Harbored
at Treasure Island Marina, Kingston, ON following Caroline’s departure, I’m
sure our neighbors thought we’d become permanent residents; at least we were
the helpful, congenial sort one would wish as neighbors. Our desire to leave
Wednesday became Thursday became Friday before we would actually be on the
waterway again. I spent my ‘down’ time accomplishing household chores I’d
sorely neglected. I defrosted the freezer, reorganizing and updating my
inventory list in the process. Clay managed to accumulate a load of dirty rags
which I cycled at the Driftwood shower/laundry complex while he continued
fix-it projects and researched our upcoming route. I know he spends a lot of
time on the computer reading AGLCA and Mainship blogs and emails; much of the
info from these sources is informational while much simply satisfies his
curiosity.
Clay
finally snagged a ride to Marine Outfitters, the boater supply shop on the
OTHER side of Kingston from our marina Thursday morning. As I’ve previously
noted, being without wheels (especially in a remote area as we are now) is
extremely inconvenient, and in our case, created a two-day delay. And, many of
our fix-it projects were still in limbo as we cast off Friday shortly after
9:00 a.m. with a 70-80 mile travel day ahead on Lake Ontario to Trenton. Clay
was anxious to begin the Trent-Severn Waterway. We turned right out of Treasure
Island Marina, “followed our breadcrumbs” aka retraced our course to Kingston
Harbor, then continued on what became Lake Ontario. We saw from the water much
of the Kingston we’d seen from land. Our skies were overcast with an invasion
of little black bugs which were an extreme nuisance, but at least they didn’t
bite. As skies cleared and temps warmed, we reached Trent Port Marina just
after 5:00 p.m. A longggg travel day for captain and crew.
Trent
Port was Trenton’s municipal marina, merely one year old and abundant in
services, amenities, and friendliness—and crawling with Loopers! This is the
beginning of the Trent-Severn Canal System and, whether you arrived as we did
having completed the Little/Mini/Triangle Loop or thru the Murray Canal from
the west or via the Erie and Oswego Canals through the southeastern waters of
Lake Ontario, a boater begins the 45-locks on the Trent-Severn here at Trenton.
Ahead lies 240.6 miles of locks of all sorts (hand-crank, hydraulic, lift,
chute/sling), bridges of all sorts (fixed, swing, foot), channels to various
other ports and lakes, and adventure galore. Note: I’m guessing that, just
because we start with Lock #1, Trenton, and end at Lock #45, Port Severn, we
don’t do exactly 45 locks; over the years, I’m guessing locks have been
reconfigured and combined. I guess we’ll see.
We
did some additional reprovisioning Saturday morning to stock up a bit, not
knowing what lay ahead in that arena. Too, I’d been far too long without a
haircut, but Sally’s Hair Design Company, offering a 25% discount in our marina
coupon book, had no openings until Tuesday. C’est la vie. I knew, with a name
like Sally’s, it had to be a good bet! But not to be; so on down the road I’ll
go with hair continuing to grow. Thinking now I’ll try a new style, partly
because I have an idea of a new one and partly because I’m not willing to meet
the challenge of going short with an unknown hairdresser!
Clay
and I relocated SaSea Sally just before noon to the pump out location, then
cast lines at 12:15 p.m. bound for Lock #1 on the Trent-Severn Waterway; this
leg of our journey had begun. I was caught unaware as we approached Lock #1
with all lines and fenders prepped for port (left side tie) when a loudspeaker
voice commanded me to prep starboard (right side tie). Really? Hustle up,
little lady, and try not to stress out. It seems the current in Locks #1-6
throws boats starboard, so might as well start at starboard side and not fight
it per the lock master! Mission accomplished with a sigh of relief and enough
fenders to prevent hull damage we began this first upward ascent of 17.6’,
massaging fender-and-line positioning as we climbed to accommodate any shift
caused by the approaching wall top. (Guess you gotta have some experience to
understand what I mean.) This would be our modus operandi until we reached the
summit, or highest point on the Waterway at the entrance to Balsam Lake just
before Kirkfield Lift Lock #36 at which point we would begin to descend.
We
find the Parcs Canada staff as well as bystanders at each of these locks to be
extremely friendly and quite interested in our cruising experience. The Looper
flag seems to be widely recognized, and often we hear staff say they love our
stories told as we lock through. With many of these folks, we are quick to
bond, to find common interests often beyond boating/water, and to exchange
tidbits of information. I’ve acquired suggestions on keeping squirrels out of
yards/gardens (cayenne pepper), bugs off of tomato plants (a spritz combo of
dish soap and water), aches out of muscles (A535 muscle cream sold
over-the-counter), therapy treatment called ultrasound laser, and the like. Or,
we can pass through without saying a word; sometimes a reflective or melancholy
mood strikes me, and conversation just doesn’t happen—and that’s ok, too.
In
a matter of 5.5 miles, we had traversed Locks #1-6 as close as 0.6 miles apart.
