July 20, 2004 -
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We’ve been back on the waterway for a week and have covered
some ground-or rather water. We returned to Peterborough under
a “State of Emergency”. The day before they had had 8 inches
of rain in 24 hours. That translated to flooding in town and
the surrounding area. When we left the boat we had 3 feet of
water under the boat. When we returned there we had 8 feet.
Roads and locks were closed.
We stayed an extra day, went to the grocery store that was
open and waited for the water to go down. We set out on
Saturday. The lock walls close to town were still flooded but
we could make our way slowly.
We cruised from Peterborough to Young’s Point on clear Lake.
The white church is an Anglican Church that has services on
Sunday in July and August for the cottagers. The services were
over and they were closing the door as we rounded the bend.
The day went from sunny and hot to partly cloudy and by the
time we got tied up there was a big downpour of rain that
lasted an hour or two.
On Sunday we broke our rule of not cruising on Sundays and
went from Young’s Point to Lake Buckhorn. We anchored out off
of Flat Island and again after the 4 o’clock showers saw a
beautiful sunset and slept soundly without any neighbors
partying until dawn.
It truly is vacation time in this part of Canada. The number
of boats in the locks and on the waterway has more than
tripled. Now, when we’re ready to stop and tie on the lock
walls to sightsee and browse there is no room to park. Oh
well, my credit cards can use the rest.
From Flat Island we cruised to Bobcaygeon, Ontario. What a
nice town. We stayed at Gordon Yacht Harbor (at the suggestion
of two boats we had locked with the day before) and enjoyed
the town and the marina hospitality.
Last night we stayed on the lock wall at the Kirkfield Lift
Lock. That lock was an experience. We were the front boat in
the lift lock tub looking down. I felt like I was on an
amusement park ride standing on the front of Oil & Water
looking down at the 49 foot drop. The view of the surrounding
area was spectacular! The pictures are of the view from the
top and the accommodations at the bottom to tie up. The pink
sky in this sunset was particularly striking.
I was surprised when the young lady came to collect our 70
cents/foot per night overnight fee. I guess I missed the part
that said there was a fee. When there is no power or water I
assumed there would be no fee. Maybe they charge for the
spiders. The spiders we left in Kentucky have relatives in
Canada and make the same mess.
Today we did 7 locks to bring us to Lake Simcoe. We have taken
a little side trip to Keswick on the south west shore of Lake
Simcoe. There is a large Carver dealer here and we decided to
do a little boat shopping. We did get a chance to walk on a
Carver 450 Voyager Pilot House. That model holds a lot of
appeal.
The marina where we stayed is Crate’s Marine Sales. They have
30 acres and 449 boat slips. This is the fourth generation of
Crates running the facility. To those at Eddy Creek just wait
till Taylor and Kelsea’s kids are running ECMR. I hope I’m
still boating.
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