June 30-July 1, 2019 – Not sure just how crazy the waterways might get leading into Canada Day, we had decided to stay put in Cambellford, one of three small towns in the Trent Hills area. The town had outfitted both sides of the canal here, along concrete walls, with power pedestals, and their Chamber of Commerce very efficiently runs the money-collecting associated with overnight dockage. Before we had even tied up, the attendant was there with an information packet and the portable credit card machine.
The opposite wall from us (over a short bridge) had more boats, probably because it was closer to the bath-house, and adjacent to a nice park. But we were a stones throw from the LCBO (although we didn’t need to visit it).
We made it to some of the sights here, including a pedestrian suspension bridge over the falls that were bypassed by the lock; we saw it as we transited, and later walked back through a Provincial Park to cross it.
This was the view of part of the falls that is bypassed by the lock.
On our way back from the falls, we stopped at the big double (flight lock) lock that we had come through the previous day. It was interesting to see it from a different perspective.
Atop the first set of gates, leading to the lower chamber.The canal after the lift lock runs through a very nice park-like setting on the way to Campbellford. We stopped to cool down on the way back to find a pub for refreshment,
All the locals told us that we should be sure to visit the chocolate factory (World’s Finest), and Dooher’s Bakery, voted as Canada’s Sweetest Bakery; we hit both of those, but skipped the Empire cheese factory, as it was a farther walk on a hot day, and we were pretty well stocked for cheese.
We had a good time chatting up the locals, and meeting the various Loopers that came and went during our 4 day stay.
Sorry, but we have fallen behind again. Today (7/7) we will stay put in a gorgeous anchorage, and among other catch-up tasks (and trying out our stand-up padddleboard), I will try to get to posts about our stops in Campbellford and Peterborough, the fantastic Peterborough Lift Lock, our first Trent-Severn lock wall overnight, and finally the great anchorage here in McKenzie Bay on Clear Lake, where we hope friends will catch up to us and anchor together.
June 28, 2019 – Stretching 240 miles across central Ontario, the Trent-Severn Waterway is a series of rivers, lakes and canals that connects the Bay of Quinte (off Lake Ontario) to the Georgian Bay, of Lake Huron. We will transit 37 conventional locks, two flight locks (sequentially connected locks), two hydraulic lift locks, and a marine railway.
I know we are supposed to fit under this bridge, but it sure looks low…
The first stretch of this canal, like the Erie, is one lock after another; the first six locks raise us 118 feet, over just 5 miles. These locks are much smaller than those on the Erie Canal, and we found them much easier to handle, even though we had to shut down the motors and both handle lines that we wrapped around cables mounted to the sides of the locks. They seemed to raise pretty slowly, and the sun was baking us as we stood there on the side decks waiting to get to the top and back underway.
The lock staff was very friendly, and made it a point to chat us up about where we were from, and where we were headed for the day. They were helpful in answering questions, and in suggesting things to do and see as we went onward. This was a big contrast from the ‘all-business’ attitude of the NY canal staff.
One of the older lock staff (many are college students on summer jobs)
Employer-provided fitness program
Many (but not all) of the locks are manually operated. Here, the swing bridge was first opened, then the two operators each walked the turnstiles around and around and around to crank open the big doors to the lock so we could exit.
At one point, we exited a canal section back into the river, through a very narrow slot, definitely one boat wide. No more than a few feet on each side.
As we went on, we began to get into ‘cottage country’, where there were camps and homes along the waterfront. This particular stretch was well-decorated in advance of Canada Day (July 1), but oddly, we didn’t see a single person. All at work still, I guess.
Strangely, we seemed to be the only boat on the water. Eventually, we saw a pontoon boat, a few fishing boats, and some kayaks, but almost every lock was open and waiting for us when we got there, and at every one we locked alone.
In the end, we pushed on 30 miles, through 11 locks that took us up 234 feet, all the way to Campbellford. We had worried all the way along whether we’d get there and find a spot to moor, but we pulled in and and got a spot on the wall run by the town, with a power hookup. There were quite a few other boats already there, and we were glad to see that we weren’t closed out. We’ll hold here for the rest of the holiday weekend, and sample some of the local color.
June 27/28, 2019 – Because we had come a bit further the night before, when we got up on Thursday we had only about 20 miles to go before we reached Trenton. We got a reasonable start, after checking with the marina by phone that it was ok to do an ‘early check-in’. We were told that the slip we were assigned was vacant, and arriving early wasn’t a problem, so we headed out to arrive about 11:30.
We were met at the dock by no less than four dockhands at the Trent Port Marina, all with matching T-shirts and wearing inflatable PFDs. That kind of an operation was something that we hadn’t seen before.
No retina scanner, but the next best thing…
We were tied up and checked in by noon, to a state of the art marina with great facilities, including for security on the docks. We were issued a pair of proximity cards, with lanyards, to get us onto the docks, that were each secured with gates and cameras. As a former national security professional, it made me feel right at home. Sort of.
Provisioning, stage 1, complete…
We explained the LCBO situation in a previous post, but here’s the rest of the story. The Ontario provincial government contracted with “The Beer Store” to be the exclusive distributor for beer in quantities greater than six. So if you want a 12, 15, or 24 can/bottle case of brew, then you have to head to The Beer Store. Which is what I did after getting lunch at the fish & chips place-bike with trailer over to the store, and back with three ice-cold boxes. Now, which one to sample first?
We took advantage of the nearby grocery store, and free laundry at the marina, to get ourselves ready to head north into the Trent-Severn Canal.
