Day 290 Young's Point Trent Severn 7/2

Click pictures to enlarge.

Peterborough Lift Lock - just like on the highway a traffic signal telling us which side to use.






Trent University - nice view right on the water







Diesellicious how appropriate for a boat name!!






Lockside Trading Co.


Not much to report, we departed the mooring dock above Peterborough lock at 8:15. There is a swing bridge ½ mile away that doesn’t open until 8:30. Today’s mileage was only 15 miles but after 6 locks we stopped at noon in Young’s Point. The locks do not have marine radios and very few have lights so when you get to a lock you don’t know what is happening. The procedure is to tie up to the blue line which lets them know you want to lock through. Tom got me right up to the wall so I could get off the swim platform; tied the stern and was in the process of cleating the bow when the gates opened. How frustrating! We had a dark cloud over us in one of the locks and just so we didn’t break our record, we had a light rain plus it is 20 degrees cooler than normal (63). I see it's 79 in our home town!

Right at the lock is a house/store called Lockside Trading Co. They have used every inch of space for a variety of items from bedding, furniture, dishes, clothing, food and ice cream! This was a fun place to browse. There are 3 restaurants available but we elected to stay in our warm boat and eat on board.

Day 289, Peterborough, Ontario - TSW

"Noah Genda" On the lock wall at TSW lock 18 Hastings Ontario






Looks like I missed another car show opportunity.







The Trent Severn has had so much rain they are opening the dams to let more water out of the pools.






Diann with Peterborough Marina in background






Form the aft-deck of "Noah Genda" looking over "Pan" at top of 65' verticle lift of the Peterborough Lift Lock. Just Beautiful !!!








Peterborough lift lock









Trent Severn Waterway at 6-MPH posted cruise speed limit.








Diann is not in the mood to address a blog tonight, so I will take a stab at it. As we departed Hastings, (TSW MM 50.1) Ontario Canada it was overcast after an all night rain. Can we buy a dry day? The clouds broke as we approached the Peterborough Lift Lock, MM 90.1, and it is a beautiful site to see. What a remarkable piece of engineering and to think it was constructed in 1904. I think this will be my highlight of the Trent Severn. This 65’ vertical lift is the largest hydraulic lift in the world. The sequence is quite simple, like a balance scale. The (2) pans, mounted on pistons, receive the vessels. The upper opposing parallel pan has one additional foot of water added to the pan (130 tons) and that added weight descends to the lower level, lifting the opposite pan with water driven hydraulic cylinder to the canal level above. Just to cool. Gets my attention real quickly, but I have been called a gear head before.

We chose to capitalize on our Canada Seasonal Mooring Pass and stay the night on the lock wall just above this magnificent lift lock. I am just clicking the camera constantly. With the mooring pass is the use of the nice quiet park, with restroom and city water that is adjacent to all of the Canadian Canal lock walls.

We rode our bicycles about a mile from our boat into Peterborough for an afternoon of exploring and catch lunch and maybe a grocery store. We met some very nice local residents for some conversation and directions. Most are very interested in your journey and sharing information about their communities. We had a lucky find for lunch at Reggie’s Grille on Hunter St about ½ miles from our boat. Great sandwiches sat outdoors and conversed with a couple of ladies at the table next to us. Her nephew is attending the Univ of IL in Champaign. Neat girls plus they assisted us with some directions to the Peterborough Marina. We rode over to the marina, looked for other loopers, (one there, Kids Again, 34’ PDQ), they were not around their boat. We saw the grille/lounge located on the 2nd deck overlooking the Marina. We could not resist the temptation to just relax on the open air deck, enjoy a beverage and the view overlooking this pretty nice landscape. While relaxing we both observed that it appeared it could rain pretty soon. We started back towards home, the boat, stopped for fresh baked pastries for breakfast on board, and lastly a grocery store for a few provisions. Remember we are on bicycles, so moderate purchases are in order since the pack mule has to pedal them back to the boat. Well it was getting darker by the minute, and we had a few sprinkles before arrival back to the boat. We just secured the bicycles on board and the sky let loose. A major shower that lasted about an hour and a half. Skies cleared, temperature and humidity dropped dramatically for a low tonight around 50 degrees.

