After two night’s sleeping on the wall beside Lock #20 it was time to move out and face the challenge and excitement of the Peterborough Lift Lock. It was only a few hundred yards away and beckoned to us. But before we get there I need to catch up to this point which will only take a minute.
On Wednesday night there was a free concert downtown which attracted a few thousand people. It was a tribute to John Denver who I enjoyed in my youth. The concert featured local talent performing his hits and lessor known works. It was most enjoyable. Last week over 17,000 people attended but that was to hear a new hit artist who had signed the contract to play here just before they went to number one on the charts.
Early Wednesday morning I packed all my computer gear and rode to town where I had breakfast at a McDonalds with no WIFI. I then went to the library which would not open until 1030. Next a trip to Holiday Inn where I am a Priority Club member and asked to use their WIFI. The manager, a class A jerk, refused. I will need to drop a line to Holiday Inn shortly about this abhorrent customer service. Then I went to a marina who said OK to use the WIFI but the only place I could get a signal was out on the dock in the blasting sun. I tried it for 15 minutes and then headed back toward the library where I found a bike shop and purchased a longer seat stem which I had intended to do for some time. Finally the library, where in 3 hours I managed to turn out 4 blogs. I was beat.
A comment on Canada for those who have never been here. They have almost non existent law enforcement presence. In all this time we have seen one police car and two foot patrolmen at the concert. Not a single water police has been spotted.
They have jet black squirrels here but few black people. They have more than their share of Asians and Hispanics however.
The obesity problem is just as bad up here and there seem to be more of those scooters they advertise on TV running around than anywhere I have ever been. They have to stand in line for medical care but so will we if Obamacare is fully inplemented.
They love flowers after a long winter and they are everywhere. The people as a whole are very friendly and the lock masters are the best in the world for customer service. The kids are pierced and tattooed about the same as home. The place on the whole is cleaner. The water is gorgeous but full of rocks and very unforgiving if you stray from the marked route.
Oh, the question about the boat named Xemxija. The Commander’s brother, my childhood friend Walter, was the only correct answer. It means sunny or sunshine in Maltese. The lady on board is descended from Maltans and told me all about it. Walter is truly a Renaissance man.
Now to the uplifting part. The hydraulic lift lock in Peterborough is the world’s largest I think. It consists of two gigantic pans with gates at each end. Like a seesaw, when one is up the other is down. By adding more water weight to the top pan it will soon become the bottom pan raising the other to the top. Now putting boats in a pan does not make it heavier. How so? Well remember your high school physics. A boat will displace it’s own weight in water. So a 10 ton boat like Cbay will just cause 10 tons of water to spill out of the pan. This means there is no complicated formula to calculate how much water to add based on the number of boats. They know there is an equal amount of weight in each pan no matter what and just add another foot of water to the top pan.
It is a bit scary to imagine sitting on your boat as it is hoisted 19.8 meters in the air. You look out and see tree tops and a long drop to the bottom. And once at the top they open the gate and you drive out into another world. Fascinating.
Man making portage with canoe past lock.
Either architect Art VanDelay went crazy or a wimdow salesman had odd lot window inventory cheap.
Tara takes time to perform a crude pedicure in the lock.
Those rocks right there!
A more primitive but nonetheless efficient method of water transport.
Told the Lockmaster I had been there many times but never here. Lovesick, get it.
Two Lovesick travelers.
The rest of the day was locks and beautiful scenery but many, many rocks. And even more interesting the water was so clear you could see them just below the surface. Hit one and you are out of business. So far we have managed to avoid them. We have learned a lot since Florida when we earned the title “bottom dweller”.
Tonight we are tied up with most of our flotilla at Buckhorn and tomorrow we make a short hop to Bobcaygeon where we will do laundry, get pedicures and go shoe shopping. Well that is what the Admirals decided this afternoon.
The end.
