Hastings Lock 18

---

We are on the move again.

After spending three days at Young's Point, we were able to reach Hastings Lock number 18. Our stay at Young's Point was enjoyable and it gave us a chance to rest our weary muscle. This heavy boat is a little difficult to handle in the locks. We also had a pleasant visit from Randy our Looper friend who lives in Sudbury. It was a long drive for him but he came, stayed overnight and took us out for dinner. He drove us to Midland to pick up our van which is now parked at Young's Point while we are in Hastings.

Young's Point Lock opened on Friday but we didn't relish the thought of travelling in a pack of boats. There are nine locks and seven swing bridges between Young's Point and Hastings so we were glad that everyone left Ahead of us. We made the first lock on Saturday and had the river to ourselves. We were alone in every lock and only met 4 boats going upstream. The weather was better with less wind and sunny but cool on the water. We kept scraping bottom around Lakefield and even scrapped the underwater gate at the Peterborough lift lock. This is not a canal boat. The weeds are so thick in the Trent canal and some of the lakes that our speed dropped dramatically at times. We had to keep stopping and reversing the engine to clear the prop. I hate to see this canal in the summer.

We are seeing more wildlife including families of geese and ducks everywhere. We are seeing more and more fish jumping and large groups of asian families fishing. There was a bus load of tourist video taping our entry into the Peterborough lift Lock, no pressure there. I bet we are now famous in China.

We arrived at Hastings at 7 last night after a long hard day on the water. The crowd from Young's Point are all here including our buddy boat Gray Ghost. They were having a pot luck supper on the dock so our dinner was all ready after they helped us dock. I played a few songs on request and spent the evening telling dock tales until the mosquitoes sent us scurrying for our respective boat. One couple is headed for Hamilton while the other two boats are staying in Trenton at the air base Yatch club.

Not sure how long we will be waiting here. The water is still high on Lake Ontario and it is supposed to rain for the next three days. Oh well, Hastings is a good reprovisioning spot and hopefully we can find someone who can take us to Young's Point to pick up our van.

---