Peterborough to Kirkfield Lift Locks

Peterborough - Kirkfield Lift Lock

3 July 2012

We left our anchorage in Rice Lake nice and early to make it to Peterborough in time to lock through. We were so excited to be on our way that we almost missed the entrance to the Otonabee river which winds all the way to Peterborough.

Leaving Rice Lake early in the morning

The entrance to the Otonabee River -
in our excitement we almost missed it.

A quaint little tree house on theOtanobee river

We arrived in Peterborough and had our first encounter with a lot of boat traffic. On more than one occasion we got to share a tight fit in the locks with the Island Princess. She is a tour boat that takes tourists up and down the lift lock. 

Island Princess11 says goodbye

The tour guide was real treat, he got out of the boat and walked around the lock as it was lowering and came around and chatted with us.

The lift-lock was truly an experience. I have heard so much about it but it is very exciting to actually go through it.

Entering the Peterborough Lift Lock

Getting ready to lift

Island Princess 11 coming out of
Peterborough Lift lock

The view from the top

Locking can be stressful but it is also a great opportunity to catch up with other boaters and have a nice chat. It is also great fun (if you are not involved) and very scary (if you are involved) in watching houseboats go in and out of locks.

Houseboats get rented out to people who don’t even need to have experience driving a boat, and it must be hard to drive by the looks of it. One house boater told us without any shame that he wasn’t even required to have a licence to drive one….this was just before we saw him entering the lock sideways. Thank goodness the lock staff knows what they are doing and are always willing to help.

We continued on to lock 23 until the rain forced us to stop. It was a quiet spot and just fine for a relaxing afternoon.

4 July 2012

We made our way through to Lakefield, lock 26, where we stopped to do some shopping  before heading out , through Hell’s Gate. 

Hell's Gate - Stony Lake
Slow down, take your time and watch the markers

Scary on the charts but pretty easy
if you take your time

Chart plotter view of Hell's Gate

Narrow passage of Hell's Gate

Finally after a hot day of locking we stopped at Buckhorn (lock 31) for the evening. Here we met fellow loopers, Eddie and Sandi on MV Tarqin. We enjoyed an Independence Day toast with our American friends. We had the gennie going and while I made bread, Gary had the water maker running. It was a long and hot day.

Buckhorn Lock 31

Time & Tide and Tarqin
 in Buckhorn

5 July 2012

Another very warm day as we meandered through Sturgeon and Pigeon lakes to Fenelon Falls and on to Bobcaygeon , where Gary had to go to a local marine store to pick up a tie down for the tender. No rest as we took off after lunch time and headed towards Kirkfield lift locks. 

DANGER!! Scary sight on
the water...

Kawartha Voyager  passing us in Sturgeon Lake
down bound from Bog Chute
(it passed us up bound in Lock 4)

Gannon Narrows Tug

Met up with Tarqin again in Bobcageon
Eddie and Sandi

Sturgeon Lake Float plane

Running with the auto pilot

We weren't fishing, just posing

Rosedale Lock

 We had to go through a very shallow area, Mitchell Lake and into the Trent Canal which is so narrow and shallow I must have held my breath for more than an hour in fear of us touching. Even though we called a Securite before entering the channel ,we met up with a big boat heading the opposite way. He reported that he had touched bottom twice which made me even more nervous.

Narrow Trent Canal

Trent canal

See how narrow it is??!!

Uh-uh! Boat in narrow channel who touched
bottom twice

Kirkfield Lift Lock
 I was very happy when we finally reached the huge Kirkfield lift locks where we spent the evening visiting with Randy and Natalie off MV Black Tickle

Top of Kirkfield Lift Locks

                                                                                                                        to be continued...

Hastings to Rice Lake

Hastings – Rice Lake

We really liked staying in Hastings. Everything is very close, the LCBO, Beer Store, groceries, bank, drug store and a very good fish and chip restaurant called The Captains Table, great value and excellent food.Roger and Barb Leonard came for a visit on their bikes. 

We set of nice and early for Rice Lake. 

