July 7th:Goodbye Peterborough after a great stay.

 We decided to stay a few extra days in Peterborough, and leave Saturday, because the temperatures were going to be in the high eighties until then. Another issue was we needed to pump out our holding tank and Peterborough was always a good place to do that, free if you buy fuel. Except for the fact that it was broken. They were bringing in a pump-out truck Friday afternoon. Decided to stay until Saturday. It was a good decision because we were able to run our air conditioner during the very hot afternoons and evenings. In addition, we didn't really want to go through the six very close to each other locks, with the sun beating down in 88 degree weather. We also got in another movie, Rocketman, which is about Elton John. Very interesting movie.

It was supposed to cool down Saturday so away we went.

The locks on the way to Lakefield have been maintained in their original historical operation. Nice historically, but after going through 5 of them, we appreciate the newer, much faster, electric and hydraulic locks.
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The original system has a gate (opening) that can be opened and closed through a hand operated gear system. There is a gate in each of the doors at the top and bottom of the lock. Gravity fills and empties the lock depending upon which gate is opened. In the pictures you can see the gear mechanism and the lock person cranking it open. That allows the lock to empty. Then the doors are opened by a walk around push cranking system. Lots of exercise for the lock people.

It turned out the weather people were wrong! It did not cool down. Even though we left early, it was quickly into the upper eighties. In addition, for whatever reason, the lock people were moving things very slowly. They can control how fast the water empties and fills by how much they open the gates. Maybe it was because of the heat, but it took about an hour longer to make the trip than we expected. Oh well, just part of boating.


Canada has been putting a lot of money into the Trent Canal System. It is not just for boating but the many dams control flooding and the flow of water. Several of the dams along this stretch are being rebuilt. The lock in the picture below has brand new concrete. In the fifty years we have traveled the Trent we have never seen so much renovation taking place. It is very nice to see.

This particular lock has a nice hillside. When they renovated the lock area, they planted a wide variety of wild flowers. Every Lock Master gets a flower budget, which they use well to make the lock areas very attractive.










After a long hot day, we made it to the lock just before Lakefield, our destination. The lock people told us the lock walls were full at the top. Not surprising given it was Saturday. We could stay at the bottom of the lock, not as nice as the top but not bad.


As we headed out of the lock we saw some very dark clouds headed our way. Fortunately, no lightening so we kept going. We had a few sprinkles but just missed most of the heavy rain very close by. We made it to the top side of the Lakefield lock, which is very nice and peaceful. We even got a spot in the shade, which was great.












After spending a quiet night, during which the temperatures dropped dramatically, we woke up to a beautiful morning. Made breakfast at the lock and moved on to Young"s Point, the next lock.

Wildflower identification from July 3rd post





Viper's Bugloss or Blueweed, as it may more commonly be known, is a biennial as well as a short-lived taprooted perennial which may grow as high as 1 metre. The stems are covered in stiff hairs with swollen reddish to black bases where they are attached to the stems. Bugloss lives best in pastures, roadsides and idle areas particularly on coarse, sandy to gravelly soils. This weed can produce 500 to 2,000 seeds per plant.

This blog's flower.