Proceed with Caution!

After completing the Rideau canal linking Ottawa with Kingston, Ontario, we cruised west to begin the Trent Severn Waterway.  Unlike the Rideau canal which was originally designed for military purposes, the Trent Severn Waterway was conceived to move goods and commerce from Lake Huron to Lake Ontario by connecting numerous lakes in the region with a series of locks and dams.

The first successful lock was built from limestone blocks and hand-cranked wooden gates in 1857.  As steamboats became more prevalent on the lakes, there  was additional pressure to link more of the lakes and use dams to control the water levels between them.  The Canadian government expanded the lock system further between1896 and 1904 when the Peterborough lock was completed.  This lock was considered and engineering marvel of its time and is still in operation today.  It utilizes hydraulic filled tubs to lift or lower vessels 62 feet depending on the direction of travel.  In 1907, the invention of hydroelectric power generated from the control of water at the dams became the stimulus to complete the waterway by 1920.  One of the locks scheduled to be completed during WWI was temporarily bypassed with a railway mechanism to carry boats from one lake to another at the Big Chute.  Because of budget constraints after the war, the lock was never completed. A modified version of the Big Chute rail system remains in service today.

Vessels wishing to transit the rail system or any lock for that matter, must dock at a wall painted blue (the blue line) and wait for instructions from the lockmasters on when to enter.  It is common to be placed in the locks with several other boats.  The lockmasters that work for the Canada Park System are experts in stacking boats in the locks to make them as efficient as possible.  The most frightening boats that enter are the rental houseboats that are often driven by the most inexperienced skippers.  The lockmasters jokingly refer to these individuals as the “wallbangers.”  We have just completed another 45 locks on the Trent-Severn to enter the Georgia Bay of Lake Huron.  We found the locks and shallow waters of theTrent-Severn to be the most challenging part of our journey thus far.  We are thankful that there will be no more locks to traverse until we leave Lake Michigan in the fall.