July 4th - July 17: Trent Severn Waterway

Hello all!  Yes, we are still moving.  Sorry about the lack of activity on the Blog, but we have been going through some isolated areas of Ontario.  We are presently in a marina, so I will update through tomorrow and than it's back into the wilderness.

We have completed our travel through the Trent-Severn waterway.  Starting in Trenton, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Ontario and we are presently in the Georgian Bay.  Looking at a map, the Georgian Bay is in the north eastern corner of Lake Huron.  From here, our trip goes northwest through the Georgian Bay and enters the Great Lakes where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet.  But, that's a few weeks away.

The Trent Severn meanders through farmland in the south, through some good sized lakes and than a more rugged, rock dominated section in the north.  There are 42 locks with three very unique ones.  There are two "lift locks" which raise a boat in a pan of water, and one railway lock,where the boat is actually lifted out of the water to travel over a hill.  For an overall summary, we have traveled about 1300 nautical miles so far and have gone through 142 locks. No more locks until we get to the big rivers.

There are quite a few pictures in this segment, so I will try to give some detail where appropriate. 

There were several "Looper" boats in Trenton, so we had an
impromptu cocktail party and than went out for a nice dinner

Entering the waterway at Trenton

As in the Rideau Canal, some of the locks are still operated by hand

This lock door was NOT operated by hand

Another Looper, Cie and Ron Andrews from Tucson, AZ, locking
through with us on their boat REALITY CHECK

A narrow opening on the canal

Approaching the first "Lift lock" - The Peterborough Lift Lock.
Very simply, there are 2 pans of water connected at the bottom through
piping with a valve.  Boats enter the lower and upper pans and a gate is
closed behind them.  The upper pan is than filled with about a foot more water - the valve is opened,
 and the heavier upper pan lowers while the lighter lower pan rises.  When
movement is complete, the valve is shut and tha pans are locked in place.  The boats
depart and the process is repeated.

Boats at the top of the lock in the upper pan

The same two boats now at at the bottom of the lock, departing the pan

This is "Trent" - guard dog for the lock operating station

Rob, the lock operator the day we went through

No, this is not the Dismal Swamp but a narrow section on
the Trent Severn

The Boyz found a new friend

Many Canadians rent houseboats for some vacation time.  Sometimes
their boating experience is limited.  Locking through with a houseboat can be
interesting 

This young gentleman was "Jack" who we met at a lock.  He was very interested
in GREAT ESCAPE and asked many good questions.

Teresa got a shower in this lock

We re-joined SONATA with Bonnie and Charlie Burke for several days
while traveling through the canal

Wild animal

Summer cottages

Teresa and Bonnie decided to go kayaking at one of the locks where we stayed
overnight.  They wanted to "lock through" but when they were told they
would have to pay the minumum lockage fee they changed their minds

The locks and their associated park area are used for all kinds of events

Bonnie and Charlie resting after a long day on the water

Shipmate resting after a long day of doing nothing.  As a matter ot fact, this is his
normal position on the boat

A beautiful garden at Fenlon Falls lock

I thought they only wore these hats in "Caddy Shack"

This is a "real" dog

The GPS is showing the elevation above sea level on a lake about halfway
through the waterway.  I think this is the highest elevation during the trip.

men, men, men, men...

This little spot is called "Hole in the Wall"

Another narrow section

This is the Kirkfield lift lock.  We are now in the upper lock heading down

Summer cottage on the rocks

Which way do we go ???

This is the Kawartha Voyager, a cruise ship that makes 5 day cruises
on the waterway. As you can see, it goes into the lock by itself

Kawartha Voyager leaving the lock

Here, two boats enter the "Big Chute" railway lock.  The lock is a carriage that
runs on a rail system.  The carriage moves with big cables, similar to a ski lift.
Boats enter the carriage and are steadied with a belt system.  Than the carriage moves
out of the water and over a hill, back into the water where you depart

High and dry

Larger boats hang out over the end of  the carriage

Over the hill going down

And away we go

This is GREAT ESCAPE going through the Big Chute

Checking out the view

The lock operators

Looking astern about halfway through the lock process

Looking astern going down the hill

After leaving the waterway, we met with some good Canadian friends,
David and Margret Tovell.  They treated us to a wonderful dinner cruise on the RMS Segwun, the
oldest operating steamship in North America.  It still has coal fired boilers that run its steam engines 

Margaret and Teresa enjoying a lovely evening

David and Donald enjoying a brew

The wheel in the pilot house

Enjoying an wonderful meal on the Segwun







June 27th to July 3rd: Ottawa Ontario to Trenton Ontario

We have now departed Ottawa, returned down the Rideau Canal (another 36 locks) and headed west to Trenton, Ontario.  Trenton is the entrance to the Trent-Severn Waterway, a system that we will be travelling for the next couuple of weeks. 

