Killarney.

We are docked at the Killarney Mountain Lodge after anchoring at the Christian Islands for the night. I am posting this via I phone as Internet is hard to come by. We will wait some weather out here and then head to Bay Fine  to anchor out a while. It is a fiord and supposedly quite beautiful. We won't have internet till back in the US so this is it for a week or so. Killarney is on a channel that connects Georgian Bay to the North Channel. This is about as far north we will go, 46 degrees latitude. The highs are in the 60s. The water is as clear as the Abacos. The mountains and bluffs are beautiful and largely uninhabited. Will upload pics when I can. The lodge has a great lounge with entertainment tonight. Killarney is a small fishing/hiking/boating town. The lodge is a happening spot!

Georgian Bay.

We are out of the Trent Severn and in Georgian Bay!  On Tuesday, we exited our last lock until we are in the Chicago area.  The Trent Severn was a highlight of our trip, and we could have spent more time exploring, but winter is a coming, so we have to keep moving.  We saw geese, bears, beavers, met friendly people and explored towns.  We definitely could come back and rent a houseboat and spend more time on the Trent Severn. 

Georgian Bay is home to the 30,000 islands, which are mostly granite.  The scenery is breathtaking.  We stopped in the town of Penetanguishene after the last lock to catch our breath, provision and, of course, to dine out.  We go to a French restaurant tonight.

Our plan is to anchor out at some of the beautiful remote anchorages in the bay (which is north Lake Huron) and then go to Killarney, and the entrance to the North Channel which is even more remote.  From there we take De Tour passage to De Tour Michigan.  Wi-Fi is very spotty, so the posts will be intermittent for now. 

Only one boat can enter at a time this narrow part of the Trent Severn.  One has to announce a "security" call on the VHF radio when entering so no boats will enter from the other end.  

Hole in the wall bridge.  

We had dock-tails with this very nice French/Quebec couple on A La Vie.  

Moondance on a lock wall for the night.  

The Big Chute Railway lock.  The rail car is lowered into the water, drive the boat in it, and it takes you by rail to the pool below.  

Entering the rail car.  

Going up.  

The down portion looked like a roller coaster ride!  

We are through the Trent Severn and docked a Penetanguishene. 

Local lore.

Local history.

Downtown.

Interesting lock details and other such stuff.

Lock factoids: The Peterbourgh “pan" lock is the highest lift lock in the world, with a 65 foot vertical lift.  Opened in 1904, it is still considered an engineering marvel.  Two large pans are next to each other connected by a hydraulic piston.  Each pan has 330,000 gallons of water.  When ready, 1500 gallons extra is added to the top pan, and down it goes, with the other pan going up. 

Rosedale lock number 35-the highest point in the Trent system, 598 feet above sea level.  This is the highest point in the world a boat can reach from the sea on its own power. 

Big Chute-lock 44 (the second to last).  This is actually a marine railway.  Water rushes down a granite chute between the Upper Severn River to Gloucester Pool below.  The railway portages your boat across land,  down the chute to the pool. 

The “Blue Line”.  The lockmasters do not monitor the VHF radio as is the States.  To indicate your desire to enter the lock, tie up on the lock wall adjacent to the painted blue line.  This signifies your intent, and the lockmaster will open the lock.  The lockmaster and the summer interns (usually college students) are very helpful and will give you suggestions from nautical to what restaurant is best in that town. 

Dockage-most locks will allow you to moor for up to two nights, for a fee of about .90 cents a foot.  So for about $38 we spend the night and can use the washroom, and tour the town, bike trails, or in the rural areas, enjoy the solitude and wildlife. 

The Trent-Severn Waterway is operated by Parks Canada, and is a major tourist attraction.  It is well maintained, and marked and user friendly.  Many locals have “cabins” (from trailers to mansions) on the waterway, and it is a summer hot spot. 

Bobcaygeon is located next to lock 32 and is a tourist town dedicated to the lock.  It even has a lock 32 beer.  Bobcaygeon is the houseboat capital of the Trent Severn.  There are rentals and private houseboats.  We must have seen 100 out on Pigeon Lake this weekend.  When locking through there were about 50 tourists watching us.  We didn't crash!  Last night, upon the recommendation of the lockmaster, we dined at Just for the Halibut.  I had the halibut…  it was great.  Blueberries are growing everywhere here, so naturally I had fresh blueberry pie.  Pigs we are. 

We head out tomorrow and hope to be into Georgian Bay in a few days.  From there to the North Channel and then De Tour, Michigan where we re enter the US.  We have to rely on WiFi (I am at the Bobcaygeon library) to post or check  e mails, so until we are back in the US, communication is best by text.  

Alexis says this one is for Ken.  

Looks like Highland's Barkmore?

This kayaker is towing his son.  Cute!

One of many boat eating rocks along the way.  These are not near as forgiving as running aground on sand or mud.  

A fellow loon...

Bobcaygeon.

Downtown.

Note the Blue Line on the right.  

Who knew Bobcaygeon has a world class shoe store.  Guess where Alexis is?  

Boaters along the lock wall for the night.  

Cool airboat.  

Bobcaygeon history.

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.  

On the Trent Sevren and out of touch!

We are docked at Trenton, Ontario and will enter the Trent Severn today.  We have no internet service, save for while we are at a marina.  Our texts seem to be working, so that will the best way to reach us the next few  weeks.  We will not have decent internet service till we hit Michigan.  We do have a sat phone and can call out if need be.  The weather is gorgeous.  The temp was 48 this AM!  Alexis and I were interviewed by a reporter for a local boating magazine who happened to be at the marina when we docked, and his comment was we are above 40 degrees latitude, so this is normal!

Bay of Ouinte.

This is a typical Canadian navigation buoy.  They are smaller than US ones and hard to see in rough weather.  

Fishing trawler.

Trenton, the gateway to the Trent Severn.  

Once we go under this bridge, we hit the first of 35 locks going up, then 8 going down.  We will be raised 840 feet above sea level.  

Alexis tells me some of the abundant flowers here could not withstand Louisiana's summer.  

Trenton, like most waterfront towns, has developed beautiful parks on the waterfront, and caters to boaters, a big economic force here.  We dined at one of the waterfront restaurants last night, and the very friendly people wanted to know our story.  "Are you on the Loop, eh?" is a familiar refrain.    Apparently Swamp People does not show here, because know one asked us about RJ, like in upstate New York.