This close proximity of lock to lock gave no time for lunch prep; we knew lunch
would be delayed. We reached the top of Lock #6 to find a full complement of
boats docked at the dock wall and ‘no room at the inn.’ So on we cruised to the
base of Lock #7, planning to overnight here. That 6.5 mile travel gave time for
prepping and eating lunch at a fashionably late 3:45 p.m. We finally called it a
day, docking at the base of Lock #7 about 5:30 p.m. With a sigh of relief, we
were ready to stretch our legs, so off we went to explore the scenery in this
rather remote area. We found Richard and Donna’s General Store, entered, and
struck up a conversation with Richard. Everyone wants to know where we are
from; there’s quite an interest among Canadians to locate us boaters in the
lower 48. You can imagine the confusion when we say we are from Louisiana, MO.
Up
Sunday morning for our usual and customary walk, we found a route which crossed
a bridge crowded with fisherpeople and a neighborhood of sorts beyond. An ‘aha’
moment when we realized the population to which the general store catered. (We
later found that the general store promoted an all-you-can-eat ice cream cone
for $2; hmmm, and all we’d purchased was an expensive bag of chips). Our plan
this day post-walk was to accomplish Locks #7-12 in 18.4 miles to reach
Campbellford, ON en route to Peterborough. We had a deadline to meet friend Joe
Weston in Peterborough Tuesday afternoon, so our locks and mileage were blocked
off in doable segments to reach Joe on time (not that we’d be able to stick to
the specific plan, but it was a good guide).
A
huge debate as we arrived at the town of Campbellford – do we dock along the
wall on the port side of the channel or starboard side? Each had its benefits
and drawbacks, but we finally reached a decision to go where the crowd was.
Good decision! The crowd grew until we had a sizeable group of boats, many of them
Loopers, docked with us. Party time upcoming, no Looper is gonna miss out on a
docktails event. But in the meantime – to deal with the inevitable glitch in
traveling when your credit card charge is blocked. Argh (to borrow the term
from friend Linda (Tumbleweed))! Glitch laid to rest until Monday (can’t
do much with Bank of Louisiana on Sunday which was about step eight in the
process of unblocking), Clay and I joined a six-some of Ohio boaters for
docktails then enjoyed Capers Restaurant (outdoor dining) for dinner. At some
point, you’d think we’d tire of being outdoors! (In this case, Capers interior
was so COLD with air conditioning chill that outdoors was THE only choice).
Monday was chunked off at 18.9 miles and 6
locks to arrive at Hastings, mm 51.1 on the Trent-Severn. Before leaving
Campbellford, we crossed the bridge to the starboard side of the channel to
explore town proper and to purchase fresh-baked goods from highly-touted
Dooher’s Bakery. I do little-to-no baking onboard (maybe a Pillsbury boxed
brownie mix on rare occasion), so Clay’s mouth-watering for this word-of-mouth
passed among the Loopers to hit Dooher’s Bakery is warranted! Note: His
eyes-are-bigger-than-his-stomach purchase did amazingly little wallet damage.
Verdict: wallet – happy; tummy – ecstatic!
Murphy’s Law in action Monday afternoon,
Clay received his Bank Board conference call just as we were locking through
the Hastings Lock #18. No worries, we handled it well (well, there was a worry
when Amber suggested muting the call at Clay’s end; I guess my shouts of ‘stern
clear’ and ‘bow clear’ might be more than a bit disruptive!) Who says Clay
can’t multi-task? As we emerged from the lock, once again we found ‘no room at
the inn,’ but many of our Looper friends (Lazy W, Avocet, Glorius Dei)
already docked in this location insisted on massaging the space availability to
accommodate our 43’. Thanks to the multitudes for wanting SaSea Sally included
in this evening’s shenanigans. BTW, what were this eve’s shenanigans? Oh yes,
Sally’s Beauty Shop was open for business as Captain Clay insisted on a fresh
haircut before Joe’s arrival (Clay was beginning to look a bit like Ernest
Hemmingway). Grilled burgers and a walk to the nearby quick shop for a Nestles
ice cream cone (we were really looking for Kawartha ice cream, but those shops
were long closed for the evening) finalized the evening’s agenda.
We
awakened Tuesday morning to the first Looper boat’s engine rev at ‘o dark
thirty.’ Naaa, not our style. As the Looper boats peeled off one by one, SaSea
Sally was last to depart Hastings at 8:40 a.m. (even that is early for us, and
it probably would not have been such a departure time had we not been docked on
the blue line which is designated for boats intent on locking, the process to
begin at 9:00 a.m.) One lock and approximately 39 miles later we arrived in
Peterborough with an hour to spare before greeting and welcoming aboard friend
Joe. Enough time to check in, greet fellow Loopers docked here, and have a
brief face-to-face with the port captain (harbor host) Freya who has been so
instrumental in assisting Clay with the residue (maintenance issues) carried
over from Treasure Island Marina, Kingston.
So,
as we welcome Joe Weston aboard this Tuesday afternoon, July 12th, I will again
sign, seal and deliver this email to you knowing this week with two menfolk
aboard will be a busy one for me.
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