Cruising the Trent-Severn Waterway--A Dream Come True on the Fourth of July!

Ever since we started planning our Loop, I have looked forward to the Trent-Severn Waterway--as the gateway to Georgian Bay to be sure but also in its own right. It connects a maze of lakes and rivers over 240 miles in the farm/cottage country of Ontario to enable boaters to travel from Trenton to Port Severn. Celebrating the Fourth of July, we got our start!

Wanting to be first in line at Lock 1, we rose early and left the dock headed north at 07:45 for the Lock's 9:00 opening. We passed under the gateway bridge, another highway bridge, and two railroad bridges as we traveled 1.8 miles upstream to the first

lock. In the course of an hour, we saw two passenger trains and a freight train on one bridge and an incredibly long freight train on the other. And, we achieved our goal of

being first in line for the lock, an achievement whose benefits were diminished by the fact that, initially unknown to us, there were two slow boats who overnighted between locks one and two and arrived at lock two just in front of us. On the positive side, John and Holly on Seatirement arrived at the lock just behind us and we enjoyed traveling with them through all eight locks of our day.

Speaking of Seatirement, boy did I make a mistake. At lock two, I moved Katahdin up close to the downstream lock wall so that Seatirement could get behind the jetty protecting the lock entrance from the current coming over the dam to the lock's west. Lucky for us that they didn't choose to come up close behind us. Because, when the lock keepers opened the sluice gates to empty the lock, they let out a barrage of water that overwhelmed Katahdin's pods' ability to stay in place. Only quick maneuvering, a 180 spin, and timely use of the throttles kept us from being battered against the lock wall. Whew! Lesson learned. On the Trent-Severn, stay well downstream of the lock doors. And the Admiral's reprimand: "You spend too much time worrying about other people. Please worry about us!"

After that drill, our day continued much more peacefully. We climbed a total of 145 feet from below lock one to above lock 8 for an average of just over 18 feet per lock. The greatest lift was 24 feet. All of these locks required mooring on the starboard side--we

think because the water filling the locks primarily enters on the port side. Though we had a little turbulence and movement in a few of the locks, the ride up in most turned out to be quite smooth and easy.

We did have some good bird sitings along the way. We watched an osprey struggling to fly with a fish that was perhaps almost too big. We heard and, with the help of Merlin, identified a warbling vireo. Several groups of swans along the way continued to nurture their young. A great blue heron lumbered overhead--always a reminder that birds have been on this earth a lot longer than we have. I'm not sure I've mentioned red-winged black birds but we've seen and heard a lot of them over the last week or two. Each year in Maine, they arrive first of all the migratory birds--a real harbinger of spring. Consequently, they hold a special place in our hearts. And yesterday, we saw several turtles on logs and rocks warming up in the sun.

It turns out that 25 miles and eight locks over a span of eight hours makes a long day for folks in their seventies. We happily called it at the top of lock eight and moored to the wall. Lock eight is at the end of a long country road next to nowhere. Another couple

also moored their boat to the wall but, other than that, once the Parks Canada staff left at 19:00 hours, we had it all to ourselves--a lovely, serene, quiet spot. Well, almost quiet. At 04:30 this morning, the redwing black birds decided it was time to get up. Even a pillow over my head didn't solve that problem so, here I am, finishing up this blog.

We have a short day today. The Admiral's sleeping in. When we do get to Chelmsford, our destination for the night, I'm looking forward (?) to getting into the bowels of the boat to figure out why the guest room shower (my assigned bathroom) drains too slowly. And, hopefully, I'll get to see my first Canadian Tire store which the guidebook says is quite special. We'll see.