Saturday, July 20, 2019

July 18-19 Campbellford to Hastings to Peterborough



July 18

Pretty much all the loopers stayed at the Campbellford walls for another night.  It might have been the buy 2 nights dockage get a third night free offered by the local Chamber of Commerce, or it may have been the  weather forecast that was calling for rain (which never materialized) or it may have been the lure of one more  morning of fresh Doohers Bakery goodies.  Thursday evening we had 21 Looper boats lining both sides of the town wall and the Chamber folks said it was the largest crowd of loopers they ever had at one time.  We knew this would be trouble.  Simply too many boats departing  Thursday for our next stop – Hastings.   The lock just past Campbellford opens at 9 am and boats were already lined up so made a bakery run and  waited until 9:30 to cast off.  Drove the mile or so to the lock only to see the first lockage still  unloading at the top,  3 big boats ahead of us who would fill the next lockage, and more boats lining up behind us.  
Queuing up to enter lock 13

By the time we got in the lock at  10:30  with 4 more boats  the lockmaster asked what was going on – he had 7 boats pass through all  of the previous day and on his third lift of the morning had already now locked a dozen boats with more waiting. That lockage at least set a pace for everyone and the future locks were more consistent.   We transited locks 13 through 18 with the double lift 16-17 (up 54 feet) the only real one of interest. 
These double locks can eb a bit intimidating

Martha enjoying a  refreshing water spray 

Having done so many locks now  through the Erie, Oswego and now Trent Severn they’re all starting to just look the same and we’ve got our system down to a science.    At lock 15 the Park Canada attendant was frantically on the phone with upstream lockkeepers since everyone was heading to Hastings – just the natural next stop and the only real town between Campbellford and Peterborough.  We were told the wall there was full and would be better off tying to the wall at the top of  Lock 17 but once we got there decided to push on.  If the wall was truly full there were a few options for anchoring just past the town. 
Everyone had to raft up in the locks to get through

In true looper fashion, knowing more boats were coming the boaters at Hastings all jostled around and pushed tightly together to make room for the final 3 boats tying to the wall.  It was a long hot day (mid 80’s!!) so after a shower to clean up a group of us went up to McGilleys  Grill and Pub and tried the locally brewed Gilley’s Lock 18 Lager.  Pretty good stuff.
Journey for July 18




July 19

Off the wall at a little past 8 and already behind the pack headed for Peterborough.   This is a 20 mile open water run across Rice Lake and then a long meander up the Otonabee River to Lock 19.   The lake run was fabulous with a SW breeze hitting our nose. Very light chop but mostly felt good getting the breeze on our faces as a heat advisory is in effect again today.
Open waters of Rice Lake
Otonabee River 

  As soon as we turned off the lake and into the protected Otonabee River the wind abated and the humidity took over.   It’s a picturesque river – with the way it meandered and the mostly flat lands it reminded us of the Waccamaw River but without the tannin stained water color.  Mostly natural with occasional gatherings of river cottages.  Spotting wildlife was the main pastime with some interesting waterside sightings.
Osprey

Blue Heron

Cows ???
"Da Boys" doing wild things on the bridge.

  Lock 19 is only an 8 foot lift and a smaller lock but also one of the oldest.  Rather than concrete it has walls of cut stone.  The original gate and valve mechanisms are still in use but it all works a bit slower. Peterborough is just past the Lock and as we approached we could see it was full.  Thankfully we had made reservations but our original slip assignment was off by itself away from the loopers in an unsecured area and in water too shallow for our draft.  After some discussion they said come look at this potential slip on B dock and see if you think it’s too tight.    I counted off 16’ against our 14.5’ beam and said ‘We’ll make it work”.   The dockmaster had staff positioned all around.  Apparently he’s seen his share of boating mishaps but he gave outstanding directions as we eased down the fairway, spun it  around and backed in flawlessly.  We’re here through the weekend.  Farmers market tomorrow for sure.  There’s a couple of great museums, lots of good restaurants and pubs , a  band  pavilion in the park next to the  marina with a concert Saturday night.  We’ll probably hike over to watch the Lift lock operate a few times – the highest lifting one in the world and over 100 years old.  Mostly glad to be in a marina for the weekend with shore power to run the A/C as the heat advisory remains in effect. 
Journey for July 19


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