July 13, 2009

OK, it is really July 14, and I know and acknowledge. I'm late, again! oops. On Tuesday it was time to move on from Hastings, and after Fred got a haircut and I mailed some mail, that is what we did. We followed a windy, twisty route to Rice Lake. Didn't see any wild rice growing along the edges (and wouldn't have ventured out of the channel to pick it if we had) but it is for the wild rice that this lake is named. From the lake we slipped into the Otonabee River, and Trent Canal---sometimes the Canal is the river, other spots have been dug out so the two are separate. The twisty, windy-ness now has the added feature of rocky edges. The landscape changed from rolling hills to outcroppings that are mostly pink rocks--made even more pink by the intermittant rain--the wetter the rock, the more pink. Crossing the lake we caught up with our Oswego friends Ron and Margi aboard MEANDER, and Joe and Punk's Rideau lockmates, Jack and Pia aboard STILL BUSY. By 5:30 we'd all joined Joe and Punk from CAROLYN ANN at a picnic table beside the lock wall for Happy Hour. The town is Peterborough--home of the world's highest lift lock. It seem that at the turn of the century (the one before the one we were here to celebrate) plans were afoot to build three regular locks at Peterborough where the river made a sharp, steep drop. A local engineer had just returned from a trip to England and Belgium, where he'd studied the very latest technology--lift locks. He was able to convince the 'powers that be' that one lift lock would be a better investment, and by July 9, 1904 his dream had become a reality. The lock's mechanism couldn't be more simple. Two rectangular pans, 140X34 feet, each holding about 130,000 gallons of water, have gates on their short ends to drop down and allow boats to enter and leave the pan. The weight of the boats is not an issue, as (we all know) boats displace water in an amount equal to their tonnage. What DOES make a difference is the extra one foot (130 tons) of water in the upper pan. Open the closed water hydraulic system and that extra weight causes the 7-1/2 foot diameter piston supporting that pan to slowly ride down, while pushing the opposite pan an equal distance (65 feet) into the air. Amazing. We spent nuch of Wednesday afternoon with Rob, the lockmaster, who was very generous about answering questions and showing us all the features of the lock. He also agreed to photograph our two N-37's in the lock together. That evening we walked across town--Peterborough has a population of about 80,000---to Karma's Thai restaurant. There was an outdoor concert by the lake and we were disappointed to learn that this year the weekly fireworks display has been dropped. Bummer. Late Thursday morning we took our ride in the lift lock, were duly photographed, and moved on. Lock, lock, lock, lock lock. A run of 5 brought us to the village of Lakefield and we rode into the Marina, tied up and headed for the ice cream. Hoot mon! Amber scooped very generous single dip cones right at the Marina office! YOUNG AMERICA needed some attention, so we power washed her decks and polished her windows and Fred painted the inside of the 'basement' door with two coats of shellac based paint with a slow drying top coat. The ugly oil stain is gone! Lakefield has a beautiful farm market and a Home Hardware Store close by, so of course we stayed an extra day! Another run of five locks in rapid succession--and a section of the canal called Hell's Gate. No rushing currents here as one finds in the East River of NY, but a well marked rocky passage. End of the line was Bobcageon, where CAROLYNN ANN, MEANDER and STILL BUSY were all tied to the lock wall. We found a spot too, and then helped one of the helpless houseboats to tie up. Happy hour at the picnic table ensued, and a good time was had by all! The houseboaters partied till the wee small hours, and were apologetic in the a.m. I walked about the town a bit before we loosed our lines and headed out. The houseboat moved into our spot in a heartbeat! Funny. As we went along on a chilly (58 degrees) Sunday morning, crossing Sturgeon Lake (who knows how it got that name, no Sturgeon has been caught there!) and nearing Fenelon Falls, Joe called us on the VHF radio. Although we couldn't see CAROLYN ANN, they'd spotted us! It seems that a gentleman who'd completed the Great Loop in 1994 saw Joe pass by his home dock, obviously in search of a place to tie up for the night. Norm, the homeowner, hailed Joe and offered to have CA raft to Norm's 42' Hatteras for the night. As they were tying up, Joe saw us coming and Norm extended the invitation by 16 feet. So we rafted to Joe who was rafted to Norm who was tied to the concrete dock he'd built years ago --a very tricky project! Norm and Barb joined Joe and Punk and Fred and I at dinner overlooking Fenelon Falls on Sunday evening, and that rounded out our week! Hope yours was spectacular! Be well, Linda and Fred