JACKIE B III Going Loopy

Initially the weather looked pretty bad and we weren’t going to leave Hastings but then we decided we could make it before the lock closed so we went for it and are we glad we did.  This is the Canadian Canal Park we ended up staying in for two nights we liked it so much. The forecast was for two Foot waves.  This was not even close The lock in the park was so old and charming. This was the view behind our boat for our stay. The first night we rode our bikes up to the lift lock that we would be going through in a couple of days.  It is the largest lift lock in the world. The view up top was amazing. We were able to get some really cool shots thanks to our new friends Deb and Dan. The next day we explored Petersborough by dinghy. You can see Deb and Dan behind us in their dinghy.  It is a beautiful city with lots of art work in the many parks along the river. We ended the evening at a free concert in the park next to the marina where many of our friends were staying. ...

  We began to gather before the lock was open.  Eventually two more boats joined us.  The lock master put three boats in together.  Then We followed with four.   We were in like sardines.  But we made new friends on our way.  We ended up traveling like this together for 5 locks. It was a lot of work for me as I had to raise and lower fenders on different sides of the boats as some locks had port (left) side tie ups and others had starboard (right.)   Being the larger boat we always had the wall and the other boat rafted to us. These two rode along with us at every lock but one. (Yay , new friends!) Of course the scenery along the way was Gorgeous. After an extremely long day with so much locking, we all went to the local watering hole for happy hour and ended up back on our boat for movie night. We even had overnight guests as one of the boats with us is a center console with a bow tent and we had thunder storms over night. One of the best days so...

Being the last boat out, we were not able to travel with our new friends as we did not all fit in the lock together. We all started out together. We took our time and had to enjoy the swans. We arrived just in time to see them all go in the chamber. The water rushes out as they lower the water in the chamber so we can get out. But we went in and they raised us up. The photo above on the left is of the suspension bridge over the gorge. The doors for this lock are rather intimidating. So in we go and they closed the doors! We arrived in Campbellford and had a lovely lunch.  After lunch we went back to the gorge on our bicycles. This is the bridge and you can see the waterfall in the distance. Of course we have to figure out how we can get to the waterfall.  We climbed down into the river bed. ….and yes Mike did jump. All in all this was a pretty great day for a 40th wedding anniversary. Our Journey “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins....

  We left the marina early this morning but there were 3 boats ahead of us. The first two boats went into the lock and we had to wait for them to be raised and then they had to lower the water back down for us. We followed Mobile Home into the lock and these jet skiers came in behind us.  Our traveling partners for the day. At the top of the lock we purchased our canal transit passes for the Trent Severn Waterway. Notice the man and the woman in the corners of this video. They are opening the gates of the lock manually.  The woman finishes quite a bit before the man😂 And we were on our way. We repeated this over and over until we reached Lock 7 and the boats who had gone ahead of us.  They talked us into stopping for ice cream.  After paddle boarding we invited the other boaters over for Orange Crushes.  Our buddy boat, Mobile Home aka Doug and Judi,joined us for dinner. Our Journey “For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to t...

  Beautiful Calm day for cruising out ahead of us you can see one of the many car ferries crossing the waterway. The day was uneventful, but we did see an island covered with cormorants and lots of swans.  I saw so many pairs of swans with babies but they were too far away to capture with my iPhone camera.  This lone swan was so bold to cross right in front of the boat. The Trent Port Marina was a top notch facility.  The restrooms were individual rooms with very clean showers.  They had a fireplace and computers in the lounge for our use.  The washers and dryers were very new, free, and they even provided the soap.  The best thing about this marina was the proximity to a large grocery store.  We gathered provisions and got ready to begin the Tre nt -Severn Waterway. Our Journey  The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭104:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is a red letter day.  We crossed Lake Ontario to Kingston Ontario, CANADA! We had a buddy boat today.  We met these folks back in Little Falls on Rose Cottage. The seas were calm and although they left earlier than we did we easily caught up. Susie has a really great camera and shared some great photos of our boat with us.  This is where we crossed into Canadian waters. Mike is putting up our quarantine burgee.  Theirs is up on their bridge. We will change to the Canadian courtesy flag once we pass customs. We took the lead and you can see many windmills on shore. At the Confederation Basin Marina, you can see the Martello tower in the background and our lovely photographer. There are six Martello towers in Kingston.  They were built to defend Kingston from ”the Americans.” We were able to meet up with Ben and Chantale Hagar, Gold loopers, who advised us extensively before we began the loop. It was great to see them.  They loved the North Channel of t...