A Boating Newbie on the Trent-Severn Waterway: Riding the River With Le Boat

We were pulling into a lock north of Peterborough after a few days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d passed through the same lock maybe 72 hours earlier on our way north in our 42-foot Le Boat craft, and one of the Parks Canada lock workers recognized us on our return journey.

“Hey, guys! It’s Jim and Barbara, right? How’d it go?”

There are many things I’ll remember about our five-day, 20-lock trip on the Trent-Severn: my wife admitting she was scared to death at the idea of me piloting a massive boat with almost no boating experience; majestic blue herons gliding over still morning lakes; evening glasses of wine and night-time barbeques on the open-air top deck. But it was the people we met along the way that stood out for me.

First Timer

I was too busy navigating to keep proper notes on our trip, especially since there were only two of us on board and I did all the “driving.” But a young woman at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the first one I had to maneuver our big boat into, gave me a wide smile and a thumbs-up as I slide the boat inside. Observers lining the locks to see how things worked – and to watch nervous boat operators – offered more words of encouragement.

I came in a little too fast at the next lock.

“A little hot, sir. Back it off. That’s it,” one of the workers called out.

At one of the locks, a Parks Canada worker explained that there was a movable roadway/bridge ahead of us that she would have to open before we could head north. The road was only a short distance away, so she hopped on her bike and rode on ahead, then sounded a horn to let us know we could proceed. Charming.

Navigating Locks

We got to the Peterborough Lift Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about five minutes before it was to close for the night.

“Sorry we’re so close to the deadline,” I said to Nick, one of the workers.

“No problem,” he replied. “Wait for me at the top, and I’ll help you tie up.”

Entering Lock 21 is pretty much the same as the others. But the Peterborough Lift Lock, as it’s also known, is the tallest hydraulic lift lock on the planet (65 feet). Other locks on the route usually take 15-20 minutes to go through, but this lifts you up or lowers you down in just 60 seconds.

The top of the lock looked a quarter-mile above our heads, not 65 feet, but we practically raced to the top. It was a gee-whiz boating moment if I ever had one, and I couldn’t stop grinning.

Once we had a…