Trent Canal to Orillia

We were up at 6 am Friday morning because we had a long way to go, not to mention that the Trent Canal is only 40 feet wide and 6 feet deep!  Cheers is 17 feet wide and takes 5 feet of depth!  You don't want to have to pass another boat coming from the other direction.  Before entering the canal, boaters are instructed to call out on the radio advising you are entering so that others are warned.  

The Kirkfield Lift Lock was our 1st of 6 locks today.  This lock is similar to the Peterborough Lift Lock, but only one of the tubs was in operation.  Here we are headed in!  

In the tub and headed down!

Leaving the lock.

After the lock, we continued to work our way through the Trent Canal.....could it get any tighter?

Headed through the "Hole in the Wall".

No too much later we made it to Lake Simcoe.  Back to open water!  Lake Simcoe is much like Lake Erie, big and shallow.  Luckily, there was only 2 to 3 foot chop....but we did pick up more weeds and had to stop and blow them out.  Nothing major.

About 6 pm we made to to Orillia.  

We stayed 3 nights in Orillia.  The marina was beautiful, right inside town, which also had a wonderful park.  We used these 3 days to explore the area, get provisions, do laundry and get the boat ready for the 2nd half of the Trent Canal.  

Roxie waiting for me to come back to the boat.  Who knows how long she had been standing there!  Lol!  She doesn't look happy!

Canada is currently under a open file ban.  Which makes sense!  Although we had planned on using charcoal for grilling, we needed an alternate plan.  We needed to get a gas grill for using in Georgian Bay and the North Channel.  So....the closest place to get a grill was at Canadian Tire, which is much like Menards.  They have everything!  The store was 2 miles away...mostly uphill.  We rode our bikes and found the smallest grill we could find.  It was butane, heavy duty and came in a carry case!  Now how do we get it back?  Well, leave it to Bill to strap anything to his bike!  We got the grill back to the boat without incident.  Thank god most of the ride back was downhill!

During our stay in Orillia the area was celebrating their annual Kawartha Music Festival.  This was not a free event unfortunately and the tickets were sold out.   We rode our bikes over to check it out anyway.  It was like a mini Woodstock!  There were fields and woods with tents set up in the mud all over the place!  There was even a section of nothing but VW Vans!  We didn't think there were that many of them left! 

  

 

Bobcaygeon to the Trent Canal

Tuesday morning 7/4 we continued to make our way to out next destination Fenelon Falls Lock 34. 

The route took us past some very nice places and some very eclectic places.  So fun to see Canada's vacation land!

 

The Fenelon Falls lock has a 24 foot lift!

Wave Runners coming through the lock. 

Fenelon Falls is a very popular tourist destination and the lock is centered right in the middle of town.  It is also a popular lock to stay for boaters being that it is in town, has close access to provisions and electric!  When we got through the lock we found that all the electric spaces had been taken!  Shoot!  We were hoping for a spot with electric because it was 87 degrees!   We tied up to the opposite wall, which luckily was covered in shade and there was a nice breeze. 

 

The next morning, we were happy to see a spot open with electric and we wasted no time moving over.  We provisioned and spent the rest of they day watching boats going through the lock.  We closed out the day with dinner at the Locker which had great views of the falls!  

We departed Fenelon Falls in the late morning headed across Cameron and Balsam Lakes to the head of the Trent Canal.  

Leaving Fenelon Falls we passed an old railroad bridge that kids had been jumping from the prior day. 

Beyond the train bridge, someone had built "Stone men" called Inuksuks.  North Canadians build these rock monuments for hunting and navigational purposes. Pretty cool!  

As we made our way to the Trent Canal the weather forecast was showing that a pretty good storm was headed our way.  We decided to tie up to the wall just at the head of the Trent Canal and prepared the boat for the "hurricane of the Trent".  

Yep folks, we had all 10 fenders out! Lol!

Here it comes!

Turned out the storm wasn't as bad as expected.  Thank goodness!  We had a quiet night in the middle of nowhere and would be getting up early to start our trek through the Trent Canal!

 

    

Peterborough to Bobcaygeon

Sunday morning we left Peterborough headed to the Peterborough Lift Lock.  

Moving into the left basin after the boat in front of us was tied.  

Still moving into place.

Roxie supervising. 

The left tub slowly moved up like we were in an elevator, while the right tub slowly moved down.  

Here we are at the top looking back to where we started below!

More views from the top.

Here we at the top, moving out of the basin. 

 

Looking back into the tub as we were leaving. 

Now headed to the Lakefield (Lock 26).  The plan was to stay above lock 26 however it was full so we made our way to Lakefield Marina....which was good because it was about time for a pumpout!   We had dinner in town and to bed early.  

Monday morning we left Lakefield Marina headed the Bobcaygeon Lock 32.  Had a little cloudy start, but the sun came out and it is 83 degrees!   This area is so pretty!  Lots of small islands and cottages.  Very much a vacation destination. 

This is St. Peter's on-the-Rock church, located on an island.  The first service here was in 1914 and the only way to get to it is by boat.  Services are held here during the summer months.  

As we were making our way across Pigeon Lake with a pretty good storm headed our way, an alarm started going off letting us know the engine was getting overheated.  Bill investigated and found that we had picked up some weeds in our strainer and he was able to clear most of them out with a good back flushing.   We made it to Bobcaygeon with normal engine temperature and the storm passed us by without a drop of rain.   

Once in Bobcaygeon, we found that the lock walls were full both below and above the lock.  We found a slip available in Gordon Yacht Harbor.

Tuesday morning, July 4th we went through Lock 32 and tied up so that I could take advantage of the shopping Bobcaygeon had to offer, including the very popular Bigley Shoes and Clothing store.  There are actually several Bigley stores in town.  I managed to find my very first pair of Birkenstocks! 

  

Canada Day in Petersborough

July 1st is Canada Day, which celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867.  It's similar to our Independence Day, celebrated with parades, picnics, live music and fireworks....and of course cold beverages!   The Peterborough City Marina is adjacent to the city park where the parade, concert and fireworks were held.  

Getting into the marina was not easy.  There is a river that basically runs right into the marina and the current was so strong that our bow thruster could hardly work against it.  Luckily we had been assigned a slip at the end of a T dock and the current just pushed us right into it.....a little to fast for our liking but dockhands and captains from other boats help catch us as we were pushed in by the current!

The fenders were working hard the entire time we were in Petersborough!

We went to dinner at The Riverside Grill, which had cold beer, good food and live music.  Fun night! 

Saturday morning we road our bikes to the Peterborough Lift Lock to get a peek at what to expect Sunday Morning.  This will be the first time we have traversed through a Hydraulic Lift Lock!  It was great to be able to see this from land before doing the lift.

Here's the details on the the hydraulic lock. 

Being that today is Canada Day, the park was bustling with people and activities.  It was a fun day.  That evening there was a concert in the park that brought a large crowd, not to mention the fireworks that were to go off after the concert.  We were very lucky to time our visit to Petersborough with their big holiday.