Brewerton, NY to Peterborough, ON

6/23/2015

A few boats left the marina this morning, because the Oswego Canal was scheduled to finally open by 10 a.m. We, however, decided to linger here and wait until tomorrow morning, because some rain followed by strong winds is expected, so those conditions did not sound advantageous to our going through 8 locks today.  Instead, we made plans to go through tomorrow at the 7 a.m. opening of our last lock on the Erie Canal and on through the seven locks of the Oswego Canal.  It was a quiet day, and we moved the boat to a more advantageous location on the dock for a quick get-away, and indeed the wind really picked up in the afternoon.  George made another run with the courtesy car to the “Lin-Li” Chinese take-out restaurant for more wonderful food, and we had an enjoyable evening eating and watching T.V.

 

6/24/2015

 

 Heading to our last lock on the Erie Canal

 Junction of the Erie and Oswego Canals

 Oswego River

 Choppy water leaving a lock on the Oswego Canal

 Pat at her post

 Waterfall on the Oswego River

 Docked at Oswego N. Y.

 

“Reflection’ was underway at 6:30 a.m. for the first opening at lock 23, and eventually we had 5 boats lined up with us in the lock.  However, by the time we reached the first lock on the Oswego Canal, only two other boats, “Just Us”, and “Bella”, continued together with us through the seven locks to Oswego.  We had a reservation at the Oswego Marina, where Randy and Cindy on “I Think I Can…” were docked since yesterday, and on our way in we also passed Klaus and Elizabeth on “Chinook” who were tied up at a dock wall at “Arthur’s” a close by restaurant.  Later we all met up at a picnic table near our boat to catch up on our adventures and to discuss the routes we would take across Lake Ontario tomorrow.

 

6/25/2015

 Oswego Lighthouse entering Lake Ontario

 Check the depth and water temperature while crossing Lake Ontario

 

 Entering Presqu'ile Bay

The  Murray Canal leading to Trenton, ON

 Gidget and Cricket visiting aboard "Reflection"

This morning we left Oswego, NY on an 84 mile trip across Lake Ontario to Presqu’ile Bay through the Murray Canal and then straight on to Fraser Park Marina in Trenton, Ontario where we would stay over-night and check in with Canadian Customs.  This was a different route than the one we had taken on our first “Loop” trip, and it is more direct, but it requires a 71 mile journey on the open waters of Lake Ontario, so it is wise to choose a good weather window.  Today’s wave heights were to be 1’ or less with light winds from the northwest, so we decided to make the crossing with “I Think I Can…”  behind us.  There was some slight chop as we cleared the Oswego breakwater at 6 a.m., but a short time llater things settled down, and we couldn’t believe the water depths and temperatures as we crossed the middle of the lake.  The seas were smooth as we entered Presqu’ile Bay, and then made the turn into the 6 mile long Murray Canal, which does not have any locks, but instead has two swing bridges that have to be opened for boat traffic.  After the first bridge at Brighton Road, the bridge-tender extended out a long stick with a metal cup at the end, so that Pat could pay our $5.00 US toll! This was indeed a “first” for us!   We arrived at the marina around 2 p.m., and within 10 minutes we were checked in via phone with Canadian customs.  Randy and Cindy came in a few hours later, and then joined us on our boat later for cocktails, followed by a take-out Italian dinner from “Tomasso’s” right next to the marina.  Even their cute doggies, Gidget and Cricket joined us!

 

6/26/2015

 Heading to Lock 1 on the Trent-Severn Waterway

 Pat at her station in Lock 1

 Leaving Lock 1

 Park above Lock 6 at Frankford, ON

 "Reflection" moored at the wall above Lock 6

 A "full house" at Lock 6

 Looking west from Lock 6

We pulled out of the marina around 10 a.m. to allow some of the other “Loopers” there to begin to move the “Conga line” line of vessels forward through the first few Trent-Severn locks. Because of the 8 day delay caused by the closing of the Oswego Canal, the boats are bunched together more than usual, which is causing a lot of anxiety among the novice “Loopers” as to how many boats would fit into the locks, how far and fast they should proceed, and would there still be places left at lock walls ahead for over-night stays, etc.  We decided to only go 7 miles through Locks 1-6 , and to stay at the lock wall above Lock 6 in Frankford, where we had been before, so we called ahead to see if there was any room.  At first the answer was “No”, but when we arrived we learned that “Bella” had left because they had problems with their engine batteries, so they eventually turned around and limped back to Trenton for repairs, so a space fortuitously opened up for us. Frankfort is a very pretty setting, and we later found out that our friends, Klaus and Elizabeth aboard “Chinook” had made it to the bottom wall of Lock 6 even though they had taken the longer route from Oswego yesterday to check in with Customs at Picton.

