JUNE 27th TO JULY 4 th

OSWEGO , NEW YORK TO PETERBOROUGH , ONTARIO

Tuesday, June 27 th

Oswego , NY to Trenton , Ontario , Canada

Bonjour mes amis…..nous avons entre a Canada !!!!!!! We left Oswego at 6:30 am with warm temperatures in the high sixties. The winds were low at 10 mph with a light rain.

We were excited about finally getting into Canadian waters. Lake Ontario was quite calm with seas less than two feet. The first few hours were easy boating in wide open water with land in the far distance all around us. There were very few boats around and the skies actually cleared up by 10:00am . We were both glad to be back underway and ready to be in ‘new' waters.

After about three hours we entered the waters of Adolphus Reach which were quite pretty and calm. There were gorgeous homes on both sides of the shore, each quite far apart from the other and each beautifully landscaped. It was quite picturesque. We went past Adolphus Town and then Yonges Point with ferries crossing back and forth to a fisheries research center ... it all looked pretty impressive.

Later in the day the weather started to deteriorate with a major rainstorm producing at least 3” per hour. We could barely see where we were going (it's hard to see through a heavy rain storm—there are no windshield wipers on the flybridge windows). We finally made it to Trenton and to the Fraser Park Marina which is located in the immediate downtown area. We were ‘in' at 1:45 which was good time given the weather conditions of the last two hours. We were guided into our ‘spot' by Craig who was extremely helpful with our lines. After clearing Canadian Customs via phone, we stayed on board for the remainder of the day.Dinner was light—we were both tired and not really hungry. We had a chicken Caesar salad with garlic bread…yum, yum.

Wednesday, June 28 th

At port in Trenton , ON

We decided to spend an extra day in Trenton , Ontario . Trenton is an established city, which is known as the gateway to the Trent-Severn Waterway. Trenton is part of the City of Quinte West which also included Murray, Sidney and Frankford. It's the site of the main air station for Canada 's Armed Forces and the location of the Rescue Coordination Centre for the Great Lakes area.

We were at a very nice marina with all the services we needed and even a full supply of ice cream. The morning's weather was clear so we knew we'd be cleaning the boat. Ocean Flyer had gotten very dirty while in Brewerton given the number of days that she stayed there and the number of workers who came on and off the boat. The outside of the boat was the dirtiest we had ever seen. We also decided to fuel the boat in the morning so that we'd be ready for an early departure on Thursday. Our dock spot was relatively close to the fuel dock so we ‘walked' Ocean Flyer over to fuel her up.

We then got her back in her spot and spent the next few hours cleaning the boat completely. We washed the windows, the hull, the decking, and everything in between. Jean cleaned the transom and swim platform which were really dirty. The bow decking was also a mess!!!!! Luckily the weather cooperated and we were in dry but overcast skies. Perfect conditions for boat cleaning.

Our marina was not only directly downtown but was also immediately adjacent to a beautiful park. After we finished cleaning the boat we walked around town a bit and through the park. We stopped at the library (of course), the post office and also the supermarket. We also found a hardware store that had everything (we needed some batteries) but also picked up some ‘noodles' for swimming in the waters of Georgian Bay and the North Channel. We've been told that these waters are crystal clear and will be in the 70's in July and August. So…of course we bought two noodles—lime green and hot pink!!!!!

The locks here are very similar to those in the U.S. although the lockmasters are much more friendly and helpful in Canada . They willingly talk about the towns you're passing through and they're very willing to find out information for you. There are at least two workers at every lock because most of the lock gates are operated on a manual basis. The gates are opened when two workers, one on each side of the lock, manually turn, with their arms and full bodies, two huge cranks sitting atop the locks. At one of the locks, some young girls give the lockmaster a hand.

Today we also find that our performance in the locks is excellent. Many of the lockmasters actually mention this to us—that we're pros at handling locks. We definitely believe that our third trip through the Oswego Canal prepared us thoroughly for any lock that we may encounter.

There were many parts of today's route that reminded us of the U.S. Intracoastal—the waterway we took to get from Florida to Cape May , NJ . In both cases, at times the waterways were narrow, bordered on each side by homes and docks. You need to travel at very low speeds while traveling through these areas.

We finally arrived in Campbellford at 5:15pm , much later than we planned. Campbellford had two huge docking walls, one along each side of its waterway. On the east side there were 30 amp power stanchions and a park and restrooms and showers. On the other side, over the bridge, were the 50 amp power stanchions (for us and the 64 foot boat). We got settled in easily and were ready for dinner by 6pm . Before dinner, however, Jean had decided to take a look under the boat to see if the weeds were still wrapped around the propeller shafts. She quickly donned her bathing suit and then put on her flippers and mask and headed into the water. Fortunately, she found that the propellers were free of any weeds!!!! Good for us.

We took a walk over the bridge to visit the town park and to check out the town. Campbellford is very pretty with quite a few historic buildings and homes. In 1806, the first pioneers settled in the Campbellford area and by 1820, the river powered a mill here. The river continued to boost Campbellford's development, providing the power for flourishing industry including logging, woolen mills and gristmills, a planing factory and a tannery.

