We had been pulling right into a lock north of Peterborough after just a few days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d handed by way of the identical lock perhaps 72 hours earlier on our manner north in our 42-foot Le Boat craft, and one of many Parks Canada lock employees acknowledged us on our return journey.
“Hey, guys! It’s Jim and Barbara, right? How’d it go?”
There are many issues I’ll bear in mind about our five-day, 20-lock journey on the Trent-Severn: my spouse admitting she was scared to dying on the concept of me piloting an enormous boat with nearly no boating expertise; majestic blue herons gliding over nonetheless morning lakes; night glasses of wine and night-time barbeques on the open-air prime deck. But it was the individuals we met alongside the way in which that stood out for me.
First Timer
I used to be too busy navigating to maintain correct notes on our journey, particularly since there have been solely two of us on board and I did all of the “driving.” But a younger girl at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the primary one I needed to maneuver our large boat into, gave me a large smile and a thumbs-up as I slide the boat inside. Observers lining the locks to see how issues labored – and to look at nervous boat operators – provided extra phrases of encouragement.
I got here in slightly too quick on the subsequent lock.
“A little hot, sir. Back it off. That’s it,” one of many employees referred to as out.
At one of many locks, a Parks Canada employee defined that there was a movable roadway/bridge forward of us that she must open earlier than we might head north. The street was solely a brief distance away, so she hopped on her bike and rode on forward, then sounded a horn to tell us we might proceed. Charming.
Navigating Locks
We acquired to the Peterborough Lift Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about 5 minutes earlier than it was to shut for the night time.
“Sorry we’re so close to the deadline,” I stated to Nick, one of many employees.
“No problem,” he replied. “Wait for me at the top, and I’ll help you tie up.”
Entering Lock 21 is just about the identical because the others. But the Peterborough Lift Lock, because it’s additionally identified, is the tallest hydraulic raise lock on the planet (65 ft). Other locks on the route often take 15-20 minutes to undergo, however this lifts you up or lowers you down in simply 60 seconds.
The prime of the lock regarded a quarter-mile above our heads, not 65 ft, however we virtually raced to the highest. It was a gee-whiz boating second if I ever had one, and I couldn’t cease grinning.
Once we had a docking place up prime, I took pictures of the lock at nightfall and chatted with a stunning couple from Ottawa who stopped – one among many admirers we had alongside the way in which – to take a look at our boat and listen to our story. There was just one different boat tied up on the prime of the lock, which sits excessive on a hill and affords nice views of the encircling countryside.
What do You Do For Dinner?
Le Boat leases come geared up with a fuel barbeque, so we opened a bottle of wine and grilled some pretty rooster kebabs that the Le Boat individuals had purchased for us (together with a whack of different native goodies, reminiscent of cheeses, recent bread and tortilla chips) and dined on the highest deck.
It was a wonderfully quiet, tranquil night time in late May, and we didn’t hear a sound. We woke as much as a sunny morning with a kayaker practising on the water, his paddle rhythmically dipping into the shiny floor as birds twittered within the close by bushes. The retailers and houses of Peterborough had been only some blocks away, however on our boat, it felt like mild years.
Rookie on the Wheel
There had been no different craft within the first few locks I pulled into as we sailed north on the waterway, and I believed I had the dangle of it. But on day two, I imagine at Lock 22 at Nassau Mills (once more, with simply my spouse and I on board, my note-taking was past horrible), there have been already two large boats tied up on the proper facet after I pulled up. I swear the opening was not more than two or perhaps three ft wider than our boat. The lock employee waved me in, and I used to be immediately sweating like a nervous bridegroom.
The people on the opposite boats clearly needed to keep away from a collision, in order that they eagerly helped with a pair well timed pushes. I pulled into the lock at a snail’s tempo and used the thrusters to push our boat sideways so Barbara might get our bow line tied.
My coronary heart was pounding, however I acquired one other thumbs up from the lock employees.
