Trent Severn Waterway, Part 1

Trenton to Peterborough



Entrance to the Trent Severn Waterway at Trenton

We began our adventure on the Trent Severn Waterway on July 12 from the Trent Port Marina in West Quinte. The Waterway is 240 miles long and is a zig-zag connection of Lake Ontario to Lake Huron, bypassing the bulk of Lake Ontario and all of Lake Erie. It winds through the Trent River, Ontonabee River, the Kawartha lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchinching, and the Severn River. The speed limit through most of the system is 10 km or about 6 mph. So, it is really not a short-cut but more of the highway equivalent of a scenic route. Because of that, the only commercial traffic is the occasional day excursion boat and a multi-day cruise line (45 passenger vessel).



Even though we were veterans of the NY Canal System, having traversed over 30 locks, we approached the first gate cautiously, not knowing what to expect. Confronted by hard concrete on both sides for over a half mile in a channel too narrow in which to turn around, and a steel gate at the end, it feels like the entrance to the house of horrors ride at the carnival.

As we approached the huge double gates opened and let us in the locks.

We found a very friendly staff, much more so than in NY, the locks much easier in which to manage Carousel, and the lawns at the locks managed well with gardens and flowers. The locks in Canada are managed by Parks Canada where in NY they are managed by the NY Canal Corporation, a subsidiary of the NY Throughway Authority. We paid our fees for a one way passage through the system and a seasonal camping permit which allows us to stay on the lock entrance walls overnight, and later in our trip at National Parks in the Georgian Bay.

Compared to NY which is both a recreational and commercial canal, these locks are for recreation purposes only and carry no commercial traffic except for those occasional tour boats. They are much narrower and have a lower speed limit. Nearly every piece of reference material cautions us to stay in the marked channel since there are rock ledges and shoals throughout the system.

Stay in the Channel!

Boats with over 5 ft. of draft must sign a waiver releasing Parks Canada of all liability since some spots are only 5.5 ft. deep! Fortunately, Carousel's draft is 4 ft. 2 in. We also had to drop our mast at Port Trent before entering the Waterway to get below the required 20.5 ft. height restriction. Having boated on the Mississippi River, the North Channel we were familiar with staying between the red and green buoys, but some of the rocks they are guarding in this waterway are very close to the channel and often even if one is above water, there are usually a few more lurking just below the surface. 

This being the first time on the Waterway, and judging from our lock-though times in NY, we were a little aggressive in our time planning on the first few days. On the first day, we traveled 12 locks to Campbellford, ON. What we did not understand going in is that these locks are substantially manually operated and, therefore, much slower. 



Carousel secured to the wall in Lock #1
(looking front to back)

We started into the system at 9:30 and entered Campbellford at 5:30 pm.  Every lockmaster along the way was encouraging, estimating that we would most likely be able to make our target before the weekday lock closing time of 6pm. We settled into a smooth routine of pulling into each lock on the starboard (right) side, agreeing to which of the cables spaced 12 feet apart we would target, Mike would bring the middle of Carousel along side the target cable which Deb would grab. Deb would then wrap Carousel's locking line around the cable and tie it off. With the center of the boat secured, Mike could then leave the steering station and walk to the stern and attach to the cable at the stern and Deb would do the same for the bow. We were then prepared for the water to come rushing into the lock to raise us to the next level.  While it took longer than in New York, the friendly staff would converse with us, determine what our destination was and make any recommendations they could provide.

Campbellford, ON

Even at 6mph TMI

It was a hot day and neither of us had enough water to drink or sunscreen for the task. We were happy to take our place along the wall in the shade, connect the electric power that would get our AC up and running, and get the WIFI connected, then walk across the street to dinner.

We didn't have much time or energy to explore but we found that Campbellford is the home of the designer of the Canadian Twoney, the two dollar coin (so named because the one dollar coin has a loon on one side and is called the "Looney", thus the $2 coin became the "twoney"!) We were docked right beside the giant replica!