The Old Mill Park was beautifully landscaped complete with a bandstand for concerts. Campbellford is home to the person who designed the ‘Toonie'. The Toonie is Canada 's two-dollar coin. It's a rather recognizable coin with Queen Elizabeth II on one side and a polar bear on the other. In the park there was a large tribute to the coin.

Dinner tonight was t-bone steaks, a salad with broccoli and tomatoes and then a few slices of garlic bread. Do NOT worry about us starving.

Over dinner we did several ‘high fives' about our masterful locking skills and about the fact that we had gotten so many compliments from other boaters as well as from different lockmasters. Several lockmasters mentioned that they had been told that the ‘two women' boat really knew what they were doing and that the captain handled her boat perfectly!!!! At one of the locks, the lockmaster (a woman) butted us up against the 64 foot boat in a manner that was uncomfortable for both boats. She later changed her mind and asked that Jean back up Ocean Flyer —which isn't that easy to do once you've hooked up all of your lines to the lock cables. But, we untied ourselves and backed up the boat even though there was a strong current in the lock. That move alone got us many compliments. We were feeling good—which is always a mistake—read about tomorrow.

Friday, June 30 th

Campbellford , Ontario to Peterborough , Ontario

This would be a very horrible day. We were on our way to Peterborough , a major town along the Trent Severn and 60 miles and 7 locks away from Campbellford. We were off the dock at 8:05 in blue skies and a nice temperature of 68 degrees. On the way out of town, I took a picture of Campbellford.

We left early to get in line for the first locking at lock #13. When we got to the lock, there were already three boats ahead of us. The lockmaster indicated that he would NOT be putting us in the first locking but rather the second one. One of the benefits of waiting is the opportunity to watch the other boats go through. After tying up Ocean Flyer we were free to go to the top of the lock and view the other boats. It's a good perspective.

By the time it came for our turn, there were several other boats waiting and we realized that we would have a boat rafted to us. Rafting means that the smaller boat ties itself to our boat and goes through on us. Ugh!!

Anyway, we went through that lock perfectly and were still feeling great. We continued on the water which was really nice. The waterway was easy and the weather was wonderful. As we approached the next lock we could see much of the rock ledge that sits right along the waterway. This is something that you do not want to hit!!!!!

At the next lock we knew we might have some trouble in that it was a cavernous lock with a strange wind current—very strong and swirling inside the lock. I got hold of the cable which gave Jean a chance to grab her line when I noticed that there was no cable at the stern end of the boat. This meant that I had to move my line to another cable. In doing this, I lost the line and the wind got hold of the boat and swung it into the middle of the lock. When Jean tried to bring the boat around, the wind caught the boat and kept Jean from bringing the boat into line with the cables. I then got the cable with a boat hook and dragged it into place. Once I had my line, Jean got the stern of the boat in place and grabbed her line. Everyone in the other boats cheered and applauded and said we handled things in a great manner—but we didn't feel great.

We were also rafted in this lock but the family in the rafted boat was very nice and we later realized that we would probably be spending the entire day with them.

We got back on the water and now realized that we were well behind schedule to get to Peterborough at a reasonable time. The locks close at 7pm and there was a lock immediately before Peterborough . We began to think that we would NOT make that lock. But…..we kept on moving and headed to our second ‘flight lock' which had a combined rise of 54 feet. We made it through these flight locks with no problem but time was now a big problem.

One interesting and pleasing part of today's journey is the number of small islands that we're passing as we continue on our route. Hardy and Steam Mill Islands are prominent along the waterway as are many others. These islands break up the trip and create a very serene setting.

We moved on to Hastings, a beautiful small town on the Trent River . The lockmaster said that we had four more hours to go to Peterborough and that it was already 3pm . He thought that we might not make the 7pm final locking.

Once through Hastings , we headed to Rice Lake where we thought we cold make up some time. Rice Lake itself was beautiful—20 miles long and 2 ½ miles wide—with open boating in clear but not so deep waters. It was nice to be free of locks and houses and to speed up the trip a little. Ocean Flyer handles so very well when moving along, that it's nice to be in open waters.

About five miles before we turned off Rice Lake , we passed the Serpent Mounds Park . This Park is operated by the Hiawatha First Nation Reserve and preserves many of the artifacts and history of Canada 's early Indian population. In this park you can see 2,000 year old mounds of clam shells that were the garbage dumps of early peoples for whom clams and rice were the main subsistence foods. Unfortunately, due to our schedule, we did not stop at the Park.

We were on Rice Lake for about 11 miles and then we took a sharp turn into the Ontonabee River . On this river, the last 15-18 miles before Peterborough , we encountered many, many small towns, with houses and docks. This combination, once again, slowed us down. In looking at our 60 mile trek, we failed to understand how slowly we'd go through the locks and how many small towns would dot the waterways requiring us to run at ‘no wake' speed.

