Lots of locks...

As we make our way through the 44 locks on the Trent Severn, we have been treated to spectacular scenery, remote areas, and quaint towns.  The Park Service in Canada maintains the locks, and most allow boats to moor for the night and have manicured campgrounds and walking trails.  Some locks are in the middle of towns, and provide good stops to eat out and provision.  Those locks are always crowded with tourists (this is the busy season) so you always have an audience when locking through.  And yes, they all ask about RJ from Houma!  It is hard to find space at these locks, as it is first come first served.  At the rural locks, we are usually the only overnight boat, and see all sorts of birds, beaver and other wildlife.

 

We have met several local boaters who trailer their boats to one end of the canal and make their way to the other end, pitching tents along the way.  They have a friend meet them with their boat trailer and have a grand holiday along the way.

 

Some of the locks are hand powered, and the lock master has a wheel that he turns to open the gates, and floods the chamber.  Others are actually railways and you are hauled over.  Some are “pan” locks.  You go into one pan, and they add water to an adjacent pan, and up you go!

It has been a great experience, although we have been running 8-9 hour days and only going 30-40 miles.  The speed limit on the canal is mostly 10KMH (6mph), so it is slow going and the locks slow us down, even though they are usually open for us as the previous lockmaster calls ahead to the next lock to have it ready for us (so even if the Sea Ray guys speed past us, the next lock makes them wait for us turtles!).  

All the guidebooks say to not travel on weekends, as the “bareboat” charters are out in rental houseboats.  These inexperienced boaters sometimes crash into a lock and get stuck sideways in the chamber.  If you are next to him, there is no way to avoid a collision.  So we plan to stay at Bobcaygeon (“Bob-cajun”, appropriately), Ontario this weekend.  Suppose to be nice!  Stay tuned.  

These guys are everywhere.

The entrance to the pan lock.  We are headed to the lower pan on the right.

 The upper pan  is coming down with a boat and we are headed up in the adjacent pan.

Our pan on the way up.

The boat in the pan headed down.

Global warming many centuries ago!

Map of the Trent Severn.

The lockmaster hand cracking the gates on one of the older locks.

They fill up the locks.

This dad was treating his twin girls to a week camping trip on their Hydrasport.  The little girls were a hoot.

Tied up at a rural lock.  

The birding was great at this lock, especially at dusk.  

Same lock.  Note the 10KPH speed sign.

Name that bird?

Scenery pics.

At some points the waterway is quite narrow.  

At other times we are in lakes.

This church is on a rock in the middle of a lake.  I guess boaters constitute the flock.