July 15 Frankford to Campbellford

July 15

Another great day on the water. Made it through 5 more locks which were better spaced so we got to do a bit of cruising in between lockages.   Speed limit on much of the waterway is just 10 km/hr – 6mph – 5.4 knots.  Pretty slow but very economical for us.  We burn just 1 gallon per hour at that speed.   Made it to Campbellford without any issues and have become very proficient with getting into and secured in the locks. 

Leaving lock 7

Steve says hi from our locking  buddy boat  for the day United 771

The most interesting lock of the day was our final ones.   Locks 11 and 12 are a double lift which takes you up 48 feet.   You enter the bottom lock, it takes you up 24 feet then a second set of doors open and you go into another lock and it raises you the remaining 24 feet.   It’s a bit formidable looking when you approach.  As you’re traveling down a pretty scenic  part of the  waterway the lock is tucked in on the left side so  you don’t see it until the last minute and then it suddenly looms  large and tall and a bit intimidating when you look almost straight up to see the lock operator at his controls.

Scenic view right before turning to port for Lock 11/12

Then you see this!

All squeezed in and ready for the first lift

View from the top of lock 12 looking 50' down

We’ll spend a few days here in Campbellford.   Doohers is a a very well-known bakery which was voted one of the best in Canada.  So we plan to load up on a Canadian treat called butter tarts, bagels, bread and pastries.   There’s also a local cheese co-op and a chocolate outlet.    Good thing we need to walk to all these places or we’ld be packing on the pounds!

Journey for July 15

July 16 

It's our 3 month Looperversary!!  1609 miles completed.  Right on track  for completing the journey in a  year.

After consuming the Be My Guest Diners signature egg, mushroom, ham and cheese 3 egg omelet and homefries we hit up Doohers Bakery and picked up a half dozen donuts.  Only 3 made it back to the boat – YES, they are that good!!  The absolute best French cruller that just melts in your mouth.  Then we hit up the local Canadian Tire, a chain store that’s sort of their local mini Wal-Mart with a bit of everything.   I walked the Rotary Club  trail back to locks 11/12 and traversed a suspension bridge that looks over the gorge looking down at the bottom of the locks to work off that breakfast.  Martha did this walk yesterday while Russ and I were sampling local brews.   

Geese enjoying the grass along the Rotary Club Trail aside the canal

Suspension  bridge over the gorge

View down the gorge - entrance to the lock is on the right

The local movie theatre here is a members co-op.  When everything went digital a few years back the theater was about to close so the citizens bought it out and sold memberships to upgrade equipment and keep the theatre going.  Tuesday is Matinee day at 2PM so to avoid some mid-day heat we went to see Yesterday.  Pretty entertaining. We had a bunch more looper boats head up from Trenton and Frankford to the walls here so both sides are the river are now loaded with 18 looper boats. 

Looper boats come in all types and sizes. 

With this many loopers in one place it’s bound to happen – DOCKTAILS at 5!!    It gave us a good opportunity for some pictures in front of the Twoonie sculpture.  A local artist designed the $2 coin and it’s commemorated in this monument that’s located at the park right next to our mooring.

DOCKTAILS !!!

Hoisting the Twoonie 

With this many boats  it’s going to be a madhouse at the locks when boats leave as only 2 to 4 boats will fit at a time depending on size – and there’s a lot of bigger boats here.  Looks like rain tomorrow so we expect most everyone will stay holed up here for another day.   Farmers market and more donuts on the schedule for tomorrow.