Overnight at Lakefield Lock 26
44°25’11.2080″N, 78°16’14.1852″W
What3Words: ///conga.caring.secretly

Catherine writes:

We were up at 7:30 for a quick tea/coffee and to head across Little Lake to the Peterborough Marina to get the holding tank pumped out. The marina website and their phone message said that they opened at 8:00. We arrived at 8:45 but were informed that they didn’t open until 10:00, in keeping with the changes in the lock opening times.

I sent a quick text message to Sue to update them we would have to meet them later. We took advantage of the wait time and walked over to the No Frills to get a few more supplies. When we got back shortly after 9:00 the office was open and the staff person was able to complete the pump out, all part of the glamour of boating.

We went back across Little Lake to dock at Lock 20, tied up to the mooring wall and walked to the Canoe Museum. Sue and Peter were already there and enjoyed a latte and a muffin with them. When we got back to the boat I went to the lockmaster’s office to let them know we were ready to lock through whenever convenient for them. The staff were very apologetic but said it would probably have to wait about an hour because the water level through the lift lock was low, possibly from weeds restricting the flow of water. They had to clean the screens before allowing boat traffic through.

We sat at a picnic table swapping travel stories (“gamming”) and enjoying the beautiful September sunshine while waiting for the locks to begin operations.

Cath, Sue and Peter gamming while Wally did the dishes

The gates to Lock 20 began to open and we followed a cabin cruiser into the lock.

Sue and Peter aboard Belisama ready for the lift lock

From there we went down a short canal to the lift lock and entered the tank with the other boat. I found it much less scary going up than going down. I just looked straight ahead at the wall.

Sue and Peter stayed up on the flybridge and enjoyed the view as well as the experience. Once the lift was completed, we were able to tie up briefly on the wall and waved goodbye to them as they walked back down to the Canoe Museum to pick up their car.

We made it to the top of the lift lock 🙂

It was a spectacular fall day, with warm sunshine and brilliant blue sky, calm water all the way through Locks 22 – 26 – Lakefield. One unique thing we saw were remote controlled model sailboats having a race around some small buoys that were set up to create a race course. It reminded us of the model sailboats we saw in the parks in Paris.

Remote controlled sailboat regatta – looks like fun!

Swing bridge en route to Trent University

Approaching Trent University Campus – very beautiful location with lots of waterside spots for students to hang out and relax on a nice day

Canoeing peacefully along the Trent River – no fuel tank issues for them!

We got through Lock 26 at Lakefield just before closing time and moored for the night. They had shore power spots available which was a bonus. Finally, it was not windy, and Wally was able to barbecue peppers and shrimp skewers for supper. We had a long chat with Emily in Paris, went for a walk and then worked on the blog.

We are trying to figure out the logistics of getting to Peterborough and then to Orillia to get the car. Our summer adventure is coming to an end which makes us feel a bit sad especially when the weather has been so glorious. Rain is predicted for the entire weekend so that may accelerate our plans to return home.

Tomorrow we head for Burleigh Falls.

Bye for now!

Overnight at Lower Level Lock 20 Peterborough
44°17’55.6620″N, 78°18’16.7220″W
What3Words: ///subway.sped.changeable

Catherine writes:

We woke to dense fog and a very chilly boat.

Fisherman returning to Harris Boat Works in early morning fog

Once the fog cleared we could see the full moon descending as the sun was rising at the same time.

Sunrise and moonset panorama – click anywhere on the image to enlarge

We were up with the birds who have a lot of housing choices here.

Purple Martin high rise development at Harris Boat Works – thoughtful touch by the owners

Tea and crumpets for breakfast helped to warm us up.

It’s my (Catherine’s) turn to choose the breakfast menu

It was very calm and looked like a great start for our trip to Peterborough which we planned to begin after the fog lifted.

With fingers (and toes ) crossed, Skipper Wally started the engines. The port side started fine. The starboard started alright but only ran for 30 seconds and quit. The result was very blue air inside the boat as Skipper vented his frustration. We contemplated ending our journey and having the boat hauled out at Harris Boat Works as well as putting the original For Sale sign back on it.

He went to find Graham who was busy with another customer and said he would come as soon as he could. Wally tried to prime the starboard engine and miracle of miracles it started and stayed running!

We sat on the dock with both engines running for 20 minutes, then decided to head out around noon. First, we went back and forth in front of the marina for another 20 minutes to make sure or be as sure as we could that we were on the correct fuel tank and were going to be okay.

We did a few laps in sight of the marina – within easy towing distance 🙂

With everything humming along, we set the navigation app for the mouth of the Otonabee River which would take us to Peterborough.