June 26, 2019 – We departed Kingston to make our way toward Trenton, where we’d enter the Trent-Severn Waterway. It was about 70 miles, so we’d earlier decided to split it into two easier legs, when we made our reservation there for Friday.
We traveled down the northern edge of Lake Ontario, north of Amherst Island, before entering the Bay of Quinte, which zig-zags and leads to Trenton. We had our eye on an anchorage that was about midway, but as the day went on, some significant thunderstorms (possibility of tornados, and 2cm hail) were beginning to build, and the winds (projected up to 60 mph) were going to turn much more westerly.
We decided to press on a bit further, to find a more protected spot. We got there and anchored solidly, and while still windy, we were inside a point that shielded us from the waves that were beginning to build to 2 feet out in the bay. We watched as the line of storms split – the major part went north of us, and the other part fizzled, so we got a nice evening as the winds quieted.
One of several swans out at dusk; we have seen them fairly plentifully in the area
Just at sunset, we were surprised to be ‘buzzed’ by a C-130 at a few hundred feet off the water – hmmm, maybe we are in a flight training corridor? We later found out that Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Canada’s largest Air Force Base, is the hub for air transport operations in Canada and abroad. It also hosts the National Air Force Museum of Canada. We would see and hear a lot of military traffic over the next day or so as we got into Trenton.
As it got dark, we could hear the cries of loons, but didn’t see any until the next morning; they generally tend to be pretty wary, much more so than ducks and geese, and because they float so low in the water, and dive often, staying underwater for a minute or more, they can be difficult to spot.
June 24-25, 2019 – To finally resolve the ‘overnight delivery’ that wasn’t, Davis drove me to Watertown, to the FEDEX dispatch center, to get my package directly, so we could get underway to Kingston, Ontario. In the same office park we encountered something just a little…interesting. You know the little pine tree that hangs from your mirror? Apparently it takes a pretty good sized office building to house the corporate brain trust, and it’s in Watertown, NY. Who knew?
As we pulled out of the harbor at Clayton, we were reminded that this was the St Lawrence Seaway, not just just a small boat channel. Luckily, they go very slowly, and it’s not too hard to see them coming, nor to keep out of their way.
We crossed over into Canadian water, and cruised for several hours before arriving in Kingston.
Not sure whether the ‘lighthouse’ is real, but a striking home on a point as we cruised the Canadian Channel on the way to Kingston
After docking at the Marina, we took a walk into town, and decided to take a tourist trolley around to get oriented, since we would be spending two days here. It was rather odd, though, that the trolley guide was an Asian immigrant, with quite a thick accent. He had studied the script, of course, but it just didn’t quite have the cultural credibility that it might have had with a native Canadian.
Impressions – nice small city, lots of history, beautiful buildings – including the Queens University – quite vibrant downtown area, lots of cafes and restaurants, 2:30 in the afternoon is NOT too early to hang out and have a beer, legalized marijuana businesses right out in the open (maybe or maybe not related to the beggars sitting around at street corners.) And they really obey the crosswalk signals – but step off the curb the instant the light is red.
Our guide pointing out the defensive tactics
The next day we rode the trolley back to Fort Henry, constructed during the War of 1812 to protect the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard (the site of the present-day Royal Military College of Canada) on Point Frederick from a possible American attack during the war and to monitor maritime traffic on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. It was enlarged in the 1830s, and restored to its present appearance in the 1930s. Really enjoyed the walking tour, but we did not get to see any of the drill demonstrations.
Note the curved corners at the bottom; cannons at the top corners would shoot into the corners, which would turn the canonballs toward the area where attackers would try to enter the gate.They were either finishing, or waiting to start; we missed the actionA key provision from which the troops would receive their daily ration; in the second-most fortified room in the fort – next to the powder storage area.Map of the empire – note England on both ends; a straight line could be drawn to any point in the empire without going across a seam
We caught the trolley back and found a good example of one of the aforementioned establishments to enjoy a frosty beverage and a late lunch, while observing the scene. Had a terrific ‘brewers plate’, that wound up being enough for a complete meal. We talked to several other people at nearby tables, including some Australian tourists, and a guy who was on a motorcycle trip with friends. He came to our table to borrow a spare chair, and wound up sitting down and talking to us for 20 minutes
Our new boat cards
We then walked to the local Staples store a few blocks away to pick up our newly printed boatcards (version 2.0), that we exchange with other boats that we meet along the way. We have a rapidly growing binder with the pages of other cards we have collected – helps us to remember people names that go with boat names, as we encounter folks a few weeks later that we have met before.
Interestingly, the government owns all the distribution for alcoholic beverages, so no wine in grocery stores, no beer at gas stations. The LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) stores ensure consistent pricing and take the hefty government cut of taxes on all sales. We went to an LCBO store to check it out. Generally, prices were higher on the kinds of things that we’d stock on the liquor shelf, but reasonable on many low/mid wine bottles. Many, many different kinds of beer – you have to flip your head, though, with regard to what’s an ‘import’ and what’s ‘domestic’. Only singles cans (big 16 oz. ones) and six-packs. No 12 or 24 cases!? What’s up with that? (To be answered in a future post) We bought a couple interesting sounding craft brews, a cider, and a sangria, to try.
Later, we went back to a German restaurant we had seen, and sat in their biergarten for some really good German beer, and some OK schnitzel. Tomorrow we will head up the Bay of Quinte, enroute to Trenton, Ontario.
