Peterborough to Orillia, ON

6/30/2015

This morning we cleaned the boat both inside and out, since not only were we expecting our guests, but also because we were staying “put” for two days, which gave us the chance to take care of some other tasks besides traveling.  Joyce and Dave arrived in the late morning and got settled aboard with their luggage, and we then familiarized them with the location of various items and also how the systems on our boat operate.  After catching up on lots of news, George cooked his delicious Pork Chops with Onion Gravy for dinner, and then Randy and Cindy visited with their grandchildren, Liam (age 5) and Mea (age 3).  As soon as the children saw Joyce and Dave, they immediately ran to them and snuggled into their laps.  Children immediately seem to gravitate to good people!

 

 

7/1/2015

Canada Day - Peterborough, ON

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





All four of us wore red and white outfits for Canada Day in Peterborough, and the town really pulled out all the stops for this local celebration of their national holiday.  At noon we all headed with chairs in hand to view the town’s parade on George Street.  The parade was made up of bands of all sorts from high school and local drum and bugle corps to Irish and Scottish bagpipe bands. Kids rode on decorated bikes, politicians walked and rode in decorated cars, Shriners followed in funny cars with bubbles shooting out of them, county cattlemen had prize cows on decorated floats, and representatives of every sports team and organization in the community seemed to have a presence.  It was somewhat overcast and cool, but nothing stopped the enthusiasm of the parade viewers who were dressed in red and white outfits of all sorts proudly waving Canadian flags.  After the parade, a Multi-Cultural Festival was held in Del Crary Park right next to the Peterborough Marina.  A large assembly of food trucks and tented stands were manned by folks of all nationalities serving their own particular ethnic dishes, while entertainment was being provided on the park’s stage by choirs, bands, and dance groups as well. At 5 p.m. all the “Looper” boats in the marina were invited to a “Docktail” Party hosted by America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association “Harbor Host of the Year”, Freya Peterson, and her husband, Don Bennett, on the dock behind their boat.  Freya absolutely out-did herself with a table of full of home-made cocktail appetizer dishes, and sumptuous desserts all made by our hostess herself with about twenty “Loopers” in attendance.  By the early evening the park had been re-arranged with different vendors, and now hundreds of chairs were place in front of the stage, and an excellent “Eagles” cover band began their concert at 9 p.m.  The very well- behaved crowd of 14,000 people then enthusiastically enjoyed a terrific fireworks display which took place high in the sky over the fountain in the middle of Little Lake.  We, Joyce and Dave, and Randy, Cindy, Liam, and Mea all enjoyed the show also from our premier spot on Reflection‘s fly-bridge. It was truly a wonderful celebration, and we had a fabulous day from beginning to end!

 

7/2/2015

Scenes from the Peterborough Lift Lock

 

 

The Kawartha Voyageur cruise ship at the top of the lock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Kawartha Voyageur  at the bottom of the lock

Leaving the lock

 





Today we left Peterborough around 10:30 a.m. in order to enable many of the anxious “Loopers” and other boaters in our marina to get ahead of us in the locking system.  Even though we lingered, we ended up having to wait at the “Blue Line” in front of a number of locks, so that the boats ahead could enter, lift, and then clear.  We were going only a distance of 10 miles, but there were 7 locks in that short distance, and the second one in the series was the Peterborough Lift Lock, the world’s highest hydraulic lift lock, which lifted us up 65 feet.  In the giant pan-like chamber we were accompanied by a tour boat tied to the other side and had only a few inches away between our boats.  That was a real experience!  Late in the afternoon we finally arrived in Lakefield where we got a spot at the upper lock wall for the night.  These spaces were at a premium due to the Canadian holiday yesterday, and many local boaters were on vacation this week and liked to take advantage of the Parks Canada system which allows them to camp or to tie up at lock areas that have lovely grounds, and access to clean washroom and shower facilities at very reasonable rates.

 

7/3/2015

Lakefield, ON - on the Trent-Severn Waterway

 

 

 
 

Scenic Stony Lake

 

 

 

 

 Joyce and Dave

 

 

 

 Randy and Cindy, Liam and Mea and small animals

 "I Think I Can . . ." underway

Reflection and company at Lovesick Lock

 

 

Kawartha Voyageur  preparing to enter the Lovesick lock 

 

 

 

 

 





Since timing is everything in getting to and through locks, we left the Lakefield wall at 8 a.m. because the next one at Young’s Point was approximately 6 miles away and in many areas that is the speed limit.  After a successful transit, we then entered beautiful Stony Lake which is filled with red granite islands with cottages on them, along with reefs, and rocks right off the marked channel.  This area is stunning!  We continued on through Lock 28 (there is no 29) and headed for Lovesick Lock 30 which we knew was also a very popular setting because it is on an island between a dam and four spillways, and it is only accessible by boat.  We called ahead to the lock-tender to ask if there was any “room at the inn” and he said that all spots were filled at the top.  Although we were at first disappointed, we idled at the bottom of the lock waiting for the lock opening, and then “Lo and Behold” a boat on the lower lock wall left, and we were able to take their place.  There were several local boats tied up behind us  who were obviously saving places for their friends, but they eventually rafted up to each other about three-deep.  The crowd was friendly and well-behaved, and they had commandeered picnic tables which they covered with food and drinks, dogs ran around, and they set up grills, a tent, and a fire pit, and most of them stayed over-night.  We had our own barbecue with steaks for dinner, and our screen-in aft deck was a perfect place to sit and enjoy the goings-on!

