It rained heavily overnight and the canal height rose with the deluge. When the lock staff reported at 9:00, the first thing they had to do was drain excess water from the canal to equalize the lock heights between Lock No. 20 and the Peterborough Lift Lock (No. 21). This delayed our departure about an hour. At 10:00 we received the OK to load in and, as we went to move away from the wall, our bowthruster didn't work. We quickly retied and went below to investigate. The bowthruster is located under our bed in a water-tight crash compartment. We pulled off the mattress and unbolted the hatch to only find that all appeared OK. I went back up to the pilot house and tested it while Barry was in the well, and it worked fine. The best explanation is that we had a bunch of grass embedded in the thruster tunnel from our two-day stay. All tested fine and we were able to load into the 11:00 lock passage.
Less than half a mile from where we started, we loaded into the lift lock behind a houseboat, surrounded by the massive concrete structure. A quick two minute ride up 65 feet and we were ready to go. There wasn't much of a view, other than the surrounding town from a higher elevation. The best view of the whole process is to watch from land. We exited the chamber and were on our way. It was a frustrating day as all the numbers were reading low -- our speed (4.9 kts, we like to be at 6.5), depth (less than two feet of water under us), and wind (there was none).
At Lock No. 22 we had to hold station waiting for a down-bound boat to exit the lock before we could enter. During that time we softly bumped bottom. This feeling is bad enough in the Chesapeake Bay mud; its even worse when you hear the keel meeting rock. The bowthruster popped us right off and we entered the lock. No. 22 marks the half-way point in number of locks. We're not quite to half way in distance. Four locks followed all within a mile of each other. We slowly passed a golf course and got to watch the guy in the white shirt tap in. The Trent-Severn Waterway bisects the campus of Trent University. The campus features many nontraditional buildings that border on contemporary art. A couple of pedestrian bridges over the Waterway connect the two sides of campus.
Although the sky was blue and filled with white clouds, the weather radar showed large patches of yellow and red tracking towards us. We passed through Lock No. 26 (our seventh of the day) and tied up to the wall in a string of eight boats, thankful to have a spot. I read a few chapters on Fiberglass Beach before being chased inside by a storm cell. A good soaking rain fell for about an hour and we both took naps as it passed. Although the engine ran 2.7 hours today, we were underway for six hours and needed to recharge.
The sun came out and we walked around the corner to stretch our legs and grab some dinner at Canoe and Paddle. We sat on the patio, hopeful that the rain had stopped. We finished our meal and had just walked out the front door when the sky opened up again. We took refuge next door at the ice cream shop/bakery (how convenient). Not wanting to be rude, we each got a cone while we waited for the cell to pass. Perfect timing gave us a short window to get back to Crossroads and enjoy a colorful sunset along the way before the rain returned.
As of now, we're not sure what we'll do tomorrow and will wait until morning to check the weather and decide. This area is much busier than the previous section of the Trent-Severn. Rental houseboats are now frequent travel partners. They are large, have minimal maneuverability, and move slowly. Their presence changes our lock strategy as they must load first.
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