally got to Campbellford and who should come through the lock behind us but Heart Tug (the American Tug we’d spied on the Bay of Quinte)! We both got secured to the lock wall, and had a chance to visit a bit. Turns out that Randy and Audrey have only had the boat for about three weeks, and their enthusiasm and excitement were palpable. Those of you who know Roy know that he keeps Mer Sea absolutely ship shape, but Randy makes him look like a slacker! Every time we looked over he was either wiping, polishing, washing, or otherwise beautifying their boat (as if it needed it!). Roy finally told him that he was going to void the warranty on the gelcoat if he kept rubbing it like that all the time!
The next morning Audrey and I walked the mile or so into Campbellford and raided the bakery for our husbands. It was a cute little town, but it was early (8:00) and we didn’t linger. We were headed for Hastings, which is supposed to be really nice!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Hastings, which is, indeed, a bustling little village. These little towns are all so clean, friendly, and busy, and have lots of little shops within easy walking distance of the lock. Makes for perfect boating!
The more we get to know Audrey and Randy, the better we like them. He is absolutely irrepressible – funny, and lots of fun. She is quieter, but game for anything, and will jump into almost any kind of water at the drop of a hat! They have many, many years of boating experience between them, and his ability to maneuver his boat is awesome! We’re already learning some tricks from them.
That night in Hastings there was a concert in the park. We watched for an hour or so beforehand as people walked their lawn chairs to the park to enjoy the event (which we were enjoying from our boat!). Unfortunately, about 20 minutes into the concert, the heavens opened, sending everyone running, and ending the event.
From Hastings we went on to Peterborough, where we were staying at a marina for a couple of days, and planned to do laundry, etc. We had a bit of that old “docking angst” pulling into the marina, because of communication difficulties with the staff, resulting in uncertainty about where they wanted us. We finally got it all sorted out, licked our wounds, and went about enjoying Peterborough.
For dinner that night, we went with Audrey and Randy to a fantastic fish & chips restaurant – actually had to wait in line for about 15 minutes before being seated! It was worth the wait! The food was excellent, and priced reasonably. A winning combination in my book!
We spent the majority of the next day getting our “housekeeping” chores done, then got ourselves ready to enjoy the concert in the park (actually we enjoyed it from our boat) and fireworks that are a regular feature of Peterborough on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the summer! Roy found out that it is funded by monies collected through a raffle they hold in the town. What a great idea, and a great way to foster community spirit, not to mention fun for the tourists!
We left Peterborough with the intention to anchor in Stony (sic) Lake, supposedly a lovely, pristine lake. We had to run a bit of a gamut getting there, especially the famous Peterborough Lift Lock. This lock lifts or lowers you 65 feet in short order, and works like a seesaw: there are two large chambers of water, the boats tie up in, let’s say, the lower chamber, then they add extra water to the upper chamber, and it falls, while the lower chamber rises. All the while, you in your boat are sitting in the chamber as though it were a bathtub, simply rising like an elevator. It’s quite an experience!
We finally got to Stony Lake, and what a beautiful spot! The lake itself is a beautiful blue, and there are islands of all sizes, some only big enough for one little cottage, all with rocky shores and evergreens. If I said one more time to Roy that it really reminded me of Maine, I’m afraid that he might have pitched me off the boat! But it did, and it was beautiful.
Heart Tug followed us into the lake, and to the spot where we’d decided to anchor. We anchored first, and while we were deciding that we weren’t happy with how the boat was lying, they got their anchor set and launched their dinghy. Meanwhile, we were hauling up our anchor, and with it at least 25 extra pounds of weeds from the bottom! Randy and Audrey came over in the dinghy and helped us knock off all the vegetation, then we made another effort at anchoring. We had a heck of a time getting the anchor to set! Two more times we tried, and each time the anchor just dragged on top of the weedy bottom. Then we had to try to get the weeds off the anchor – a very difficult job, because they tend to slide down the chain as you haul it out of the water, and are all waiting for you, caught on the anchor, when it finally comes out of the water. Geeze, it was frustrating!!
The fourth time was the charm! We picked another spot, very carefully lowered the anchor and made sure we were drifting slowly backwards while paying out the anchor rode, and finally got that sucker to hang on! Whew! Isn’t this supposed to be relaxing and fun? Well, maybe now…
Actually, it was a lovely evening on Stony Lake. Randy took the dinghy to pick up Audrey’s sister at one of the locks, and Audrey swam over and had a drink with us on the upper deck until he got back. We had a jolly time, and really enjoyed being in the company of Randy and Audrey.
The next day we set out early for Bobcaygeon. I must admit that when I put this stop on our float plan it was as much just to have that word in print as anything else! Well, it turned out to be a great stop! It’s a very popular spot with vacationing Canadians, and the lock walls were crowded! We weren’t sure we’d even be able to find a place to tie up, but the lock tenders were very helpful in locating a spot for us, and then came on over and caught our lines to help squeeze us into it. Roy did a great job of maneuvering Mer Sea and the teamwork worked like a charm. In we slipped.
Bobcaygeon is actually quite a busy little town. Like all these little towns, it is clean, filled with flowers, and friendly. There were lots of little shops to explore, and bakeries to investigate, and people to chat with. We tried to go for ice cream cones after dinner, but they must roll up the streets at 7:00, as everything, even the ice cream parlor, was closed! What a gyp! Oh well, just proves the old saying, “Life is short: eat dessert first!”
The next morning we planned a short ride to Fenelon Falls, and bid farewell to Audrey and Randy on Heart Tug, as they had a different itinerary planned. We only had about an hour’s run, plus one lock, to get there, so were there in plenty of time to find a good spot on the wall and enjoy the day.
