At 1100 yesterday morning, we departed Lock 45 of the Trent Severn Waterway and motored into the Georgian Bay. We spent 13 days on the TSW, taking one travel day “off” during the Canada Day weekend when locks were so crazy-busy.

To date we have traveled 524 nm, leaving Kingston, NY on May 31st, and we completed 73 locks. We were in delivery mode through the Erie and Oswego Canals, across Lake Ontario, to Trenton, as we needed to travel home in late June. But when we returned to Trenton and began the waterway (on June 26), we had no time line–just hoped to stay ahead of the many Loopers we knew were coming up behind us at some point.

Our good friends, Alison and Rod aboard their Mainship Pilot (a boat new to them as well), Brava (from Kingston, ON), met us in Trenton and we shared every lock of the TSW with them.

What we’ve learned:

• Locking “down” is less stressful than locking “up.”

• Canadian lock tenders are more friendly, more helpful, than those on the Erie.

• In most cases, the lock walls of the Trent Severn Waterway are less grubby, in better shape than those on the Erie.

• The TSW is much less remote than we expected, even at locks labeled “remote.” We had expected small towns and villages similar to what we are accustomed in the North Channel; the TSW is actually much more populated with actual towns and even traffic!
• We love our new boat!