Trent-Severn Day 4-8

We spent July 1, Canada Day, in the fine town of Hastings, where the wall soon filled up with boats. The boats in the marina across the river had to all leave for the evening because the fireworks were set off from the their docks.

But first we enjoyed the Parade that included this impressive bagpipe brigade.

Later in the afternoon, we shared a Canada Day picnic and cookout with our new boating friends.

The fireworks that night were very good and we had the best seat in the house from the flybridge of the Eschaton. The skies had finally cleared on July 1 and we've enjoyed hot sunny days and cool nights since then. The next day we finally were able to put on some miles as we went through the first of many long narrow lakes that form the middle part of the waterway. We stopped in Peterborough, one of the largest cities on the waterway and walked up a half mile to take a look at the famous Peterborough Lift Lock in preparation for our trip through it the next day. This unique lock was completed in 1904 and considered an engineering marvel. At 65', it's the highest lock of this type in the world. There are two "pans" filled with water. In the picture, the pan on the right is up and the boats will drive into the pan on the left.

Once the gate is closed on the lower pan, an extra foot of water is put into the upper pan and the weight pushes the upper pan down and the lower pan comes up. Here's the halfway mark ...

... and now the left side pan is up. The far gate will be opened and the boats will drive out.

The whole thing is quite remarkable and there are always lots of tourists watching the proceedings. The next day we drove up and into the lower pan. Up we went and here was our view from the top.

The next section of locks are the most historic on the waterway. Some of the walls are the original limestone blocks (which have held up better than the concrete walls). The valves that let the water into the chamber are also operated by hand in these locks. The lock operators are all very pleasant, friendly and helpful.

Some of the canal sections are quite narrow.

We are currently in the Kawartha Lakes section of the waterway, where the long winding lakes are connected by the locks. The locks are much busier here and sometimes you have to move quickly to secure an overnight spot on the walls. We're starting to see some of the rocky shoreline and rock islands that we'll see in Georgian Bay, many with just one cottage.

The locals know how to navigate their way through the rocks and islands, but we stick to the well marked channel. The water is clear so it's easy to see the rocks on the edge of the channel just below the surface ... although these are clearly above the surface.

Some spots are quite weedy and occasionally they wrap around the prop and Steve has to stop and run a burst of reverse to pop them off.

Today we are in Fenelon Falls, a busy resort town with the lock right in the center of town. I'm blogging from a combination internet cafe and hair salon !!! We're about 150 miles into the 240 mile waterway and have gone through 31 of the 44 locks. The Trent Severn is a delightful place to cruise and the towns and people along the way have been great.