One of the bonuses in this small town is the availability of a great place to swim where the boats can’t go. We’ve seen many people swimming (illegally) off the canal walls around the locks, but we just don’t find that so appealing what with all the boat traffic. The “powers that be” will turn a blind eye, but it still hasn’t tempted us. The weather has been extraordinarily hot, (in the mid to upper nineties during the day, and upper seventies or so at night) however, and the prospect of a swim without boats was irresistible! We walked over to the spot to check out access, and decided that we wanted pairs of those “aqua-sox” because of the rocky bottom. Off I went to find pairs in town, which I was able to do in relatively short order.
We donned our suits and took our towels, and headed over to our chosen spot. Wow! The water was the perfect temperature to be refreshing, but not cold! We must have stayed in the water for 45 minutes or so, and felt totally refreshed! The water was clear and clean, there were no weeds, and it was fantastic!! We vowed to go back later for another swim, and I decided to take my shampoo with me and wash my hair. In between, we scoped out the town, Roy trimmed my hair, and we chatted with several people. We were on the wall when Heart Tug came through, headed further on to anchor in a lake ahead.
We came back from our second swim to find old friends Janet and Jeremy on Tardis, the American Tug we’d met in Isle of Hope outside of Savannah, waiting for us at our boat. Unbelievable to see that they’d finally caught up with us! They’re the ones who took the great photo of Mer Sea in the Georgia sound that is our new “boat card”. We had a jolly reunion, and planned to head over to their boat for a drink before dinner.
We dried off and went across the canal to the ice cream shop (weren’t going to miss it this time –dessert first!) and enjoyed a delicious ice cream. Then we went back to Mer Sea to collect our drinks and close her up and turn on the generator and air conditioner to cool her off for our return.
We had a great time visiting with Janet and Jeremy. They have lots of boating experience, and have lots of ideas to share about things they’ve done on their boat that we might want to look into, etc. They’re also real thinkers, and great to bounce ideas off of. Not to mention just wonderful, fun, people! It is a real treat to be encountering them again!
We got back to Mer Sea, and I noticed before we even got on board that there was no water coming out of the exit for the air conditioning cooling water. No vibration when we stepped on the boat, either. I had that sinking feeling. Sure enough, our *@#*&#D! Onan had crapped out on us again! Unbelievable! It was still business hours in Washington State, so Roy got on the phone with our contact at Cummins Northwest, and found the closest Onan place around here. As luck would have it, there was someone right at our next stop (or the stop we could make where there is a marina to hook up our power…).
Roy took a walk later on, and came back with Jeremy, who thought that it might be a problem with the fuel supply, and volunteered to check and change our racor fuel filter. What a trooper – especially in that stinking hot weather and even hotter engine room!! Bless his heart, he got the thing changed and primed, but it unfortunately had no effect on the problem. At least we’d eliminated one suspect.
In the meantime, we spent a hot, pretty much sleepless night, while the refrigerator defrosted and our batteries dropped to 10.2 volts because we couldn’t charge them. We were up at oh-dark-hundred, had breakfast at Tim Horton’s (sort of like Dunkin’ Donuts) and off to Orillia, where the mechanic is. We had four locks and another “lift lock” (remember the seesaw?) to get through, as well as a large lake to cross. The lake has a bad reputation for kicking up some nasty weather, so we were vigilant, as it seemed to be prime thunderstorm weather.
We made way in occasional light drizzle, spending quite a bit of time in narrow, shallow channels, as well as the Trent Canal, which is a narrow, man-made cut through shale. It’s stunningly beautiful, and there is a speed limit, so we proceeded slowly, and fortunately encountered only a couple of other boats, as passing in that narrow, rock-lined canal was a bit harrowing! As we were approaching the lift lock, I went on deck to set my lines and fenders. I’d just set the midship fender, suspended from a line on the upper rail, and as I scooched past it my shoe grabbed just enough of the line to make me lose my balance, my hand-hold faltered, and over I went into the canal! Yikes!! It was actually like just falling backwards into a swimming pool, but I didn’t know that until I was in, and Roy didn’t know it at all when he heard the splash!
I quickly began swimming towards the boat, and Roy put her in reverse for a minute, then neutral, and rushed back into the cockpit and slung our ladder overboard just as I reached the boat, and I easily climbed out. Easy as pie! Poor Roy, it sure got his heart pumping! But I was clearly and definitely fine, so we went ahead and went through the lock. What else was there to do?
Afterwards I went below and dried off and put on dry clothes. I was able to use my new aqua-sox as deck shoes for the rest of the day, and we arrived in Orillia with no further incident. I will wear a life preserver whenever on deck from now on, however, as per the captain’s orders. I guess it could have been bad if he hadn’t noticed right away that I was gone…I keep picturing him arriving in port and looking around for me…”Now where is Leslie…???”
SO…we’re here in Orillia where they have power, and we’ll be staying in marinas until further notice! I lost my prescription glasses when I had my unscheduled swim, but I’m getting a new pair made here. We’ve met up again with Heart Tug, and Tardis, and some other friends we’ve crossed paths with along the way, and we’re very happy with the mechanic we’ve hooked up with here. He is willing to follow us to Penetanguishene, where we’ll be meeting up with Dad and Joy on Monday the 7 th. This guy is determined to fix the problem so that it doesn’t continue to recur, not just fix the symptom. We’re certainly in favor of that! We’ll proceed to Penetang, as they call it in these parts, and just stay there until the problem is resolved. We now have confirmation from Onan that they’ll cover the work and parts under warranty, and we expect Steve, the mechanic, to have a chance to get to it by Mon. the 14 at the latest. We’ll see…in the meantime…
OH NO GENERATOR FOR SALE!
ONLY 398 HOURS
WILL SELL CHEAP