Frankford, Campbellford and Hastings

 Trent Severn Historic Waterway

Tuesday morning, July 18th we pulled out of port early at 7:30 am as there was over 20 Loopers backed up at Port Severn Marina due to the weather. We wanted to get a jump to get ahead of the pack. As we said earlier, the locks don’t open until 9 am and the first lock was only 2 miles away. There is a Blue line that you pull up to to get in the queue to go into the locks. So we were there by 7:45 am and tied up.

 

 We had breakfast and coffee at the lock waiting for it to open. There was three other boats that had the same idea, Charlie Girl, Wild Thing and Taylored for Two. We had met these folks previously and enjoyed their company. Four boats pretty much fill a lock so it worked well except when we got there there was a couple of other boats that were already on the blue line.

So we had to wait for them to lock through and then it was our turn. When you enter the lock system the lock masters all communicate with each other letting the lock ahead know what boats are coming.  There is also a 10 KPH speed limit in a lot of the sections so if you show up too early they will scold you. Once you get into the first lock of the day you are generally with the same group of boats all day.

 

The good about that is you get to talk to the other boaters. The bad is if one of the boaters is new to boating it can get a little hairy. The weather that day was pretty warm with temps into the high 80’s. I think somebody forgot to turn on that Canadian air conditioner. There was a pretty good breeze so it wasn’t too bad. We only did 7.3 miles to Frankford but it took us until 2:30 pm to get there As we had 6 locks to transit.

When we got there there was only one space left and we were fortunate to grab the last one. Even better news it has power so we could run the AC. We got settled in and immediately headed off for some ice cream. After cooling off we took a quick spin in town which took all of about 5 minutes. The guys decided to follow me to the Largest boulder in Canada which was a 7 Km bike ride away.

We got to the boulder in the woods and took a pic. Glad Sue was not along as she would have been pissed that I had taken her on another long trek for little gain. We found our way back to the boats and enjoyed dinner aboard. After we socialized lockside and called it a night. 

The next day we were headed to Campbellford. It was a bigger town with pretty much everything a boater could need. The cruise was only 25 miles and 6 locks. The last two locks we a flight lock which means it is a double. When you come out of one lock you go right into the next lock. We got to Campbellford right about 1pm so we had some time to explore the town. The three of us went into town on our bikes to see what there was to offer. We went to a chocolate factory, the Sweetest Bakery in Ontario where there speciality was cream filled doughnuts and the walking suspension bridge. The suspension bridge spans across the rapids and offers a nice view of Riley Falls. We spotted some kids jumping in the water so we decided to join them as it was another hot day. After cooling off we had some dinner aboard and then went to the park where they had a band playing 50’s music. What a throw back. 

High lift lock in Campbellford.  The locks can get a little monotonous, but not when I met Martha, my friend for the day.  She had made avocado toast and had picked wildflowers for the boat…a girl father my own heart.  She had grown up in Peru and returns to see her family, although she lives in Rhodesia Island now.  We chatted about cooking, dining, and boating.  A good chat always helps the time go by on long lock days.

Traveling down narrow canal ways.   I am never 100% relaxed in these locks, although I have a very capable captain.  Anything can happen in a moments notice.  The cable I tie off to came off of the wall…I wondered why our boat was heading to the other side of the wall.  I whipped the line off the broken cable and on to a “different” one.  Collision averted.  

This little boat is called a Hobo. The guy that has it now has it all tricked out. Completely self sufficient. The guy is 6’3” and says he fits in it just fine. We have seen them at a couple of stops. Really friendly folks. Just goes to show you you don’t have to spend a lot to have a lot of fun. They are having just as good  a time as we are. 

After a warm day cruising we all had one thing on our minds….finding the perfect swimming hole.  We saw some people jumping off a a ledge of a not so high waterfall and did a short rock scramble to the water.  Feeling like a 10 year old jumping off the ledge into the cool clean water was good for the soul and was just the cooling off we needed.  Back on the bikes to find a “watering hole” to enjoy a “Cracked Canoe”, my most recent favorite beer.  No one seemed to notice we were dripping wet as we walked to the outside patio to have our drinks.

There was also a giant Toonie in the park to acknowledge the guy who designed it who was from Campbellford. For those that have not been to Canada they do not have paper one dollar bills. They have Loonies which are a dollar and Toonies that are two dollars. The crazy things you see along the way. 

This same night was a concert in the park.  Before long vans were dropping off folks from the local “nursing home” and the park was full of walkers and wheelchairs and an enthusiastic crowd.  By 9:00pm I walked past the folks from the nursing home and they teased me for going to bed so early!!!  

On Thursday July 21st  we cruised 19 miles and 6 locks to Hastings. The scenery started to change to  more rocky with more cedar and spruce. The locks went pretty slow and it was pretty hot for Canada. Just about three miles from our destination the winds picked up and we were hit with a small squall. Fortunately it only lasted 20 minutes so it was over before we got to the final lock at our destination. 

Just to keep thing fun as we were approaching the lock we were attacked by deer flies. These are the guys that land with their teeth and take a small chunk of flesh. OK so I am exaggerating a little but they do leave a welt. The rain had cooled things down a bit so all was good. Sue did a light reprovisioning and I got a couple of local craft beers at the LCBO. Yes I actually like some of the craft beers here. They have a class that is in a category of light IPA.

They call it very drinkable. At 3:30 we had the awesome experience of watching our daughter, Anna achieve the huge goal of receiving her RN pin. She finally did it and we watched on Zoom. We were even able to Zoom bomb her in the meeting. We are so incredibly proud of her. This has been a relentless pursuit of hers for the past 6 years. Way to go Anna you did it! 

Dinner was at a local Pub called McGuillys with the crew. Low and behold it was Karaoke night and we were treated to a rendition of “Take a Chance on Me” by the “Fromerly Charlies Angles”(Sue, Lisa and Melinda). Although we laughed a lot they actually did a pretty good job! This night was a riot.  A man we met at the bar named our group.  Abba has nothing on us for sure.  Although no contracts were signed, once we get our moves better synchronized this show is going on the road.