Bobcaygeon Monday July 19 to Fenelon Falls July 20

Fenelon Falls is so far one of the prettiest areas we have visited.  We tied up at the lock wall, Lock number 34 (second of the two we transited on this leg.)  The falls are beautiful, there is an electric generating station there and we were able to share this location with our friends Ron and Sally aboard their "Summer Star."

Our barometer which reads typically 30.00 inches at sea level reads 29.280 here in the "falls"  which, if you go by the standard 1 inch loss of barometric pressure per 1000 foot rise, means we are at approximately 720 feet above sea level at this point.  We have been lifted all that way by all the locks we have been working our way thru.

For such a small town, so far away from any large metropolitan area, it boasted a grocery store comparable to a good Kroger or a Publix.  This for a moment undid some of the time warp we are in the midst of.

Here is a redo of an information website for the Trent-Severn:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent-Severn_Waterway

And for lots of information about Fenelon Falls, look at:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenelon_Falls,_Ontario

A few photos:

Kids at play in the waterway.

I wonder what an artist would create from a scene like this.

Our approach to the "falls."  The powerhouse is in view but the lock is not.

We are in the lock, being lifted up by the inflow of water from the upstream end.  The Summer Star is behind us in the lock.  Notice that the doors have a sill underneath them.  The sill is at the bottom of the upper level channel.  Once we are lifted all the way and the doors open we will motor off in this new channel.

The lock master said we have the perfect place for you to park your boat.  Here it is.  When we get docked, the back of our boat will be at the stairs and the bow of the boat will be in the bush at the right.  Since this is concrete, it has no give like wood pilings have so having your fenders in place is of prime importance to prevent damage to the side of the boat at the end of our approach.

As we approach, it does not look too big or too forgiving.

Made it!

The Summer Star at her wall on the other side of the canal.

One of the fun parts of this waterway is the number of unique boats you run across.  This is a really pretty one as she was leaving.

As noted previously,  the entire Trent-Severn waterway system is owned by Parks Canada and the whole thing is operated as a park.  At each lock are camping areas, picnic areas, areas to fish and places to launch kayaks and other such craft.  The entire areas are accessible to the public, including the locks.  We have had many people looking over many a lock wall watching us lock thru.  As we rise to a point where they can chat, many of them are eager to do so.  The entire system is meticulously maintained.  There were maybe, 5 groups of campers the night we were there.

A pretty view of a group of cabins for rent.

A typical small business/residence.

And a nice residence with out a business.

A bit of the business district along the wall.

A design feature of almost all locks.  Notice that the gates when closed, they are not flat with each other but point a bit inward to the water.  This helps hold them closed and secure against what must be tremendous water pressure when the chamber is full.  Just look at this one and imagine the pressure.

Our friends Sally and Ron with Frank.

Me and Pat.  Notice the building at the left, high up.  This is a great restaurant for viewing the falls.   Especially if you get a table on the front porch you see there.  Oddly enough, the name of it is the "Falls View Restaurant."  We went up there and had a couple of brewskies and a great pizza.  The view and sounds of the falls from there was captivating and we lingered longer than usual.

The view.  The sounds would add a lot if I could include them.

A bit of info found in the restaurant.

Ron and Sally, departing Fenelon Falls,  We were right behind them.  We were not eager to leave this beautiful place.

 

Buckhorn, Ont, Sunday July 18, 2010 to Bobcaygeon, Ont. July 19.

From Buckhorn, we traveled to Bobcaygeon, Ontario, still on the Trent-Severn. Only one lock today, number 32 at our destination. We were accompanied by our friends Ron and Sally aboard their boat, the Summer Star.



Unfortunately as I went thru our photos, I discovered that we took none in or of the town. But I do have a funny story.


At the Center Point Marina in Bobcaygeon we were greeted by a young and full of life dock hand. He tied up our boat as if it was his very own and toured us thru the marina and showed the things they had for sale if needed such as ready to cook steaks and things to go with them.


Center Point Marina did not have a courtesy car available like so many of them do but our dock hand offered to drive us to town (me, Pat, Ron and Sally) and then pick us up at an appointed time at the provincial liquor store. The time came and the time went. And more time came and went. We waited and waited until we decided it was insanity to wait any longer.