Day 287 Trent Severn step lock 7-12

Nice house at the lock. Originally constructed in 1914, it sits at lock 9 on the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW)






The first half of the step lock (lock 11)









It looks like we're on top of the world!






View after reaching the top of the second level of lock #12 of the TSW






Hey guess what??? It’s raining again. Tom thinks it has rained 10 out of the last 15 days. Good thing I bought my waterproof pants. I wore them all day and stayed nice and dry. One of the lock operators shared with us today, that with all of this rain, they are starting to have water level control issues with the dams on the Trent-Severn. Of course understand, there are 44 locks and dams on the Trent-Severn-Waterway

Starting June 25, the lock hours are 8:30 to 7:00 pm. Today we traveled 25 miles and passed through locks #7-12. Lock 11 and 12 are called step locks where 2 locks are end to end of each other. The water in the lock lowers or raises as needed until the water in both locks are level with each other. Noah Genda was the only boat in the chambers but if a boat was descending, one of you would pass the other in the narrow lock. The water raises or lowers a total of 41’. You can see from the pictures the elevation we are at and what a beautiful view. It would have been really gorgeous on a sunny day.

If you aren’t up on your liter conversion, it is 3.875 liters per gallon on fuel. When you stop for fuel, it is helpful to know ahead of time how much a gallon will cost- we didn’t know and had to rely upon the attendant’s calculator. Not rocket science, however when you feel your tank can hold 175 gallons, you need to know what that equates to in liters. We filled with diesel at Frasers in Trenton and paid close to $4.00 gallon.

This afternoon, after we were soaked from the relentless rain, we stopped between lock 12& 13 in Campbellford at Old Mill Park city marina for $1.00 per foot without power; $1.25 with power. You find space along the wall, plenty available; tie up and go check in. The facility is operated by the City of Campbellford Chamber of Commerce located adjacent to the tie-up wall. Here you can purchase diesel on the other side of the waterway at MacMillians for $0.92 a liter or $3.60 gal. There are a couple of restaurants, drug store and a grocery store all with-in a walk from the City tie-up wall. Between rain showers we walked up to the grocery store for a few basics, looked at the Waterfront Park and did a walk by of a potential evening dining establishment. Of course it started to sprinkle before we returned to the boat.

After a few more showers/sprinkles in the late afternoon, it finally cleared enough that we walked up to "Rubbs Barbeque" for actually a very good serving of food. The service was good, a lttle noisy, but all in all it was worth the trip.

Day 284-286 Kingston, Lock 1-6 Trent Severn 6/25

Prince George Hotel Kingston






Pub Bar in the hotel








Us with Cindy & Alex Shue








Confederation Park, Kingston





Clocktower at Trenton, Ontario before starting the Trent Severn





Tied up to lock wall Above lock 6


Upon our arrival in Kingston we were greeted by our good friends Cindy and Alex Shue. They completed the loop a few weeks ago and live close by in the New York area. They are familiar with Kingston, Ontario area since they often come here for outdoor concerts. Alex & Cindy introduced us to the 19th century Prince George Hotel that houses 3 or 4 lively Irish pubs and then we enjoyed a delicious outdoor lunch at the hotel. They also helped us find a grocery store and with their car we were able to stock up on the bulky heavy items. We are so grateful for thier generous hospitality, plus what a fun day rekindling our friendship and discussing "Lopper" experiences of the last nine months together.