 

7/4/2015

 

Entering Bobcaygeon

 

We left Lovesick a little later this morning, since we only had a 2 lock trip over 23 miles, and the dock-mistress of Gordon’s Yacht Harbor in Bobcaygeon, our destination, asked us to arrive around 4 p.m. This was because the only spot in her marina which could handle a boat of our size was her gas dock, so we would take up a good portion of her 110’ dock. As we traveled to the Buckhorn Lock, after our lift on the other side, we could not believe what we saw!  Small boats and a slew of houseboats were lined up on both walls, where there was a “See and Be Seen” scene going on, and we were the largest vessel going through this chaos.  George even had to blow the boat’s horn to get through!   Though we eventually arrivedin Bobcaygeon a little early, the dock-mistress gave us a warm welcome, and shortly afterward, Joyce and Pat headed off to town to visit “Bigley’s” well-known shoe and clothing stores.  On their way there, they saw Randy and Cindy tied up at the lock wall right in town with loads of other boats as well.  They had arrived the day before, and their daughter and son-in-law picked up their children here today after their boat vacation with their grandparents.  After returning to the boat for cocktails, we all walked back to town for some more shopping and dinner at “Donatella’s”, which George and Pat followed up with delicious Kawartha Lakes hand-scooped ice cream cones!

 

7/5/2015

 

 Local "wildlife"

 

 The wall at Fenelon Falls

 

 

 Downtown Fenelon Falls

 





Reaching for power at Fenelon Falls (130' to the closest power post in front of us)



Pat did early morning wash at the marina’s laundry, while George, Dave, and Joyce paid a visit to the local bakery and came back with “goodies” for breakfast.  A short time later we pulled off the dock and headed for the swing bridge in front of the Bobcaygeon Lock which started to close but then reversed and re-opened for us, allowing us to head into the lock with its 5’ lift.  Now we were on our way to Fenelon Falls about 16 miles away, which was another popular lock, because it also is located in the middle of its town.  Again, we were hoping that many of the local boaters would be deciding to return home today after their long holiday, and that the houseboat renters would also be returning their boats. The lock-tender managed to get us into the Fenelon Falls lock as the last boat with only a few inches to spare between our stern and the lock doors that had to close behind us, and after our lift when all the other boats with us had left the lock, as we left, suddenly a spot for us opened up on our starboard sides and we were able to wedge “Reflection” into an area between smaller boats!  It was a great afternoon watching people strolling along the wall and looking at all the vessels from our screened deck, and many people made lovely comments about “Reflection” which was the largest boat there.  We had dinner at the “Lake House” only steps away from our boat, and afterwards we even met “Santa Claus”, a gentleman who played that role at a children’s tourist park in the area, who stopped and talked with us as he was walking his dog. 

 

 

7/6/2015

 

Scenes along the very narrow and shallow Trent Canal

 

 

 

 

Kirkfield Lift Lock

 

 

 

 

Hole in the Wall Bridge

 Entering Lake Simcoe from the Trent Canal



We left Fenelon Falls at 8:30 a.m. for a 55 mile trip through 7 locks, and the very shallow and very narrow Trent Canal.  Our first lock at Rosedale marked the highest point in the world that a boat can reach from the sea under its own power!  Soon we arrived at the Trent Canal where we called a “Securite!” three times before entering to warn anyone proceeding from the other direction that we were coming through.  The canal was definitely too narrow for two boats to pass each other without someone grounding on the rocks below.  We held our position in the center of the channel and went very slowly, especially with depths of 5’ – 6’ of water beneath our 4’ draft boat.  After about 5 miles we now entered the Kirkfield Lift Lock (the summit of the Waterway) and from here on, it will be all down-hill.  We were put in the front of the pan, and the scene as we looked out ahead of us from five stories up was breath-taking, as also was the speed of our drop down in the lock!  From here we continued on into Canal Lake (shallow and narrow again) and then through 5 locks in quick succession in less than 4 miles.  As we finally left the Trent Canal and made a sharp turn to port and then to starboard through the breakwater into large Lake Simcoe, we sounded depths in the 4’9’’ – 5’1’’ range!  Boy, was that cause for excitement, but quickly the depths increased to our liking!  Our 18 mile run across lake Simcoe was very pleasant with warm temperatures and calm waters, and we finally made our way into the Port of Orillia at 4:30 p.m., where we were met by the dockmaster, and “Loopers” Al and Sue Gonzalez, and her brother, Terry, aboard “Suroan” who were there to catch our lines.  They joined us later aboard “Reflection” for cocktails, and wished Terry a good trip back to Florida, since he would be leaving tomorrow.  Afterwards, we enjoyed Barbecued Spareribs and Salad for dinner aboard.