Jack Tar Adventures

June 26: Trenton to Percy Reach Lock Wall (locks T1-7)

Link to today’s route: https://share.nebo.global/voyage/ac283cdc-50f9-47d9-9dcb-bc507fbb655d

We started our journey north on the Trent-Severn Waterway today and hit locks 1-6 immediately, so we only traveled seven miles in four hours (that’s almost worse than the beltway).  They were each back-to-back until we had an hour to lock #7, and two hours between lock #7 and #8.

In lock #1, we waited for two boats to lock up that had arrived before us, who had also just left Trenton.

For the most part, we have found Canadian canal system better than the U.S. system:

  1. Boats are required to turn off their engines so you’re not breathing in diesel fumes during the lockage.
  2. There are always at least three very friendly Canada Parks staff at each lock to help boaters and maintain the locks.
  3. There are rubber coated cables about 12 feet apart to thread our lines through instead of having to hold on to dangling ropes.
Along the Trent-Severn, most of the locks are still operated manually instead of the hydraulic system driven by electric motors in the Erie and Oswego Canals. The lock staff hand-operate valves, allowing water to fill the lock chamber or drain from it. Then they walk a crank in a circle to open or close the original wooden doors. Only a few of the newer locks are hydraulically operated.
Eating cantaloupe in the rain before we had to scurry downstairs in a downpour 

We travelled through narrow channels after each lock before it finally opened up wide for the last hour of the day’s journey.

We were grateful to the three park staff who helped us dock here on the lock wall for the night.
We locked a few times with this Camano called Under the Bridge which is the kind of boat we had before we bought the Mainship. They passed us and locked up after we had already tied up for the night.

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