Day 146 - An Even Dozen: We Start the Trent-Severn

Today was our first day on the Trent-Severn Waterway.  We were ready to go by 8:30 am when the first lock was supposed to open.  When we returned our key to Craig, our dock master, he said he would be surprised if the lock crew would be there before 9:00 am.  We left the dock at 8:43 am to travel the mile or so to Lock 1 and got there at 9:05 am.  The lockmaster said he would have the lock ready in “about 5 minutes”, but it was closer to 20 minutes.  After raising us over 20 feet, he sold us our Lock Permit for $195, good for the whole trip.

 

There are a few differences in these locks compared to US locks: the locks are small and narrow; they require you to shut down engines and generators; there are cables along the sides of the lock that you use a boat hook to grab and loop a line that is attached to your boat around it; although some gates are hydraulic, some are manually operated via a crank for each gate; no one wears a life jacket; and the locks fill faster.  I would grab the first cable off the bow and Captain Randy hooked another off the stern since he could not control the boat with the engines anyway (as he had in the Erie Canal).

 

 

The first 6 locks were close together and we were through them by noon.  After the first one, the lockmasters were ready for us.  Each lift was around 20 feet and took 15-20 minutes to get through.  Other than Captain Randy dropping a fender into Lock 3, we did just fine.  He did manage to snag it with the boat hook, so we got it back.  The area is rural with some small homes and very few docks on shore, otherwise low trees and marsh.  The town of Frankford is at Lock 6 and it was more built-up from Lock 6 to Lock 7.  After going through the Danger Narrows, the canal broadens but the channel is narrow and shallow (5-6 feet).  It was only 6 miles to Lock 7, but we travelled at idle speed so it took an hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Lock 7 we had another long stretch until Lock 8.  I warmed up the pizza we had taken out from Tomasso’s the night before and it tasted very good.  The lockmaster at 8 told us to look for a beaver hut upon exiting.  There were new beaver “kittens” too.  We saw the hut but no beavers.

Locks 7-12 are close together and we made it through in 3.5 hours.  Locks 11&12 are “flight locks”, which means that as you exit the first, you enter the chamber of the next.  Phew, 12 locks in one day are the most we have done.  We tied up after Lock 12 and took a short walk to a suspension bridge that leads over the river to Ferris Provincial Park.  Ranney Falls was to the north and a power station sits between the river and the lock. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Lock 12 it was only another mile or so to Campbellford, our destination for the night.  We tied up on the wall at Old Mill Park at 5:35 pm and hooked up power and water.  Other than us, the wall was empty.  We checked in at the Visitor’s Center before they closed.  The “season” for the Trent-Severn, especially for Loopers, is July and maybe the beginning of August.  Many of the towns have music or some type of festival during July, but everything is over by early August.  This is especially ironic this summer as we are told that this past week is the best weather they have had.  We’ll see what happens Labor Day weekend.
 

 

 

We walked through the park to The Bridge for dinner.  They had a somewhat eclectic menu – we had spring rolls that came deep fried (?) and Moroccan shrimp and jerk pork kabobs.  We were tired after a long, slow day.  The wind had picked up and it was definitely turning cooler.  I was happy to get back to our snug cabin for the night.