On the 21st, we left Trenton and entered the famous and definitely historic Trent/Severn Waterway. We motored from lock 1 to lock 13 in one day. Most locks accommodated 4 boats (these are small locks but significant lifts) Most are manually operated and a few have wooden gates rather than metal. In a number of locks we had to raft up and that’s where we met our locking buddies, Bill and Sandy Donaldson. He’s a retired orthopedic surgeon. We stayed with them through all locks so far (now between lock 19 and 20). There were two locks they call doubles. It was a lock directly connected to another. Total lift was over 50′. The waterway has been quite scenic so far; a number of little groups of houses and summer cottages occasionally dotting the shore. LOTs of maple trees (duh, it’s Canada). Discovered Diane is quite allergic to fly bites and the flies up here are like no-see-ems in Florida — they’re everywhere. Oh, one more thing; we pulled into Peterborough marina for fuel and was told they were having a band in the park tonight so we stayed. VERY loud band but if you stay in your boat with the doors and windows closed and lay on the bed with a pillow covering at least one ear, it was pretty nice. They had many vendors set up in the park next to the marina. Lot’s of tea stands, no beer stands. Speaking of beer, they sell it up here in beer stores (stores that only sell beer). A 12 pack of Old Milwaukee is $25.99 plus 13% tax. (that was only an example — I DO NOT drink Old Milwaukee)
Notice how the river is flowing downhill?
one of the smaller waterfalls at a dam but still created a heck of a cross current when going into the lock
Just one of the several rapids we encountered. And no, we didn’t have to go over those rocks.
More excitement at the entrance to the lock
Notice. Our boat is the smallest. But we did see one smaller
When I said manual locks, this is what I meant. One lock attendant on each panel of the gate, manually cranking the gate open and closed.
Campbellford, Ontario
A tribute to the man from Campbellford that designed the Canadian coin
