We had been pulling right into a lock north of Peterborough after a number of days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d handed by the identical lock possibly 72 hours earlier on our method north in our 42-foot Le Boat craft, and one of many Parks Canada lock staff acknowledged us on our return journey.
“Hey, guys! It’s Jim and Barbara, proper? How’d it go?”
There are lots of issues I’ll bear in mind about our five-day, 20-lock journey on the Trent-Severn: my spouse admitting she was scared to demise on the concept of me piloting an enormous boat with nearly no boating expertise; majestic blue herons gliding over nonetheless morning lakes; night glasses of wine and night-time barbeques on the open-air prime deck. Nevertheless it was the individuals we met alongside the way in which 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 of the “driving.” However a younger lady at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the primary one I needed to maneuver our massive 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 observe nervous boat operators – supplied extra phrases of encouragement.
I got here in a bit too quick on the subsequent lock.
“A bit sizzling, sir. Again it off. That’s it,” one of many staff referred to as out.
At one of many locks, a Parks Canada employee defined that there was a movable roadway/bridge forward of us that she must open earlier than we may head north. The highway was solely a brief distance away, so she hopped on her bike and rode on forward, then sounded a horn to tell us we may proceed. Charming.
Navigating Locks
We received to the Peterborough Raise Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about 5 minutes earlier than it was to shut for the night time.
“Sorry we’re so near the deadline,” I stated to Nick, one of many staff.
“No downside,” he replied. “Watch for me on the prime, and I’ll provide help to tie up.”
Getting into Lock 21 is just about the identical because the others. However the Peterborough Raise Lock, because it’s additionally recognized, is the tallest hydraulic raise lock on the planet (65 toes). Different locks on the route normally take 15-20 minutes to undergo, however this lifts you up or lowers you down in simply 60 seconds.
The highest of the lock appeared a quarter-mile above our heads, not 65 toes, however we virtually raced to the highest. It was a gee-whiz boating second if I ever had one, and I couldn’t cease grinning.
As soon as we had a docking place up prime, I took images of the lock at nightfall and chatted with a stunning couple from Ottawa who stopped – one in all many admirers we had alongside the way in which – to take a look at our boat and listen to our story. There was just one different boat tied up on the prime of the lock, which sits excessive on a hill and affords nice views of the encompassing countryside.
What do You Do For Dinner?
Le Boat leases come outfitted with a fuel barbeque, so we opened a bottle of wine and grilled some pretty rooster kebabs that the Le Boat individuals had purchased for us (together with a whack of different native goodies, equivalent to cheeses, contemporary bread and tortilla chips) and dined on the highest deck.
It was a superbly quiet, tranquil night time in late Might, 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 within the close by timber. The outlets and houses of Peterborough had been only some blocks away, however on our boat, it felt like mild years.
Rookie on the Wheel
There have been no different craft within the first few locks I pulled into as we sailed north on the waterway, and I believed I had the hold of it. However 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 massive boats tied up on the correct facet after 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 all of the sudden sweating like a nervous bridegroom.
The parents on the opposite boats clearly wished to keep away from a collision, so 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 may get our bow line tied.
My coronary heart was pounding, however I received one other thumbs up from the lock staff.
“First time I’ve needed to pull in with different boats,” I stated. “That was not lots of enjoyable.”
“Fairly good job for a rookie,” stated the man within the fancy boat subsequent to ours.
By the point we received to Lakefield, I used to be once more feeling fairly good about myself. However not for lengthy.
Docking Can Be a Problem
Fairly than having us dock simply previous Lock 26 in Lakefield, which is kind of protected, the oldsters from Le Boat had set us as much as go previous the lock and take a look at the Lakefield Marina so we may go searching and see what marina life was like, and in addition attempt a pleasant, native restaurant referred to as The Loon. It was a stable plan, however there’s a fairly sturdy present on 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 recommended opening appeared 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 one of many 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. Lastly, I received inside a number of toes and Barb tossed a rope to one of many individuals 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 many 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 twine extension for the night time to cost our batteries.
“Don’t really feel unhealthy,” he stated. “When the present’s sturdy like this it may be very powerful. See that slip over there? No person ever tries to dock there. No person.”
It’s All About Confidence
With a chilly native beer in hand and the solar dipping in direction of the horizon, we sat on the highest deck and relaxed. It was about then that Barbara confessed she had been “dreading” the journey.
“Dreading?” I replied. “I do know you had been apprehensive. I get it. However ‘dreading’ is a fairly sturdy phrase.”
“I truthfully wasn’t certain you may do it,” she stated. “However I used to be flawed. You’re fairly good at this.”
