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Hi from Belleville, Ontario! We will be returning to the US in a few days
when we cross Lake Ontario from Picton Ontario to Oswego, New York. We
crossed 240 miles and about 40 locks of the Trent-Severn Canal in 13 days.
Our longest run was 30 miles and 10 locks in one day. That day resulted in
a very tired crew. Most days were 10 to 20 miles and 5 or 6 locks. We ran
most of the time at 1500 RPM and 8 knots except in the many areas with
speed limits of 10 kilometers per hour. We were pleased to achieve
overall 1.7 nautical miles per gallon on the trip. Diesel is very
expensive here, usually 75 cents Canadian per liter. We finally have been
having great weather - its been hot! I spent one recent hot night sleeping
in the cockpit watching the stars.
That reminds me, one other night we were awoken by a loud noise, footsteps
on the deck, and then a big crash! We jumped up and ran out with
flashlights to see our trash can knocked over, but nothing else. Then I
flashed the light into the dinghy and there, hanging on, was a little
racoon. Afer a moment, he jumped off and swam for it.
The canal was fun, but we were tired of locking by the end. At the first
lock we were so worried and held on to the ropes so tightly! By the end
Karen and Amy would wrap the bow line and Heidi the stern line and then I
would sit in the cockpit reading and keeping an eye on things while we
locked down. They would go back to school. It is much better to do your
runs with many locks on a weekday.
The canal was interesting and parts were fun, but overall it seemed long.
We tied up most nights on lock walls. Sometimes, as in Fenelon Falls,
there was a nice little town there, so we took the opportunity to go to a
great little pub for ribs. Also, Karen caught a great 3 pound Walleye in
the early evening below the falls. Most times, however, the lock wall was
in a quiet little spot with maybe a convienece store nearby. It is
cottage country and the canal is lined with cottages nearly everywhere.
I think one of our favorites was Healey Falls where we walked about 15
minutes from the locks and took showers under the falls and swam in a
natural pool there. Many locks have hydro-electric powerplants there.
Another favorite was an early lock where you could tour the plant. They
had built a new generator and preserved the old ones. You could climb
through the old pipes and see the turbines and coils. The strangest thing
we saw on the whole trip was the night in Severn Sound when they were
having snowmobile "races" on the water. One guy ran about 2 miles until
his very high performance engine seized. After the race they used a barge
with 5 guys and a lift to pull the snowmobiles off the bottom. Pictures
of all these are to come soon when we get the web site updates out!
There was little need for navigation, I only used the GPS as a speedometer.
We did have all the Canadian charts for the canal and the Ports guide and
used them all the time. The depthfinder and fishfinder are absolutely
essential on a trip like this. The canal is very well bouyed, but may
spots are very very shallow. We ran aground twice, once in Rice Lake and
once in a canal turning basin. Nothing was damaged and we got off easily.
We broke both antenna masts, one on a low bridge and one on a tree
overhnging the blueline. I stowed one in the engine room and fixed the
other (it is now 10 feet lower).
I enjoyed many hours in the flybridge underway, alone, while Karen and the
kids did school in the salon. Very relaxing. Many days we travelled the
whole day with the same group of boats. I liked the lockmasters very much,
they were happy to talk and give directions and advice and they would ask
you where you were headed and then call ahead so that the next locks would
be ready for you.
We all agree that it would be more fun next time to make reservations at a
resort - maybe in Rice Lake or Buckhorn - and stay a few days, fishing,
swimming, and having fun. Also, buying the one way transit pass was a good
deal but buying the seasonal mooring pass was not. Next time, pay for lock
wall docking one night at a time.
So goodbye for now. After a recent GPS check, we are 1900 miles from home
in San Diego, we are 450 miles straight line distance from our starting
point in Port Washington, WI, and we have put about 900 nautical miles in
our wake in just under 2 months underway. We have been as far North as 46
degrees. We have seen the Northern Lights cover half the sky. We have
seen loons, beavers, bald eagles, ospreys, minks and deer. Due to our
recent great weather and our quick passage through the Trent-Severn we are
now back on our original planned schedule (within a day or two). Of
course, thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon and showers tomorrow
so we may not get to Picton, our planned last stop before crossing Lake
Ontario.