“First time I’ve had to pull in with other boats,” I stated. “That was not a lot of fun.”
“Pretty nice job for a rookie,” stated the man within the fancy boat subsequent to ours.
By the time we acquired to Lakefield, I used to be once more feeling fairly good about myself. But not for lengthy.
Docking Can Be a Challenge
Rather than having us dock simply previous Lock 26 in Lakefield, which is kind of protected, the oldsters from Le Boat had set us as much as go previous the lock and check out the Lakefield Marina so we might go searching and see what marina life was like, and likewise strive a pleasant, native restaurant referred to as The Loon. It was a stable plan, however there’s a reasonably sturdy present on the Lakefield Marina, and it was windy that day.
I couldn’t make it into the spot the marina employee had referred to as out to me as we approached. Our boat was 42 ft, and the advised opening regarded like 42 ft and 6 inches to me. I wasn’t positive what to do, however a gaggle of pleasant boaters who had gathered on one of many Lakefield docks identified an open spot behind a really giant and really expensive-looking boat. I moved slowly ahead and again and tried to guage the present, and I used the thrusters to maneuver the boat nearer to the open dock area. Finally, I acquired inside just a few ft and Barb tossed a rope to one of many individuals on the dock.
I feel it took 4 adults and a useful woman of about eight years to drag us in, however they managed. One of the fellows who did loads of the grunt work and helped information us in, Perry, gave me a pat on the again, in addition to an influence wire extension for the night time to cost our batteries.
“Don’t feel bad,” he stated. “When the current’s strong like this it can be very tough. See that slip over there? Nobody ever tries to dock there. Nobody.”
It’s All About Confidence
With a chilly native beer in hand and the solar dipping in the direction of the horizon, we sat on the highest deck and relaxed. It was about then that Barbara confessed she had been “dreading” the journey.
“Dreading?” I replied. “I know you were worried. I get it. But ‘dreading’ is a pretty strong word.”
“I honestly wasn’t sure you could do it,” she stated. “But I was wrong. You’re pretty good at this.”
The subsequent two days had been unbelievable. We made it previous Young’s Point, admiring a small marina with a horny restaurant/patio. We puttered (prime velocity on Le Boat craft is about seven mph) alongside huge Clear Lake, after which made our manner by way of slender passages in Stoney Lake, which is dotted with small, fairly islands in shades of beige, pink, and orange. We took a minute to understand a reasonably church on one of many bigger islands referred to as St. Peter’s Church-on-the-Rock, which, oddly sufficient, is simply a brief distance from a slender, fairly passage referred to as Hells Gate. (It’s not very tough, reality be instructed, however it’s acquired title.)
Friendly Locals
We had a little bit of bother discovering the lock at Burleigh Falls, however a pleasant native escorted us many of the manner there and instructed us the place to seek out the doorway.
“It’s a bit hidden,” he stated. “But it’s right over there, near that fancy cottage.”
We sailed by way of the lock and into Lovesick Lake, a horny physique of water that was apparently named for a heartbroken settler or maybe an Indigenous girl who was unfortunate within the affairs of the center.
With loads of time on our facet, we made all of it the way in which again to Young’s Point that night time and docked on the far facet of Lock 27, the place we chatted with pleasant locals out with their rods and reels and once more dined on the highest deck.
The subsequent day we pulled as much as the Lakefield Lock a couple of minutes earlier than it opened for the day. A pair who dwell an hour or so away, Ken and Jo, had been on their boat and got here aboard for a look-see as we chatted in regards to the space, and about our journey.
They had been a pleasant couple, and once more, my spouse and I discovered ourselves drawn to individuals who had been full strangers a minute earlier than. But we shared a boating bond, and I used to be shortly studying that these are a number of the deepest form.
We made it again to the Peterborough Lift Lock that night time. It was Barb’s birthday, so we had a particular toast on an excellent, quiet, late spring night.
