Lake Huron to the Hudson River–Roundtrip

Friday August 20, 2010

Crew: Pam and Tom Van Horn, and Donna

Weather: Mostly sunny

Canal and Lake: Mostly calm

Night Mooring: Driftwood Marina, Port Severn

Comments:

First off, those bathrooms rated 7-8 turned into 3’s once we took showers.  Teensy.  And the motion detector lights in the main bath?  5 minutes max.  Fixing one’s hair after a shampoo meant waving the arms every so often so see.  Nice marina though.  Lovely views.

This was our last day on the Trent-Severn, and we were just going with the flow.  We were glad for nice weather for the Big Chute, a rail passage that takes boats out of the water and carries them across land to the next body of water.  (See photos.) 

What an amazing experience.  Seems that the Big Chute was originally built because of insuffient labor needed to build the two locks needed for the area.  Long story short (tee hee), in the 1960’s when they finally went to build the locks, they realized that taking boats up over land by rail was preventing the spread of the sea lamprey eel up into the waterways from Severn to Lake Ontario.  Hence, a new chute was built, and it is amazing! 

Before they would let us on, however, the chute master called Loon Feather over to have a look-see.  A bit nervous about this old wood boat being able to support its own weight, he asked Captain Rick about the keel.  Over quite a few questions, Rick assured him that it would be fine - but of course we all held our breath!

The way it works is we drove into the carriage, whose bottom was submerged in many feet of water, so we were still afloat.  Then the master and the captain shifted LF so that the straps, there just to stabilize, not to hold, were centered appropriately on LF.   There was one other very small boat in the carriage with us, and that family was enjoying the show. 

Then, the carriage started to move on the rails - taking us up hill, out of the water, across a road and hundreds of feet of land, then strained mightally down a long pretty steep hill, and back into the water where Rick started up the engines and we drove away.  Cool, very very cool!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Chute_Marine_Railway

From there we had a quick journey to our final marina, Driftwood in Port Severn.  More like a dock-o-minium, the Driftwood is indeed lovely, with definitely high class baths.  Good thing, since Rick and Donna would be there for 4 days.

Dinner at the charming Inn at Christy’s Mill, cocktails by campfire, and a heron that allowed Donna to get within 10 feet to get his photo.  Seemed he was more interested in catching his own dinner from under the dock, than trying to catch a piece of Donna.

Next morning, Pam and Tom were off for New Hampshire in their car, which had been delivered to the Driftwood by the managers of the Trenton Marina way back at the beginning of our voyage.

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3577623006/a=13394650_13394650/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3577525006/a=13394650_13394650/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3577395006/a=13394650_13394650/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3577347006/a=13394650_13394650/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Donna has posted a lot of pictures from this week.

6 ablums so make sure you clink on all of them

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Weather: OMG!

Lake: OMG!

Canal: fine

Night Mooring: Lauderdale Point Resort

Comments: 

Lovely morning - sunny.  Gased up, cleaned the aft deck with bleach (read previous day for reference to Canada Geese treasures), talked to the locals about possible storms this morning.  Headed out to the very large Lake Simcoe (think 2 x Lake Winnepesaukee, 20 x Walloon Lake).

Ah ha, storm clouds to the north.  Our heading?  North.

By the time we were well away from any reachable shoreline, we were in 2-4 foot choppy waves being buffetted from all sides by wind and heavy rain.  Not to worry.  All four of us had experienced 5-6 footers on Lake Huron.  The guys stood at the helm, and the gals read, taking the occassional photo of the weird clouds and vanishing horizon.

Had they bothered to look at the boys, they would have realized that there was zero visability ahead, and that said boys were navigating via GPS, radar, and sheer gut. 

Well, we are here to write about it.  But, it was certainly one of the more tense moments of our journey. 

Almost miraculously, the storm was suddenly gone and the sun was out.  But, it slowed our day and our goal of making Port Severn for the night.

Of note is that we had only 1 lock today, but it was the one we have been waiting for for weeks.  Lock 42 - the lock master is a WOMAN!!!   Oh yes, there is truly a glass ceiling in the lock master ranks.  She had to prove herself for 23 years.  The boys were leary of a female being able to comprehend the mechanics and hydrology of locking, let alone be able to grease the gears or respond in a crisis.  Turns out she now commands the most popular and most financially profitable lock in the system.  Gee…

So, here we are at Lauderdale Point! 

Good news:  bath houses, as Pam says, “7-8 out of 5!!!”

