A Boating Newbie on the Trent-Severn Waterway: Riding the River With Le Boat

We were pulling into a lock north of Peterborough after a few days of navigating the Trent-Severn waterway in southern Ontario. We’d passed through the same lock maybe 72 hours earlier on our way north in our 42-foot Le Boat craft, and one of the Parks Canada lock workers recognized us on our return journey.

“Hey, guys! It’s Jim and Barbara, right? How’d it go?”

There are many things I’ll remember about our five-day, 20-lock trip on the Trent-Severn: my wife admitting she was scared to death at the idea of me piloting a massive boat with almost no boating experience; majestic blue herons gliding over still morning lakes; evening glasses of wine and night-time barbeques on the open-air top deck. But it was the people we met along the way that stood out for me.

First Timer

I was too busy navigating to keep proper notes on our trip, especially since there were only two of us on board and I did all the “driving.” But a young woman at Lock 19/Scotts Mills, the first one I had to maneuver our big boat into, gave me a wide smile and a thumbs-up as I slide the boat inside. Observers lining the locks to see how things worked – and to watch nervous boat operators – offered more words of encouragement.

I came in a little too fast at the next lock.

“A little hot, sir. Back it off. That’s it,” one of the workers called out.

At one of the locks, a Parks Canada worker explained that there was a movable roadway/bridge ahead of us that she would have to open before we could head north. The road was only a short distance away, so she hopped on her bike and rode on ahead, then sounded a horn to let us know we could proceed. Charming.

Navigating Locks

We got to the Peterborough Lift Lock, Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn, about five minutes before it was to close for the night.

“Sorry we’re so close to the deadline,” I said to Nick, one of the workers.

“No problem,” he replied. “Wait for me at the top, and I’ll help you tie up.”

Entering Lock 21 is pretty much the same as the others. But the Peterborough Lift Lock, as it’s also known, is the tallest hydraulic lift lock on the planet (65 feet). Other locks on the route usually take 15-20 minutes to go through, but this lifts you up or lowers you down in just 60 seconds.

The top of the lock looked a quarter-mile above our heads, not 65 feet, but we practically raced to the top. It was a gee-whiz boating moment if I ever had one, and I couldn’t stop grinning.

Once we had a docking place up top, I took photos of the lock at dusk and chatted with a lovely couple from Ottawa who stopped – one of many admirers we had along the way – to check out our boat and hear our story. There was only one other boat tied up at the top of the lock, which sits high on a hill and offers great views of the surrounding countryside.

What do You Do For Dinner?

Le Boat rentals come equipped with a gas barbeque, so we opened a bottle of wine and grilled some lovely chicken kebabs that the Le Boat people had bought for us (along with a whack of other local goodies, such as cheeses, fresh bread and tortilla chips) and dined on the top deck. 

It was a perfectly quiet, tranquil night in late May, and we didn’t hear a sound. We woke up to a sunny morning with a kayaker practicing on the water, his paddle rhythmically dipping into the shiny surface as birds twittered in the nearby trees. The shops and homes of Peterborough were only a few blocks away, but on our boat, it felt like light years.

Rookie at the Wheel

There were no other craft in the first few locks I pulled into as we sailed north on the waterway, and I thought I had the hang of it. But on day two, I believe at Lock 22 at Nassau Mills (again, with just my wife and I on board, my note-taking was beyond terrible), there were already two big boats tied up on the right side when I pulled up. I swear the opening was no more than two or maybe three feet wider than our boat. The lock worker waved me in, and I was suddenly sweating like a nervous bridegroom.

The folks on the other boats obviously wanted to avoid a collision, so they eagerly helped with a couple timely pushes. I pulled into the lock at a snail’s pace and used the thrusters to push our boat sideways so Barbara could get our bow line tied.

My heart was pounding, but I got another thumbs up from the lock workers.

“First time I’ve had to pull in with other boats,” I said. “That was not a lot of fun.”

“Pretty nice job for a rookie,” said the guy in the fancy boat next to ours.

By the time we got to Lakefield, I was again feeling pretty good about myself. But not for long.

Docking Can Be a Challenge

Rather than having us dock just past Lock 26 in Lakefield, which is quite protected, the folks from Le Boat had set us up to go past the lock and try the Lakefield Marina so we could look around and see what marina life was like, and also try a nice, local restaurant called The Loon. It was a solid plan, but there’s a pretty strong current at the Lakefield Marina, and it was windy that day.

I couldn’t make it into the spot the marina worker had called out to me as we approached. Our boat was 42 feet, and the suggested opening looked like 42 feet and six inches to me. I wasn’t sure what to do, but a group of friendly boaters who had gathered on one of the Lakefield docks pointed out an open spot behind a very large and very expensive-looking boat. I moved slowly forward and back and tried to judge the current, and I used the thrusters to move the boat closer to the open dock space. Finally, I got within a few feet and Barb tossed a rope to one of the people on the dock.

I think it took four adults and a helpful girl of about eight years to pull us in, but they managed. One of the fellows who did a lot of the grunt work and helped guide us in, Perry, gave me a pat on the back, as well as a power cord extension for the night to charge our batteries.

“Don’t feel bad,” he said. “When the current’s strong like this it can be very tough. See that slip over there? Nobody ever tries to dock there. Nobody.”

It’s All About Confidence

With a cold local beer in hand and the sun dipping towards the horizon, we sat on the top deck and relaxed. It was about then that Barbara confessed she had been “dreading” the trip.

