Bobcaygeon

Monday, June 6

We left Kirkfield behind us and head out the long man made cut that leads to Balsam Lake. We are now at the highest point on the Trent Severn Waterway, 840.4 feet above sea level. I have read that this is the highest you can navigate a boat direct from the ocean. The area we are in now was the divide between the Trent water shed and the Severn. The area is all limestone and in the late 1800 they just trenched the canal through the rock and piled the rubble along the bank, the piles are still visible today.

We head across Balsam Lake and soon were head to the Rosedale Lock. This is our first down lock of the summer; it is only a four foot drop. From there it is only 3.5 miles to Fenelon Falls and the next lock. As you approach the channel into Fenelon Falls there is an old swing bridge that is permanently open but it looks a little intimidating but actually has lots of room.

We head for the lock and there is a row of small shops right across the street from the approach wall. We wait for a couple of boats to exit the lock then we lock through. It has been a bit cool this morning so we decide to tie to the wall below the lock and have a bowl of soup for lunch.

After lunch we got a picture of the garden in the park across the canal from us and took a short walk to stretch our legs. We got a picture of Memories and the falls.

We continue to be impressed with the helpful courteous Parks Canada staff at all of the locks. Without exception they have been very helpful and friendly.

We decide our break is over and get underway again. The next stretch is a river section heading from Fenelon Falls down to Sturgeon Lake. There are lovely homes and cottages along both banks and there appears to be no set back requirement in the building code.

Sturgeon is a beautiful large lake, it is “Y” shaped with most of it being one to two miles wide. Our route enters at the top of the “Y” goes down around the point and then up the other arm to exit at the top on the other side. The total distance we travel on the lake is just over twelve miles. There are now nice homes all around the lake, but the point was originally a summer area for people that arrived by train then a steam ferry out to the point. These are some of the homes along the point.

We exited Sturgeon Lake and were quickly at Bobcaygeon. Bobcaygeon is built on three islands in the river and a lovely little town with everything in walking distance. The two private islands as you approach the lock are in addition to the three the town is on.

We had planned to lock thru and spent the night on the lower wall. We pulled to the blue line and I went to check if there was space available, it didn’t look promising. After consultation with the lock staff we decide to do a “U” turn and tie across from the blue line for the night.

The area I had to turn the boat around is only about 80 feet wide and narrows as you approach the lock, in the other direction there was boats on both walls, and the wind was blowing towards the lock at about 20 and gusty. We made the turn without any problem and had lots of help with lines when we got to the other wall. The thruster helped a lot. I think I could have done it without them but it would have been tense and taken a lot more work.

I am very pleased with the thruster. With all the maneuvering in and out of locks they make life much easier.

We walked into town and found the chamber of commerce, they answered our questions for all the errands we need to do tomorrow.

Since we have an anniversary in a couple of days we walked back up town and had a lovely Italian dinner to celebrate a little early.

It was another good day.