August 18, 2010

Weather: Sheer Bliss!!!!  Sunburns all around.

Canal and Lakes: flat and gorgeous

Night Mooring:Lagoon City Marina, Lake Simcoe

Fun day, all canals and 6 locks. 

Wildlife: More loons, heron, too many Canada geese, and osprey.  We have learned that the osprey are loved and somewhat protected around here, that they mate for life, and that they often die from drowning.  Yes, drowning!  Seems that when they swoop down to catch a fish, the fish may be too heavy for them to take off again.  And, that their talons do not release until they are in a sitting position (on shore).  So, the osprey cannot let go and they go down with the fish. 

The best fun was yet another hydraulic “lift lock” in Kirkfield.  Unlike at Peterborough, we were now locking from high water to low water.  So, we entered this lock at the top with little feel for what we would see.  And also unlike Peterborough, this lift-lock was open-air and we could see all around us, up and down.   Cameras ready…    Down we went, over 45 feet.    Cool, very cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkfield_Lift_Lock

Soon after we went through another set of four flight locks, ending at the huge Lake Simcoe. 

Our night mooring would be at Lagoon City Marina, a very fine and very large marina, with charming Canada Geese all around, tons of huge boats, a restaurant, and a great looking bath house.

Posh!!!  Yes!!!

Yes??  As we came into our slip and approached our cleats,  *%!!!***?&***.    Those charming Canada Geese had deposited their personal treasures all over the docks.  

Life stopped until Rick and a borrowed broom cleaned the pathways.  It sure took the edge off. 

Showers: only 2.25 out of 5.

The cute female dock hands:  IQ 20.   

Dinner on LF:  Seemed appropriate.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Crew: Pam and Tom VanHorn, and Donna

Weather: Sunny and Windy!

Canal and Lakes:  Light chop

Night Mooring: On the wall at Fenelon Falls

Comments: 

Captain:  “We’re sinking.”

Crew: Dumb stares.

Ok, so not so much of a big thing this time.  The bilge pump was only going off every 90 minutes or so.  Enough to put Rick back into his date/time log.  But, the rest of us turned back to our books.  (See list of  cruise reads, with ratings!)  

We left Viamede and Stoney Lake, with a day of small lakes and only 4 locks ahead of us.  The whole area was beautiful.   Very much like the Thousand Islands with New Hampshire lakes Sunapee and Squam thrown into the mix.

To date there had been no injuries to the crew, but Pam was about to show her stuff.  On day 1, she fell out of bed.  The floor, it seemed, moved (or was further away than she had thought).  On this day, she was bothered by the bow lines laying askew.  She worried about a trip and fall.  And, having arranged them beautifully,  then tripped over the anchor and landed spread eagle on the foredeck.  Over the course of the week she would amass a series of bruises on her arms and legs,  not to mention splitting her big toe nail.

The day ended, however, at what may turn out to be our favorite mooring of all:  the town wall at lock #38, Fenelon Falls.  This charming little town has two main streets that cross at the lock.  Facing the canal are a series of eateries and boutique shops.  We chose a spot in the middle, and quickly learned that The Lake House Restaurant opposite us was the town’s finest.  Happy hour on the boat, dinner 200 steps away… 

and a hot pink sunset that rivaled anything on Walloon…  heaven!!! 

Dinner:  best of the best - Rigatoni with Italian sausage and marinara (YUM!)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Crew:  Pam and Tom VanHorn, and Donna

Weather: Partly cloudy; breezy

Canal and Lakes: low swells

Night Mooring: Viamede Resort

Comments: 

LOCK 21!!!  The tallest hydraulic lift in the world. 

Built between 1896 and 1904 of unreinforced concrete, the Peterborough Hydraulic Lift Lock is still today considered an engineering wonder. 

Sure rocked our socks!  Especially since it took about 2 minutes for us to rise 65 feet.  Thank goodness Tom had his movie camera.   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterborough_Lift_Lock

The rest of the day was charming, but without distinction - until Hell’s Gate.

Suddenly, the landscape changed.  Rocks rose from the waters, and islands filled the larger water ways.  It was so beautiful.

Quite by luck, our destination marina was closed, forcing us into alternative plans.  And good luck it was - we spent the evening in a vintage marina - Viamede Resort.  Great docks, fun bar, karaoke, and - ta da - acceptable showers (3/5 on our scale). 

A nice sunset, dinner outside on the deck of the bar overlooking the lake, and early to bed.

Wildlife:  more osprey and their nests (on utility poles), the call of a loon, and spiders in our beds.