We made it to our last lock at 6:45pm and saw that there was a line of boats waiting to go through. By this time, we were very tired and very hungry. We made it through without incident and were at our marina and in our space by 7:15pm . It was a very long day—too long. We were too tired to cook so we just had a chicken Caesar salad for dinner with some garlic bread. Easy!!!!

Saturday, July 1 st

At port in Peterborough , ON

Today is Canada Day—the equivalent of our Fourth of July. We're glad to be in Peterborough with plans to stay for a few days. Peterborough , a city with a population of about 75,000, is rich in history in every regard. Settlement began in Peterborough in 1820 when the area's first white settler, Adam Scott, built mills at what became known as Scott's Plains. But it was Peter Robinson, after whom the city is named, who established it as an enduring community when he led 2,000 Irish immigrants through the bush in the 1820's, a British plan to encourage emigration of paupers.

Today is a big day for Canadians. We got up late—we were so tired. We quickly saw that this marina has a lot of boaters doing the Great Loop route. We're in a row with at least five boats bearing AGLCR flags. We will probably learn quite a bit from everyone about the route and their experiences. We also quickly learned that one of the boats is from Cape Cod — Huddie and Betty Baxter from Hyannis are here on their boat, Scout . What a small world!!!!!

We went to the farmer's market in town and got some great fresh produce and homemade cookies. We got back in time to see the local parade which was quite interesting. It was set up to come right by the marina and the streets were lined with many families. It began with two marching members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who were followed by a very nice bagpiping group.

There were many strange entrants in the parade including these two men. How did they get in the parade??? They were a big hit with the crowd.

A local drum and bugle marching band came by and was the only band other than the bagpipers in the entire parade.

The weather was perfect—probably high eighties and clear blue skies. We went back to the boat for lunch and a quick nap. There would be an evening concert at 8pm followed by fireworks at 10pm . We got to see everything—what a day!!!!!

Oh—I forgot to mention, a small boat hit us—leaving a sizable ding in the front port side of the boat, under the anchor. The boat was docking into the slip next to us and ‘got away' from its owner. We were both on Ocean Flyer at the time and felt the hit immediately. We both went outside to see the extent of the damage. Jean talked with the other boat owner but…there's really nothing to do—we'll have it fixed when we return to Jacksonville in December. The owner probably did more damage to his boat than to Ocean Flyer.

We ate out tonight—before returning to the marina, the concert and the fireworks. We ate at a small restaurant in downtown Peterborough called ‘Hot Belly Mama's'. It was great. We both had fried catfish with salads and sweet potato fries. We stopped at an ice cream/candy parlor later—‘The Chocolatier'—where Jean got an ice cream cone and I celebrated Canada Day with chocolate covered raisins.

Sunday, July 2 nd

At port in Peterborough , ON

Today was going to be another day in Peterborough . This is a large town and the marina is spectacular. We had originally planned to be here for four nights but we decided to spend another night—we won't be leaving until Wednesday morning.

We spent the morning making phone calls to marinas and planning our route for the next few weeks. We're glad that we've taken care of those arrangements.

The afternoon was spent at one of the most historic locks in the Trent-Severn system which is also the world's largest hydraulic lift lock. This lock is only 2 miles from Peterborough and we'll actually go through it later this week on our way out of town. We decided to go to the lock and to see it before we went through it. There's also a museum at the lock which describes the engineering feat of the lock and which we heard was well worth the trip.

The Peterborough Hydraulic Lift Lock was completed in 1904 and still has the highest hydraulic lift –65 feet—in the world. It takes only two minutes to complete a transfer, though the loading and unloading can take up to twenty minutes. You pull up into the chamber that is at your starting elevation and connect to a horizontal cable. There is no turbulence because, unlike a conventional lock where water rushes in, in this lock it's the chamber itself that moves vertically. Jean and I have tried to show you how this lift lock works through the next series of pictures. Keep in mind that the two chambers are always working at opposite levels to one another in their up and down movement. It was pretty amazing to see this lock in operation. It was especially helpful to see it BEFORE we go through it. In these next two pictures you can see a large sightseeing boat entering the left chamber and if you look closely you can see that some boats are in the upper chamber also.

These next two pictures were taken to show the up and down movement of the chambers. The pictures were taken at different points in the transfer. It's pretty amazing that this transfer takes place in only two minutes. It's very fast.

I was also able to take a quick picture of Jean at this lock.

The marina was about two miles from the lock and we took a very scenic route back to the boat. Peterborough is very picturesque and has created a water-focused environment.

We had a wonderful time, as usual and were headed back to the boat by late afternoon. We had a very heavy and hard rainstorm around 4pm which lasted about an hour. Following that the sun came back out and the world was bright again.

Tonight's dinner was early and easy. Leftover green beans and potatoes from last night coupled with some fresh chicken. Later, we headed downtown to the movies—can you believe it??????? We saw ‘Superman Returns'!!!!! We can't remember the last movie that we saw in a theater.

Tuesday, July 4 th

At port in Peterborough , ON

Next Trek - July 5