Approaching the mouth of the Otonabee River

It was a much better day going up the river than it had been when we came down, sunny and pleasant without much wind. There were a lot of fishing boats, a few canoes and kayaks as well. Cottages and homes were interspersed with wetlands, so we kept the speed at 10 km to not create any wake.

Turtles hanging out at the mouth of the Otonabee River

Seagulls at the mouth of the Otonabee River waiting for fishermen to clean their catch

We arrived at Lock 19 – Scott’s Mills at 3:00 p.m. and called to make sure we could lock through. We were also concerned that both sides of the channel leading to the lock were lined with fairly large boats. The lock staff asked what the beam of the boat was, and Wally told them it was about 13’ so we were told to go slowly, and we should fit. If we were concerned, lock staff said they would relocate the boats.

It was a tight squeeze – two large Le Boat Houseboats and a brand new tug boat style cruiser on port side with another trawler and Le Boat Houseboat to starboard. Skipper Wally took us right up the middle with about 2 feet to spare on each side. We were too on edge to take any pictures, but we hadn’t seen this many boats together in one place for about two weeks!

When we got into the lock, a couple standing alongside the lock asked, “didn’t we see you in Bay Port earlier this summer?” Neither of us could remember where Bay Port was until it finally twigged that they were referring to the marina in Midland! They had a trawler style boat as well. Gosh, wasn’t that a couple of years ago? Their clue was Wally’s masterfully built barbeque box on the back deck!

We got through the lock with no problem and scooted across Little Lake to Lock 20 – Ashburnham where we had stayed before. We had been trying to barbecue for about 5 days, but it has always been too windy and that night was no exception. No power at this lock so it was egg salad wraps for dinner, very easy and tasty.

Locals fishing near Lock 20 – look close – are there two herons or only one? – click anywhere on the image to enlarge

Arrangements were made with friends Sue and Peter to meet at the Canoe Museum Café for coffee in the morning and have them come up in the lift lock with us so that should be fun!

Fishermen at dusk on Little Lake in Peterborough – click anywhere on the image to enlarge it

Bye for now

Overnight at Harris Boat Works, Rice Lake
44°7’20.0532″N, 78°14’28.3092″W
What3Words: ///chefs.jumbo.catapulted

We were up early and I cooked bacon for breakfast! This is the first time we have cooked breakfast aboard Belisama. Up until now we have been eating cereal and toast and toasted crumpets. What a great start to the day! It’s hard to beat the combination of “le essence d’diesel”  characteristic of a fine boat like Belisama blended with the aroma of freshly fried bacon. Someone (perhaps me) should figure out a way to turn that fragrant combination into an aftershave or underarm deodorant – I think it would be a big seller and the ladies would love it! Hey Copilot, how do I make …

Bacon for breakfast – I’m a happy camper / boater

We cleaned up the galley after a sumptuous breakfast and then I settled our account with the marina. It was a bright sunny morning and the lake was calm – a big change from the day before. I thought we might be getting low on fuel in the tank that we were using – especially after our “high speed” run down the lake yesterday, so I switched the valves to feed the engines from another tank. I warmed up the diesel engines for an extended period before we cast off just to be sure that the tank switch did not cause any difficulty for the fuel feed system. The engines were running noticeably better after their big workout yesterday. Poking along for hours at a time at low speed is hard on diesel engines.

We cast off just before 9:00 am and headed towards the entrance to the Otonabee River, just a few kilometers away. While we were travelling Catherine asked me to remind her  how our anchoring system worked – just in case we ever needed it. We were only off the dock for about 10 minutes when the portside engine stopped and the trouble alarm sounded. I shut down the starboard engine and told Catherine that now was the time to put our anchoring knowledge into practice.

Thankfully the weather was sunny and warm, the lake was calm and we were in about 20 feet of water so no danger of drifting aground and pretty easy anchoring space. Once we were securely anchored I switched the fuel tank back to the previous setting and tried to start the engines. No luck with either one! Not this again!

To make a long story short, I called Harris Boat Works – which we could see only a couple of kilometers away. They sent out a tow boat and Graham, the mechanic brought us back to their marina – to be tied up on what I called “the wall of shame” to a small audience of onlookers. Thankfully everyone on the dock was very polite and supportive. It can happen to anyone, right?

Our brief trip on September 8

Well, for me, I have been boating for over 30 years and until this summer I never once ran out of fuel. Now, it has happened to me twice in less than four weeks! That “bonkers” fuel tank selector system has been moved to the top of the list to be torn out and replaced once the boat is hauled out for winter storage. Good riddance, I say, good riddance! Actually I used several more “choice” words to describe my feelings about that stupid fuel system but this is a “Family” oriented blog site so I will remain civil in my choice of words.

