Day 14-15. June 3-4. Lay day in Belleview and on to Trenton and the Trent Severn Waterway. Miles.14 Total miles 2982
Day 14 Lay day in Belleview. June 3
We spent the day, waiting for a mechanic to come look at the dinghy engine. The call finally came after lunch, and Bill and I donned our windbreakers to brave the wind and seas on Bay of Quinte in the dinghy. After the mechanic diagnosed the problem as over heating, we had to get the dinghy to a boat ramp so the mechanic could replace the impeller. It was a wet bouncy ride and the water was sort of cold! Luckily the boat ramp was in the sun so we could dry out. My role in the engine repair was it sat in the bow of the boat to help hold the boat steady and I did it well! Bill and Joel, the mechanic, did the hard work. As the impeller was not in bad shape, the suggestion to replace the thermostat was tackled.
As the wind and waves prevented us from trying out the dinghy at speed, we will test out the new parts tomorrow to see if we finally have a fix! Bill and I celebrated anyway with a drink and warm donuts holes at the nearby restaurant.
Day 15 2nd year. June 4. On to Trenton and the Trent Severn Waterway.
The wind died down overnight and we have another beautiful sunny day- a bit cooler with the front that came through, so we had to go back to sweat shirt wear in the morning.
With the help of a couple from a neighboring boat, we pulled out of our slip at Belleville Marina and headed further west in the Bay of Quinte to the town of Trenton.
Trenton was settled first as a portage area where natives and fur traders carried their canoes over land from Bay of Quinte to Wellers Bay on Lake Ontario. In fact on our charts the area is marked as The Carrying Place. All along our route, homes dotted the shoreline.
We pulled into the Trenton town dock so we could walk around the town. But the first order of business was to test the dinghy to see if it was fixed. So after riding around at speed for 25 minutes, Bill concluded that the dinghy was absolutely fixed. Bill will sleep well tonight!
Now we could walk around town. The Town of Trenton straddles the Trent River. We walked the west side of town and following the recommendation of the locals we hiked up Mount Pelion, all 200 feet pretty much straight up! On the way, we saw many grand old homes
and then we entered the park proper and continued our climb up.a steep road and stairs to an observation tower which afforded us a panoramic view of the Bay of Quinte, Trent river and the surrounding hills.
Going down was much easier than up! On our way back to the boat we walked by the town tower erected in 1888 and two older churches.
Once back on the boat we released our lines and headed up the Trent River to the Trent Severn Waterway.
The Trent Severn Waterway is made up of several canals and locks connecting lakes and rivers in a path between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. The Waterway is made up of 44 locks- 40 traditional chamber locks, two lift locks and one marine railroad- on the 240 mile trip through the Trent Severn. The entire waterway is a National Historic site, maintained to this day as it was originally built between 1833-1920. Locks have wooden doors and the valves to move the water in the lock are operated manually.
The Trent Severn Waterway was originally first envisioned in 1780 as a good route to transport men and supplies between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. Work first began in 1833 with one lock, but the lock was badly designed and had to be reworked and finally opened in 1836. With train travel coming to the area, many questioned the need for the canal, but train could not access the interlake region. So a decision was made to build the locks that were needed for transportation between the lakes. Then in 1907, hydroelectric power came to the forefront and the importance of harnessing the power of the rivers brought the Trent Severn back in focus. Work restarted on the waterway locks and dams during 1913-1917 and completed in 1920. Technically it took more than 90 years to complete the Trent Severn Waterway.
We headed up river and locked through the first three locks raising us 65 feet total for the day.
The locks are similar in design as the Rideau we traveled last year, so we were familiar with the locking procedures and managed to successfully navigate through all three. After the third lock, we tied up to the wall in Glen Miller, Lock 3.
Here we decided to hike to the famous glacial boulder near the lock. So off we went for more hiking. We walked through the forest trail and followed the signs to the Bleasdell Boulder. This boulder is the oldest rock in Canada dating back 2.3 billion years. It was moved south 40 km by a glacier and dropped off as the ice receded. It was quite big- 43 ft X 22.6ft X 20 feet. That is one big boulder. Was amazing to think about the forces that moved this boulder so long ago.
