No other way to say it … today was a hard slog! We sailed 10.2 miles in 9 hours! Just when you meticulously plan for things to go one way, you forget ’life’ and the actions of others have consequences.

The day started well. Canadians were sleeping off the effects of partying late into the night on Canada Day. Aussies were up bright and early to race for a pumpout before continuing on the Trent-Severn.

• Foiled at the first mark. Another boater was ahead of us. No problem, as the lock didn’t open for another 45 minutes.

Then we looked towards Lock 20 and noticed a build up in the line of boats to lock through. We were aiming to be in the first lock through but by the time we reached the lock line we were the 8th boat. No problem, we would make the second locking. Ha!

To cut the saga short:

• There was low water in the canal, so we had to wait, not the estimated 45minutes, but 2 hours before the first boats locked through. We ended up anchoring just outside the channel as there was no room on the lock wall.
• Thought we would make the second locking – Ha! A commercial vessel turned up, which has priority over pleasure vessels, and Bushranger, being the 8th boat, was bumped out.
• We waited four hours before exiting the first lock, and we had seven in all.
• We had to wait for boats to lock down, before we could lock up.
• We had to wait for kayakers.
• We had to negotiate windy locks.
• We had to wait for Parks Canada staff to complete multiple jobs as they are short-staffed after Covid.

We were sure our friends had sailed into the sunset… What a surprise we had when we found them waiting at a lovely lock wall in the pretty town of Lakefield! We had much laughter as we regaled each other with our tales of woe. Just when we thought we had the Trent-Severn to ourselves, it was a reality check that Canadians use their own waterways. We have been spoilt. Now we must learn to share even if we do scream and shout a little.

But share the chocolate cake we found on our deck? No way, Jose! We do so appreciate good friends!

Such is Life!