PETERBOROUGH to LAKEFIELD WALL / Sunday, July 3 (Day 164)

Admiral's Log:     8:20 am, Sun. 7/3/16
                         Air Temp:   60     Water Temp:   69
                        Winds:   3 mph
                        Speed:   6.0 knots

We started lining up at Lock #20 at 8:20 for the first opening at 9. There were 9 other boats in line. The lock masters had to calculate boat lengths to see how many could fit in the lock. Which drove us crazy because it did not seem she could add! They cram in as many boats as possible. But we finally made it through after 2 hours! 

Lining up to enter Lock #20, we are the last on the left wall.

Four big boats crammed in before the lift.

The same 4 boats after the lift.

We then went through the famous Peterborough Lift Lock #21. The highest hydraulic lift in the world and consists of 2 pans or sometimes referred as bath tubs. Boats are lifted in one pan and counter balanced with water in the other pan and lifted with a hydraulic ram. We were lifted 65 feet in 90 seconds!

Peterborough Lift Lock

The next 5 locks are right after one another. It does not sound hard, but it is very tiring. It's great bicep building but not so much on arthritic fingers. It took nearly 7 hours to go 10 miles!

There are tons of geese along the waterway

Trent University

We were warned many times to watch out for the house boats! They are a menace. Apparently you don't have to take any test or have any experience to rent or drive one. They are everywhere on the lakes and rivers during the summer. They look pretty fun, with grills on the front and a slide on the back, but, they also have black metal bumpers all around, so that kinda tells you something. Everyone grabs their boat poles to push them away from your boat just in case they start to lose control! 

Just 2 of the many houseboats along the Trent-Severn.

Rowe Boat tied up at Lakefield Wall

We ended up with Sweet T and Horizon Chaser in the last couple of locks. We tied up at the Lakefield Wall (below Lock # 26) with Horizon Chaser from New Hampshire, then walked to Canoe and Paddle for lunch, picked up a couple of things for soup and salad for dinner and went to bed early, we were exhausted!