Great Loop: Peterborough

July 27, 2022

The crews of Pivot and Amy Marie at the top of the Peterborough Lock.

We had a perfect day for our voyage from Hastings to Peterborough Ontario

Light winds, calm seas, and blue skies

We travelled through a lock with the crew of Pivot

We saw many lovely houses along the Trent River

Another shoreside home

Kids jumping from an abandoned railroad bridge

What a great area in which to be a kid in the summertime!

Amy Marie Does the Peterborough Lock

Amy Marie traversed the Peterborough Lift Lock the day after our friends on Pivot. I've separated the two experiences for continuity. To fully understand this awesome experience, I encourage you to scroll through both sections. The transit of this lock was clearly one of the highlights of the entire Loop adventure!

As you depart Peterborough Harbor you must pass through Lock 20 to gain access to Lock 21, which is the Lift Lock. From this point forward, the excitement starts to build.

On the day, we travelled with "Hazy L'il Thing", "Seaclusion", and "Rambler".

Amy Marie has passed through Lock 20 and is ready to load into the Lift Lock.

Rambler is traveling the short distance from Lock 20 to the Lift Lock

We were directed into the right chamber. You can see the piston under the left chamber. Is essentially a larger version of the hydraulic lifts you can see at automobile service centers. In this case, as the chamber on the left descends, it will push water through a pipe and the pressure of the water will force the chamber on the right into the air!

Rambler is waiting for loading instructions from the Lockmaster

The gate has been opened and we are now loading 4 boats into the chamber

Hazy L'il Thing is loading into the lock chamber which will then be propelled hydraulically 65 into the air. We will all be discharged at the higher level once we reach the top. The travel time from the bottom to the top is a short 2 minutes!

It is a long way to the top! If you are in one of the outside boats, you better not be afraid of heights as the bucket chamber is propelled upward. You also better not have your engines in reverse as you depart the chamber!

Beth is signaling that she is ready! Once we reach the top, the steel gate you see, folds out of the way so we can motor out of the chamber and into the river channel.

Both Mike and Beth are signaling their readiness for the lift to begin!

Beth sweet talked the Lift Operator, Ed, into a lesson on Lock Operation. She is now fully qualified to operate the Peterborough Lift Lock!

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Pivot Does the Peterborough Lock

Amy Marie decided to wait a day to traverse the Peterborough Lift Lock. Pivot chose to immediately traverse it and spend the night at the top, in the company of the "Lock Ghosts".

Pivot is waiting to exit the Peterborough Harbor into the channel that takes vessels to the Lift Lock.

It is a kilometer from the harbor lock to the lift lock

There are two lift chambers.

The lockmaster will announce over the loudspeaker which chamber to enter.

In this case, Pivot was instructed to enter the left chamber or "bucket"

Once inside you loop a line around a black bar on the side of the chamber

Pivot is secured to the wall of the chamber and a second boat is entering

Both boats are in the chamber and next will be hydraulically lifter 65 feet.

The lock was completed in 1904 and had been in continuous service ever since.

You can see the chamber on the right is in the up position.

The door is closed on the left chamber in preparation for the lift.

The next step is to add 130 tons of water to the right chamber. This makes it heavier and it starts to descend. as it descends, the piston you see pushes water against the bottom of the piston on the left and pushes it up to the top level. The lift is quick, less than two minutes.