From Fenelon Falls on the Trent-Severn, Ontario, Canada.

Recap of the week.

We spent 2 days & 2 nights earlier this week at a lock dock in Hastings, ON (Sunday and Monday). Winds were stiff on Monday (25 MPH with gusts to 40 MPH) so Annick did not want to go. We had a great breakfast at a little family restaurant and a …boring rest of the stay.

Tuesday was a 10 hour-day as we made our way to Lakefield (Lock 26) for an overnight: nice and pleasant park- like setting. On the way, we took the famous 65 feet LIFT lock at Peterborough: an engineering marvel to look at (see pictures), except that we were not impressed by the ever-changing locking procedure. There are 2 side-by-side chambers. When one is at the top, the other one is at the bottom. One chamber moves up while the other one goes down (driven by pistons). We were directed to wait for the right chamber, so we positioned Sirocco just to do this. At the very last moment, a young summer student shouts (couldn’t they use a P.A. system???) to tell us to go to the left chamber, already occupied by a large tour boat. Of course, we were ready for a starboard locking, and now we have to do a port locking, and there does not look to be a lot of space for Sirocco to squeeze in. Michael The Wonderful exhibited great skills to bring her in the chamber, and stopped her just as there were a few inches between us and the tour boat (see pictures). We could not move any further, but we were in the chamber. So off we went…up and up and up: Impressive.  As we went up, the Kawartha Voyageur (overnight regional cruise boat we have come to know on the Rideau) was coming down. We were happy to find a very peaceful dock at the lock in Lakefield for a good night rest.

Went from Lakefield to Buckhorn (Lock 31) on Wednesday. Very windy day again. Scenery becoming increasingly picturesque, with rose granite rocks and islands. Very, very beautiful.

Yesterday, Thursday we drove to Fenelon Falls (Lock 34).Very few locks to go through, and long lakes much like the Finger Lakes in NY State.  An easy ride that day, as the winds had finally subsided. We are staying 2 overnights here (max allowed stay), enjoying the A/C as it has become rather hot, and the lock docks are getting very full for the long holiday weekend (Canada Day is Sunday July 1 – Monday is a Holiday here, and many weekend boaters are out). Not sure where we’ll find a dock on Saturday and Sunday evenings…

Our impression so far of the Trent-Severn: it is a very long waterway; it takes a long time to drive through because of the many, many locks; many of the locks are deep, and takes time to fill/empty; the lock staff is as helpful and friendly as on The Rideau; many of the locks are in little towns where basic conveniences are available (Michael got a haircut as I am writing this, and he even found an optometrist to repair his sunglasses). The scenery becomes interesting and very picturesque at times after Peterborough. Too bad one has to go through so many locks and common looking winding rivers to get here…    

Now for the excitement of the week: You knew there was going to be one, didn’t you?

After we arrived in the Fenelon Falls lock yesterday afternoon we shut down the engines in the lock as normal.  After locking up, neither engine would start.  So what do you do when you are in a lock, and you are expected to get out swiftly so that the incoming boat traffic already lined up can get in the chamber, and you have no power? You call for help to walk Sirocco along and out of the lock, to the nearby dock. I am certain the passers-by watching boats lock in and out had an amusing spectacle: the big ass boat which had to be pulled by humans alongside the dock like mules used to do in the old days on the barge canal…

Michael decided to let the engine room cool down (must have been 130^oF down there) before investigating what the issue might be. We decided to take a walk and go see Kawartha Voyageur which had just arrived and docked further up. As Michael chatted up with John, the Kawartha’s captain, he told John that we could not restart the engines after the lock. John immediately got on his radio, hailed his mechanic Brian, and asked him to come down to Sirocco and see what was going on. Now that’s when it helps to hang around the BIG GUYS! Brian, in his spotless and perfectly pressed white shirt with epaulettes, looking very nautically official, went in the bilge with Captain Wonderful. By then, the temperature was almost bearable.  Annick was sent up to the bridge to try and start the engines. They both started without a glitch as usual…Brian did not even have to use a wrench or a meter. We now understand that we should be running the bilge blowers when the weather gets hot (it was 95^oF yesterday), otherwise we may experience a vapor-lock when attempting to restart the engines. We never had this problem in hot and humid North Carolina nor even along the Chesapeake Bay last summer, because we never needed to restart the engines after shutting them off like we do in locks. Live and learn Diesel 101!

So all is well now. Until next time. Happy Canada Day and Fourth of July to all our Canadian and American friends. We’ll celebrate both!

Check the added albums and pictures on Picasa.

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Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco