August 3, 2018. Day one.
I left work early and got home around 3 pm. Melissa had the boat packed and ready to go. I packed my clothes into my bag last night and she took everything down to the boat this morning. We set sail for Kingston as soon as I got home. We met John and Carol aboard Xanadu and Austin and Diane aboard Sine Wave at Confederation Basin marina in Kingston. The guys were already hammered! We went to a Greek restaurant for dinner and had a great time.
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 4, 2018. Day two.
Saturday morning I rose early and excited to get underway. Xanadu was up and ready to go but there was no movement coming from Sine Wave. We tossed the lines at 0830 and headed West. We ran at 2600 RPM's which is around 16 MPH depending on sea state. Pretty fast for a nine ton boat if you ask me. I felt pressured to go faster to “get a jump on the the other boats” because I didn’t want to be the one to slow everyone down. In doing so, we burned a lot more fuel than I planned on and wanted to. I’m not succumbing to that kind of pressure again. Xanadu caught up to us mid morning and stayed to chat for a few minutes before powering ahead.
We slowly made our way through the Bay of Quinte. It was a beautifully sunny day with giant cotton-ball clouds. The water was ruffled slightly by the light breeze but provided an excellent ride. Sailboats of all sizes were taking full advantage of the opportunity to be out on the bay and they were everywhere. We passed by several sailing clubs and had to power through a particularly close call by an adult Hobie Cat racing team. Damn tissue flying sailors almost tacked into our starboard railing!! It would have been devastating to their craft and crew if I had not been watching them cut across our bow less than a hundred away. Reckless! We normally slow down to hull speed as we passed them as a matter of courtesy and, in my opinion, safety. At 15 MPH we create a rather large 2’ wake and I’ve counted a dozen waves behind Providence at that speed. Those waves will rock a sailboat and rattle the crew quite readily. I do not like it when it happens to us so I try not to do it to others. Unfortunately, prudence dictated that we power up to vacate the area.
Sine Wave caught up with us around 1500 about 3 miles from Trenton and the entrance to the Trent Severn. We took the obligatory photos of the boats going under the entrance bridge and went on our merry way to Lock 1. I thought we would have stopped at the Trent Port Marina for the night but we pressed on and made it to the top of lock 6 that day. Whew, we were tired! We got things around for dinner and cooked huge tuna steaks on the grills. Yum!
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 5, 2018. Day three.
Melissa and I went for a 3 mile walk and took some great photos of the boats! Xanadu pressed hard through the locks at a blistering speed. We paused for lunch at Rainey Gorge and walked over to the suspension bridge. It was beautiful. We made it to the top of Lock 19 in Hastings at the end of the day. We were tired, hot, and sweaty and the lock master took pity on us. He called the marina across the bay to ask if we could get a key for their showers. The manager agreed and I walked over and got a key. I left a generous tip and our girls were happy, Whew! We grilled Kafta, an Indian dish made with garlic, some sort of weed (cilantro), and ground lamb. We substituted the lamb with ground beef because it's hard to find here and when we do find it, it is expensive.
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 6, 2018. Day four.
John and Carol turned Xanadu around and headed back home this morning. They made it all the way to Trenton in one day! Providence and Sine Wave continued onward. We made it to the Peterborough lift lock just before noon. We tied up and went into the museum and gift shop and watched a 15 minute movie on the history and making of the lock. The engineering and construction at that time was, and still is, amazing. The air conditioning in the theater was a welcome relief! After a short visit, we notified the lock staff that we were ready and were instructed to take commands from the lock tower. We then entered the lower chamber and tied to the wall as instructed. This is one of only two locks on the entire system where we will tie to the wall instead of looping our lines around the cables. The lift-lock works like this. Boats enter the upper and lower chambers at the same time. When the doors are closed, sealed, and locked, an additional 1 foot of water is pumped into the upper chamber making it 1,500 tons heavier than the lower chamber. Then a valve is opened to the pipe connecting the two chambers and the heavier upper chamber simply push is the lighter lower chamber up until both chambers reach their destinations. It takes 90 seconds to raise/lower boats 65 feet! This lock is amazing.
We ate lunch at the top of the lock before descending and moving over to the Peterborough marina for the evening. We got here and tied up just before a drenching rain soaked everything and everyone. Whew!
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 7, 2018. Day five.
Today was more relaxing. Melissa and I walked around Peterborough this morning and grabbed a cup of coffee at Starbucks. She made Bloody Marys back at the boat with Austin and Diane as we got a pump out. We got a late start on the day but didn’t feel the need to try and rush. We cruised back through Rice Lake and four locks before stopping for the day. We enjoyed cocktails while floating in the water to cool off. We feasted on a nice dinner on a nearby picnic table and then retired to our boat where we played two games of Yahtzee.
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 8, 2018. Day six.
We only cruised for two hours today to get to our next destination, Campbellford. This town prides itself on its cheese curd factory, the Worlds Finest Chocolate Factory, and is the hometown of the designer of the two dollar coin, the Toonie. We walked and shopped around town. We ate poutine at the Crapes Taphouse. Yum! Poutine is a natural wonder! The base layer of french fries is covered with a generous helping of cheese curd and topped with a hot beef gravy. Delicious!!
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 9, 2018. Day seven.
One more stop in town after our morning walk. We had to get some fresh butter tarts, fruit tarts, and warm fresh from the oven cheese bagels. Wow, they’re great! We then got ready to make our way to Trenton. We leisurely passed through 12 locks in seven hours. Going down is so much easier. Melissa got to manually close the door on our last lock of the day! Great fun!
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 10, 2018. Day eight.
Melissa and I walked 5 miles this morning. That woman is trying to kill me! Needless to say we got a late start on our run to Kingston. Well, we had to get fuel as we were running low. Six hours later we pulled into Kingston and tied up the boat at Confederation Basin. After the obligatory safe arrival drinks, the four of us went to the Curry Original for some good Indian food. I highly recommend this restaurant. The service was good, the food was good, and it’s close to the marina.
Trent Severn Waterway.
August 11, 2018. Day nine.
We took our time going home from Kingston. We stopped in Buck Bay on Grindstone Island for lunch and some quiet time. We floated around for a while and simply relaxed. It was great! We enjoyed nine days on the water, ran 38 engine hours, and cover 379 miles. This was a wonderful trip!
