Peterborough to Lakefield

North! North, I say!

On Sunday the line to get through the Peterborough lock was crazy long. Boats stacked up on the wall, and boats idled outside, all waiting for their turn. So we didn't plan on leaving early Monday, since we figured it would be more of the same. While we couldn't see the lock from our marina, we could see the clog of boats -- and none were there this morning. So, we headed out early-ish and took a place on the wall. We did have to wait for a turn but we were in the second group through.

We traveled with three other boats through seven different locks. The four of us packed into each lock like sardines, but we managed not to bump or scrape one another. I felt like a pro, wiggling my way into our niche.

Today was also the day we, as loopers, got to ride Lock 21 one last time. Good thing, too. Apparently it broke during the day and they had to shut it down. Not in a spectacular way -- no tumbling boats. But the big pistons ride on pads that leak and eventually need to be replaced (we got that info on the tours, donchano).

The back two boats. We were in front.

We had a bit of drama going into the last lock, Lock 26. First, it's the only lock that made squeezing into my little space between another boat and the wall tricky. We caught some wild current getting in and Cat-n-Dogs kept twisting into the boat. We managed, but it wasn't "like buttah" as the previous six locks had been.

Then, while in the lock, the lockmaster (who also manages the walls) asked who was staying here. As You Wish and we both planned to. He said he only had room for one. It's vacation time here in Canada (as it is in the US) and this part of the waterway is crowded with houseboat rentals. They lined the wall.

One of the lockmaster houses with a mileage sign.
Port Severn is just 235 km away!

We had no problem letting As You Wish take it, since they're just a bit smaller than us. We kinda went round with the lockguy on options (next lock? the one after that? isn't there another wall in town?), phone calls were made, and eventually he told us to park on the blue line going the other way. So we did.

As if my magic, a couple of houseboats from the wall pulled out and locked downward. Woo hoo! We fired up the engines and took a spot on the wall.

It dawned on me as I wrote this that we parked the boat eleven times today, either on a wall to wait for a lock, or in the lock itself. 

Only once did it not go perfectly.