A Boating Beginner on the Trent-Severn Waterway: Using the River With Le Boat

We have been pulling right into a lock north of Peterborough after a number of days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d handed via the identical lock possibly 72 hours earlier on our manner north in our 42-foot Le Boat craft, and one of many Parks Canada lock employees acknowledged us on our return journey.

“Hey, guys! It’s Jim and Barbara, right? How’d it go?”

There are a lot of issues I’ll keep in mind about our five-day, 20-lock journey on the Trent-Severn: my spouse admitting she was scared to demise on the concept of me piloting an enormous boat with virtually no boating expertise; majestic blue herons gliding over nonetheless morning lakes; night glasses of wine and night-time barbeques on the open-air high deck. Nevertheless it was the individuals we met alongside the way in which that stood out for me.

First Timer

I used to be too busy navigating to maintain correct notes on our journey, particularly since there have been solely two of us on board and I did all of the “driving.” However a younger lady at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the primary one I needed to maneuver our massive boat into, gave me a large smile and a thumbs-up as I slide the boat inside. Observers lining the locks to see how issues labored – and to observe nervous boat operators – supplied extra phrases of encouragement.

I got here in slightly too quick on the subsequent lock.

“A little hot, sir. Back it off. That’s it,” one of many employees referred to as out.

At one of many locks, a Parks Canada employee defined that there was a movable roadway/bridge forward of us that she must open earlier than we might head north. The highway was solely a brief distance away, so she hopped on her bike and rode on forward, then sounded a horn to tell us we might proceed. Charming.

Navigating Locks

We obtained to the Peterborough Carry Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about 5 minutes earlier than it was to shut for the evening.

“Sorry we’re so close to the deadline,” I mentioned to Nick, one of many employees.

“No problem,” he replied. “Wait for me at the top, and I’ll help you tie up.”

Coming into Lock 21 is just about the identical because the others. However the Peterborough Carry Lock, because it’s additionally recognized, is the tallest hydraulic raise lock on the planet (65 ft). Different locks on the route normally take 15-20 minutes to undergo, however this lifts you up or lowers you down in simply 60 seconds.

The highest of the lock regarded a quarter-mile above our heads, not 65 ft, however we virtually raced to the highest. It was a gee-whiz boating second if I ever had one, and I couldn’t cease grinning.

As soon as we had a docking place up high, I took photographs of the lock at nightfall and chatted with a stunning couple from Ottawa who stopped – one in every of many admirers we had alongside the way in which – to take a look at our boat and listen to our story. There was just one different boat tied up on the high of the lock, which sits excessive on a hill and gives nice views of the encompassing countryside.

What do You Do For Dinner?

Le Boat leases come outfitted with a fuel barbeque, so we opened a bottle of wine and grilled some beautiful hen kebabs that the Le Boat individuals had purchased for us (together with a whack of different native goodies, equivalent to cheeses, recent bread and tortilla chips) and dined on the highest deck. 

It was a wonderfully quiet, tranquil evening in late Might, and we didn’t hear a sound. We woke as much as a sunny morning with a kayaker training on the water, his paddle rhythmically dipping into the shiny floor as birds twittered within the close by bushes. The retailers and houses of Peterborough have been only some blocks away, however on our boat, it felt like mild years.

Rookie on the Wheel

There have been no different craft within the first few locks I pulled into as we sailed north on the waterway, and I believed I had the hold of it. However on day two, I consider at Lock 22 at Nassau Mills (once more, with simply my spouse and I on board, my note-taking was past horrible), there have been already two massive boats tied up on the fitting facet once I pulled up. I swear the opening was not more than two or possibly three ft wider than our boat. The lock employee waved me in, and I used to be out of the blue sweating like a nervous bridegroom.

The parents on the opposite boats clearly wished to keep away from a collision, in order that they eagerly helped with a pair well timed pushes. I pulled into the lock at a snail’s tempo and used the thrusters to push our boat sideways so Barbara might get our bow line tied.