6/27/2015

 

 Locking our way through the Trent-Severn Waterway

 "Loopers" following us in the lock

 Ranney Falls flight lock

 Inside the lower lock

 The Waterway heading to Campbellford, ON

 

Today we travelled over 24 miles through Locks 7-12 to Old Mill Park in Campbellford.

The day was damp and dismal, but all the Canadian lock-tenders have been charming and cheery, and engage boaters in conversation and have lots of knowledge about their

local areas. The process of locking can often be tricky, and it becomes a real team effort between the Captain at the helm, and the “Admiral” who grabs the forward lock cable with a boat hook and puts a line around it to stop the boat in often turbulent waters within the lock. We arrived at the park in the mid afternoon, and after finding out that the power pedestal was not working, we hand-walked our boat forward to another location.  The weather for over-night and tomorrow does not look great, so we were not sure if will go on or stay here tomorrow.  Eventually we had 12 boats docked on the west side of the river and 3 boats on the east side.  In front of us was “Bijoux”, whose owners were attendees at our “Triangle Loop” presentation at Trawler Fest in Baltimore last year!

 

6/28/2015

 Healey Falls flight lock

 The view from the top of the locks looking back at the river below

After watching the weather forecasts for several hours, and debating the wisdom of moving forward today, we called the lock-tender at lock 13 to see if anyone was waiting to get through his lock.  She said that there wasn’t, but we noticed that some of the boats on the other side were leaving, so at 11 a.m. we, too, casted off our lines.   We spent the rest of the day going through Locks 13 -18 in the company of “Just Us”, and in the first four locks also with “Britton”, a slow-moving sailboat.  We were all headed for Hastings, a great little town with a Laundromat, grocery stores, a take-out restaurant, etc. all close to the lock 18 wall.  Shortly after we got docked, a Canadian couple came by who heard that we had been in Campbellford, and they drove to Hastings just to see if they could meet us and to buy our books! We invited them aboard, signed their books for them, and they turned out to be delightful folks who hope to be doing the “Loop” within the next five years.  After they left, we invited the couple on the boat behind us over for drinks, and they also brought over their copy of “Reflection on America’s Great Loop” for us to autograph!  It is great to feel that we have somehow inspired others to do this wonderful trip!

 

6/29/2015

 Lock 19 at Peterborough, ON

Fountain in Little Lake at Peterborough, ON

 

Since the Hastings Laundromat was open early, we headed there at 7 a.m., only to discover that their machines did not take “Loonies” or “Toonies”, but Canadian quarters instead!  George walked around town in search of these coins,  but discovered that the business didn’t open until 8 a.m.  We finally got the laundry started and then went a few doors down to the “Captain’s Table” restaurant for a terrific breakfast.  George even had peameal, a form of Canadian bacon.  By 10 a.m. we were now on our way to Peterborough – a distance of 34 miles across Rice Lake and through only one lock!  It was a lovely trip, and we arrived at the Peterborough Marina around 3 p.m. We were warmly welcomed by the Dockmaster and his staff, and were quickly tied up at a premier dock location right in front of the famous fountain in the middle of Little Lake.

Soon afterward, Freya Peterson, the AGLCA Harbor Host  for the area, came down to the dock to visit us, and we were given a large “Welcome” bag with many goodies and information booklets in it, along with Freya’s home-made plum jam!  What a great lady!  She and her husband, Don Bennett, will be hosting a Canada Day party for all the “Loopers” in the marina here on Wednesday. Then, a short time later, we heard a knock on our door, and it was our friends, Joyce and Dave Johnson, who had come from Indiana to spend the next 2 weeks with us aboard “Reflection”. They were staying at the “Holiday inn” near the marina tonight, and will be getting onboard with us tomorrow.  We had a celebratory cocktail together and then they headed back to the hotel.  Then, a little while later, some of our Canadian dock neighbors sent over delicious burritos along with a tasty pasta salad for us to sample for dinner.  They were not only hospitable, but also thoughtful, and generous people!