Being towed back to Harris Boat Works

Once we were settled on the dock Graham came back with his tools and after a bit of effort he got both engines running again. He figured out the fuel tank selector setup and we switched the valves in the correct position to feed off the tank that had the most fuel in it – plenty to get us to Buckhorn. In my defense, Graham noted that one of the valves had been mislabeled. It was labeled to be the feed line for a specific fuel tank when it actually was a shut off valve. And that valve is “behind” a three-way valve that has no markings and must be in a specific position otherwise no fuel will get through to the engines – “BONKERS, I say, BONKERS”!

Catherine decided to take a walk while Graham and I were working on the engines. She took about a 20 minute walk from the marina to Gores Landing, the neighbouring village. She came across a beautiful little stone church that looked like it had been parachuted here from a small town in England. What a treasure to find. We will have to come back another time and explore the area some more – so much interesting history here.

St. George’s Chapel – original church built in 1847, current church built in 1908 with stones from the area collected by men from the congregation

By the time all of the engine/fuel system work was finished it was getting close to 4:00 so we decided to stay put for another night.

I mixed myself an extra strong Margarita and went up to the flybridge to relax, feel sorry for myself and reflect upon the day. It only took me a minute to remember that I have a great deal more to be grateful for than I do to feel sorry for myself.

While I was up top I was treated to an informal race of high speed boats on the water. Graham the mechanic was telling me that there are several high speed boating enthusiasts on Rice Lake and they often get together for some high speed runs – with some boats capable of going over 100 miles per hour! Wow, what a rush that must be! I bet they don’t have any trouble with fuel tank selector systems.

Tomorrow we will try once again to make it to Peterborough. Fingers crossed!

I hope to sleep well tonight.

Beautiful sunset over Rice Lake – a good omen, I hope

Cheers!

Overnight at upper level Lock 12-12 Ranney Falls
44°17’28.3992″N, 77°48’11.3940″W
What3Words: ///relax.inches.intense

We were up before 6:00 am this morning. It was a bit chilly and very misty on the water – reminiscent of our early morning experience on the Charente River last year in France with David and Valerie. However, on this trip we have shore power at our mooring, so the electric heater is plugged in to warm up the main cabin.

Misty morning at Lock 6 in Frankford

Back near the end of July when Cath was home in London for 10 days I asked her to bring our little electric heater when she returned to the boat, She asked “what do you want a heater for when its almost 40 degrees C outside?” I replied, “you’ll thank me later”. She has thanked me more than a few times during the past couple of weeks.

The next lock (Lock 7) on our trip was just a few kilometers away and lock operations don’t start until 10:00 am on weekdays so we had a leisurely breakfast and then published the blog entry for the previous day. That’s the first time we did this since we started from Midland, oh so long ago.

The morning was looking promising when we cast off around 9:30 but after an hour or so the clouds began to close in, and the wind picked up with heavy gusts. No worries while traveling on these inland waters… unlike being on the Great Lakes, there’s not enough open water on the rivers and smaller lakes on the Trent-Severn Waterway for any serious waves to form. We just bundled up and kept moving.

A little more daylight – good for navigation

Narrow passageway at canal entrance to Lock 6 – reminiscent of the aqueducts we crossed over in the UK on our narrowboat charter adventure

Mini cottages along the water between Lock 6 and Lock 7. This was a very nice setup.

Some open water and the sky brightened up – for a short while

A perfect little cottage all by itself – if we didn’t have a boat we would love something like that

Wally’s next project boat – a paddle wheeler – for some reason Catherine is not interested

We stopped for lunch at Lock 8 “Percey’s Reach”. Up until then we were all alone. We were just preparing to get underway when another boat came through the lock. The lockmaster encouraged us to follow them through to Campbellford because it was only 90 minutes before the locks would cease operations at 3:30.

This boat was a very nice 44-foot Carver with Edmonton, Alberta shown on the transom as its home port. When we were in the lock, I asked one of the crew members if she could share the charts with me that got their boat all the way here from Edmonton! She laughed and told us that the boat was from the Toronto area, and the previous owner was from Edmonton.

As we were getting closer to Campbellford we started seeing more concrete “pillars” sticking out of the water. At first I thought they were old bridge abutments but they were too far apart and often in very wide spots along the river. Catherine read in the guidebook that these were put in the river many years ago by logging companies. They were used to control log booms that were being transported down the river to sawmills. They would be difficult to remove so now they are simply marked as navigation hazards along the waterway.

A very determined little tree on the concrete pillar

Lockmasters house at Lock 9. Back in “the day” the lockmaster and his family would live there full time. Now the building at each lock is used as office space and public bathrooms.

We finally arrived at Ranney Falls Lock 11 & 12 just after 3:00 pm. The wind was still blowing stiffly but the sky was clearing. This lock is just on the outskirts of Campbellford and it’s a nice place to stop for an overnight rest – so that’s what we did.

