Day 279-289- 7/9-19/24

Starting location: On the wall before the first lock of the Trent-Severn Waterway, Ontario, Canada.

Weather: 66 am, 84 pm, humid, mostly cloudy – Tuesday 7/9. 66am, 74 pm, drizzle to heavy rain with thunderstorms, remnants of Hurricane Beryl – Wednesday 7/10. 64 am, 74 pm, drizzle am, cloudy – Thursday 7/11. 61 am, 84 pm, sunny to partly cloudy- Friday 7/12. 63 am, 84 pm, sunny – Saturday 7/13. 61 am, 84 pm, sunny, then progressively cloudy – Sunday 7/14. 67 am, 83 pm, sunny, then overcast with drizzle, then partly sunny – Monday 7/15. 66 am, 80 pm, cloudy with drizzle, then sunny again – Tuesday 7/16. 61 am, 74 pm, partly cloudy- Wednesday 7/17. 56 am, 71 pm, sunny, then progressively cloudy – Thursday 7/18. 54 am, 75 pm, sunny – Friday 7/19.

Ending location: On wall at Severn, before lock #45, last lock of the Trent-Severn Waterway, Ontario, Canada.

Total statute miles (Before lock #1 in Trenton to lock #45 in Severn) – approximately 240

General summary:

7/9 Ended day at Frankford, above lock #6:

We left the wall before lock #1 when they opened at 9am and arrived at lock #6 in about 3 hours. These locks were similar to those on the Rideau (with cables to tie off to inside). The differences were the way the doors were opened and closed, the larger height differences, and the mostly mechanized fill and drain rather than hand cranks. Locked through at #6 in Frankford and got a spot on the upriver wall with power. There are only a few places that provide power on this waterway, so this is a popular spot. It is close to a small town where there is a grocery store, a hardware store, and a few restaurants. There is also an associated RV park with showers, a splash park, a skateboard park, and a swimming beach. We walked about a mile and checked out the town. Sad to find out the ice cream place closed. The water at the swimming beach was very shallow until you reach the middle of the river where there was a fair current, so we just let Cocoa cool off at the edge several times that evening. Was nice for us to get proper showers to get clean and cool off before bed.

7/10 Ended day at Percy Reach, above lock #8:

“Hurricane”. I didn’t think we’d have to deal with these so far North, but the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, a previous category 5 that had slammed into the Caribbean and then Texas, started passing through. We had hoped to motor on to lock #7 by 9am, but when the rain started and thunder was heard, decided to hunker down for awhile. As did everyone else, and the walls were at capacity. It turns out the locks shut down for at least 30 minutes after each thunderclap, so we wouldn’t have gotten very far that morning anyway. We kept an eye on the weather and by early afternoon the thunderstorms were well South of us, with the strongest weather hitting Toronto and upstate New York. Decided to motor forward a few locks so the following day wouldn’t be so long. Stopped for the night at the top of lock #8 in a wooded park area.

7/11 Ended day at Campbellford, above locks# 11/12:

Motored through 4 more locks to Campbellford. We chose to pay to stay on the municipal wall, rather than at the lock using our pass, because it was closer to stores and restaurants. Plus, they had power and water (and our water tank was nearly empty). The temperature had cooled off after the storm, which was nice. This town is known for the local designer, Brent Townsend, of the two dollar coin (nicknamed the “toonie”) and a 27 foot statue replica stands in the park downtown. We went on a hike by the river and falls.

7/12 Ended day at Hastings, above lock #18:

Showered and provisioned first thing in the morning. It was already getting hot and humid, but nice to have sun again to dry out a bit. We were initially concerned there might be flooding after the rain, but the deluge had dropped South of us. There was, however, a noticeable current as we approached each lock and especially before our last lock, where there were standing waves of about a foot. Not a problem for our boat, but a bit exciting. The lockmaster commented that he needed to dump water, but attempted to focus the flow as much as possible to the far side of the dam. We locked through and spent the night in the town of Hastings.

7/13 Ended day at Douro, above lock #24:

Motored on after breakfast. The next 40 miles were lock-free, which was a nice break. Motored the long way across Rice Lake, then entered a channel which took us toward the town of Petersburg. Two regular locks, then the first of two hydraulic lift locks on this waterway. Basically, you drive into a pan of water and an elevator lifts you up to the top or drops you to the bottom. Somewhat anxiety provoking if you are afraid of heights. Decided not to stay in town as there was going to be a band playing nearby and went through to the top of lock #24 where we had a nice small park with peace and quiet. Near a campground and lots of people fishing until sunset. We all did a cool-off swim before bed.

7/14 Ended day above Lovesick lock #30:

We were the first in line, but were held up at lock #25 for an hour and a half as they needed to slow down the water over the dam for a bit first. As a result, we didn’t get to our goal destination, but found a lovely spot above lock #30. Another park-like setting. This lock has no road access, so park employees have to ride a boat to and from. We were able to walk over the dam to Wolf Island and walked a trail for a bit. Quiet night with a welcome breeze.

7/15 Ended day at Bobcaygeon, below lock #32:

Motored to the next town that has a grocery store and snagged one of the last power spots. Bobcaygeon is an Ojibway word meaning “narrow place between two rocks where water rushes through”. Provisioned.

7/16 Ended day at Rosedale, above lock #35:

After locking through, we stopped at a small marina to get gas and fill our water tanks.

Another park-like setting at lock #35. This site had tents and small cottages too, so some non-boaters were staying here. There were hikes, but they were quite waterlogged after all the recent rain. This area is notable for being the highest elevation on the waterway. All locks drop North of here.

7/17 Ended day at Couchiching, above lock #42:

We motored on through a lake and then narrow channels edged by limestone cliffs.

The next lock was Kirkland, the second hydraulic lift lock. Going down in the pan this time.

Since we are going downriver from here, the navigation markers switched to green starboard, red port.

Motored through large Lake Simcoe, which did have some wind waves. The first significant chop we experienced on the Trent-Severn. We were thinking of going further, but heard some of the locks had been temporarily shut down due to high water, so stopped here.

7/18 Ended day at Swift Rapids, before lock #43:

Motored on one more lock where there were power stations. Decided to rest here as passing through the next lock was still slow due to the previous day’s backlog.

7/19 Ended day at Severn, before lock #45:

Motored on to the most anticipated and unusual lockage, “The Big Chute”. This isn’t actually a lock, but a “marine railway”. You drive your boat into a sling in the water, then the cart you are strapped to rides a rail out of the water, over a road, down a hillside, and back into the water.

Ended the day at the final lock at Port Severn. Walked about town and got ice cream and some tasty pastries for tomorrow’s breakfast. Looking forward to having a break from locks until we get to Chicago, at least a month away.