A cool morning warranted a long-sleeved T-shirt to start the day. Barry headed to the market in Bobcaygeon to pick up some milk while I wiped down the dew-covered boat. We pulled away from the lock wall in Bobcaygeon shortly after 8:00 and headed into Sturgeon Lake. It was a wide body of water and we couldn't see enough detail on the shore to hold our attention. Thankfully we had deep water and were able to run at high cruise to pass the miles a bit quicker. As we neared Sturgeon Point we found ourselves in the middle of two developing regattas. Small sailboats were being launched from the shore at a rapid pace reminding me of penguins jumping off an iceberg. We tacked our way through the field and left the roughly 100 sailboats behind without too much drama.
The water narrowed and we were once again able to check out some interesting houses as we passed by.
We settled into sightseeing mode. There were more seaplanes on their own private docks and children of all ages fishing. The bright and colorful Parks Canada workboat stood out against of the green foliage. The bulldog ... well, I'm not sure what he was doing. Before we knew it, we were at the approach to Lock No. 34 at Fenelon Falls. After a brief wait, we entered into the chamber and then found space upon exiting to tie up for a while. We visited a store owned by a couple that has previously completed the Great Loop. We left our boat card, which was added to the collection of others who have passed through.
The lock is literally across the street from the town's retail shops and restaurants. Folks gather along the fence line to watch the lockmasters place boats of all sizes in the chamber, like a giant game of Tetris. We sat and watched all the action while having a slice of pizza for lunch. After an hour break, we were back aboard Crossroads, ready to continue. We departed with Larry and Carol on Sea Life and headed into Cameron Lake. The sky and clouds created a picture-perfect afternoon as made our way to Lock No. 35 in Rosedale. This lock is significant as it is the last lock that lifts. We are at an elevation almost 600-feet above where we started the Trent-Severn Waterway in Trenton. From this lock it is a 260-foot descent to the end of the Waterway and Georgian Bay.
Rosedale Lock fed into Balsam Lake and we followed Sea Life across it to the very narrow entrance to the Trent Canal. It was difficult to even see this canal on our chart and Barry and I both were getting nervous.
Our guidebook spent many pages warning us about this passage. Boats ahead of us had texted about bumping bottom. Boaters are required to announce their entrance into the canal as there is not room for two-way traffic. Threading a needle is an understatement. It was narrow -- maybe 30-feet at best. It was shallow -- most of the time we had just over one foot underneath us, but we never touched bottom. It was long, stretching for five miles. We were going VERY slow, and this passage took about an hour. When not scared we were going to either bump bottom or one of the rocky banks, it was actually a beautiful trip through the forest. Most of the time I just stared at the depth gauge, calling out our position any time we had less than a foot and a half of water under our keel. This helped Barry fine-tune our position in the channel.
Right in the middle of all this tension Lock No. 36 comes into view. It is a smaller version of the dramatic Peterborough Lift Lock which we passed through a few days ago. By this time we were very ready for a break. We locked through with Sea Life and weboth pulled over to the wall for the evening. We relaxed with a few docktails before walking back up to the lock and seeing from whence we came. We ate dinner onboard and then went out for a final evening walk. The Kirkfield Lift Lock was glowing in the setting sunlight.
We start again tomorrow and have over two hours to go in this shallow, narrow channel before reaching Lake Simcoe. Maybe then we can breathe a little easier.
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