Yesterday (July 1st) was Canada Day, their equivalent of July 4th.  Trenton had a parade, a very nice fair, and finished the holiday with a spectacular fireworks display last evening.  The weather has been very comfortable with lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's.  The marina we are in is very popular with other boaters doing the loop, so there are five of us right now getting ready to enter the waterway tomorrow.  Looks like it will be a race to the first lock.

The pictures below are mostly from Ottawa and a couple from our return trip down the Rideau Canal.

A narrow section of the Rideau Canal








Step locks - The first lock empties into another lock

Approaching Ottawa

Church in Ottawa





Supreme Court building




Parliment building



The Senate Chamber in Parliment.  The House of Commons has 309 seats,
but they were in session during our visit trying to end a strike by
postal workers, so we could not enter that chamber



Step locks entering Ottawa from the Ottawa River







No way I rode this thing!!



This particular bartender was a Green Bay Packer fan.  How could you tell?



An outdoor cafe in Ottawa's farmer's market



These were left over from President Obama's visit.




Throughout the city they had bicycle stands where
you could rent a bike, ride it all day, and return it to another
rental location.  Neat !



GREAT ESCAPE in Trenton, Ontario



June 17th to June 26th - Gananoque Canada, Thousand Islands, Rideau Canal,and Ottawa

     I am behind in updating the blog, but hopefully this will catch us up.  From Clayton we crossed the St. Lawrence Seaway to Ganaoque, Ontario, Canada.  Clearing Canadian Customs was a short phone call and than we were off exploring.  The town was very nice and they had a tour boat operation which took us on a 5 hour tour of the Thousand Islands, including a 2 hour stop at Heart Island where the Boldt Castle is located.
    You will see several pictures below of houses among the Thousand Island and of Boldt Castle itself.  Mr. George C. Boldt was the proprietor of Waldorf Astoria in NY as well as several other famous hotels.  He purchased the island to build his wife his castle, a true labor of love.  Construction began in 1900.  In 1904 his wife Louise died unexpectedly and Mr. Boldt stopped all work on the castle.  It fell into disrepair until the property was puchased and controlled by the NY Thousand Island Bridge Authority which began restoration.  You will see some of the restoresd property as well as some of the rooms that are still a "work in progress".
    From Gananoque we headed west to Kingston Ontario and entered the Rideau Canal. The canal takes one from from Kingston on the north shore of Lake Ontario to Ottawa, about 125 miles inland.  The Rideau Canal was conceived after the War of 1812 as a supply route for troops and supplies from Montreal, through the northern settlements to the strategic naval base in Kingston.  Construction began in 1826 and it was completed in 1832.  Many of the locks that one passes through today are as they were when first opened.  The locks are operated by the Parks Canada staff.  There are a total of 44 between Kingston and Ottawa and only three are hydraulically operated.  In all the others, the staff opens and closes the doors by hand-cranking on a chain system.  In Ottawa proper, the last 8 locks are “stair locks” which means when you exit the top lock (#8), you are actually entering lock #7.  This continues until you exit Lock #1 into the Ottawa River.  We did not take these last 8 locks because the city itself is at the top of the locks and it would have taken about 7 hours to lock all the way down, turn around and lock back up.
     Presently we are in Ottawa, the capitol of Canada.  Very different than Washingto DC but very, very nice.  We are spending a couple of days here before heading back down the Rideau to Kingston and than on to the Trent-Severn waterway.
    Since our internet access is limited to marinas and Starbucks (where I sit now) updates may be a little infrequent.

A house along the route from Ganaoque to Kingston



The guide said this was the shortest international
bridge between Canada and the USA



The "main" international bridge between Canada and the USA crossing
 the St. Lawrence Seaway

Nice little "Summer Cottages" in the Thousand Islands

Approaching Boldt Castle

The main dining room

A gazebo where they hold weddings - three the day we were there

The stained glass dome inside the voyer of the castle

The daughter's bedroom

Outside gardens

This was called "The Playhouse" and is where the
family lived during the summer when the main
castle was being built

The "Power House" at Boldt Castle.  This building supplied
all electrical power as well as the water supply

Seagoing ships sharing the seaway with all types of pleasure craft

A sailboat race as we are entering Kingston

Able deckhand Teresa manning the bow line as
we get ready to enter the first lock on the Rideau Canal

Staff of Park's Canada cranking to open the lock doors

One of the old handcranks used to open doors

This  is Mara, a summer internee working the first lock.  Many
students work at the locks as summer jobs

Different modes of transportation on the canal

Our friends Bonnie and Charlie arriving at Smith Falls on
the canal.  They were heading south from Ottawa

The locks are open to all types of watercraft, as long as you pay the
lockage fee