Monday July 24: Lakefield Rain and More Rain

Ready to enter the lift lock at Peterborough.

Leaving Peterborough Sunday morning we expected to see boats traveling - as would normally be the case on a weekend.

Not the case. Maybe the weather has kept the local boaters and cottagers at home?? It was a nice enough day but very overcast and a little cool.

Destination: 8 miles to a lock just south of Lakefield. This is a set of 7 locks - all hand operated that will take us to the next small town. Travel is normally slow so the idea is to break the trip up by staying at one of the locks for the night.

And of course we had to travel the through the lift lock which is always fun! For more info on it and how it works, click here.


The stop for the day was at Douro - Lock 24. Basically by ourselves most of the day and night with a few boats traveling but not 'normal' for a Sunday in mid-July!






It was a perfect place to cook dinner outside in the toaster oven!

It was going to be on the grill but when Steve pulled the portable gas grill out, the insides were totally rusted away - guess two years of just sitting is not a good thing for those little things :-)

The stay at Lakefield Marina was supposed to be just one night but the weather had other ideas: a high Monday of 62 degrees? Really?? Plus rain and thunderstorms?

We'll stay a second night please ....

Fortunately the rain was mostly at night and the rest of the time either dry or a slight misting.

We had to have a picture of the Lakefield sign so a ride down past the lock was in order. And that McDonalds is SO close ......

Plus there is a bike trail here with a fun Lakefield sign.




Steve took the extended ride around the point across from the marina. We often stay here instead of at the lock - great breakfast place right around the corner, after all :-)

It wasn't an all day play and no work: Steve had the buffer out and did some waxing on the boat in between the rain and mistings.

So the boat looks great - as long as we're docked on the Starboard side!








And if you're going to McDonalds, might as well get Happy Meals for the minions, right ? :-)

I just LOVE those little minions :-)

Tomorrow: headed out for Youngs Point, Burleigh Falls, Lovesick and beyond.

Friday July 21: Peterborough!

After the nice breakfast Monday morning at Frankford we continued north on the Trent River.

There were 6 locks to go through before we would arrive at Campbellford - destination for the night - 24 miles away.

The lower part of the Trent Canal varies from narrow waterways to wide bodies of water that are relatively shallow off channel. We're basically following the original river bed with the wide shallow area created with the damming of the river.



Fortunately there were areas where it was ok to cruise so we took advantage of those opportunities.

The day was sunny and cool - a beautiful day to be traveling.

We were lucky in that we were mostly going through the locks by ourselves. This means less time moving boats into the lock and a faster raising of the locks as for whatever reason the lockmasters let in the water much faster when a single boat is in the lock. We learned that the next day :-)

Finally - the last two locks of the day: a flight lock at Ranney Falls.

Nice in that once you are in the first lock, you just drive right into the second one - no waiting.

The lift in this flight is something like 70 feet. The current continues to be crazy strong.

And we found out just how strong when we arrived at Campbellford :-(

This year!

Normal years.

The picture left is from 2 years ago and is the normal water flow from the dam associated with the locks at Ranney Falls.

The island is circled in both pictures! It's just crazy!!



So one would think that we've been boating long enough to know that you ALWAYS dock going into the current right? (As the older gentleman who finally caught our line indicated to me :-) )

Of course I didn't think the current was really all that strong and decided that I could bring the boat in as we turned and attempted to dock WITH the current. Bad, bad idea. Not once, but twice!! WRONG! I ran into the concrete dock with the anchor platform not once but twice.

Riding to see the water flow and the park.

It was not a pretty sight ..... Eventually we did get in going with the current but that will be the last time to try that - for sure :-)

Looking north toward town from the
suspension bridge over the river.

Once in, we enjoyed the town again with a bike ride early on Wednesday before leaving for Hasting - another longish day of 21 miles and 5 more locks.

Really getting tired of the locks ....

There is a beautiful Provincial Park that runs along the river.

Some history of a dedicated group of volunteers that made this continuing vision of a family continue.







It was a peaceful night at Hastings on upper lock wall after a very looong day locking through the 5 locks - with 4 other boats!

