We left Crates at 10:25. There was a pancake breakfast happening, so we stayed for breakfast before leaving. As we passed Trenton there was a plane that kept flying the same pattern multiple times, but didn’t land– must have been practicing!

  We arrived at Lock 1 Trenton around noon and Locked through by 12:40. We moved a couple miles and locked through Sydney at 1:00.  Then it was on to Glen Miller and we were through it at 1:45. We had contemplated staying at lock 3, but were told that Lock 4 was better as it was quieter.  We locked through at Batawa at 2:20 and were tied up by 2:30.

Pulling into the lock we saw a boat and a bunch of people having lunch.  It turned out that it was Rick and Linda from Compromise with their family. We tried to have a short visit with only one “long story short” but it didn’t happen.  Andy gave the Compromised family a tour of our boat.   We had a peaceful afternoon, and were joined by one other boat on the wall.  The lock station was a lockmaster’s house and is more than a hundred years old.

On Saturday morning, we stayed tied up and helped a number of boats tie up on the blue line.  One boat had an issue with one of its engines, but was able to restart it.  As they rushed to the next lock, two of their fenders fell off.  They didn’t seem to notice.  The one fender was fairly close to our locations- so Andy became the fender fetcher.  He got into our dinghy and rowed to where the fender was and retrieved it.  The second fender was close to a mile away, so we waited until it was closer, and on our side of the canal, before he launched the dinghy a second time and retrieved that fender.   The lock staff at Batawa had been in contact with lock staff farther up the canal, to say the fenders had been retrieved.  One of the lock staff from Lock 5, came and picked them up and delivered them to Lock 6, where the boat was waiting.  Good job Captain- you’ll get a gold star someday!  At 1:15, we moved on a mile to Lock 5- Trent and were through the lock by 1:50 and tied up.    The lock station at this lock is a twin to the last lock station.  Here’s pictures of it, it had a lot of flowers, and tomatoes growing, and I spent some time pulling weeds- Do you think I’m missing my weedy garden?

On Sunday we decided to stay at Trent.  We did some window cleaning

and waxing on the outside of the boat, as well Andy gave some of the teak railing another coat of Cetol.  We relaxed outside under the cedar tree reading in the afternoon.

  Later, Cat’s Pause with Phil and Caroll joined us on the lock wall.  We had previously seen them in Westport. They have a cover over their front hatch which I find interesting– it maybe a winter project to duplicate something like it for our boat.

In the morning we left Trent lock and moved on to Frankford lock at 10:15, and moved to our favorite spot under the shade of the big willow tree.

We were joined by Springbok and Nauti Jenny in the early afternoon.  Around 1:00, we talked to Lakewood Medical and got an appointment to meet a new doctor when we return in October. Around 2:00 we walked by the park canteen and had some Kawartha ice cream we then went into town to the grocery store, pharmacy and LCBO.  On our return we joined Rick and Jenny and Steve and Sandra under the willow tree for drinks and a visit. 

Rick and Jenny have completed the loop but are now doing the Canada piece.  Steve, Sandra and Oakley are from Reach harbour near Buckhorn, they have two boats, one for travelling around and another one that they live on full time.

In the morning, boats going south left, however those going on to Lock 7 Glen Ross stayed tied up, this was because two boats had become trapped in the lock when the water could not be released.  There was a hydraulic issue.  Before noon, the two boats came through to Lock 6, however there was still an issue at Lock 7, as the lock could not be filled. By 1:00 there were already 7 boats at Frankford, including Rick and Linda on Compromise.  We spent the afternoon at the picnic table visiting and drinking.

We have been friends with Rick and Linda for almost a year having met them in Frankford a couple of times in September of 2021.  Andy and Rick get along like brothers, and are always joking back and forth.  Prior to their arrival at Frankford, Andy had sent Rick a picture of the table under the coveted willow tree, this is what Rick changed the signage to after we left on Wednesday.

 For supper the four of us walked into Frankford to the new 3 Jacks steak restaurant.  Once we returned from town, we visited on our boat with the AC running as it was quite muggy outside.  In the morning a couple boats left in both directions.  Around 10:30 we decided to fire up and move on a couple of locks.  After we were through Glen Ross we tied up and went to the store for ice cream as well as Andy got some worms for fishing. Our friends Dave and Claudia from Still Waters II don’t think we’ve been eating enough Kawartha- so we are going to have to sacrifice our waistlines and eat more.   We then went about 12 miles to Percy Reach; we were joined in this lock by a bowrider with people from Calgary.  We continued on to Lock 9 Meyers and tied up. 

It was around 2:00, and a rain shower was imminent.  After the first shower, I went for a short walk to check out the Oasis cabins- which actually look like pods up in the trees. 

  There were two at this location.  I talked to a woman on Thursday morning who had stayed in one, and said that they creak and move a little when you are walking in them.  She also said that they cost $140/night.  For a washroom and shower they have to walk up to the lock house.  They now have Oasis cabins at locks 8, 9 and 10. The modular showers are also available for use by boaters- so I tried one out in the morning. 

The lock house at this location is the same design as the ones in Batawa and Trent- so now we seen three of them.  Not quite as many flowers at this one as at Trent, but still very well maintained for being over a hundred years old.  There has not been much rain and the grass at most locks along the TSW is dry and brown.

We had several more rain showers in the afternoon and evening, accompanied by thunder and lightning. 

In the morning we left Meyers and travelled to Hague’s reach and were thru by 9:45. We then moved on to the double lock at Ranney falls and were through by 10:30.  We were tied up in Old Mill Park at 10:50.  We had gone a total of 4.6 miles.  Our friends from Compromise arrived around 1:15, as they were coming all the way from Frankford. Shortly after 2:00 our friends Brian and Helen arrived.  With a car they took us to World’s Finest Chocolate ( where we bought this stash of chocolate treats),

the Beer store, V&S and Sharpe’s grocery store. Saved us having to lug bags around town.  We went for an early supper to 52 North pub and grill.  Helen and Brian left shortly after for the drive home to Bancroft.  We sat at the picnic table until dark visiting with Rick and Linda. We saw several first responders at the dock across the canal around 9:00- not sure what was going on.

In the morning after several of the boats, including Compromise left before 9:00 to make the first lock.  We moved our boat on the wall so it would be closer to fill up our water tank. 

We learned that there was an issue in one of the locks and Compromise’s trip to Frankford had been delayed because of weeds at Percy’s Reach, but they were able to reach Frankford and claim the willow tree again.

We did some more shopping, going to Dooher’s Bakery, Dollarama and No Frills.  I walked over to the laundry mat and washed a couple loads of clothes.  Once the clothes were drying, I went to D’s island shack for an extra spicy chicken roti. On my return to the boat, we caught up on a few episodes of Coronation street. Starting around 4:00 the wind started to pick up and then we had a rain shower.

So far we have stayed at 3 locks on the TSW that we had never stayed at before, and I was able to remove them from my list.

Back at home, we got an update on the progress of our new apartment building, the builders are now starting on the third floor where are apartment is to be.

We will be leaving Campbellford in the morning, likely going as far as Hastings. We hope to be back in Buckhorn by the middle of next week, as we are having a few minor fixes done to the boat before moving farther northwest on the TSW.