So we began our two mile hike back to the marina. After all the walking we did in town. We had all of our purchases etc. We hoofed it along past some nice cottages and wooded areas, (thank you for the wooded areas!) and in an hour or two we were back at our boats.


We expected to find our dock hand there, properly embarrassed for forgetting to pick us up. But, no dock hand. He was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, he did not show up for his shift the next morning to boot.


I would have been worried about this young lad but it was my experience during the years I ran my small business in the US, that frequently, you would have a new hire, young and lively and seemingly very interested in their employment and the work at hand. Then one day they would leave for lunch (usually within 5 days or less of being hired) never to return. No phone contact, no mail, nothing. Since I had experienced this type of thing in my hiring days, it seems that it does not matter, the country, young people just do that sort of thing.  My apologies to him if I have any of this wrong.


For info on Bobcaygeon, you can visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcaygeon,_Ontario



What follows are photos, mostly without comment of some of the scenery we passed along the waterway.

Summer Star doing her thing.

             Relaxing with a book on a nice summer afternoon.



We are almost there.  The Summer Star at the lock wall waiting to go thru.

This is it from Bobcaygeon.  This is the marina taken from the foredeck of the Salt Shaker

Littlefield, Ont Friday July 16, 2010 to Buckhorn, Ont July 18.2010

We are still working our way thru the canal and locks westward to Port Severn, Ont.  We did locks 27 thru 31 and got go Buckhorn Marina late in the day on Friday.

Information about Buckhorn can be looked up at :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckhorn,_Ontario

The national bird of the north with a boat.

And another

Rentals

Or you may like this.

As we discovered earlier, this part of the country in part of the Canadian shield, which is all granite.  There are many cottages like this one on the numerous outcroppings of granite in the waterway.

And for services, you may need to walk on water to get there.

Another cottage on another rocky island.  Could this be the pastor's residence?

Now here is a cottage designed by a guy with a sense of humor!  Click the image for more detail.



This area is so beautiful!

The image is not really that good.  It is a bird on a rock that is just under the water at the side of the channel.  I know I have labored a bit much on this point.

We just could not get enough of views like this.

Electric boat.  Very understated compared to the fenders and the Canadian flag etc.

Here we are, at Buckhorn.  This is the first covered well we were ever in.  As you can surmise, I forgot to lower the radio antenna.  Lots of noise, yes.  Fortunately no damage.

The couple on the "Way of Life" next to us were great neighbors.  Lots of fun to talk with.

A parade of houseboats.  Rentals with small engines to protect the operators.  Just in case any of them happen to be inexperienced.

Buckhorn is home to a great repair and maintenance shop.  They were able to repair the middle step leading to our cabin that "big foot," me, stepped on with far too much force and broke it off a couple of days earlier at Lakefield.  But their specialty is the repair of propellers damaged by unintentional contact with the granite in the waterway.  From this location they cover such repairs for the entire waterway.  They repair thousands of props every year.  Our good friends Don and Rosie left some $$ here.  Their boat with its 5 foot draft is a prime candidate for finding this rocky bottom, and it did.  We only missed seeing them by less than a day, they left with their fixed props just before we arrived.

The prop shop currently has 11 techicians and 5 vans to cover their service area.  At this particular moment 3 of the vans were apparantly on the road.

The website for the marina is :

http://www.buckhornyachtharbour.com/

If you would like to see the scale of their prop repair operation click on the prop repair button.

Pat relaxing with a favorite book in one of the "park like" areas of the marina.

Even though we missed out on seeing Don and Rosie, other good friends met on the loop did arrive while we were there.  Here are Ron and Sally from their boat "Summer Star."  We were on hand to help them dock their boat.

Pat and Sally enjoying a romp in the cool waters near the Buckhorn Marina.

Me and Frankie (the dog) aboard the Summer Star.  Round in places, Ah?

Ron and Sally and us went to a great Chinese resturant at Buckhorn.  The lock on the waterway is right there.  And kids being kids were doing what is fun but quite illegal.  Swimming in the lock.  They could pull it off since it was closed for the night and the staff was not there.

The Cody Inn, Chinese Resturant.  The friendly staff at the Buckhorn Marina loaned us one of their cars so we could have an evening on the town.  This is an eatery that did not disappoint us.  It was great.

Buckhorn was named for this elegant animal.