We were hoping to investigate Kingston, Ontario on Thursday but it was raining when we got up. Oh well, I guess we won’t melt on our way to the Farmers market and to a great bakery, “Pan Chancho”. When we returned to the boat it cleared off and was sunny so out we go again. I went my own way to find some waterproof pants to wear when we’re locking. I’m tired of having to change wet clothes all the time. Tom did some things on the boat (computer) and we agreed to meet at 12:30 in Confederation Park to listen to one of the bands that play at noon every Tues, Thurs and Sat. No sooner had the band set up when it started a light rain just long enough to get things wet and then it quit and we saw the sun again. The band was able to play one song before we got another downpour which made them pack up. Soon the sun was back. What a strange weather day.

We enjoyed the Prince George Irish pub so much we went back for an outdoor dinner. Food was great, lots of people watching and we noticed they all had ice cream cones. You can bet we found that store. On Thursday nights at dusk, they have a free movie in the square. Momma Mia was playing on a huge screen; take your chairs, and purchase popcorn and pop for sale. Walking back to the boat we passed a young girl in the park playing bagpipes. Kingston keeps things going for entertainment. The population is 117,207.

Today we traveled to Trenton and the start of the Trent Severn by way of the Bay of Quinte (Quin tey).

The Trent–Severn Waterway is a Canadian canal system formerly used for commercial purposes but now exclusively for pleasure boats, connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to the Georgian Bay portion of Lake Huron at Port Severn. Construction began in 1833 and completed in 1907. By the time it was completed its design had been made obsolete by larger boats: it had been designed for boats too small to be commercially viable. In the years that it was under construction, railways had further developed their networks and improved service, which influenced settlement patterns.

We went through 6 of the 44 locks and 7 miles of the total 240 miles on our journey through the Trent Severn Waterway. This ended up being way too long of a day (12 hours) which makes me cranky! It takes awhile to lock up 20’ and then the gates are opened manually. If a lock master is working alone (often) he cranks one side of the gate open and then walks to the other end of the lock so he can cross at the closed walkway, walks all the way back on the other side to crank open the other side of the gate door. Don’t be in a hurry folks.

Day 283, 6/25 1000 Islands, St Lawrence

Coming out of a lock on the St Lawrence







Singer Castle in the 1000 Islands






Singer Castle located in the 1000 Islands on the St Lawrence Seaway






One of Hundreds of Beautiful Homes in the 1000 Islands






A freighter we met on the St Lawrence







Another Island with structure






The navigational aids along the way on the St Lawrence





Another freighter we met on the St Lawrence








The Canadian National Park Island. We are tied to a provided dock at the park tonight. Is is beautiful.




Our books tell us to be prepared for a 1-4 hour wait at the St Lawrence locks so we have been happy that our longest processing was 1 hr 15 minutes. The Canadian locks provide pleasure boat docks at the lower and upper gates of each lock, which are multipurpose. You tie up; climb stairs to a booth, use a credit card and pay $25 to $30 for your lockage, find out the wait time, return to the boat and wait until they call you. The benefit is that if there is a wait, you have a convenient, safe place to wait your turn for locking through these busy locks. Saint Lawrence Waterway lock usage is not included in your Canadian Canal seasonal pass; however staying at a Canadian National Park is included in the Canal fee. We are capitalizing on that privilege and using a Canadian National park tonight located in the 1000 Islands. Actually there is 1800 islands but who’s counting? A nice facility and very quiet.

We anchored Sunday night at mile 151.6 at Baie St Francois and Monday at mile 77.4 which is an abandoned canal that used to by-pass some St Lawrence rapids. This cruise up the St Lawrence to Kingston, Ontario has been more pleasant than we anticipated. The waterway is beautiful, void of industrial and commercial development and very scenic. The 1000 Island area is spectacular and we are happy we chose this optional route. I know we missed the Ridaeu as well as the Ottawa River, but we are not disappointed. The number of islands is mind boggling and I have yet to see one that didn’t have a unique house on it.

