Overnight at Peterborough Lift Lock 21
44°18’30.1068″N, 78°18’2.6172″W
What3Words: ///prolonging.diesel.estimating

Today was a really big day with lots of milestones for our trip and exciting things to remember.

We were up early and had a relaxing breakfast including extra coffee for me and tea for Catherine. Lock operations begin each day at 9:00am so we had lots of time to reflect upon what has happened over the past several weeks and what lies ahead. We were both surprised when we looked closely at the calendar and realized that we had actually only been travelling for about two weeks! It feels like we’ve been on the water for two months! Talk about getting great value for our money – this proves again that buying a boat is a really sound investment. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

We walked down to the lock to watch the Kawartha Voyageur enter the lock and begin the “locking down” process to the river 16 feet below. I took a video of the process and have posted it on YouTube. Here is a link to the video: Kawartha Voyageur Locking Down. It’s a bit long but interesting to see how quickly the boat descends 16 feet to the river below.

It is interesting to note that the Kawartha Voyager raises its bow when it enters each lock. This must be done otherwise the ship is too big for the lock doors to close. After the locking procedure is completed the bow is lowered back into the water and away they go.

If you want to learn more about the Kawartha Voyageur and its cruises on the Trent-Severn and Rideau Waterways then click on this link: Canadian River Boat Cruises | Ontario Waterway Cruises

We followed the Voyageur shortly afterwards and headed towards Peterborough accompanied by two couples aboard a LeBoat charter boat. One couple was from Montreal and the other couple was from Australia. We travelled as a small group from Lakefield to Peterborough Lift Lock and had nice chats with them each time we passed through a lock.

We were also joined at the next lock by a group of six women who were kayaking to Peterborough.

It would take them about four hours of travelling – a great place to kayak, very calm water wide expanse as long as there was not too much boat traffic. Our boats arrived at each lock about 5-10 minutes before the kayakers caught up. We were all happy to wait for them. It was amazing how fast they were able to go.

Today turned out to be full of pleasant surprises. One stretch of the river passes very close to Highway 32 on the way to Lakefield. I noticed a few OPP cars going by with flashing lights (but no sirens) accompanied by several OPP officers on motorcycles. At first I thought it was some kind of special police escort or a training exercise. But then there were more police vehicles and motorcycles. Perhaps it was a tribute parade for OPP officers who had been injured or killed while in the line of duty. This line went on and on and then there were even more motorcycles ridden by civilians. There must have been well over 100 motorcycles plus a dozen or more support vehicles. Here is a link to a YouTube video showing just a small portion of the “parade”. Canada 911 Ride Near Lakefield Ontario

After we got settled on our overnight mooring spot we started doing some research online about all of the motorcycles we had seen earlier in the morning. It turns out it was a group ride organized by the Canada 911 Foundation.  The foundation hosts Canada’s only 3 day fully police-escorted motorcycle ride, an annual event that raises funds for a variety of important causes. Here is a link to the foundation’s website. This looks like a very worthwhile foundation to support. Canada 911 Ride Foundation

We knew we were getting close to Peterborough when we passed through the campus of Trent University. There were university buildings on each side of the river. Very impressive.

We arrived at the upper level of the Lift Lock around 12:30 noon. We wanted to stay overnight at top side of lift lock 21 – with a 65 foot drop off straight ahead of us into the abyss – so we made sure we were tied up very securely on the lock wall. The lock staff said we were welcome to tie up there for an overnight stay and that it was perfectly safe. We were especially happy to remain overnight at this location because the visitor’s bathrooms were right beside our boat.

After a brief rest we walked along the canal to the recently opened Canadian Canoe Museum and toured it. This is a wonderful facility with hundreds of exhibits. It is really well done and something that you could visit several times and still have lots to see and learn. Here is a link to their website: Home – The Canadian Canoe Museum.

This museum is incredibly well done. Lots of very informative exhibits.

The museum also has a huge warehouse where dozens of donated canoes are stored. Visitors can also arrange for a guided tour inside the warehouse.

Some of the exhibits are even interactive.

We returned to the boat later in the afternoon and I BBQd chicken for dinner. There were lots of tourists walking around exploring the upper and lower levels of the lift lock. I’m sure if I had enough chicken I could have made a few bucks selling chicken on a bun!

Tomorrow we will very slowly and carefully navigate Belisama into the tank and take the 65 foot ride down to the canal below. One of us is really excited about this and looking forward to it – the other person is feeling somewhat the opposite.

That’s a challenge for future Wally and Catherine to face.

Cheers!