My coronary heart was pounding, however I obtained one other thumbs up from the lock employees.

“First time I’ve had to pull in with other boats,” I mentioned. “That was not a lot of fun.”

“Pretty nice job for a rookie,” mentioned the man within the fancy boat subsequent to ours.

By the point we obtained to Lakefield, I used to be once more feeling fairly good about myself. However not for lengthy.

Docking Can Be a Problem

Somewhat than having us dock simply previous Lock 26 in Lakefield, which is kind of protected, the parents from Le Boat had set us as much as go previous the lock and check out the Lakefield Marina so we might go searching and see what marina life was like, and in addition attempt a pleasant, native restaurant referred to as The Loon. It was a stable plan, however there’s a reasonably sturdy present on the Lakefield Marina, and it was windy that day.

I couldn’t make it into the spot the marina employee had referred to as out to me as we approached. Our boat was 42 ft, and the recommended opening regarded like 42 ft and 6 inches to me. I wasn’t certain what to do, however a gaggle of pleasant boaters who had gathered on one of many Lakefield docks identified an open spot behind a really giant and really expensive-looking boat. I moved slowly ahead and again and tried to evaluate the present, and I used the thrusters to maneuver the boat nearer to the open dock house. Lastly, I obtained inside a number of ft and Barb tossed a rope to one of many individuals on the dock.

I feel it took 4 adults and a useful lady of about eight years to tug us in, however they managed. One of many fellows who did a number of the grunt work and helped information us in, Perry, gave me a pat on the again, in addition to an influence wire extension for the evening to cost our batteries.

“Don’t feel bad,” he mentioned. “When the current’s strong like this it can be very tough. See that slip over there? Nobody ever tries to dock there. Nobody.”

It’s All About Confidence

With a chilly native beer in hand and the solar dipping in the direction of the horizon, we sat on the highest deck and relaxed. It was about then that Barbara confessed she had been “dreading” the journey.

“Dreading?” I replied. “I know you were worried. I get it. But ‘dreading’ is a pretty strong word.”

“I honestly wasn’t sure you could do it,” she mentioned. “But I was wrong. You’re pretty good at this.”

The subsequent two days have been unbelievable. We made it previous Younger’s Level, admiring a small marina with a horny restaurant/patio. We puttered (high velocity on Le Boat craft is about seven mph) alongside huge Clear Lake, after which made our manner via slim passages in Stoney Lake, which is dotted with small, fairly islands in shades of beige, pink, and orange. We took a minute to understand a reasonably church on one of many bigger islands referred to as St. Peter’s Church-on-the-Rock, which, oddly sufficient, is simply a brief distance from a slim, fairly passage referred to as Hells Gate. (It’s not very tough, reality be informed, but it surely’s obtained a very good identify.)

Pleasant Locals

We had a little bit of bother discovering the lock at Burleigh Falls, however a pleasant native escorted us many of the manner there and informed us the place to search out the doorway.

“It’s a bit hidden,” he mentioned. “But it’s right over there, near that fancy cottage.”

We sailed via the lock and into Lovesick Lake, a horny physique of water that was apparently named for a heartbroken settler or maybe an Indigenous lady who was unfortunate within the affairs of the guts.

With loads of time on our facet, we made all of it the way in which again to Younger’s Level that evening and docked on the far facet of Lock 27, the place we chatted with pleasant locals out with their rods and reels and once more dined on the highest deck.

The subsequent day we pulled as much as the Lakefield Lock a couple of minutes earlier than it opened for the day. A pair who reside an hour or so away, Ken and Jo, have been on their boat and got here aboard for a look-see as we chatted in regards to the space, and about our journey.

They have been a pleasant couple, and once more, my spouse and I discovered ourselves drawn to individuals who had been full strangers a minute earlier than. However we shared a boating bond, and I used to be shortly studying that these are a few of the deepest type.

We made it again to the Peterborough Carry Lock that evening. It was Barb’s birthday, so we had a particular toast on an excellent, quiet, late spring night.