“Dreading?” I replied. “I know you were worried. I get it. But ‘dreading’ is a pretty strong word.”

“I honestly wasn’t sure you could do it,” she said. “But I was wrong. You’re pretty good at this.”

The next two days were fantastic. We made it past Young’s Point, admiring a small marina with an attractive restaurant/patio. We puttered (top speed on Le Boat craft is about seven mph) along vast Clear Lake, and then made our way through narrow passages in Stoney Lake, which is dotted with small, pretty islands in shades of beige, pink, and orange. We took a minute to appreciate a pretty church on one of the larger islands called St. Peter’s Church-on-the-Rock, which, oddly enough, is only a short distance from a narrow, pretty passage called Hells Gate. (It’s not very tricky, truth be told, but it’s got a good name.)

Friendly Locals

We had a bit of trouble finding the lock at Burleigh Falls, but a friendly local escorted us most of the way there and told us where to find the entrance.

“It’s a bit hidden,” he said. “But it’s right over there, near that fancy cottage.”

We sailed through the lock and into Lovesick Lake, an attractive body of water that was apparently named for a heartbroken settler or perhaps an Indigenous woman who was unlucky in the affairs of the heart.

With plenty of time on our side, we made it all the way back to Young’s Point that night and docked on the far side of Lock 27, where we chatted with friendly locals out with their rods and reels and again dined on the top deck.

The next day we pulled up to the Lakefield Lock a few minutes before it opened for the day. A couple who live an hour or so away, Ken and Jo, were on their boat and came aboard for a look-see as we chatted about the area, and about our trip.

They were a delightful couple, and again, my wife and I found ourselves drawn to people who had been complete strangers a minute before. But we shared a boating bond, and I was quickly learning that those are some of the deepest kind.

We made it back to the Peterborough Lift Lock that night. It was Barb’s birthday, so we had a special toast on a superb, quiet, late spring evening.

Feeling Like A Pro

The next day, we made our way through Peterborough. A line of boats was coming upstream, and we had to nudge our boat to the side of the canal to let them through. But it was a glorious sunny day on a beautiful boat, and I wouldn’t have cared if they had taken an hour.

Pretty soon, we were through Little Lake, home to the new Canadian Canoe Museum. After going through Lock 19, it was a straight shot down the Otonabee River to Del Mastro Horseshoe Bay Resort Marina, where we had picked up the boat five days earlier. With the current pushing us along, our final stop came into sight far too early for my liking.  

Forty five minutes later we were heading back to the city on Highway 401, with cars whizzing past me and darting in and out of traffic.

“Damn,” I said to Barb as the cars crowded around us. “I miss that boat already.”

Just The Facts

This is the first year Le Boat has had ships for rent on the Trent-Severn Waterway. The company has been renting holiday boats since 1969 and has 18 destinations around the world, including the Canal du Midi and Burgundy region of France, Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, northern Italy, Holland, Ireland, and more. They’ve been operating on the Rideau Canal in Ontario for several years.

You don’t need a boating license to rent a craft from Le Boat. So that’s one worry out of the way. Does it help to have some boating experience? Undoubtedly. I have driven my friend’s boat, maybe a 20-footer, many times. But I had never tried to dock it.

A couple of weeks prior to our trip, the Le Boat folks sent us links to several videos that explained boating rules in general and their boats in particular. They also give you a roughly one-hour intro on the boat before your rental begins, going over buoy rules, offering navigation tips, and explaining the bells and whistles. After that, they take you out with an experienced boater to assess your skills.

Alan, our boating teacher, took us out on the Otonabee River south of Peterborough and showed me how to turn and slow down (in case you’re a novice, there’s no brake on a boat, so you just kick it into reverse, which takes a 50-year automobile driver some getting used to). He turned the boat over to me so he could see how I handled her and asked me to take some turns.

“Doing good,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll have any problems out there.”

Just in case, we had an emergency number that we could call anytime. And we had the fabulous lock workers and fellow boaters to lend a hand.

The Boat

The boats don’t go fast (top speed is 10 km/hour), and there are bumpers galore. They also give you detailed charts to help you navigate the waterway, as well as useful information for potential stops along the way.

We went in early June when it was not as busy as it would be at the height of the summer season. If you’re a first-timer, going early in the year, or perhaps in September, might be easier on your nerves.

One of the keys to my mind is the thrusters, which move the boat from side to side with ease. If you can drive slowly into a lock at a mile or so an hour, and it’s not hard, the thrusters should help you with the rest.

If you’re still leery, Le Boat is floating a new “Skipper for Hire” program on the Canal du Midi for next year. The program will see an experienced navigator help out on the ship on the first day and, pardon the pun, show newbies the ropes. If successful, the program will be expanded onto other Le Boat routes.

The folks at Le Boat have a variety of boats available. Ours was a 3-bedroom Horizon 3 Plus model. The main bed was spacious, with a small, en-suite bath with a toilet, sink and shower. The other two bedrooms were quite small, but had two beds, some storage area, and also en-suite baths with a toilet, sink and shower.

Costs

I looked for September and found a Le Boat rental for a week on the Trent-Severn Waterway in mid-September for four people for $3,272. That’s less than $500 a night.  Mooring fees often apply, and you’re responsible for your own fuel, any added electricity you may need, and extra water, and for any cost for pumping out your boat’s toilets and used water from doing dishes or having a shower.