Stories about our experiences traveling America’s Great Loop.
We had an easy trip to our next stop along the Trent/Severn canal. This day was about 20 miles, and much of it was through very narrow canals. The narrow canals meant that we had to sound our horn when going around corners. It also meant that bigger boats had to announce their position on the radio. We passed three or four such large boats along this route, and while it was a tight squeeze, we were able to negotiate…
We made the fairly short trip from Bobcaygeon to Fenelon Falls in about three hours. The weather was beautiful once again, and the route was full of awesomeness. Once again it was a very pleasant trip. Once through the lock we were able to get a spot on the wall that had electricity and water connections. This was good as it was a warm day and we were able to run the air conditioning during the hot part of the…
This day we returned to civilization. Bobcaygeon is a tourist destination and is the home of the Kawartha Dairy. Again we docked along the wall of the canal. This time it was in the space at the top of the lock after we rode the lock up. We first found a pizza place and then for dessert we went to the dairy for ice cream. The dairy has a small shop that sells milk and other necessities, but they also…
Our slow-motion trip continues as we snake along the Trent/Severn waterway. Today we moved about 14 miles through some incredibly beautiful postcard-worthy scenery. We saw a church perched on an outcropping of an island that is only accessible by small boat. It was not far from an area called Hell’s Gate. We arrived at our destination early in the afternoon and found a spot on the lower side of the lock. This one is on an island, so the workers…
There is a farmer’s market in Peterborough on Saturdays, so we took a walk into town. There are nice walking/biking trails along the water. The lockmaster had given us a map showing the trails, which was helpful. We found the farmer’s market and stocked up on some fruits and vegetables, but most importantly we restocked our supply of butter tarts! The first lock was the one we had spent the night next to. The next one was the Peterborough Lift…
Today we were scheduled to cross Rice Lake. We were told by multiple people that the lake can get choppy when there is a west wind. Since the forecast called for a north-northwest wind during the day, we decided to cross the lake early. So we got up at 5:45am and spent the next three hours crossing the lake. It turned out to not be bad at all and we were glad we got the early start because boats that…
Today we worked our way through a total of 10 locks and only progressed 22 nautical miles. Our first destination was to visit Ranny Falls at the top of lock 12. Lock 11 and 12 operate as a “flight” of two locks, so when you exit the first one you are entering the second one, which raises you even further. The falls were viewable from a suspension bridge that was only a short walk from the tie-up at the top of…
Our day started with a visit to the local farmer’s market. We picked up some fruit and butter tarts and then went back to the boat to prepare to leave. We stopped to fill up with diesel. When we arrived at the first lock there were three boats. The lockmaster organized us and had me raft to another boat. We repeated this for the first six locks. After lock six the other two boats decided to stop for the day….
We arrived in Trenton around Noon and immediately liked the marina. The dockhands were professional and eager to help as we tied up to our assigned slip. The floating docks were modern and in excellent shape. There was key-card security access to the docks as well. When I went in to pay for the night I was given the tour of the facilities. There were at least a dozen private bathroom/shower pods in the climate controlled building. There was a…
Originally we had planned to stay in Kingston, but with all the weekend boat traffic we stopped early at Gananoque. This meant that today our trip would be longer, but the weather was nice and the water was calm so we enjoyed the scenery as we made our way to Picton. We departed right at 7am and arrived at 2:45pm. The distance traveled was 48.3 nautical miles (55.5 statute miles), so our average speed was 7.2 mph. There is not…