Locking Through In Canada

As some may know, the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW) had been closed to traffic due to high water levels.

Some people had arrived at Trent Port Marina a week ago anticipating they would continue on, only to be held up for a week.

So one could imagine the relief that was felt when things reopened today.

Yesterday the TSW lock 1 operators came down to the Marina to organize our passage through.

Those that were at Trent Port Marina the longest were given first choice and were chomping at the bit to get on their way.

The rest of us were happy to let them go first.

We then met on the dock at Docktales to seal the deal.

I have to give a shout-out to Trent Port Marina.

It’s a great marina with probably the best showers on the Loop and free laundry machines.

The staff is very helpful.

At least 7 loopers and at least 5 other boats proceeded through Lock 1 today, the first day the system opened after the closure due to high water the past several days. The early crowd went to Campbellford, the later crowd went to Frankford.

It is a different experience here compared to the NY Canal System. One needs to be patient.

Currently most of the system is a no-wake zone because of the high water and the property damage that big wakes will cause, so anyone traveling needs to account for these delays.

Another reason to plan on taking your time is that the locks are about 1/2-2/3 the volume of the NY canal system locks, so it will take more lock cycles to send through the same amount of boats.

Today we locked 2 40+’ boats at a time, whereas in New York we would have locked through 2-3 times that number.

With the increased water flow from releasing all the water above Lock 19, the currents are still very strong, and there is a lot of debris in the water. We had to be careful coming up to the dam outlets next to the locks as there are a lot of eddies and reverse currents that would send you in surprising directions.

It reminded me of my canoeing days,

Whereas the NY canal system lock operators were nice, the Canadian attendants are amazing. They will do most anything to help you. And everyone is happy to see Loopers again.

I also found that if you arrive at a lock with the strong currents and the gates haven’t opened, you will be using a lot of maneuvering controls to hold your boat in place waiting for the lock to empty.

Despite all of the excitement, we are happy and relieved to be able to keep going.

On to Campbellford tomorrow!