Bonjour — ❤️

When last we left off, our Great Loop Adventure has led us from New York, across the Erie Canal, across the Great Lake Ontario, and into Canada. I can hardly believe that I am here. Over the past several years of researching and dreaming about this journey, I have read many a story about this part of the Loop.

We began the journey to Canada from Oswego, which put us right into the Great Lake Ontario. This Lake is huge and at one point we had 586 feet of water under us. Well into the morning, we could not see land at all. That is how big this Great Lake is. I also got to literally jump in the lake! It was awesome! I have now swam in the Gulf of Mexico, the Chesapeake Bay, The Hudson River, The Mohawk River and the Erie Canal!

We arrived in Kingston, Ontario on Sunday the 17th of July. There are a few things one needs to do when you arrive by boat into another country. You must fly a yellow quarantine flag on your boat until you clear customs. We picked a marina that has a customs clearing facility. You must report yourselves and your vessel to the Canadian Customs Officials. Only the Captain can get off the boat. He cannot take anything with him except paperwork. Jim took our passports and our boat registration and documentation to an area that has a phone. He called customs, who proceeded to ask all the pertinent questions about the two of us, and about the boat. They ask about our reasons for being here, our final destination, how much liquor and tobacco we have on board, and if we have any guns or pets. LOL!

After clearing customs, Jim returned to the boat, and I was then able to get off. We took down the yellow quarantine flag and hung a Canadian Courtesy Flag.

It was late in the afternoon when we arrived to Kingston. We checked in and paid for our slip. We wandered into town and had some dinner. After that, I did laundry, free laundry, which is a nice amenity at a marina. We hit the sack early. It was a long day.

Kingston is a beautiful city. We wandered in the morning and caught a bus to do some grocery shopping. We found a meeting that night at the local hospital. I love when we can get to a meeting. I think in the weeks ahead it will become more difficult because of the locations we will be at. So for today, we have added one to the bank.

The sights in Kingston, Ontario

From Kingston, we enter Quinte Bay for a crossing of a very long 61 miles which takes us to Belleville, Ontario. It was a snotty day! Winds a howling, whitecaps on the waves. I’m not much for wind. The Happy Destiny does not mind though. Jim can crank up the engines and she will plow right through. The thing I don’t like about wind is docking the boat, so I tend to worry the whole trip because I know we will have to put her in a slip eventually. That’s just me though. Jim is a great captain, and I’m a pretty good first mate, so between the two of us and a dockhand to catch the lines, we do just fine.

Our next big adventure is to tackle the Trent Severn Waterway!

The Trent-Severn Waterway begins at it's south-eastern point, on the Bay of Quinte, on eastern Lake Ontario, and extends in a north-westerly direction to Port Severn where the Severn River flows into Georgian Bay.

The overall length of the system is 240 miles and features 44 locks, including the first and second highest lift locks in the world, 2 flight locks and one marine railway. It took 87 years to complete, from 1833 to 1920.

The Waterway is made up of a number of interconnected lakes, rivers, canals and cuts. Since many of these waters are at varying elevations, a series of locks were built to allow vessels to transit the system from end to end. In fact, boats transiting from Lake Ontario are raised 596 feet to the summit at Balsam Lake and then decend 262 feet down to Georgian Bay.

Jim and I started this waterway on the morning of July 18. This is another one of the big adventures we read about and researched as we dreamt of actually doing the Great Loop. What I remember was the amount of locking there was to be had. I also remember reading about a railroad lift that actually removes your boat from the water and carries it over a landmass and then puts you back in the water. As I write this page, we are about to be right there! It is crazy to me that all these dreams are coming true!

Even though we were veterans of the NY Canal System, having traversed over 30 locks, we approached the first gate cautiously, not knowing what to expect. Confronted by hard concrete on both sides for over a half mile in a channel too narrow in which to turn around, and a steel gate at the end, it feels like the entrance to the house of horrors ride at the carnival.

When we arrived at the Lock One gate, the doors were closed. I could see boats in the lock coming down. They have walls to tie up to while you wait for your turn, so this is what we did

There were several other boats waiting to travel up in front of us. These locks are much smaller than on the Erie Canal. Only 2 boats at a time will fit. We waited our turn on the wall and as the time approached for us to enter, the doors came open and in we went.

I don’t have a picture of this because I was busy on the bow. I had to figure out what we were doing, because these locks are different from the locks on the Erie Canal. You have to grab a fixed line with your boat hook and wrap a line attached to your boat around the wall line. Then Jim has to bring the stern to the wall, shut the engines off, and hops on down to the stern of the boat to wrap his line around the line on the wall. I was pretty stressed out by this point, but, I sucked up

my fear and just did what I had to do. I find myself doing that a lot on this adventure.

Up we went, and at the top they hold you there until you pay for your trip on the Trent Severn waterway. Jim snapped this picture when he was off the boat!

We found a very friendly staff, much more so than in New York. The locks in Canada are managed by Parks Canada where in NY they are managed by the NY Canal Corporation, a subsidiary of the NY Throughway Authority. We paid our fees for a one way passage through the system. The lock hands appear to be college students working a summer job. Most all the locks on this waterway are hand cranked open and closed by these very nice kids. They are helpful and tell you how far the next lock is and what side you have to tie to. They call ahead to the next lock and let them know that you are on your way, and most times so far the lock door have been open for us. Another thing that is so nice, is how pretty and colorful the lock houses are. There are flowers and decorations. Very well maintained.

