Back to the Loop

After eight days and nine nights we finally left Alexandria Bay, NY, in the Thousand Islands-not that that was a bad place (actually during the 90+ degree days it was a good place t o be in AC) but we were anxious to get going.  The generator problem turned out to be a broken wire (which Pete found while helping out the mechanic after we replaced the motherboard!)  Oh, well, it's fixed!  By the way Hutchinson Marina provided excellent services and were gracious hosts, even offering us a car to go grocery shopping.  The town was fun with lots of restaurants, bars and shops - a mini Lake George- and of course the islands and their houses were amazing.  I will have to say that it was the roughest marina we ever stayed at-between the tour boats and the thousands of power boats (you could almost walk across the river on the boats), the wake was a constant thrashing - almost had to wear the seasick bands while at the dock.

We needed to be in Peterborough, Ontario in four days- we had car and marina reservations so we could  get back to Vermont for Thyra's and Mike's wedding. After three grueling 12 hour days (13 locks in one day), we made it to Peterborough, We're now in t he Trent-Severn Waterway, a 240 mile network linking Lake Ontario with the 'Georgian Bay in Lake Huron.  Forty-four locks link lakes, rivers and man-made canals, all for recreational use only.  Of course, every eyeful is a postcard-we can understand why Canadians use and love their country.

a pedaling surfboarder

Thyra's and Mike's wedding was a whirlwind- from the bar-b-que, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding on the top of Jay Peak to the Sunday brunch- we need a rest!  The ceremony on the top of Jay was the perfect setting for them-they LOVE the mountain!  Thyra was a beautiful bride (Mike looked good too!),,,we wish them many years of love and happiness....

 

     We arrived back in Peterborough, provisioned the boat and were off on the Trent-Severn.  One of the first locks we hit was the Petertborough Hydrolic Lift Lock.  Both Peterborough and Kirkland Lock 36 have lift locks instead of the conventional locks(locks with water tight gates made of timber or steel at both ends. They are filled and emptied with water through sluices in the gates, walls or floors of the lock chamber.) These hydrolic lift are VERY different-it's made of two water-filled chambers (like big bathtubs) counterbalanced on huge hydrolic pistons.  You motor into a pool of water, a gate comes up and encloses you in the chamber.  The upper chamber is overfilled with one foot of water so this heavier upper chamber travels down, forcing the other chamber to ride upward.  What an experience-Six Flags can't top this engineering wonder!

Lock ready to be filled

Lock in progress-chamber lowering

Boat is in the bottom chamber ready to leave

 

The Trent-Severn Waterway is crowded with rental houseboats.  These are 40 x 20 floating RV's driven by outboard motors.  They are very popular to rent-we and the Edwards rented one and toured the Rideau Waterway years ago.  Anyway the rental company will rent to anyone-no boating experience necessary.  Well, we now know that fact first hand - we were coming out of Lock 34 at Fenelon Falls when the houseboat in front of us decided to make a U-turn in a very narrow channel lined with tied up boats.  Because of the wind and his ineptitude, he couldn't maneuver the houseboat, was diagonally across the channel and we were fast approaching.  Pete's expert seamanship skills came to the rescue and we missed his outboards by two inches-a double Bloody Mary was definitely in order! 

a typical houseboat rental

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We overnighted at the wall at Lock 35 where we met Tom and Sheila, owners of a beautiful Mainship 400, who are on their way to FL via the Trent-Severn and Erie Canal.  We shared supper and stories!

Sheila and Tom

After all the tricky moves Pete had to use to get away from the houseboat, the bow thruster began slowing up again so we decided to go to a small town called Cobocock where he could buy some files etc, to rebuild it.  This cute town had a great free dock where we overnighted  and could buy all the supplies we needed. A boater with a car stopped by and and asked if he could taxi us to the grocery store...how nice is that!!