Feeling Like A Professional

The subsequent day, we made our manner via Peterborough. A line of boats was coming upstream, and we needed to nudge our boat to the facet of the canal to allow them to via. Nevertheless it was an excellent sunny day on a gorgeous boat, and I wouldn’t have cared if that they had taken an hour.

Fairly quickly, we have been via Little Lake, house to the brand new Canadian Canoe Museum. After going via Lock 19, it was a straight shot down the Otonabee River to Del Mastro Horseshoe Bay Resort Marina, the place we had picked up the boat 5 days earlier. With the present pushing us alongside, our remaining cease got here into sight far too early for my liking.  

45 minutes later we have been heading again to town on Freeway 401, with vehicles whizzing previous me and darting out and in of visitors.

“Damn,” I mentioned to Barb because the vehicles crowded round us. “I miss that boat already.”

Simply The Details

That is the primary yr Le Boat has had ships for lease on the Trent-Severn Waterway. The corporate has been renting vacation boats since 1969 and has 18 locations all over the world, together with the Canal du Midi and Burgundy area of France, Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, northern Italy, Holland, Eire, and extra. They’ve been working on the Rideau Canal in Ontario for a number of years.

You don’t want a boating license to lease a craft from Le Boat. In order that’s one fear out of the way in which. Does it assist to have some boating expertise? Undoubtedly. I’ve pushed my pal’s boat, possibly a 20-footer, many occasions. However I had by no means tried to dock it.

A few weeks previous to our journey, the Le Boat of us despatched us hyperlinks to a number of movies that defined boating guidelines typically and their boats specifically. In addition they provide you with a roughly one-hour intro on the boat earlier than your rental begins, going over buoy guidelines, providing navigation suggestions, and explaining the bells and whistles. After that, they take you out with an skilled boater to evaluate your abilities.

Alan, our boating instructor, took us out on the Otonabee River south of Peterborough and confirmed me flip and decelerate (in case you’re a novice, there’s no brake on a ship, so that you simply kick it into reverse, which takes a 50-year vehicle driver some getting used to). He turned the boat over to me so he might see how I dealt with her and requested me to take some turns.

“Doing good,” he mentioned. “I don’t think you’ll have any problems out there.”

Simply in case, we had an emergency quantity that we might name anytime. And we had the fabulous lock employees and fellow boaters to assist.

The Boat

The boats don’t go quick (high velocity is 10 km/hour), and there are bumpers galore. In addition they provide you with detailed charts that will help you navigate the waterway, in addition to helpful info for potential stops alongside the way in which.

We went in early June when it was not as busy as it could be on the peak of the summer time season. For those who’re a first-timer, going early within the yr, or maybe in September, is likely to be simpler in your nerves.

One of many keys to my thoughts is the thrusters, which transfer the boat back and forth with ease. For those who can drive slowly right into a lock at a mile or so an hour, and it’s not laborious, the thrusters ought to make it easier to with the remaining.

For those who’re nonetheless leery, Le Boat is floating a new “Skipper for Hire” program on the Canal du Midi for subsequent yr. This system will see an skilled navigator assist out on the ship on the primary day and, pardon the pun, present newbies the ropes. If profitable, this system might be expanded onto different Le Boat routes.

The parents at Le Boat have a wide range of boats out there. Ours was a 3-bedroom Horizon 3 Plus mannequin. The principle mattress was spacious, with a small, en-suite tub with a bathroom, sink and bathe. The opposite two bedrooms have been fairly small, however had two beds, some storage space, and in addition en-suite baths with a bathroom, sink and bathe.

Prices

I regarded for September and located a Le Boat rental for every week on the Trent-Severn Waterway in mid-September for 4 individuals for $3,272. That’s lower than $500 an evening.  Mooring charges typically apply, and also you’re liable for your individual gas, any added electrical energy chances are you’ll want, and further water, and for any value for pumping out your boat’s bogs and used water from doing dishes or having a bathe.