We did manage to take advantage of the slightly cooler morning temperatures to explore the bakery which has a reputation of selling out of most of the local favorites by 9:30AM. 

Hastings, ON

On the next day, July, 13, we had record high temperatures with rain expected for the next day. Deb 

Port Side Tie-up at Lock 15

quickly re-planned our schedule and we made arrangements to stay at the municipal marina in Hastings. We were still being too aggressive in our planning, especially considering that two of the closely spaced locks, locks 13 and 15 required us to enter on the port (left) side. So, right out of Campbellford, Deb worked to switch all of our fenders and lines to the port side. Once we left Lock 13, she moved everything to the starboard side as we took our time to traverse the half-mile between locks. After Lock 14, everything back to the port side, ready for entry into Lock 15. After Lock 15 everything was switched back to the starboard side for the remainder of the day.

There is not much of note in Hastings but that marina gave us the luxury of power, a holding tank (sewage) pump-out that was needed, and a base of operations for a rainy day. Oh, and our first sample of Kawartha ice cream! The regional ice cream is fantastic and has over 40 flavors!

The big question in Hastings: Is it a Walleye or a Pickerel?

Our second day in Hastings brought occasional rain and high winds. We were happy to be stationary and we later heard some pretty dramatic stories about people where were caught out in the wind on some of the lakes.

Canal Near Hastings, Ontario

Peterborough, ON

As we traveled deeper into Canada, as expected, the scenery became more impressive and the water became more clear. Deb found she needed to stand near the helm to get a balanced view of the scenery.  In several sections, one side was very rural and the other had cottage development.  If you sat facing one direction you would get the impression you were in very wild, untamed wilderness as opposed to a fun area with cottages, docks and swim platforms!


July 15 was predicted to be a much better weather day but with winds expected to increase in the afternoon with the possibility of rain later. We had been traveling along with a small pontoon boat off-and-on the past few days and the big lake really scared them, as it should. We left harbor at 8am and they left at 8:30. In the canals out of Hastings, they quickly passed us as we both have to let the engines warm up which takes about 15 minutes, and we have to mange our wake. They quickly passed us in a effort to get through Rice Lake before the winds developed. 

Did someone say "stay in the channel"?

Mike is using TWO sets of charts in these waters. Strangely the IPad is usually the most accurate!

Once in Rice Lake, Mike was able, for the first time in many days, to open up Carousel's engines. Normal canal speeds are just above idle speed for Carousel and her big Cat diesels do not like that. You can really understand what "blowing the carbon out" means when coming up to speed after days of idle speed!


Now traveling at 15-20 knots, we caught up with our pontoon friends about half way through the lake, just as some wind and waves coming directly at us started to develop. Backing down to just over his speed of 8.5 knots we passed him about 50 yards away to try to minimize our wake on him. Now, being completely unplanned, he fell in about 100 feet behind us and traveled in the calm that Carousel created by knocking down the 1-2 ft. waves! He was happy!


We arrived at Peterborough about 1pm. Peterborough is a small city with almost all services and stores within waking distance. The staff at the Peterborough Marina is known for its quality service and they lived up to their reputation. We needed to do some minor provisioning, and there was a planned concert in the park next door on Saturday the 16th so we decided to stay and celebrate Deb's birthday.

On Saturday the 16th, Deb's Birthday, Carousel got a well-deserved bath and we went to the local Farmer's Market where we were able to get nearly all of the provisions that we needed without going to the grocery store.


We celebrated Deb's birthday with dinner at the local Cajun restaurant. The marina provided us with close-up reserved seats at the concert. We briefly enjoyed the warm-up band and then retreated to the comfortable distance of our boat for the main act.


We met with some interesting people there who had already done the Great Loop before and we learned a lot from their experience. With the fridge stocked with fresh veggies, meat, eggs & cheese, we were ready to continue northward to experience the Peterborough Lift Lock and more...