The forecast was for high winds so we wanted to get there in plenty time. Our good friends Mike and Jen O’Toole, Robin and Carl Phaneuf and Steve and Tammy Greening were going to be camping at the Golden Valley Beach Resort on Rice Lake; we were going to anchor somewhere and try to visit with them.

The resort is on the South shore of the lake and in the very strong NW wind we were unable to find a comfortable place to drop the anchor. We headed to the protective north shore, knowing that it would be quite a ride in the dingy to get back and forth. We spotted Paudaush Island, checked our charts and scooted in there.  It is a great anchorage. We anchored east of the island, protected from the winds. If you want to anchor there, here is the information: Approach the island directly from the channel. There are 9- 12 feet of water all around and very few weeds (unlike the south shore). The water depth is 11-6 feet, even as close as 100 feet from the shore.

At last we were comfortable, as we settled in for a cool down swim; Gary decided to throw out a line. 

Within minutes he cause a nice bass and soon after, a really big one J

Our friends texted to say they had arrived at their campsites but the bay was still covered in white caps and we decided to wait for the wind to settle a little before going for a visit. At around 7pm we headed out on the dingy and I was a little nervous at the big water around me.

We arrived at the resort and were met by Mike and his daughter Kailey. At the campsite we were greeted by a surprise Mexican fiesta party. Our friends had everything set up including welcoming margaritas.

It was a wonderful surprise, great to see all our friends and we especially enjoyed the Mexican flare, including Moose fajitas and tacos. A wonderful send-off, thank you to our good friends :0  

Way later than we originally planned, we crossed the lake in much calmer waters, back to our home at anchored and 3 very eager cats waiting to get out and play. 

While we sat outside giving the cats some time to roam the deck in the cool night air, we heard Loons calling their haunting call…..such a uniquely Canadian sound for a foreign girl like me. I went to bed and Gary called out to me: I just saw an amazing shooting star! I said: Cool, did you make a wish? He replied: I didn’t have to J

The rest of the weekend was wonderful too. We celebrated Maya Phaneuf ‘s birthday and Canada day. There were fireworks all around the lake and we had a prima viewing spot on our boat at anchor. On the evening prior to Canada day, we heard distant drumming from the Hiawatha First Nation’ Reserve on the north shore of the lake. A beaver showed up and swam around the boat….it all seemed so surreal!

Unfortunately our time with our friends came to an end and we said sad goodbyes.

Tuesday 3^rd July we headed to Peterborough via the winding Otonabee River. (to be continued)

Campbellford to Hastings

Campbellfort to Hastings

We stayed at the Campbellford Municipal  docks. We found the staff friendly and helpful and we saw no signs of the vandals that threw a garbage can on another looper's boat the weekend before. There were many young kids swimming off the eastern side of the canal wall and even-though they were noisy and shouting profanities , they disappeared after it got dark and we never heard another sound from them.

I highly recommend a stop over in Campbellford. A visit to the Dooher's Bakkery is a MUST! Ask the dock staff or anyone around for directions, it is worth the walk for the creme filled donuts (trust me)

After saying good bye to Mya in Campbellford we headed up the waterway towards Lock 13 ……just to find that all the fenders and lines were on the wrong side for locking….When we came up the river a lock master told us that you always lock on the starboard side going up stream…well, apparently not !!  Now to those of you who are non- boaters this might seem like nothing, but it is a lot of work running around changing lines and fenders to the opposite side while entering a lock. Thankfully the Looper boat that was travelling ahead of us was kind and patient and waited for us, Thanks to MV Shirley Ruth (New Jersey) (http://mvshirleyruth.blogspot.ca/

As we left lock 13 heading to 14 we realised we lost a fender, so in the middle of a narrow channel we had to turn around and I was able to pick it up with the boat hook….again we made Shirley Ruth wait for us and we were so glad they did. The wind was being uncooperative and locks 15, 16 and 17 we rocky- rolley and hot, sweaty, tough work.

