This is the story of our passage through the Trent Severn Waterway. We will pass through 44 locks along the way. Sam and Charlotte Pakenham-Walsh will be with us through lock 41 and would leave us at Orillia.
 

Most of the locks are the conventional single chamber locks.  When you are going upstream you wait for the tall lock door to open.  Any boats that went down will leave the lock.  Then you move into the chamber and tie your boat fore and aft to the riser cables along the slimy wall.  Getting in and tied up is the time of most confusion.  Here is Charlotte tending the stern line on the slimy wall.

Next the chamber door closes behind you and the lock master announces "Hold on the the cables, we are going up" or something like that.  It takes several minutes for the lock to fill and at the start there is usually some turbulence. The lock masters are very helpful getting you into and out of the locks. They call ahead to the next lock so they will be ready for you. We gave a "Stolen from Remedy" Koozie and a boat card to each of the lock masters along the way. "Wow, thanks," said one, "this is the first time anyone has ever given me something on the lock." "Enjoy and look us up on the web page," I replied.

(FOOTNOTE: Thanks, Ed and Dorothy Hearon for the almost inexhaustable supply of Koozies. They went over big on the waterway.)
 

Lock 7 at Glen Ross only lifts you 11 feet. From the bridge of Remedy you could see over the lock door.  The river passes through a wide valley and there are farms along the way. The countryside is lush and beautiful. Lock 9 at Meyers was particularly beautiful. It was late in the afternoon and the lock has a lift of only 15 feet.

Bev Huble wrote me four months later: "Greetings from Canada.  I am a student who works on the Trent Severn Waterway during the summer.   This summer I was at Lock 9 (Meyers) when you passed through.  It was the lovely lock-masters house that you just had to get a picture of (you made Bob and I stand in front of the house for you).  I remember thinking about how lovely your boat was and how nice it was to see someone appreciating the waterway so much.  I just recently discovered the card you gave us in the lovely koozie's and decided to look you up.  I read through your summary of your trip and was very pleased to find that you enjoyed yourself."

Three months later I found the picture and sent her a copy. She did a positive ID so I added the photo and her note to our story.

Campbellford

Campbellford would be our first stop and we would stay for two nights to fully recover from our first day of work on the Canal.

We did twelve locks on our first day.
 

Peterborough On our way to Peterborough we stopped for lunch at the Healy Falls Lock. This is the larger of two double lift locks on the canal.  The combined locks take you up 27 feet in Lock 16, plus 27 feet in Lock 17 for a combined total of 54 feet.  Here is a shot of a single boat moving from Lock 16 into Lock 17.

These are the Healey Falls. It was worth the time stopping for this picture.

Just after Lock 19 you enter Peterborough. It has a good sized lake with a fountain in the middle spraying four jets of water almost fifty feet into the air.  Every Wednesday and Saturday during the summer months there is a concert in the park followed by a lighted boat show and then a fireworks display.

People come from far and near to these free extravangazas put on by the Peterborough Festival of Lights Organization. To pay expenses the organization runs a 50-50 cash raffle. Half to the organization and half to the winner. Marion and Sam both bought three $1 tickets.

That evening we went to dinner at the Holiday Inn. The band that was performing that night was at a table nearby. The food was superb, I had the Fillet Mignon rating **** $$ (adjusted for Canadian Exchange rates).

The check was slow coming.

Marion said, "Ed, take the raffle tickets and get on down to the park. They insist that you be there to win, and the drawing is in five minutes. I will stay and pay the bill."

"Are you kidding?" I asked.

"No. Give me the Visa Card and here are the Sam's and my tickets." she pressed.

"OK, I'm off." I said sheepishly.

Along the way I studied the six numbers on the raffle tickets. They were not consecutive. Just six four digit numbers all less than 3000. I put them in my pocket.

There was a lot of noise in the park. Announcements over the PA system about the evenings programs, Extended thank you's to the Sponsors of the event.... then as I was walking out the pier to put some things on the boat I heard the announcement over the PA.
 
 

"The winning number on tonight's 50-50 raffle is 2530. Will the winner please step forward." "2530.... 2530," I repeated the number to myself. That was a familiar number.  I dove into my pocket for the tickets. It was there! I was a football field away from the stage but they could hear me shout. "Hey there, I have the number." I galloped down the pier toward the park. "I have the number." I shouted several more times as I went. For the next twenty minutes they counted up the money. By that time Marion came along, to learn she had won the raffle.

We were planning to stay over till Monday anyway. I would cash the check before leaving town. It was enough to pay for two Canadian diesel fill ups and several marina stays. So Marion's winnings offset much of our expenses.
 

