Overnight at Campbellford Mooring Wall at Municipal Park
44°18’26.2260″N, 77°48’0.5832″W
What3Words: ///crickets.luxurious.lagoon
Catherine writes:
After listening to the wind howling and waves slapping against the hull for most of the night, we awoke to a peaceful sunrise and remarkably calm water.
Sunrise at Harris Boat Works – what a difference a day makes!
We had a long haul (for us) of almost 50 km to get to Campbellford Lock 13. We left at 8:00 am heading northeast towards Hastings which would be Lock 18.
Belisama leaving Harris Boat Works
It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with very flat water. Boat traffic had dropped off significantly since leaving Peterborough. There were hardly any rental houseboats on the water anymore and very few large cruisers. Rice Lake is renowned for its fishing so there were a few sports fishers out trying their luck.
Rice Lake heading to Hastings – what a difference a day makes!
Wally was able to take advantage of the wide-open spaces to run the engines at high rpms.
He was pleased at their performance.
Remnants of old factories as we approach Hastings
We arrived at Hastings Lock 18 around noon, waited for the swinging bridge to open, went through the lock and tied up on the low side for a quick lunch. Alongside the lock was a new condominium development fronted along the canal wall by an unusual use for old canoes – very creative and pretty with fall flowers.
Repurposed canoes at Lock 18 Hastings lower level
The next Locks were at Healey Falls – step Locks 17 and 16 which were monsters and dropped 54 feet, then shortly after into Lock 15 which dropped a further 22 feet.
Entering Lock 17 Healey Falls
Look waaay up.
At the bottom of Lock 16
Crowe Bay Lock 14 was next at a mere 26 feet.
On the blue line at Crowe Bay Lock 14
Then it was straight through to Campbellford where we would be staying at the town mooring wall operated by the Chamber of Commerce. Wally had made a reservation for two nights with Karen at the office who had said “look for the sign.” As we came under the bridge into town, we saw a small houseboat tied at the wall and fastened to the railing behind them was a sign “Welcome Belisama.” It was such a lovely personal touch that we have never seen anywhere before!
A special welcome for Belisama!
Karen came out to greet us and give us tourist information about the town (pop 7,800). The mooring wall was beside Old Mill Park which features a bandstand and a giant twoonie coin on a pedestal standing 27 feet tall. The twoonie was designed by a local artist Brent Townsend. The coin has turned out to be a big tourist draw, kind of like the Big Nickel in Sudbury!
We settled in for a quiet night on the boat, tired after all the fresh air and sunshine today.
Bye for now!