Mea Culpa for the following blog as it is going to be way too long. I have not had good enough connectivity for the last couple weeks to upload pictures. I’ll try to truncate as much as possible.

July 10, the folks from Scalywag, Alysana, Mike and I were guests on a tour boat that stopped at Boldt Castle. George Boldt, somewhat the father of the modern, deluxe hotel, and manager of the Waldorf-Astoria, had the castle built for his beloved wife, Louise. Unfortunately, his wife died before the completion of the castle. With the death of his wife, all construction on the was immediately stopped, approximately 300 workers were dismissed, and it is rumored that Boldt did not set foot again on the island. The property languished for decades, and time (and vandals) were not kind to it. Lucky for us, folks have done some incredible renovations here the past couple decades. It was a stunning.

The tour boat took us through the waterways of the 1000 Islands both on the New York and Canada sides. This area is absolutely stunning.

It was awesome to be on somebody else’s boat and not have to worry about navigating, depths, etc. After our tour, we bounced around Clayton which is a very cool little town, complete with an olive oil store and cheese shop. Also found a Poutinerie!

The next day, we pulled anchor and took a long way around the 1000 Islands which are truly stunning. (BTW, this is where 1000 Island dressing was borne. There are a few different stories as to the particulars.) Dropped the hook in Brakey Bay, Ontario Canada. We were able to check into customs via telephone which was fantastic! The forecast was for severe thunderstorms and this was a beautifully protected anchorage.

Parker and Leslie from Scaliwag picked us up in their dinghy and took us to Alysana for Happy Hour. While on Alysana, a few squalls came through. When there was a break, Parker and Leslie dropped us back at our boat. At that exact moment, the skies completely opened up!

The next morning, we pulled anchor and sailed to Kingston, Ontario. Another beautiful trip.

It was the day before John’s birthday, so we decided to do some pub crawling. there are a lot of good brew pubs in Kingston. Canadians take their beer seriously! It doesn’t get dark until after 9:00pm, so it always seems earlier. We ended up at The Keg around 10:00pm where Parker brilliantly ordered a kazillion appetizers and a couple bottles of Caymus. Total gluttony!

We were all a bit slow the next day, but did a late lunch/early dinner at a great Italian restaurant for John’s birthday, topped with gelato for dessert. Hit the Farmers Market and grocery for some provisioning. Kingston was a lovely town.

Departed early the following morning for Trenton which is at the base of the Trent-Severn waterway. This was one of the best marinas we’ve been to on our journey thus far. Docks were spotless and grounds were manicured. Most often when plugging shore power into a dockside “pedestal,” one is met with spiders, gnats, and general nastiness when lifting the cover. At Trent Port Marina, young dockhands daily went around with brooms and cloths and kept the pedestals looking new.

Took some long walks the next day, hit a butcher and an international store where we stocked up on beautiful cheeses and salamis. BBQ’d that night with the Wags and Alysana. Parker did spatchcock chicken and ribeyes. John did sausages and peppers and onions. I made a salad, and appetizers of brie, fig jam, apples and roasted walnuts on multigrain bread. Was soooo good.

Departed Trenton July 16 around 10:20am as a lot of folks were leaving early and we knew the locks would be crowded. By 1:35, we had only gone 6.2 miles, but had gone through 5 locks. We stopped at the upper wall after lock 5 and tied up for the night with Scaliwag. (We bought season passes for both the Canada locks and Canada parks which allows us to tie up for free at most of the many walls along the Trent-Severn waterway.) We had a picnic table under a tree in a beautiful pastoral setting. Parker and Leslie broke out their dominoes and refreshed us on how to play (as it had been decades). I proceeded to kick everyone’s ass! Leslie made homemade chicken pot pie with the leftover chicken from the night before. It was the best pot pie I’ve ever had.

Late in the day, the Kawartha Voyager, the largest ship that traverses the Trent-Severn, came into the Lock to stay the night. Mayor Mike chatted up the captains who later brought us cookies, and gave us a tour of the boat! Was super cool.

<Insert by Mike–it was a quid-pro-quo, as one of the captains really wanted to tour Scaliwag & her little sister, Forever Friday. I think we got the better of the deal. The K Voyager was a specially constructed vessel, being cut at the ends twice in order to utilize some shorter locks…the bridge top (steering station) hydraulically lowers to accommodate low bridges and the ends “flip up” to shorten the vessel’s length for the smaller locks. In the below photo, you can see the hatch that the captain sticks his head out when the bridge is lowered…wild!>

The next morning, we waited out some rain, then hit the river. Got through 8 locks and about 26 miles and tied up on the wall after Lock 14. Long day. Brian (the K Voyager captain who gave us the tour) emailed us with a photo showing they passed under the Trenton bridge with inches to spare!

