July 6, 2009

Happy July! This week we celebrated July the first (Canada Day) as well as July the fourth (independence Day)! Sing ho! Last Sunday as we crossed the eastern end of Lake Ontario we detoured a bit to pass close by the buoy that marks the entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway. This amazing body of water is actually the conduit that carries the waters of all the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Needless to say, the River is huge, and the currents are swift and strong. We were pretty literally swept into Clayton, NY where we tied up at the City Marina and walked about the waterfront, following our collective nose to the local Pizza parlor. Yum. Clayton is a great jumping off point for a tour of the Thousand Islands (there are actually closer to 1800 Islands, according to a count done jointly by the US and Canada). Some islands are merely an outcropping with a tree or two, most are privately owned and have homes—or castles. We spent Monday morning at the Antique Boat Museum where a highlight was LA DUCHESSE, the very elegant 9 bedroom houseboat built for Mr. And Mrs. Boldt—whose castle on Heart Island is one of the most famous stops in the area. The castle has a long stoty attached to it. Monday afternoon we headed northwest across the St. Lawrence and around 3, met up with CAROLYN ANN—Joe and Kathy (Punk) Pica, in Kingston, Ontario. Fred got us through Customs without incident. Our Marina was the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, created for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The marina is shrouded by the one of the seven Penitentiaries in Kingston—and this one has a museum. Interesting to see the history of crime and punishment in the Provinces. We spent Tuesday checking out the City, and on Wednesday, July 1 were ready to celebrate Canada Day. The parade was well attended, if short, but the atmosphere was great—nearly everyone wore red and the streets were packed with happy people. In the late afternoon we took the bus to Ft. Henry where the college students who work at the Fort for the summer put on a Fife and Drum show with a unit of Redcoats showing off their military maneuvers. We watched the show from the ramparts of the Fort and the view of Kingston harbor was worth the trip! The Golden Helmet Motorcycle Brigade of the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) put on a show, and the evening was rounded out with Bagpipes and Highland Dancers—and then fireworks. Outside the Fort, the hillside was covered with folks who came for the Fort's fireworks followed immediately across the harbor by the City fireworks display. Pretty neat. 'Twas also interesting to locate the cab we had to call to get us home, as the buses were on Holiday and only ran until 7pm. The cab driver, bless him, was 'racking up karma' in the heavy traffic by being genial and courteous! That, too, was a treat. Thursday morning our two boat convoy headed for Trenton ON, and the beginning of the amazing Trent-Severn Waterway. The 240 miles of rivers, lakes, waterfalls and rapids between Lake Ontario and the Georgian Bay section of Lake Huron have, since 1920, been connected into a single passage. No commercial traffic uses this Waterway, and, to quote the Great Lakes Waterway Guide, it “is a favorite of recreational boaters”. 43 or 44 locks (depending on how you count them) will raise and lower us using a variety of methods. Unlike the hydraulic Erie and Oswego Canal locks, most of the TSW locks are hand operated by the locktenders—permanant employees and college students spending the summer cranking the gates open and closed. There will be more lock surprises described as they occur........... From Kingston, we followed the Bay of Quinte through Telegraph Narrows to Smith Cove where we dropped Knute into the clear, clean water. The grass and rocks down there are readily visible. Chomp! Knute was happy and we rocked gently in place until morning. We arrived at Lock #1 in Trenton around 11 am Friday, and were greeted by a waterfall coming OVER the lock gates. Not what is expected! It is a rule that the water is to stay lower than the walls and gates of the lock. Seems there was a problem with floating trees jamming the dam mechanism (that is not a swear) so the water in the lock, high from all the recent rain, couldn't be lowered. Took a couple of hours, but soon the deed was done and at 1:45 three of the boats waiting with us locked through, and when the water was again lowered, CAROLYN ANN and YA entered. In these locks Fred and I each grab one of the cables that are affixed at the top and bottom and spaced about every 12 feet along the 152 foot long lock wall. Just loop a line on and hold on fore and aft as the water takes us up 25 feet or so. And so it went with Locks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. By 5:15 pm we were atop (that means out of) Lock 6 and tied up at the Frankford lock wall. The town of Frankford is the only town along the entire waterway to supply 'hydro' (electric power to us Yanks). When they added it, the town found that a whole lot more boaters stopped at their wall and visited the town! We headed straight for the Chinese Buffet, and a fine time was had by all. Unfortunately, the bridge heights won't accommodate our big American flagpole, so we celebrated the 4th of July without flying the big flag this year. The countryside we're passing through is beautiful, and it was again great to see so many folks out enjoying the warm weather (they don't get many weeks of it up here) and the fishing. At Lock #9 a family was grilling chicken on the lock wall (yes, it was in a cooker...). Smelled so good we were tempted to tie up and join them! Locks #11-12 are called a “flight”. The gate is 48' high, and when you leave #11 you pass directly into #12. Dave, the lockmaster used a bullhorn to talk to us from his great height (only lockmasters at the first and last locks of the TSW use the VHF radio—inside, they all speak, shout or use the bullhorn). We stopped in Campbellford, after Lock #13 to top off the diesel fuel tanks. Word is that Donna Jo and Nancy have the lowest prices along the Waterway--$.94.9/litre. That is about double the $1.89/gallon we paid back near Albany, but it is what it is. Uffda. It was 7:10 when we exited #15 and we were pooped! Fred and I did take a walk after about an hour---wanted to check out the music coming from the other side of the water. Was a group of kids in a garage, doing pre-birthday party music—we were invited to the party, (declined graciously) which lasted until the wee small hours. It sounded as if a good time was had by all! Sunday we had a short run—only a single lock and a flight and then we were tied up and off to see Hastings Falls! Joe, Punk and Rocky took the waterside walk, while Fred and I followed the road to the bridge, to the road, to the trail, to the single lane through the woods, to the Falls (with cars parked in the lot—they took the shortcut, evidently). The 'Falls' turned out to be a 10-15' spillway—the lockmaster insisted that the water height is way down due to work being done on the power plant. ok. So it wasn't Niagara. It was the Hastings Falls. We enjoyed a picnic on the lock wall, and then powered up and headed to Hastings, just above Lock #18. The ride, about 17 lock-free miles, was twisty and beautiful and crowded with both boaters and cement pilings—a remnant of the old days of logging in the area. Hastings is an adorable little town with 2 trafic lights. We are less than 2 blocks from post office, grocery store, old fashioned hardware store, and best of all, just across the street, Ice Cream! Today, Monday, was a lay day, and we all enjoyed wandering around, relaxing and fixing things (like the flat tire on the Go-Pet), and watching passers by do a double take as they notice the almost twin boats tied to the wall. CAROLYN ANN has a flying bridge up top. We don't. Tomorrow we're off to Petersborough and big doin's. Tune in next week for the update! Until then, be well, and keep smiling! Fred and Linda