6/26/15 Lakefield to Peterborough, ON
Friday
This started out as another beautiful day ahead of another
large storm front moving through over the weekend. We went through a number of
smaller locks today.
This lock at Sawer Creek was pretty typical. They were all
in attractive park-like settings where the attendants manually open and close
the gates.
As we approached Peterborough, a city of 76,000 we passed by
Trent University and a golf course. Everywhere we go, people always smile and
wave.
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| Trent University |
We also passed through several tight little swing bridges.
At one of them, an attendant from the lock ran over to the bridge to let us
pass once we got through the lock.
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| One of several swing bridges today |
Then came the Peterborough Lift Lock. This is the BIG one
that everyone talks about.
In this picture, the light is green and we are getting ready to enter the bucket on the right.
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| The top side of the Peterborough Lift Lock |
When first built in 1904, it was the largest concrete
structure in the world.
There are 2 steel chambers that carry boats and water. When 1 is up, the other is down and they move like a teeter totter. Each chamber is 140 feet long and holds 238,000 gallons of water, weighing 1,700 tons. The top chamber takes on 1 extra foot of water and that forces it down while the bottom one rises. The total distance of 65 feet only takes a few minutes – amazing!
It’s a bit unnerving driving the boat right up to the edge
of eternity on this crazy high lock. One mistake and it could be a pretty quick
trip to the bottom. Talk about sweaty palms!
As we descended, we noticed
several windows in the wall. Rooms with a view – one minute wet, the next, dry.
Looking up from the bottom. 65 feet is a long way to drop in just a couple of minutes! To get a sense of perspective, there is an attendant standing near the door in the center at the bottom of the lock. You can also see the sailboat on the left getting ready to leave.
At our last lock, the attendant offered to call our marina to let
them know we were almost there. Everyone is always so helpful and friendly. They
even let people cross the lock gates while the water is flowing in or out.
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| This attendant is calling our marina to let them know we're nearly there. |
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We passed this beautiful fountain as we entered our marina at Peterborough.
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| Entering our marina in Peterborough |
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| We just returned from dinner. |
It was a beautiful evening. Since we knew the next 2 nights would be stormy, we found a nice restaurant a few blocks away to relax at.
The Holiday Inn right across the water from our boat was having a blues concert. We stopped by on our way back from dinner to check it out. It was packed so we enjoyed it from the comfort of our back deck. What a great way to spend the evening.
