Kawartha Lakes

My heart raced as we made our approach to the Peterborough Lift Lock. We took the lift with 3 other loopers, Sunshine, Southern Comfort and Blue Max. It took only a minute to complete the transfer...For those interested, here's how it works:

The lock raises and lowers boats in 2 separate containers. Each container is 140' long and hold about 300,000 gallons of water weighing approximately 1,500 tons. Two vertical "cylinders" , called chamber rams, each 65' tall, are connected in a closed water hydraulic system...in other words, any movement of one container forces the equal and opposite movement of the other container..kinda' like a common scale. When the upper container is filled with just one additional foot of water it begins to lower...and if you are wondering, it doesn't matter how many or how big the boats are that are in the container; boats displace their own weight. Anyway, for those of you who know me well, you know that standing on a step stool makes me dizzy-imagine the butterflies I felt as we lifted up above the channel below, in a boat, floating in a tub of water, on a chamber ram, attached to a limestone building constructed over 100 years ago, nearly 7 stories in the air! Thrilling!

We continued up the channel when Blue Max began to over heat. We tied up on the topside of a lock and decided to all stay together. Turns out Captain Bill had a few zebra muscles making a home in his intake, clogging the flow--anyway, Captain Guy put on his wetsuit, goggles and airtank and went down to clean it out...once we were off again we decided to call it a night and stay on the wall at Lock #26 in Lakefield. Bill's wife Eileen and their friend Clarissa made us all a fabulous dinner to show their appreciation for all of us "sticking together".

Up early on Monday- a few of us walked into town for breakfast, then once back at the boats we took off for what would be the most beautiful part of the trip so far. We are now in an area called The Kawartha Lakes. This is the highlight of the Trent...more beauty than words can describe.
There are hundreds of islands scattered about, everywhere rocks jutting out just above the water's surface-and we can see that rocks abound just below the surface, too. At times we had less than 4' under the boat...We kept our speed down, stayed right in the well marked channel, and gazed out and breathed in the scenery. Thank you God.

At lock #31 we marked the half-way point of the Trent...I don't know how anyone completes this trip in less than two weeks! Guess they miss a lot along the way...not us. We are trying to take our time and celebrate every minute of everyday the blessings that surround us.

Now we are in a little village called Bobcaygeon...decided to stay at this marina through tomorrow. The fellow in charge, "Skipper", is a character. The upcoming lock (#32) was the first built on the waterway. The downtown area is quaint and charming and I've been told has the best shoe store in Canada! I hope they have a pair of pink flip-flops!