Starting The Trent-Severn Waterway

Tuesday July 25, 2017 – Today we started the Trent-Severn Waterway.  It’s a 240-mile long river/canal system that connects Lake Ontario with Georgian Bay on Lake Huron.  It was built a couple of hundred years ago by the British to allow raw materials from the frontier (Lake Superior area) to be shipped back to Lake Ontario without interference by the fledgling United States.  Interestingly, shortly after the waterway was finished, the United States and Great Britain (Canada) became best buds and the waterway was never used for its intended purpose.  Today the Trent-Severn Waterway is used for recreational purposes only; it is operated by Parks Canada.  Typically, there is a fee to use the locks on the waterway and a separate mooring fee if you spend the night along the lock walls.  Because 2017 is the 150^th anniversary of Canada, the canal locking fee was waived.

There are a total of 45 locks in the Trent-Severn Waterway.  Most are single locks.  There are two sets of flight locks, which are two locks built side by side.  You exit the first lock by driving into the second lock.  There are two hydraulic lift locks (more about these later).  And there is the Big Chute marine railway.  Most of the conventional locks are manually operated.  The lock staff manually open and close the lock doors and then manually open and close the gates in the doors to let water into (going up) or out of (going down) the lock.  The lock staff are very friendly, they are mostly college students, and when you spend the night on the lock wall, you typically have access to the rest rooms after the locks are closed for the day.  Parks Canada does a great job running the locks along the Trent-Severn waterway.

                                 Mechanism Used To Open And Close Lock Doors

                                          Lock Staff Manually Opening Lock Doors

 

The weather started out chilly and overcast and windy on departure day but off we went.  We traveled with another boat named Catalina, crewed by Paul and Taffy Mellen.  They were an interesting couple and it was nice to be traveling with another boat.  Catalina is a 2001 Monk 36, which is an aft-cabin trawler.

                            Beginning The Trent-Severn On A Cloudy And Windy Day

         View From The Stern Of Tug LeeLoo As We Wait For The Lock Doors To Open

Our plan was to do a short day, just 6 locks over a total distance of 7 miles.  One nice thing about the Trent-Severn Waterway is that the staff at the lock you just passed through contacts the staff at the next lock to tell them that you are coming.  So, for the most part, the lock gates are open when you arrive, and you just drive right in.  The Erie Canal by comparison doesn’t operate this way.  On the Erie Canal you radio the lock to tell them that you have arrived, and they may or may not have the lock ready for you.  Typically it’s not ready.  The staff on the Trent-Severn Waterway are very friendly and ready to give helpful information.  The Erie Canal staff was not particularly friendly or helpful.

Because we made such good time and it t was only noon when we arrived at Lock 6, we decided to press on to Campbellford.  Campbellford is at Lock 12 after 31 miles.  We arrived late in the afternoon and tied up to the Lock wall.  It was a good day.  The total lift for the day (all locks) was 235 feet.

                                   Captain Carey and Captain Paul Found Their Sign!