A Boating Newbie on the Trent-Severn Waterway: Riding the River With Le Boat

We had been pulling right into a lock north of Peterborough after a couple of days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d handed by way of the identical lock perhaps 72 hours earlier on our approach 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, proper? 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 thought 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 prime deck. But it surely was the folks 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 girl at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the primary one I needed to maneuver our large 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 look at nervous boat operators – provided extra phrases of encouragement.

I got here in a bit of too quick on the subsequent lock.

“Somewhat scorching, sir. Again 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 street 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 bought to the Peterborough Raise Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about 5 minutes earlier than it was to shut for the night time.

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

“No downside,” he replied. “Watch for me on the prime, and I’ll assist you tie up.”

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

The highest of the lock appeared 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 prime, I took images of the lock at nightfall and chatted with a stunning couple from Ottawa who stopped – certainly one 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 prime of the lock, which sits excessive on a hill and presents nice views of the encompassing countryside.

What do You Do For Dinner?

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

It was a superbly quiet, tranquil night time in late Could, 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 timber. The outlets and houses of Peterborough had been just a few blocks away, however on our boat, it felt like gentle 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 assumed I had the cling 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 large boats tied up on the proper facet after I pulled up. I swear the opening was not more than two or perhaps three ft wider than our boat. The lock employee waved me in, and I used to be all of a sudden sweating like a nervous bridegroom.

The oldsters on the opposite boats clearly needed to keep away from a collision, so 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 bought one other thumbs up from the lock employees.

“First time I’ve needed to pull in with different boats,” I mentioned. “That was not loads of enjoyable.”

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

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

Docking Can Be a Problem

Relatively than having us dock simply previous Lock 26 in Lakefield, which is sort of protected, the oldsters 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 strong 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 prompt opening appeared 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 massive and really expensive-looking boat. I moved slowly ahead and again and tried to guage the present, and I used the thrusters to maneuver the boat nearer to the open dock area. Lastly, I bought inside a couple of ft and Barb tossed a rope to one of many folks on the dock.

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

“Don’t really feel unhealthy,” he mentioned. “When the present’s sturdy like this it may be very robust. See that slip over there? No one ever tries to dock there. No one.”

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 do know you had been fearful. I get it. However ‘dreading’ is a reasonably sturdy phrase.”

“I actually wasn’t certain you might do it,” she mentioned. “However I used to be unsuitable. You’re fairly good at this.”

The subsequent two days had been incredible. We made it previous Younger’s Level, admiring a small marina with a lovely restaurant/patio. We puttered (prime pace on Le Boat craft is about seven mph) alongside huge Clear Lake, after which made our approach by way of 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 difficult, reality be instructed, nevertheless it’s bought a very good identify.)

Pleasant Locals

We had a little bit of hassle discovering the lock at Burleigh Falls, however a pleasant native escorted us a lot of the approach there and instructed us the place to seek out the doorway.

“It’s a bit hidden,” he mentioned. “But it surely’s proper over there, close to that fancy cottage.”

We sailed by way of the lock and into Lovesick Lake, a lovely physique of water that was apparently named for a heartbroken settler or maybe an Indigenous girl 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 night time 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, had 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 had 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 among the deepest variety.

We made it again to the Peterborough Raise Lock that night time. 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 approach by way of 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 by way of. But it surely was an excellent sunny day on a gorgeous boat, and I wouldn’t have cared if they’d taken an hour.

Fairly quickly, we had been by way of Little Lake, residence to the brand new Canadian Canoe Museum. After going by way of 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 closing cease got here into sight far too early for my liking.  

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

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

Simply The Information

That is the primary yr Le Boat has had ships for hire 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, Ireland, 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 hire 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, perhaps 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 on the whole 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 expertise.

Alan, our boating trainer, took us out on the Otonabee River south of Peterborough and confirmed me how you can 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 suppose you’ll have any issues on the market.”

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 (prime pace 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 data for potential stops alongside the way in which.

We went in early June when it was not as busy as it will be on the peak of the summer season season. If you happen to’re a first-timer, going early within the yr, or maybe in September, may be simpler in your nerves.

One of many keys to my thoughts is the thrusters, which transfer the boat backward and forward with ease. If you happen to can drive slowly right into a lock at a mile or so an hour, and it’s not exhausting, the thrusters ought to assist you with the remaining.

If you happen to’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 can be expanded onto different Le Boat routes.

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

Prices

I appeared for September and located a Le Boat rental for every week on the Trent-Severn Waterway in mid-September for 4 folks for $3,272. That’s lower than $500 an evening.  Mooring charges usually apply, and also you’re answerable for your individual gasoline, any added electrical energy you could want, and additional water, and for any price for pumping out your boat’s bogs and used water from doing dishes or having a bathe.