That evening we enjoyed the Festival of lights boat parade and fireworks. The boat parade is most unusual. Six of these small powerboats cruise around in the dark. Their lights form the outline of a sail with a mast. The lights are all you can see in the dark The lights are programmed to respond to the music and all boat lights respond in synchronization.  The choreography of the parade is what makes it all a thrill to watch. It's much like the patterns of a square dance, the way they pair off and circle each other... then they race to form a line... next break into groups of three... now moving slowly.... now quickly, and turning and turning as they go. All to the music of the dance.

The next day I met David Knickle director of the festival. He has directed the group for over fourteen years. They are very well known and have received offers to perform in other Canadian cities. Knowing they have a unique drawing card for Peterborough, they have kept it only for the Festival of lights.
 

Peterborough Lock Peterborough Lock 21 is an Engineering marvel. We visited the museum and took pictures of the lock in anticipation of our ride the next day. There are two large bathtubs that carry boats up and down. Huge Hydraulic Rams support each of these tubs. Going up you drive into an open tub, the back gate closes on the tub. The tub on top has an extra foot of water added to make it heavier than the lower tub. Then a large valve connecting the two rams is opened.

The tub on top goes down pushing your tub up. Here we are at the top of the Peterborough Lock looking down 65 feet to the canal below. It is the worlds highest Hydraulic Lift Lock. There are five in the world three in Europe and two on the Trent Severn. The other will be a down lock for us at Kirkland Lake.

Buckhorn After Peterborough there 6 locks in the next 12 miles. You don't have time to relax before the next one comes.  Then you are in the Kawartha Lakes region. The scenery changes to long finger lakes connected by narrow and  winding channels.  The shorelines have many small settlements of cottages and fishing camps.  We stopped for the night above the Buckhorn Lock 31. We had done 28 miles and a dozen locks.

Fenelon Falls

We had an easy 28 miles and only two locks before reaching Fenelon Falls. We met Norm and Barbara Hewton, MV Beta Omega, in Annapolis and they had most graciously offered us a tie-up with power and water behind their home just below Fenelon Falls. We spent the night rafted to their boat and went into town using their auto for dinner. Thanks Norm and Barbara for the hospitality.

We had dinner at Falls View Restaurant before they shut off the falls for the evening. They run the falls when there are tourists to see them during the day, and shut them off to conserve lake levels at night.

Orillia

We went up the Fenelon Falls Lock and the Rosedale Lock 35 and we were on top of the system in Balsam Lake (elevation 880 feet).  From now on we would be locking downstream. No more life on the slimy wall for us.
 

Going down is much easier than going up. The lock masters are there to get you tied up.  At the far end of the Balsam Lake section is the second Hydraulic lift lock at Kirkland Lake. It drops you 49 feet.  After about seven miles there is a straight shot of five locks in three miles which takes you down to Lake Simcoe.  There were small craft warnings and a thunderstorm watch in effect when we got to the lake.

It is a dozen miles across the lake and into Orillia. We stuck our nose out and found a light chop on the lake and no nearby clouds. We pushed the hammer down for the crossing and were docked in Orillia just minutes before the thunderstorm hit.

This would be the end if the line for Sam and Charlotte. After a day of rest we would drive them down to Toronto so they could catch the cross Canada train with Charlottes family to Vancouver.

We used our last day together to shop in town, get the rent car, visit the Steven Leacock museum, go gambling at the Rama Casino, and have a great dinner at the railroad coach restaurant.  Marion bought "a little black dress" on sale at a local boutique with a portion of her winnings. I picked it out... she looks smashing in it... see her at the Commodore's Ball at Christmas time.

Strawberry Island, Aug. 3 - 5

Another part of our schedule was governed by my desire to attend a two day reunion of former Basilian priests and scholastics on Strawberry Island.  That story is told as a separate installment.

Midland Ontario Aug. 6

The further west you go the more rugged the scenery gets. Lake Couchiching is studded with small islands.

It's 55 miles from Strawberry Island to Midland there are three conventional locks a the Big Chute Marine Railway.

Arriving at the Big Chute is like driving into a wide slip.
 

There are wide hoist straps under your boat just like the ones used at marine haul outs.  You shut off engines and genset, they position the straps, and the whole darn thing rises up out of the water on railway tracks.   You fly up and over the highway below and then go down the long incline to the water below.

 

"You can start your engines now," said the operator when we got to the bottom. I was still in a state of amazement, and his words weren't registering. "It's time to go now," he insisted. "Can't we do it again?" I  joshed. "Not unless you want to buy another passage... You have a safe trip now."

After a few miles its Lock 45, then you are in Georgian Bay. We passed by Port Severn and went to Midland for two days of rest and recuperation.

We had completed the Trent Severn Waterway at a slow and easy pace. We will remember it forever.

Stay tuned for Georgian Bay coming next.