Departed the following morning at 8:45am and crossed Rice Lake in perfect conditions.

Cut off the lake onto the Otonabee River and dropped the hook in a cut just off the river. Had a delicious dinner on Scaliwag and threw down some more bones. Parker and I tied the first go around, then Parker killed us. Anchorage was lovely.

<Insert by Mike: Well…during a fast and furious game of dominos aboard Scaliwag, we realized that the beautiful anchorage in which we were sitting did not show up on the nav charts as an anchorage. What better to call it than “Domino Cut? ” So, we named it! We are now famous…royalties to follow. Well, maybe not.>

Took off the next morning for the short, 21 mile trek to Peterborough Marina. It was HOT. I mean hot like Alabama in July hot. In Canada! It felt like 105 F with the humidity. Still, a beautiful trip on the water.

The next morning, Gina, Leslie and I walked maybe a mile to the Farmers Market around 9:00am. Fabulous market, but I thought I was going to die. Sweat was dripping in my eyes and my hands were so sweaty I couldn’t gather change to pay for my goods. Went back to the boat and air conditioning. That night, there was live music in the park adjacent to us. We listened to it from our air conditioned boat!

Next day, Leslie and I drove to a laundromat. As our collective 10 loads were in the middle of the wash cycle, weird sounds started coming from the machines and soapy water appeared on the tile floor where there were no drains.

There were no telephone numbers in the event of an emergency. Leslie mentioned the fire department which I thought was a brilliant idea! Look who came to save the day!

Monday, we departed Peterborough Marina around 12:35pm, again waiting for folks leaving early to get through the locks. We were buddy boating with The Lower Place, Robin & Charlie. Our first lock was uneventful. Lock 21 is Peterborough Lift Lock, the largest lift lock in the world, lifting boats 65 feet. We were really looking forward to going through this historic lock. After a bit of a wait, we got in and locked up.

Once we got to the top, we were advised there were mechanical problems and it would take some time to fill the tub with a bit more water to get us out.

Over an hour later…yes, an hour…we were set free. Looking down like that while in your boat was a trip! We were in the rear, with about 3 feet to the little “wall” astern of us prior to dropping off 65 feet. It was much like being stuck atop a Ferris Wheel…glad neither of us suffer from acrophobia! Did not give me the warm and fuzzies.

7 locks later, we tied up to the wall after Lakefield lock. Walked into the very small town and had dinner at Canoe and Paddle which was highly recommended. Was family owned and super good.

Departed Lakefield @ 7:40am. The locks became more crowded and the lock masters put you in there like puzzle pieces. Mike did an awesome job threading the needles.

Dropped the hook off Big Island in Pigeon Lake around 3:00. Gorgeous anchorage and was good to be back on the hook.

Departed the anchorage just before 8:00 to calm seas and sunny skies. Arrived Bobcaygeon Lock around 8:30. Were able to lock through right after 9:00 with only 1 other boat. This was a day we were dreading a bit as we were going through really narrow canals in shallow waters. Numerous times, we saw less than 2 feet under our keel–sometimes inches!. There were a couple of stretches where the canal was narrow to the point where two boats our size or bigger wouldn’t have been able to pass one another without one vessel leaving the channel. At one point we saw a boat coming towards us a couple miles away. Mike flashed our gazillion-candle power bridge light & the boat nicely pulled over & stopped at one of the few wide spots in the canal.

5 locks later, we tied up to the wall at the bottom of Kirkfield Lift Lock. It was our first lock down, and the rest of our locks would be locking down which is easier than locking up (smoother). Was so cool hanging at the bottom of the lock watching the boats lock up and down.

Departed Kirkfield @ 8:15am. More narrow channels and skinny waters. And, a funky bridge.

Arrived at Lakeshore Road wall at the mouth of Lake Simcoe Thursday around noon after a short 10 miles and 5 locks. Wanted to get an early start on the Lake before the wind came up today. Took off Friday morning and arrived at Port Orillia Marina for the weekend. A marina much like Trent-Port in that it is very clean, has wide docks and even a neat harvester machine for the water weeds/grasses (you know, the things that like to clog up a boater’s seawater strainers for the engine and air conditioners). We like to get off the water during the weekends while the masses, to include numerous folks who rent houseboats, are on the waters.

Next week we tackle a few more locks (look for a YouTube vid of “Big Chute Marine Railway,” which we’ll be riding shortly. Can’t wait!

Until next time! Cheers, M&M