This video shows the lock hand opening the gate.

Our destination was the free wall at Lock 6. We traveled behind a boat named Kerrris the whole way to Frankford, Ontario. When we arrived to the free wall, we met this nice couple who are Canadian and on a vacation. Ken and Shirley were a plethora of information. They shared with us their local knowledge which was very welcomed by Jim and myself. We enjoyed a quiet night on the wall, barbecued some Haddock for dinner, and prepared for our next days adventure.

Thursday, July 19th, we will travel 24 miles to the downtown wall in Campbellford, Ontario. We will conquer locks 7-12. We traveled behind the couple from Canada, Ken and Shirley. I have to admit, for me, this was very comforting. They know the waterways and they know the locks. Also today, the travel is slow going. In between locks, there is miles of no wake zones because people live here on the Trent Severn Waterway. It is so beautiful and the houses, and small cottages are breathtaking. I kid you not, every home has a Canadian flag flying proudly! It is quite the sight. There are children at play. Swimming, waterskiing, and casual day boaters enjoying the summer. Our average speed today was about 4 miles per hour. This time lapse video is actually our whole day on the water. 6.5 hours in 21 seconds!

Our boat, the Happy Destiny got tired on Friday morning. We were all set to follow Ken and Shirley again on our next leg, locks 13-17 to Hastings, Ontario. As we prepared to leave, we did our pre-check and started up the engines. Low and behold, our first “oh shit” moment. Even back in New York when we had the Turbo issue, we could have kept going. But this morning, nope. The Starboard engine died. Jim could not get it lit, so he went into his problem solving mode. Thank you God, that I have a Captain who knows his shit! He diagnosed the problem as dirty fuel filters, and because we were prepared with most spare everything’s, he changed the filters and within an hour we were up and running again. About the time we got to the first lock of the day, Ken and Shirley were just ahead of us already in the lock going up. Jim and I waited on the wall. I went up to the top of the lock and talked to Shirley and told her we were obviously back on track. They waited at the top for us and we traveled together one more time to Hastings, Ontario and another free lock wall.

I’m having a very difficult time with this blog post. It’s taking me days! Marina Wifi sucks and there is nothing but dead air on the walls. I can’t get pictures to upload and the bigger pisser is that I lose what I’ve already written. I’m going to fast track this while I have a connection.

We left the Canadian couple in Hastings and were through the first locking in the morning. There are weather issues approaching and we are on the move to get to Peterborough Marina. We crossed Rice Lake at a pretty good clip. It was nice to go a bit faster on this day. We’ve been doing about 4 miles and hour lately and the locks kick our butts. From Rice Lake we entered the Otonabee River. Back to 4 miles per hour. It was a shallow river and we were watching closely for logs and tree parts in the water. There were plenty of day boaters enjoying their summer. There are rocks on this river so it is very important to stay in the channel. We arrived to lock 19, got through it and arrived fairly quick to Peterborough Marina where we stayed for two days.

Peterborough is a great town. The marina we were at was right next to a park where they were having a pretty big concert. We walked to town and had dinner, went to the grocery store and settled in on the boat and watched the passing parade! There were many people at the park for the concert. I was glad I got to enjoy it from the comfort of the Happy Destiny. The following day we relaxed and recuperated from our last several days of locking. Honestly, these locks are hard work. This trip, I’ve said it before, is not for sissies! I have bruises on my hips and legs from pushing us off the walls with my boat hook! Also, just the anticipation of getting through safely gets me anxious. The wind is an issue also. Jim is doing a great job getting me to the wall! I’m so grateful for him. Again, he is a great captain.

Today is, hmmmmm. I’m not sure. Monday. It’s Monday! Weather report calls for rain and there are several boats wanting to get through the locks today. We are now running into many more folks who are on their Loop! I think we’ve finally caught up with the Great American Loopers. At least a group of them.

We got a late start, which probably was ok for today. We went through a few locks before we got to one of the monster locks on The Trent Severn Waterway. Lock 21, the Peterborough Lift Lock is the highest lift lock in the world. It was completed in 1904 and considered an engineering marvel at that time. It raises us 65 feet today! Each of the two pans weighs 1300 tons when filled. With one pan up and one pan down the two balance each other. It does not matter how many boats are in either pan. A boat displaces it’s own weight in water. When it’s time to lower one pan and raise the other, one extra foot of water (130 tons) is allowed to enter the upper pan. This extra weight allows the upper pan to push down and raise the lower pan to the top level. This was an amazing experience and we will do it again in the next week or so, at the 2nd highest lift lock in Kirkfield.

The Peterborough Lift Lock

I’m going to end this story now. It seems to be dragging on and on. In a nutshell, we are traveling The Trent Severn waterway and it is going to take us awhile. We don’t get far on any given day. The scenery is beautiful and despite all the stress I am having, I am in quiet awe of all that is around me and the gift that I have been given. This truly is an amazing adventure. We have conquered 24 of the 44 Locks, and I will try my best to get another blog posted next week.