Today was another first for us. It was too windy to light up the BBQ so we had leftovers for dinner fortified with a heaping helping of Minute Rice! I used to “live” on this stuff when I was cruising aboard Ananda and Santosha. Catherine will have nothing to do it – she tells me that the carboard box the Minute Rice comes in is probably more nutritious than the contents. I’ve got her eating Pepperettes now so  maybe Minute Rice is next! Any port n a storm…..Oh well, pass the hot sauce please!

Ranney Falls double lock, on the outskirts of Campbellford. It’s a long way up!

Catherine contemplates crossing the pedestrian bridge over the gorge at Ranney Falls. This is so solid you could drive a car over it.

I crossed the bridge solo – and I’m the guy who is afraid of heights!

The view down the gorge from the center of the suspension bridge was amazing!

Google Maps – Ranney Falls Locks 11 & 12 and the Gorge Suspension Bridge – click anywhere on the image to enlarge it.

Enjoying the “down river” view from the Muskoka chairs at the top of Ranney Falls Lock 11

Tomorrow we will travel about 35 kilometers to Hastings where we will stay overnight. The forecast for the next several days is promising.

Cheers!

Another overnight at Upper Level Lock 6 Frankford
44°11’53.8584″N, 77°35’28.3632″W.
What3Words: ///plasmas.triangular.communities

This was our third night at Lock 6 in Frankford. Rain was forecast for most of the day on Thursday so we decided to stay put. It wasn’t long after we got up that our good decision was confirmed.

Mornings are noticeably cooler now and it is still very dark until at least 6:00 am.  The sun was rising around 6:00 am each morning and it was very bright at that time of day when we were at the marina in Midland. I miss watching those early sunrises! Oh well, they will come back again-next July!

6 am sunrise in Midland on July 9

At 10:00 am we walked over to the Old Bank Café in the town centre and brought our raincoats with us – just in case. This little café is a very special place. The coffee and food on the menu are spot on! I wish we had something like it in London.

Click anywhere on the photo to go to their website – photo copied from their website

The owner is from the Czech Republic and she has done a great job renovating the space. It has modern finishes complimented with lots of photos of the building when it was still a bank. The Molsons Bank was founded by the sons of John Molson, the brewer. I’m surprized that they didn’t have “In Beer We Trust” printed on the banknotes.

Molsons Bank Notes from 1922 – Images copied from Coins and Canada website

You can visit the Coins and Canada website by clicking on this link: CoinsandCanada.com

The interior of the cafe is very well done – lots of attention to detail

Old Bank Cafe – Frankford, ON

It was raining by the time we were ready to head back to the boat. Glad we brought our raincoats. We bought a couple of cookies at the café as a treat for the lock staff who had to work outside on this very damp day.

It rained off and on for most of the day. Catherine and I took advantage of the situation and forged on with our blogging – determined to finally catch up to present day. Success arrived later that afternoon. Now we just need to stay on top of it, so we don’t fall behind again.

I really enjoy writing and maintain the blog and Catherine is also getting much more involved this year. It is a great way for us to share our adventures with family and friends. There have been many times when I have wanted to remember something about one of our adventures that happened 1, 5, 10+ years ago and I was able to quickly find it on the blog using the little “search engine” tool that is also posted and available for anyone to use on the website. It occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that I have been blogging since 2010 – so this is my 15^th season of blogging.   I keep a detailed handwritten maintenance log and also a spreadsheet but our only “sailing” log is the blog.

As of today, our knotsnplots website has 33 individual subject pages, over 600 blog entries and more than 3,600 photos! Wow, I sure am glad that this website has an automatic backup system.  I would be devastated if all of this was lost.

The rain fell throughout the day. Catherine spent some time on her most recent needlework project while I helped one of my Afghan students get things sorted with her first year at Fanshawe College. After that I spent more time planning improvements to Belisama’s fuel tank management system.

Belisama’s “bonkers” fuel tank selector system – I get a headache every time I try to figure it out

This is what I have come up with to try and explain to our mechanic how I want the system to function after he renovates it.

Conceptual Layout of Renovated Fuel Tank Selector System – click anywhere on the image to expand it

Early in the evening we got out the Guidebook and planned the next phases of our trip from Frankford to Buckhorn. We are reminded of the adage – if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans. More on that later…

We watched “The Thursday Murder Club” movie on the laptop and went to bed around 10:00 pm. It rained heavily around midnight and continued into the wee hours. A good soaking for the area – which was badly needed. We also discovered that we no longer had any leaks around the windows and doors – so our focused efforts in regard have been rewarded! Touch wood and fingers crossed that things remain that way.

Cheers!