August 10, Day 58 - Bobcaygeon to Kirkfield Lock

We got a fairly early start this morning. Linda took a short walk to the grocery store to get a few odds and ends and Gerry did his maintenance checks. We hit the lock about 9:00.

Today’s trip took us past Fenlon Falls, a really neat little town, but we didn’t stop since we were there about an hour after we left Bobcaygeon (pronounced Bob – Cajun). We crossed Sturgeon, Cameron, and Balsam lakes and then got into the very narrow part of the Trent Canal system. It was carved out of the “Canadian Shield” or very hard granite rock, so they didn’t make it any wider than they needed to back then. Part of the process for entering those sections was to call out a “Securite’” call on the VHF prior to starting through the section. There are places where two boats cannot pass each other (we sometimes wondered whether we would fit all by ourselves).

We ended the day at Kirkfield Lock (another lift lock like Peterborough), but this time we entered at the top to go down. You want to make sure that you can shift into neutral and reverse well before you get here – failure to stop here would make for a very interesting day and the end of the Great Loop trip.

We stopped for the night at the bottom of the lock. Not the prettiest spot on the canal, but much quieter than the last few nights. We grabbed a quick dinner at the local restaurant across from the lock (Joy-C’s Place Restaurant), watched a movie and then off to bed. Tomorrow we plan to do the locks on the Talbot River.


Leaving Bobcaygeon

Approaching Fenelon Falls

A closer view of the falls

The lockmasters, lockhouse, and a mural on the wall

The sign at Fenelon Falls and ..... oh look, Santa vacations here during the summer

A view of part of the town as we passed by

More of the town ..... had a nice fountain with flowers (the the railing is sort of in the way)

Father and daughter out for a ride, checking out the lock

Neat rock sign (sort of looked like a sailboat) as you departed the town

A row of houseboats and cottages just as you were entering the lake

Cameron Lake ...... undoubtedly named for our grandson, Cameron :)

Rosedale Lock sign

Leaving Rosedale ..... this looked like a nice place to stop for the night, but it was still early, so we forged on.

Entering the Trent Canal -- we had to travel through the narrow passage you see in the middle

This is the narrow passage. Sure was pretty

Fishermen .... not your typical looking fishing hole

..... and the passage gets even narrower

This is NOT a closeup .... this is actually how close we were. I could almost reach out and touch the branches.

The Kirkfield Lock

The view below as we were sitting in the "pan" waiting to go down.

Just in case you had any ideas of getting out and walking around .... well, it would've been hard in a tub of water.

On the wall at Kirkfield for the night.

Monk's Vineyard going down