We have been pulling right into a lock north of Peterborough after a couple of days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d handed by the identical lock possibly 72 hours earlier on our means north in our 42-foot Le Boat craft, and considered one of the Parks Canada lock staff 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 loss of life at the concept of me piloting a large boat with virtually no boating expertise; majestic blue herons gliding over nonetheless morning lakes; night glasses of wine and night-time barbeques on the open-air high deck. But it was the folks we met alongside the means 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 the “driving.” But a younger lady at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the first one I needed to maneuver our huge 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 – supplied extra phrases of encouragement.
I got here in a bit too quick at the subsequent lock.
“A little hot, sir. Back it off. That’s it,” considered one of the staff referred to as out.
At considered one of the 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 obtained to the Peterborough Lift Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about 5 minutes earlier than it was to shut for the evening.
“Sorry we’re so close to the deadline,” I mentioned to Nick, considered one of the staff.
“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 as the others. But the Peterborough Lift Lock, because it’s additionally recognized, is the tallest hydraulic raise lock on the planet (65 toes). 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 high of the lock regarded a quarter-mile above our heads, not 65 toes, however we virtually raced to the high. 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 high, I took images of the lock at nightfall and chatted with a stunning couple from Ottawa who stopped – considered one of many admirers we had alongside the means – to take a look at our boat and listen to our story. There was just one different boat tied up at the high of the lock, which sits excessive on a hill and gives nice views of the surrounding 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 folks had purchased for us (together with a whack of different native goodies, corresponding to cheeses, recent bread and tortilla chips) and dined on the high deck.
It was a wonderfully quiet, tranquil evening in late May, and we didn’t hear a sound. We woke as much as a sunny morning with a kayaker training on the water, his paddle rhythmically dipping into the shiny floor as birds twittered in the close by timber. The outlets and houses of Peterborough have been just a few blocks away, however on our boat, it felt like mild years.
Rookie at the Wheel
There have been no different craft in the first few locks I pulled into as we sailed north on the waterway, and I assumed I had the grasp of it. But on day two, I consider 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 huge boats tied up on the proper facet once I pulled up. I swear the opening was not more than two or possibly three toes wider than our boat. The lock employee waved me in, and I used to be out of the blue sweating like a nervous bridegroom.
The people on the different 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 obtained one other thumbs up from the lock staff.
“First time I’ve had to pull in with other boats,” I mentioned. “That was not a lot of fun.”
“Pretty nice job for a rookie,” mentioned the man in the fancy boat subsequent to ours.
By the time we obtained 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 people from Le Boat had set us as much as go previous the lock and take a look at the Lakefield Marina so we might go searching and see what marina life was like, and likewise attempt a pleasant, native restaurant referred to as The Loon. It was a strong plan, however there’s a reasonably sturdy present at 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 toes, and the urged opening regarded like 42 toes and 6 inches to me. I wasn’t certain what to do, however a bunch of pleasant boaters who had gathered on considered one of the Lakefield docks identified an open spot behind a really massive and really expensive-looking boat. I moved slowly ahead and again and tried to evaluate the present, and I used the thrusters to maneuver the boat nearer to the open dock house. Finally, I obtained inside a couple of toes and Barb tossed a rope to considered one of the folks on the dock.
I feel it took 4 adults and a useful lady of about eight years to tug us in, however they managed. One of the fellows who did lots 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 evening to cost our batteries.
“Don’t feel bad,” he mentioned. “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 high 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 mentioned. “But I was wrong. You’re pretty good at this.”
The subsequent two days have been improbable. We made it previous Young’s Point, admiring a small marina with a pretty restaurant/patio. We puttered (high velocity on Le Boat craft is about seven mph) alongside huge Clear Lake, after which made our means by slim 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 considered one of the bigger islands referred to as St. Peter’s Church-on-the-Rock, which, oddly sufficient, is just a brief distance from a slim, fairly passage referred to as Hells Gate. (It’s not very difficult, reality be advised, nevertheless it’s obtained a superb identify.)
Friendly Locals
We had a little bit of bother discovering the lock at Burleigh Falls, however a pleasant native escorted us most of the means there and advised us the place to seek out the entrance.
“It’s a bit hidden,” he mentioned. “But it’s right over there, near that fancy cottage.”
We sailed by the lock and into Lovesick Lake, a pretty physique of water that was apparently named for a heartbroken settler or maybe an Indigenous lady who was unfortunate in the affairs of the coronary heart.
With loads of time on our facet, we made all of it the means again to Young’s Point that evening 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 high deck.
The subsequent day we pulled as much as the Lakefield Lock a couple of minutes earlier than it opened for the day. A couple who dwell an hour or so away, Ken and Jo, have been on their boat and got here aboard for a look-see as we chatted about the space, and about our journey.
They have 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 rapidly studying that these are a few of the deepest sort.
We made it again to the Peterborough Lift Lock that evening. 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 means by 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. But it was a wonderful sunny day on a fantastic boat, and I wouldn’t have cared if that they had taken an hour.
Pretty quickly, we have been by Little Lake, dwelling to the new Canadian Canoe Museum. After going by 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 closing cease got here into sight far too early for my liking.
Forty 5 minutes later we have been heading again to the metropolis on Highway 401, with vehicles whizzing previous me and darting out and in of visitors.
“Damn,” I mentioned to Barb as the vehicles crowded round us. “I miss that boat already.”
Just The Facts
This is the first 12 months 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 round 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 means. Does it assist to have some boating expertise? Undoubtedly. I’ve pushed my pal’s boat, possibly a 20-footer, many occasions. But I had by no means tried to dock it.
A couple of weeks previous to our journey, the Le Boat people despatched us hyperlinks to a number of movies that defined boating guidelines normally and their boats specifically. 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 how one can 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 mentioned. “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 staff and fellow boaters to help.
The Boat
The boats don’t go quick (high 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 means.
We went in early June when it was not as busy as it will be at the peak of the summer season season. If you’re a first-timer, going early in the 12 months, or maybe in September, may be simpler on your nerves.
One of the keys to my thoughts is the thrusters, which transfer the boat backward and forward with ease. If you may drive slowly right into a lock at a mile or so an hour, and it’s not onerous, the thrusters ought to allow you to with the relaxation.
If you’re nonetheless leery, Le Boat is floating a brand new “Skipper for Hire” program on the Canal du Midi for subsequent 12 months. The program will see an skilled navigator assist out on the ship on the first day and, pardon the pun, present newbies the ropes. If profitable, the program shall be expanded onto different Le Boat routes.
The people at Le Boat have quite a lot of boats obtainable. Ours was a 3-bedroom Horizon 3 Plus mannequin. The predominant mattress was spacious, with a small, en-suite bathtub with a bathroom, sink and bathe. The different two bedrooms have 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 folks for $3,272. That’s lower than $500 an evening. Mooring charges typically apply, and also you’re chargeable for your personal gas, any added electrical energy it’s possible you’ll want, and further water, and for any value for pumping out your boat’s bogs and used water from doing dishes or having a bathe.