The subsequent two days had been implausible. We made it previous Younger’s Level, admiring a small marina with a horny restaurant/patio. We puttered (prime velocity on Le Boat craft is about seven mph) alongside huge Clear Lake, after which made our method by slender 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 fairly church on one of many bigger islands referred to as St. Peter’s Church-on-the-Rock, which, oddly sufficient, is barely a brief distance from a slender, fairly passage referred to as Hells Gate. (It’s not very difficult, fact be informed, nevertheless it’s received identify.)
Pleasant Locals
We had a little bit of bother discovering the lock at Burleigh Falls, however a pleasant native escorted us many of the method there and informed us the place to seek out the doorway.
“It’s a bit hidden,” he stated. “Nevertheless it’s proper over there, close to that fancy cottage.”
We sailed by the lock and into Lovesick Lake, a horny physique of water that was apparently named for a heartbroken settler or maybe an Indigenous lady who was unfortunate within the affairs of the guts.
With loads of time on our facet, we made all of it the way in which again to Younger’s Level that night time 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 highest deck.
The subsequent day we pulled as much as the Lakefield Lock a couple of minutes earlier than it opened for the day. A pair who stay an hour or so away, Ken and Jo, had been on their boat and got here aboard for a look-see as we chatted concerning the space, and about our journey.
They had 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. However we shared a boating bond, and I used to be rapidly studying that these are among the deepest sort.
We made it again to the Peterborough Raise Lock that night time. It was Barb’s birthday, so we had a particular toast on an outstanding, quiet, late spring night.
Feeling Like A Professional
The subsequent day, we made our method 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. Nevertheless it was a wonderful sunny day on a fantastic boat, and I wouldn’t have cared if that they had taken an hour.
Fairly quickly, we had been by Little Lake, dwelling to the brand 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 ultimate cease got here into sight far too early for my liking.
45 minutes later we had been heading again to town on Freeway 401, with vehicles whizzing previous me and darting out and in of visitors.
“Rattling,” I stated to Barb because the vehicles crowded round us. “I miss that boat already.”
Simply The Information
That is the primary yr Le Boat has had ships for hire on the Trent-Severn Waterway. The corporate has been renting vacation boats since 1969 and has 18 locations world wide, together with the Canal du Midi and Burgundy area of France, Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, northern Italy, Holland, Eire, 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 hire a craft from Le Boat. In order that’s one fear out of the way in which. Does it assist to have some boating expertise? Undoubtedly. I’ve pushed my pal’s boat, possibly a 20-footer, many occasions. However I had by no means tried to dock it.
A few weeks previous to our journey, the Le Boat of us despatched us hyperlinks to a number of movies that defined boating guidelines on the whole and their boats specifically. In addition they provide you with a roughly one-hour intro on the boat earlier than your rental begins, going over buoy guidelines, providing navigation suggestions, 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 find out how to 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 car driver some getting used to). He turned the boat over to me so he may see how I dealt with her and requested me to take some turns.
“Doing good,” he stated. “I don’t assume you’ll have any issues on the market.”
Simply in case, we had an emergency quantity that we may name anytime. And we had the fabulous lock staff and fellow boaters to assist.
The Boat
The boats don’t go quick (prime velocity is 10 km/hour), and there are bumpers galore. In addition they provide you with detailed charts that can assist you navigate the waterway, in addition to helpful info for potential stops alongside the way in which.
We went in early June when it was not as busy as it could be on the top of the summer season season. In the event you’re a first-timer, going early within the yr, or maybe in September, is likely to be simpler in your nerves.
One of many keys to my thoughts is the thrusters, which transfer the boat back and forth with ease. In the event you can drive slowly right into a lock at a mile or so an hour, and it’s not onerous, the thrusters ought to provide help to with the remaining.
In the event you’re nonetheless leery, Le Boat is floating a new “Skipper for Rent” program on the Canal du Midi for subsequent yr. This system will see an skilled navigator assist out on the ship on the primary day and, pardon the pun, present newbies the ropes. If profitable, this system can be expanded onto different Le Boat routes.
The parents at Le Boat have a wide range of boats accessible. Ours was a 3-bedroom Horizon 3 Plus mannequin. The principle mattress was spacious, with a small, en-suite tub with a bathroom, sink and bathe. The opposite two bedrooms had been fairly small, however had two beds, some storage space, and in addition en-suite baths with a bathroom, sink and bathe.
Prices
I appeared for September and located a Le Boat rental for every week on the Trent-Severn Waterway in mid-September for 4 individuals for $3,272. That’s lower than $500 an evening. Mooring charges usually apply, and also you’re chargeable for your individual gasoline, any added electrical energy you could want, and additional water, and for any value for pumping out your boat’s bathrooms and used water from doing dishes or having a bathe.