While locking through, we found out that the couple on Shirley Ruth we actually crewing for the owner of the boat. They met up with him in Kingston and were going to go as far as Port Severn. This seems like a great way for people to see the world and do little parts of trips without actually owning a boat. I don’t know much more than that but I thought I would share the website for those who might be interested. The couple who crewed we ex-military; she was a meteorologist and he was a diesel mechanic …..the perfect crew if you ask me.  Find a Crew http://www.findacrew.net/ 

We anchored in the bay just past Healey Falls and a stone’s throw away for Gary’s cousin’s cottage. Bernadette made us a lovely meal for dinner and we spend most of the evening visiting. When we got back to the boat Gary and I started on the curtains for the front windows. We have protective screens on the outside of the windows but we found that even though it blocked uv rays and some light we still had a lot of heat coming in. I had gone to Giant Tiger in Campbellford and bought some heat blocking curtains. We measured and cut the fabric to fit our forward windows and I started sewing (by hand). At midnight we called it a day and went to bed.

On Sunday it rained buckets again but the boat stayed nice and dry! We woke early Monday morning to a very strange sound …it seems the marker buoy for the anchor got wrapped around the anchor chain and was making a nasty noise against the hull. Of course it turned out to be a simple fix but no one likes to walk around the boat at 1 am, in the dark, fixing anchor chains. After that I slept poorly as I kept fearing that we would drag…Gary slept like a baby cause he knew we wouldn’t...

We started off to Hastings at about 10 am and arrived at lock 18 after a calm scenic cruise. We plan to stay here a few nights. Picked up free wi-fi from a marina and got to skype with the grandchildren.

 I really like Hastings. It is a quaint little town with lots of great places to eat and shop. Even the garbage cans are painted with town pride. Consider staying here a night or two. We saw this young man was catching carp with a compound bow and reel, he feeds the carp to bears , that he also hunts.

Trenton to Campbellford

Well, the moment we have planned for and dreamed about has arrived. After years we are finally setting off on the trip of a life time. Some people still don't know what the Great Loop is, I urge you to google AGLCA and read about it ...

 http://www.greatloop.org

Our last weekend home was filled with family commitments; our granddaughter, Avery, had her first dance recital and we were sure to be there for that big occasion

On Sunday 10th of June Gary and Nick got to race Formula 101 cars in Barrie. Gary won the race ....beating Nick by .006 seconds

We left CFB Trenton Yacht club at around 9am on June 11, 2012, good friends were there to see us off, Lois and Eric Irwin and Pat and Jack McDonald.

After a quick stop in Trenton we set off North on the Trent – Severn. We only travelled as far as lock 4 and tied up there for a couple of nights. What a great spot for quiet togetherness.... then we were visited by friends; Anna Wheatley, Denise Franklin, Bob and Monique Car. We had dinner (Pizza from Frankford) and homemade cheesecake compliments of Anna. Later in the evening we were visited by Lois and Eric.  There were other people who came to visit after 4:00 pm but the gates were locked and they didn’t walk down to the boat. 

It was a short run from 4 to 5 but that was part of the plan of slowing down. We were joined by Bruce and Ann at Lock #5 Wednesday evening.  We went back into Trenton with them, to one of our favorite restaurants, Tomassos. Afterwards we went to their boat in Fraser Park Marina for a night cap where we met Roger and C-J on MV Sea Jay. They motored up to #5 lock on Thursday morning. We enjoyed a good afternoon and evening with them, having a couple refreshments and dinner together. We were then joined by our good friend Deb Langstaff to finish the evening on a fun and memory filled note.

 At Frankfort we met several other Loopers. We had a great get together at sundown and we look forward to crossing paths again with all of them as we travel further on The Loop.

We were waiting for Mya,our grand daughter, to join us for part of the trip. It was a foggy morning but lovely and warm,

Lucky for us that we are still close enough to home to get a surprise visit from Nick and Freddie.