Due to the design of the lower Trent locks, boats must use only one side of the lock when going up.

So we ended up with 3 boats on one side and the 4th boat rafted onto the larger boat behind us.

Which is normally fine except getting 4 boats in the lock takes four times as long as one - plus the one guy (and it was a guy - no sexism here :-) ) didn't have a clue about how to get his boat into the lock. I thought he was going to lose his wife several times as he maneuvered the boat so she could make a grab for the cables. I'm sure they were just inexperienced ..... So the five locks too twice as long as the previous 5. Tired by the time we were in Hastings for sure.

Oh well. All else was going well! Thursday was again a nice day with rain due in later in the day.

Travel? A long day of 40 miles across Rice Lake and up the Trent River to Peterborough.

The rain arrived early but we made it to the Trent River before it really started hard. Weird but the day ended the way it started - sunny with a few clouds!

The fountain is a fixture here from the centennial celebration of Canada 50 years ago. And when the sun shines through the mist? A nice rainbow :-)

We're staying another night - it's just time for a day off :-)

Plus the Despicable Me 3 movie was opening!

How could we possibly miss out on that??!!








So we rode though the very nice park to the theatre that is downtown.

















With a bonus stop at the small cafe on the river that Steve discovered served low saturated fat frozen black cherry yougurt!

Definitely a great score!










But the BEST SCORE EVER???

Steve had taken a ride to Walmart and being ever on the lookout: managed to find a NINTENDO SWITCH! What a surprise he pulled out of his backpack! This is the new video game system that he bought for me for Christmas but production has lagged way behind demand. Zelda is the best ever role playing game.

Can't wait to try it!! That will be shortly :-)

Monday July 17: Frankford on the Trent - Feels Like Home

Guppy at Kingston

Saturday we said good-bye to Kingston and a See-you-later to Karen and Craig on Rahn de Vous.

We were headed for the Trent Canal and they were headed back to Oswego and the Erie Canal. Not likely we'll see them again on the water this year but plans are formulating for a visit to their home in California sometime this fall. We'll miss them :-(

It was a gorgeous day for a change - perfect for traveling.


The idea was to break the trip to the Trent up into two days as it would actually have been closer for us to return to New York than to go to Trenton - the start of the Trent Canal.

So 40 miles to a small town called Picton. We ended up anchoring as the public docks were filled. Ok with us as the winds were predicted to die down at night.


It could not have been a more pleasant evening and overnight stay. The morning promised another good day of travel.

anchor alarm on phone

We were not dissappointed. We've been on these same bodies of waters in the past and with wind the travel can be quite miserable!

 The anchor alarm was set even though we didn't think it would be needed. Just really makes it easy to have a good night's sleep. At left, the anchor is obvious - and we are the small blue dot. If the blue dot goes outside the circle - the alarm rings. So nice :-)

Belleville (30 miles away) was the next place we wanted to stop.

There was this Chinese/Tibetan restaurant we found a couple of years ago there :-)

Craig and Karen were even going to drive over from Kingston to meet us there! Sadly - it was not open! Nor was it open Monday.

Sad state of affairs.... Steve took the bikes down and we ended up finding a nice Thai place and of course a breakfast place for Monday morning.

It wasn't long Monday (12 miles cruising which is only 45 minutes) until we went under the sign declaring we were entering the Trent-Severn Waterway!!!

No matter how many times we have passed under this sign and this bridge, it is always fun to do :-)

The water levels in the Trent are higher than we've ever seen. And the accompanying currents are also the most we've ever seen.

It's easy to know where there is a lot of current: just look for what I call the "dancing bouys" :-)

Of course most locks have an accompanying dam so the current sweeping past the end of the lock walls cause some interesting approaches to locking through.

We were locking through with 2 somewhat larger boats but fortunately both knew what they were doing so the locking process through the first 5 locks went relatively well.


Going through 5 locks was enough for us so we pulled over at Frankford - one of the few locks on the Trent that has power. I'm thinking we need to wean off of having power every night as it's not going to happen much after this!

It's a beautiful setting with perfect weather once again.

