Summer 2013 Boat Cruise - Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon & Buckhorn

This time we leave Fenelon Falls and head south and east to our next destination of Young's Point.

 The morning was beautifully calm when we departed.

Fenelon Falls railway swing bridge.

An easy one this morning, as we had zero wind and only one other boat to go through the lock with.

Heading towards the top side of the lock.

Video of us leaving the tie up wall and heading to and down-bound through the Fenelon Falls Lock;


After exiting the lock, we are into the picturesque Fenelon River which, in turn, took us into Sturgeon Lake. At the far east end is the village of Bobcaygeon and this marina - Centre Point Landing - is on the north shore, just before town when heading in from the east.

Center Point Landing Marina

Approaching the Bobcaygeon Lock, one sees the unmistakable 'Bigley's' store for ladies fashions with it's bright pink roof, located immediately beside the lock chamber. Bobcaygeon has the distinction of being the site of the very first lock along what was to become the Trent Severn Waterway, having the first one built way back in 1833.

Approaching the top side of Bobcaygeon Lock.

After getting a pump-out at Gordon Yacht Harbour and continuing east, we passed through Pigeon Lake, which becomes Buckhorn Lake (Upper) at a spot called Gannon Narrows.

Gannon Narrows Bridge.

At the far east end of Upper Buckhorn Lake sits the hamlet of Buckhorn and the Buckhorn Lock, which drops us down into Lower Buckhorn Lake. Phew, that's a lot of Buckhorns :-)

Exiting the bottom side of Buckhorn Lock.

These guys were occupying a nest/perch just past the lock.

One of the many Osprey nests to be seen along the Trent Severn Waterway.

Crossing Lower Buckhorn Lake we saw a number of these rental houseboats. One must be wary of these slow moving, heavy vessels, more likely than not to be piloted by a less than experienced captain. Can make for some 'interesting' stories ;-)

Rental houseboat on Lower Buckhorn Lake.

Another lake and another lock. This time it's Lovesick Lock, with the shortest 'lift' of any of the locks on the system. At only 3.5' it usually only takes a few minutes to get through, but with the shenanigans by some of the staff in 2013 we found ourselves taking longer than expected. . . Hopefully that isn't the case again for the coming season.

Lovesick Lock

Next update is for our time at Young's Point

:-)

The Bobcaygeon Connection - Lots of Dead Carp!

Another marina, another internet connection ;-)

We headed out from Fenelon Falls on Wednesday and are now at Centre Point Landing Marina, in Bobcaygeon. The first photo shows the deck with a lovely view of the docks and Sturgeon Lake (+ A.G.).

A bit of rain overnight and cloudy today - a good day to do a lot of nothing. That is, unless your boat chores include laundry :-( At least we missed the heavy rain pounding they got in Peterborough yesterday afternoon.


I just had to share this one with you - Anchor Girl helping one of the Fenelon marina guys to bag a dead carp 'Floater'. Seems the kid was struggling to get the thing into a garbage bag by himself, so she jumped in to the rescue.

So far, the total observed Floater count is 5.

 

 Post Update: This particular season saw an incredible number of dead carp in the waterways through the eastern portion of the TSW, as well as Lake Simcoe. We had counted hundreds, but the number was well into the many thousands by the time it cleared up later that year. Here's a news article from the time (https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/2007/07/11/bacteria_blamed_for_scugog_carp_kill.html)