And how about this castle??? We didn’t find out about a tour until we were settled in a marina and I searched for information on the intranet. Singer Castle on Dark Island is open to the public who wish to have a guided tour of the intricate architecture, beautiful furnishings and puzzling secret passages of the magnificent 100-year old Castle. Tons of granite quarried from nearby Oak Island were brought over ice and water in 1902-1904 to construct the “hunting lodge” of Commodore Frederick Gilbert Bourne. Mr. Frederick Gilbert Bourne from New York City was a self-made millionaire who expanded global production as well as international sales of the Singer sewing machine. Singer Castle is the only castle on this river to be completed, fully furnished and resided in during the heyday of the 'great builders' and industrials in New York.

Day 281 Leaving Montreal

The very clean and clear fresh water of the St Lawrence Seaway.






Lock 4, Upper Beauharnois on the St Lawrence Seaway





Our Anchorage tonight at Baie Saint Francois.







How do you like this for a bike path? The wide path follows the river a long distance and then narrows down to a normal bike path.




Several streets are closed off to vehicle traffic





This is the area everyone gathers to listen to different music view sidwalk musicians and entertainers as well as this is restaurant row. Pretty cool.





Fireworks every Saturday night and the marina fills up to watch them.




We missed our Grandson Connor’s high school graduation party. I hope everything went well for you Connor.

I didn’t mention the population of Montreal is over 1,600,000. During our stay, there were there 30,000 Rotarians Conventioneers in Montreal. No wonder the “City Tour” I tried to get on was sold out. You can see from the pictures this city is a gathering place.

In the afternoon, Tom and I took different bike paths and although the rain wasn’t in the forecast, we had a torrential downpour. Tom had made it back to the boat and was nice and dry but I got caught and I was dripping wet. Some people waited it out for over an hour.

Every Saturday night Montreal provides a spectacular display of fireworks over the St Lawrence River. The downtown marina is booked full every week-end for fine Montreal dinning, a great social and cap the night with a great display of fireworks. We were able to view the entire 40 minutes of the fireworks show while sitting on our flybridge. Montreal has to be one of the most enjoyable cities on our journey. A few days here are not adequate for a true sense of the city. The dining opportunities are endless, the architecture is stunning, the ethnic communities are interesting and you could people watch forever. We did limit ourselves to one sampling of ice cream and selected an excellent store called Moozoo. Actually we had frozen yogurt and was very pleased with our selection.

We departed Montreal this morning, traveling southwest on the St Lawrence River but we are going against the current. It’s not slowing us down as much as I anticipated. The St Lawrence River is a remarkably clear, clean, fresh water river and no tide to deal with. A beautiful day as we cruised to our evening destination, an anchorage at MM 151 on the St Lawrence River adjacent to the city of Baie St Francois, Canada. Nice homes along the shoreline here at our anchorage in this little rural Canadian Community. Our goal is to be aggressive for the next few days getting to the head of the St Lawrence River and ultimately to the Trent-Severn Canal.

Day 280 Montreal

Montreal skyline





We read we would be up against some current but come on...........





2 miles of this to get to our harbor.









The 126' Perseverance II, owned by one of Chicago’s wealthiest financiers; available for charter with 4 state rooms and a crew of 6.








Why am I always holding a map? Perhaps so I can find my way back to the boat..






China Town







The BIXI Bikes for rent.






Thursday we traveled 50 + miles to our anchorage at MM 63.5 on the St Lawrence River. Russ and Cindy on Ladybug anchored near us and we launched the dinghy and walked around La Grande Ile. We found ice cream and soon after found beverages at the local pub.
We left our anchorage at 6 am so we could get to Montreal and have half the day. We knew we were in for a battle with current of the river and you can see from the picture the amount of turbulence.

We are staying at Port D’escale du Vieux Port de Montreal right in the heart of downtown. In short it is called Old Port Marina in Quai King-Edward at $2.00 foot including power (if we had it). All the docks are so new they don’t have power hooked up yet. Their goal is to have the power connected and energized by Friday evening and sure enough, by dusk (9:00 P.M) we had power. This week-end is their season opening celebration and the slips are filling up with locals here for the night or week-end. We were informed that there is a fireworks display every Saturday evening right in front of the marina.