Steve cooked on the picnic table by the boat and there were nice shade trees for the warm afternoon sun.

One of the best thing about this stop is the small cafe a short bike ride from the lock. New owners, a bit of remodeling but basically just the kind of place we like :-)

And I love their fire hydrants - what a better way to find them than to put a big tall yellow stick that will be above the snow level :-)

Tomorrow: off to Campbellford!

Thursday July 13: Kingston

Back to Kingston - the start of the Rideau Canal (red line) which took us to Ottawa and back. We'll head out in the next day or two to Tenton and the start of the Trent Canal. Not sure where we'll end up as Guppy will stay in Ontario somewhere come September.

Meanwhile, back to Chaffeys Lock this past Sunday.

Before we left Chaffeys Lock, Steve wanted to get a picture of the snake that he saw the last time we were here. Apparently it hangs around on the lock wall below the locks.

He's not sure what kind it is but it was actually pretty big. Hard to get a perspective without a hand or foot in the picture – and that didn't seem like a very good idea!

On Sunday, the intention was to find an anchorage on one of the nearby lakes. Much of the shoreline had cottages but we found a potential spot at the west end of one of the bays off of Sand Lake. The fishing was just ok. And the holding was shaky!

Lots of seaweed so after spending a bit of time anchored we pulled up and headed on down the canal for Jones Falls. Plus it just wasn't a very nice day. Better to be tied to a dock tonight.

Once we were in and tied up, Steve headed off pretty quickly to check out the stone arch dam that was built here in 1827. 

Hard to get a picture of the whole thing – it's 61 feet tall and 320 feet wide!

The plaque explains the why and how of this interesting dam which at the time it was built was the third highest in the world!! Click on it to see a larger view.

Once back to the boat it was time to cool off (even though I thought it was quite cool enough already!). Steve said the fish were biting him – I suggested maybe these were piranha rather than the local sunfish :-)

Sunset was nice. It was so peaceful where we were. Above the lock but still not at the lock. Just a couple of docks and no one else around! (Rahn de Vous stayed at Chaffeys Lock waiting for a part which was due to arrive on Tuesday)

They would have enjoyed this dock and view.

So when we don't have shore power, Steve makes coffee on the one-burner propane 'stove' on the aft deck. Works great – in fact I'm getting to really like perked coffee instead of the drip kind like Mr. Coffee makes.

Either way, it was a nice morning :-) It's time to be off for our one hour 1 mile trip through the locks to Hotel Kenney below the locks here.

Jones Falls is a 4-lock grouping. A single lock and then a triple flight lock. Not unique on the Rideau but certainly nothing like it on the Trent.

In general the locks on the Rideau have a shorter lift due to the constraint of the technology at the time built. Plus because this corridor is declared “World Heritage Site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), it will not be changed!

The south end of the triple flight lock produces a waterfall whenever boats are southbound in the lock – just too much water in the system.

Jones Falls itself was not visible from the top of the locks so Steve and I headed out in the kayaks to see if we could see it from the bottom.

Nice sunny day and it was easy to find the falls – just keep honing in the sound :-) We enjoyed the day and waited for Craig and Karen to show up. They were joining us tonight (Tuesday) at the Kenny Hotel.

It was our 46^th wedding anniversary and no better way to celebrate than with friends, right? 

So we had a nice dinner at the hotel. Craig and Karen even had an anniversary card at hand :-)

This boat's anchor gives you an idea of what happens when you anchor in the seaweed :-)

Steve was excited to finally see a dragonfly do it's thing: eating a deerfly!

Wednesday we decided to go to Seeley's Bay. A small town that we stopped at 6 years ago but Craig and Karen hadn't been there

New docks with nice facilities. A town trying to attract the boaters who travel the Rideau waterways. We were very surprised to see that Matt and Wendy had unbeknownst to us bought a boat and were keeping it in Seeley's Bay! They deny ownership but I don't know – the rather uncommon last name is right there …..

The trip is drawing to an end on the Rideau as we follow Rohn de Vous through the twists and turns of the last 15 miles of the canal – arriving in Kingston about 2:30.

Now off to the Trent!!