M/V Perfect Fit: 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.