Trent Severn Waterway Seasonal Closing for 2022

  Sadly, this coming October 10th will mark the final day of the 2022 navigation season on the lovely Trent Severn Waterway. It certainly was a challenging year for the system, with closures to to high spring waters, ongoing staffing issues at the Big Chute and finally the breakdown of the Kirkfield Lift Lock. 

 The navigation season - the time when boats are able to pass through the locks and use the facilities (washrooms, etc.) - runs from the end of May through to October each year. For a full listing of dates and hours, take a look at the Parks Canada site, here. That site will be updated sometime over the off season, usually by late winter, to give specific dates for the upcoming 2023 season.

 Hopefully, many if those issues can be rectified before the 2023 season rolls around. As we always say in the boating world - there's always next year 😀 

Kirkfield Lift Lock Resumes 'Restricted' Operations

Lock #36 - the Kirkfield Lift Lock - of the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW) holds a unique distinction as being the 2nd highest lock of its type in the world, only surpassed by the Peterborough Lift Lock (Lock #21 of the TSW).

 Unfortunately, this lock suffered an unexpected and serious mechanical failure back on September 2/22 and had been out of service since that time. Although there's no details as to what the failure might have been, there is a short video taken by an on-land visitor during the event. The clip is less than 30 seconds in duration, but one can clearly see water rushing over the sides of the north chamber while the cruise boat 'Kawartha Voyageur' was being lifted up. 

 Here's the video from the incident;

 

 

Clearly, there was water entering that chamber when it wasn't supposed to be!

 When one passes through this lock (as well as the Peterborough Lift Lock), the chambers are made water tight by way of gates that open or close at the top and bottom sides of both chambers, so that excess water doesn't enter, nor escape from the chambers during transit. When the lift or lowering has been completed, the appropriate gate is opened to allow for the boats to exit or enter the chambers. A pretty straightforward practice that we've experienced many times over the past 15 years, all without incident. Seemed to be a very safe and well though out approach on the engineering side, but on this day something went very wrong.

Here's a video from our own up-bound passage (filmed July/22) through the lock that should illustrate how the system works. Note the gate dropping down toward the end of the video. That allows us (the boat) to exit the chamber - and relieving that watertight seal;

Now this is purely speculation on my part, but I'd hazard a guess that perhaps some debris got stuck in the upper gate which allowed the water to go through. Either that, or there was a loss of control for the mechanism that holds/locks that gate in place.
Luckily, the lock staff were able to lower the chamber so that the Kawartha Voyageur could be safely brought down and allow the passengers to exit the boat. Fortunately there were no injuries or damage to the boat immediately reported.

Here's an overhead view of the lock I took when visiting back in 2018;

Now that the Parks Canada crews have been able to do some preliminary repairs, it has been announced that 'modified lockages' will resume on September 26th. Parks Canada announced the following:
" . . .the Lift Lock has been approved to offer limited, single-chamber lockages to vessels returning to their home ports that cannot be trailered. These modified lockages will be conducted beginning on Monday, September 26, 2022, and delays experienced by boaters will vary depending on the position of the Lift Lock chambers when the boater arrives. Boaters (and pets) will be asked to disembark their vessels while the transfer is underway. Still, access to washroom facilities and shelter (in the case of inclement weather) will be made available. Vessels going up will experience a lockage time of approximately six (6) hours, while downbound vessels will experience a lockage time of approximately 30 minutes. . ."
The full article can be found HERE.

Hopefully the full repairs can be completed before the start of the 2023 navigation season. Will be nice to visit this spot again next year;

Goodbye to Summer '22 🥺

Hard to believe that this gorgeous summer is coming to an end already. But just like every year, it comes too quickly.

 The good news is that we still have a couple more weekends before the dreaded haulout happens, so we hope for decent weather to close out this season.

Boating To Florida?

 A question came to me the other day about whether we have ever considered taking our current boat - or any boat for that matter - south to Florida for the winters. Given the fact that live aboard our boat for the summer months, it seemed logical to this person that we just fired up the engines when it got cold and pointed it south towards the palm trees and sandy beaches. . . Here is my reply.


Yes, we currently call 'Boogaboo IV' home from May to October and love the lifestyle. It's a bit of effort to make happen, as I still work full time in my own contracting business and have to commute daily to and from the boat. The good part of that is I get to travel mostly through country roads, so it's quite scenic. As for taking her to Florida, we have discussed that possibility, but not any time soon. Again, I have a business to run for now and being away toooooooo long, or having to commute back and forth to Ontario throughout the process is not something I would entertain at this point.

That said, we are unsure as to which way the fickle winds of fate may send us as we travel through this plane of existence. Ultimately, we would love to be able to step off the boat at the end of the season and head south for the ensuing six months until the boating season resumes the following spring and that is something I am working towards. To that end, I have just released my first, feature length travel video 'Cruising The Trent Severn Waterway'.

 One other option we toyed with was to buy a second boat to keep in Florida, but the overall costs currently make that prohibitive, but something we may revisit down the road. Despite the life of Riley that many folks may perceive from my endless postings, we are like most of the rest of the working world; car payments, a mortgage and all the rest that comes with every day living. The one major difference is that we have made a solid decision to live more on our own terms and take advantage of the good days as much as we can. With my MS diagnosis a few years ago, we learned quickly that good health is precious and not to be taken for granted. We have worked contentiously to reverse my condition and a huge part of that has been stress reduction and, like I said, living life on our terms - even if it does mean maxing out the old credit card once in awhile ;-)

 Laughing at ones' self is also paramount to a healthy life, so thanks you for recognizing that. I stopped taking myself too seriously awhile back and that helps to lighten the load, so to speak. As for the lovely deck hands you mentioned you've spotted some of in my videos, I'm not sure on their availability, apart from my own Anchor Girl. She's got her hands full with taking care of me and the MAJOR reason I am working at making our lives more fun. And that, is the funnest part for me . . .

:-)