Sundown with Josie the cat - Blue Hole Anchorage 

 Grampie handed over the helm to Mya for part of the trip from Lock 7 to our over-night anchorage in Blue Hole ... We spent the evening swimming and fishing at Blue Hole Anchorageafter a warm day of travelling Perfect cell phone reception after having zero in Frankfort. In the afternoon we had a HUGE storm with lightning and thunder and rain like we haven't seen in ages. Afterwards it was lovely and cool and the nasty deer flies were gone. Grampie and Mya went for a ride in the Zodiac. Mya caught a couple of BlueGills and Gary and I each caught a Pike, nasty ugly fish , we threw them all back.

The next day was very hot, temperatures were in the +40s and I  must have got a little sunstroke cause I was feeling yukky all day. We had carried on to Lock 10, past #9 where we were going to stay originally but there was no shade. We turned the genny on and had the air conditioner going for a few hours.

Today we are in Campbellford. I am catching up on the blogging and Gary is running the water-maker. The air is on full blast because it is yet again another boiling hot day. Mya is fast asleep , napping in the middle of the day...because boating is hard work :)

to be continued....

Spring 2012

The days are getting warmer (not that we really had much of a winter here in Ontario this year)
Last week we had record highs for March and it seemed such a shame that the boats are not in the water yet.
Winter was not, however, without some moments of sheer terror. We had some very high winds here and there is nothing scarier than watching your boat rock in the wind while it is on the hard. There were parts of the USA that were hammered with tornadoes and we saw videos of boats that were destroyed by storms that also claimed lives. We were so fortunate that the only casualty we had was a ripped cover. Our thoughts go out to everyone who suffered a loss.

Over the winter months we religiously followed Tom's Weather musings on the AGLCA website, http://www.greatloop.org/ when he posted his last weather forecast ,we realised the next time we read those weather updates, WE will be one of the boats waiting to cross the Gulf !!


We did a few improvements/ changes over the winter. I spent hours sanding and varnishing the wooden accents in the salon and galley. I also resealed the bath tub in the main head. Gary replaced the vanity mirrors in both heads and it made both areas look larger and brighter. Last year when we had our survey done it was suggested that we replace the bushings that support the prop output shafts. Our favourite neighbour hood marine mechanic ( David Garthshore) helped Gary with that job and with the propellers, shafts and trim tabs in place, the aft is back looking the way it should. We purchased a new heat exchanger for the port engine and a new radar/ sonar (which needed two extra supports installed for the heavier head) I invested in a SPOT and now I just have to figure out how to work it :) We also purchased a "Devil's Claw" that takes the strain off the chain at the bow pulpit , so when we are swinging on the hook you don't hear the clunking noise of the chain on the roller and everyone gets a better night's sleep:) Gary installed a little table on the flybridge which could serve as a little chart table as well as a drink holder for social get togethers. At the Toronto Boatshow we picked up a new BBQ along with new flares and a second line snubber. We exchanged our old aluminium propane tanks for new 2 fibreglass ones. Lots of work still lies ahead, bottom paint, cleaning , waxing and provisioning....those of you who are boaters know what I mean. The new radio will be installed shortly and in a few days we will uncover Time&Tide for (what we hope) will be the last time in a while.

In the meanwhile we are getting things ready for storage with some mixed emotions, some apprehension but mostly excitement. I don't know if anyone else is as anxious as Gary and I am right now, we are counting the days and keep asking each other if we could just leave all ready!!

Preparing for this trip certainly has had some interesting moments: we had applied for a SVRS card through the U.S. Customer and Border Protection but when we showed up for our appointment at the border they had no idea what we were talking about. After a few clicks with a mouse and thanks to the paperwork we had with us, they gave us a number that would make entering the USA easier. We also applied for the decal you are suppose to have if your boat is over 30foot. We have really tried to prepare for this trip as best as we can but I am sure there will be a curve ball or two coming our way just to keep things exciting.

Since purchasing the boat four years ago, we have done countless modifications in preparation for our departure date which is now less than 80 days away now. We have learnt so much from other boater blogs and websites.Thank you to all of you who selflessly share what you know. That is what a true boater is all about.