Feeling Like A Pro
The subsequent day, we made our manner by way of Peterborough. A line of boats was coming upstream, and we needed to nudge our boat to the facet of the canal to allow them to by way of. But it was a wonderful sunny day on a fantastic boat, and I wouldn’t have cared if they’d taken an hour.
Pretty quickly, we had been by way of Little Lake, house to the brand new Canadian Canoe Museum. After going by way of Lock 19, it was a straight shot down the Otonabee River to Del Mastro Horseshoe Bay Resort Marina, the place we had picked up the boat 5 days earlier. With the present pushing us alongside, our remaining cease got here into sight far too early for my liking.
Forty 5 minutes later we had been heading again to the town on Highway 401, with vehicles whizzing previous me and darting out and in of visitors.
“Damn,” I stated to Barb because the vehicles crowded round us. “I miss that boat already.”
Just The Facts
This is the primary yr Le Boat has had ships for lease on the Trent-Severn Waterway. The firm has been renting vacation boats since 1969 and has 18 locations all over the world, together with the Canal du Midi and Burgundy area of France, Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, northern Italy, Holland, Ireland, and extra. They’ve been working on the Rideau Canal in Ontario for a number of years.
You don’t want a boating license to lease a craft from Le Boat. So that’s one fear out of the way in which. Does it assist to have some boating expertise? Undoubtedly. I’ve pushed my pal’s boat, perhaps a 20-footer, many occasions. But I had by no means tried to dock it.
A few weeks previous to our journey, the Le Boat people despatched us hyperlinks to a number of movies that defined boating guidelines typically and their boats particularly. They additionally provide you with a roughly one-hour intro on the boat earlier than your rental begins, going over buoy guidelines, providing navigation ideas, and explaining the bells and whistles. After that, they take you out with an skilled boater to evaluate your expertise.
Alan, our boating trainer, took us out on the Otonabee River south of Peterborough and confirmed me easy methods to flip and decelerate (in case you’re a novice, there’s no brake on a ship, so that you simply kick it into reverse, which takes a 50-year vehicle driver some getting used to). He turned the boat over to me so he might see how I dealt with her and requested me to take some turns.
“Doing good,” he stated. “I don’t think you’ll have any problems out there.”
Just in case, we had an emergency quantity that we might name anytime. And we had the fabulous lock employees and fellow boaters to help.
The Boat
The boats don’t go quick (prime velocity is 10 km/hour), and there are bumpers galore. They additionally provide you with detailed charts that can assist you navigate the waterway, in addition to helpful data for potential stops alongside the way in which.
We went in early June when it was not as busy as it might be on the peak of the summer time season. If you’re a first-timer, going early within the yr, or maybe in September, may be simpler in your nerves.
One of the keys to my thoughts is the thrusters, which transfer the boat back and forth with ease. If you possibly can drive slowly right into a lock at a mile or so an hour, and it’s not onerous, the thrusters ought to assist you with the remainder.
If you’re nonetheless leery, Le Boat is floating a new “Skipper for Hire” program on the Canal du Midi for subsequent yr. The program will see an skilled navigator assist out on the ship on the primary day and, pardon the pun, present newbies the ropes. If profitable, this system will likely be expanded onto different Le Boat routes.
The people at Le Boat have a wide range of boats accessible. Ours was a 3-bedroom Horizon 3 Plus mannequin. The important mattress was spacious, with a small, en-suite bathtub with a bathroom, sink and bathe. The different two bedrooms had been fairly small, however had two beds, some storage space, and likewise en-suite baths with a bathroom, sink and bathe.
Costs
I regarded for September and located a Le Boat rental for every week on the Trent-Severn Waterway in mid-September for 4 individuals for $3,272. That’s lower than $500 an evening. Mooring charges usually apply, and also you’re chargeable for your individual gas, any added electrical energy chances are you’ll want, and further water, and for any price for pumping out your boat’s bathrooms and used water from doing dishes or having a bathe.