6/14 Begin the Trent Severn Waterway

What a glorious day to start our journey along the Trent Severn Waterway.  Just outside our marina in Trenton, we passed under a bridge welcoming us to the Waterway.  There are 45 Locks that will take us to Port Severn.  In Canada, one does not call the lock master.  You simply tie your boat up to bollards on the  wall leading to the lock.  The area is painted blue.  The lock master will call you to enter the lock when it is your turn.  Here we are tied to the blue line.

There were two boats ahead of us that they called in first and locked them though.  We were first of the next two to be locked through. 

Notice the train trestle.  Anna, the next picture is of Canadian Trains going past us.

When we got in the lock 1, Carolynn and Tom who were in the marina next to us last night, took their bikes up to the lock.  They took pictures of us at the bottom and then again at the top of the lock.

The lock gates are opened manually.  Here is a lock master opening a gate.

Here is a directional sign at the top of Lock 1.

The lock masters coordinate their activities.  When you leave one lock, they have the next one open and ready for you.  It is quite convenient.  Here is lock 2 as we entered and before the water level was raised.

In these locks, there are cables that you wrap ropes around, one at the bow and one at the stern.  As the lock is filling you guide your rope up the cable.  Here is John getting ready to guide the line on the bow.

The Canadian scenery was gorgeous.  Here are the spruce trees that I promised the other day.

In one of the locks, the lock master told us about the turtle hatchlings that were in the lock.  Look carefully in the picture; what looks like a leaf is a baby turtle!

We stopped for the day after lock 6 in Frankford, Ontario.  We are staying on the wall right after the lock.  They have bathrooms, showers, and electricity for a nominal fee.  We took a pleasant walk into the town.  There are many Canada geese everywhere.

I learned that the Trent Severn was built mostly by immigrant Italian labourers in the early 1900's.  Note the spelling of labourers is the British spelling.

We met Audrey and Randy on Heart Tug yesterday in the marina.  They were in the first flight of two boats.  They were the first boat tied up after Lock 6.  They are from Hamilton, Ontario and vacation in this area and in Georgian Bay frequently.  They are an invaluable source of local knowledge.  We now know where to eat in Campbellford, and what to look for in the weather when crossing Lake Simcoe and when entering the Georgian Bay.  We sat at a picnic bench with nuts, pretzels, cheese and crackers and libations.  What a pleasant way to make friends and learn from others.

Lat 44 degrees 11.92 North
Long 77 degrees 35.48 West.