Tom and I rode to a marine store and from there we found an office supply store for printer ink cartridge. So far we found everyone in the stores speaks English but 65% of the population speaks French which makes it the 2nd largest French speaking city in the world, after Paris. This is a beautiful city with many public parks, bicycle paths, café’s, art sculptures, architecture and retail and business district. We find the European atmosphere to be so unique; it is like being in Europe, but you are in North America. We located a sidewalk café, enjoyed dining outside and listened to French music while people watching though an “okay” dinner. Hey they can’t all be good!

Old Montreal and its wealth of cultural, artistic, recreational, sporting and historical activities is a favorite destination for tourists and Montrealers alike during all four seasons. Old Montreal also has many fine restaurants serving a wide array of different types of cuisines. Saint Paul Street and its surrounding streets are heavily packed with restaurants and cafés offering tourists and locals an extraordinary dining experience. We were amazed at the thousands of people from all areas of the world.

Some of the activities available to you while in Montreal are a ferry to cross the St Lawrence River and view the site of the Expo 67 World’s Fair. The famous Montreal Underground City, directly under the heart of the city, 19 miles long. Constantly growing, the "city" - which links many major buildings and multi-level shopping malls in the area - is a shopper's paradise in any season. You’ll be amazed by its brightly lit, scrupulously clean passageways, linking thousands of boutiques, major hotels, restaurants, universities, dozens of office buildings and attractions.

Besides your city bus tours, you can book a 3 hour guided bike tour around the city using their fabulous bike lanes. Don’t have your own bike? No problem! Read on:
Three-thousand bikes are available for short-term rental around Montreal's downtown core at 300 locations. The bikes, which cost $2,000 apiece, are made of aluminum and are theft-proof, according to their designers. The bikes contain a GPS chip, and if rented and not returned will "slow down, and the brakes will lock automatically," explained Julian Joseph, a Montreal high school student who's part of a team hired by the city to repair the bike fleet.

Day 277 Chambly Canal

Be sure to double click on these pictures.



Waiting for the 12:30 swing bridge opening at the start of the Chambly Canal






Our first lock #9






Following Russ and Cindy on "Lady Bug"






Close quarters in these locks. You can see the upcoming step locks.








The water couldn't be any higher on these lock walls.









Manually closing the lock doors.








What a day! We left Gaines Marina in Rouses Point, NY at 8 am and could not reach the custom office by phone so we pulled into the Canadian Customs area and a woman come outside, ask # of passengers and what do we have on board and told us to keep going. We thought that was a bit strange that she took our word on everything but she didn't want to be bothered.

We arrived at our first swing bridge on the Chambly Canal (MM 50, bridge #12) at 10:30. They do not open the bridge during lunch between 11:45 and 12:30. We walked to the lock master’s house because we needed to purchase our Canadian Canal passes. After a very very long walk, he said he would sell them to us once we were in the lock so the walk was for nothing but exercise. They coordinate the lock opening with the bridge opening. There is room for only 2 boats of any size in the lock chamber. For anyone following behind us, the 2010 seasonal mooring pass is $9.80’ and the seasonal lock pass is $8.80’. The step locks were a new experience with women manually cranking shut the bridge, walking to the other end and manually opening the valves to let water out and then using the same crank opens the bridge for boats to go out. The speed on the Chambly is a maximum 6 MPH so we traveled 28 miles in 8 hours; 9 bridges, and 9 locks. Negotiating the last three locks of the day was a challenge. As you enter the 20’ wide lock, the top of the lock wall projects 8” above the water line. This leaves very little area for a fender to protect the side of the vessel from the concrete wall. Additionally complicating the maneuver were strong threatening winds that were strong on the stern, or swirling in unpredictable high gusts. Kind of a white knuckle afternoon.

With the (9) locks completed it started raining just as we exited the last lock of the day. We decided to call it a day and tie to the "Blue Line" just as we exited lock 9. We are tied behind Russ & Cindy off the motor vessel “Lady Bug”.