Good morning!  We are starting the Trent-Severn Waterway today.  It should be an exciting day.  New canal, new country, new locks, new everything!

Sunrise in Trenton, ON – looking back into the Bay of Quinte

Leaving Fraser Park Marina – Trenton, ON

The Trent-Severn Waterway is very much like the Erie Canal.  It offers a safe water way to cruise north of the Great Lakes.  The idea of providing a waterway to transport goods began during the revolutionary war in the 1780’s.  In fits and starts over time, pieces and parts of the now Trent-Severn Canal were built.  The canal we will be boating on was  completed in 1920.  It took over 90 years to finally complete the canal.  It is 241 miles long.  A controlling depth of 6 feet.  There are 44 locks.  Lock 1 – 35 are UP almost 600 feet from Trenton to lock 35.  Then we will be working our way back down to Port Severn.

This is a pretty good map of our journey over the next couple of weeks.

Trent-Severn Waterway

We are ready to go!!  We paid for a locking pass to go one way on the Trent-Severn waterway.  We will be mooring infrequently using as many marinas as we can easily get to with our draft.  There are different fees for locking and mooring along the Trent-Severn.

Trent-Severn Waterway

Around the corner going toward lock 1, our first view of the Trent-Severn.  

Too bad this sign has graffiti on it.  Almost too hard to read.  Are we really going the right way?

Trent-Severn Waterway

We see several boats ahead of us waiting on the wall.  Looks like 4 boats.  We pull over and wait as well.  The locks open somewhere around 9am.  This is a Monday morning and there are a few of us anxious to start our journey.  The Lock helper came and told us we would be in the 2nd group.  Just a few minutes.  It turned into almost an hour before it was our turn to go into the lock.

Boats waiting for the their turn

Some of the Trent-Severn locks are hydraulically controlled.  The Lock Master hits a button and the water rushes in or out as needed.  Doors are opened and closed with buttons.  Many of the Trent-Severn locks are manually controlled.  Wayne was able to get pictures of the man walking in circles opening the lock door at the top of lock.  I wonder how they don’t get dizzy from walking in circles.  Great exercise.  Right?

The dams don’t look as intimidating as the ones on the Erie Canal.  There was a little power boat that locked down as you can see it approaching on the left side.

Approaching Lock 2 – UP 20 feet

I don’t know if you can tell from this photo but cables are used in the Trent-Severn Waterway.  We almost groaned when we read that.  These cables are attached at the top and the bottom of the lock but are not recessed into the wall.  They look like ropes.  They were easy to snag with my boat hook, tie a line and cleat the line to the boat.   I would tie off the bow and then walk quickly to the back of the boat and snag another cable.  Wayne would then shut off the engines and come forward and man the bow line.  As the boat moves up the wall, the lines ( ropes ) should slide up the cable.  Not too bad.

Entering Lock 1 – UP 18 feet

Approaching Lock 3

Still is amazing no matter what lock it is.  Metal doors opening slowly and then clanging shut when you get your boat in.  You have heard that noise from TV shows.  That noise when the prison doors are slammed shut.  Quite the hair raise the first time I heard it.  Still makes me nervous.  I watch too much TV or my imagination is too active.

Top of Lock 3

So far, every lock has grounds around them with picnic tables, gorgeous trees and flower beds.  Very pretty and peaceful.  It makes waiting for the lock doors to be manually opened a pleasure.

Top of Lock 2

I noticed the locks do not have numbers on them from below.  Just those massive doors.  At the top of the locks there are signs that tell you the lock number and the history of the construction of that lock.

Trent-Severn Sign

Lock 6 sign

Lock 6 sign

We traveled UP 117 feet today going through 6 locks.  We have stopped for the night at the top of the Frankford lock 6.  There is power.  We are exhausted.  Mainly from the change in pace and having to relearn the “locking process” that works for us.  I paid the Lock Master for the night’s stay.

Luckily, there were several Loopers all going in the same direction.  The Lock Masters helped the first two boats tie to the wall.  Then the crew from those boats helped us tie to our place on the wall.  We helped the next couple of boats.  As the afternoon progressed, I heard the Lock Master on the phone telling the locks below us, “there is only room for one more boat…about a 25 foot”.  That really is great communication and management of the space available.  All in all, there must have been 10 boats tied up to the wall for the night.  Half of them were Loopers like us.  The other boats were Canadians on holiday.  How fascinating.

The locks were rather close together.  By the time we got out of one lock, a mile or two up the waterway was the next lock.  However, at the top of lock 5 I got a pretty picture of the surrounding landscape.   You can see lock 6 far ahead.

Top of Lock 5

After a great day on the water, an early evening.

Sunset reflection Frankford, ON – top of Lock 6