This past weekend in the shadows of the 54 foot Lift Lock at Peterborough ON, Shelly and I decided that 90 miles of the 240 mile Trent Severn Waterway would have to be enough for 2024.
We left behind 142 (x2) miles of waterway and 24 (x2) locks to get to the end and the eastern end of Georgian Bay and back to Peterborough. Then another 5-7 good weather travel days to make Kingston ON again.
We also left behind the chance to transit The “Chute” Railway Lock in the town of Georgian Bay.
While we are chagrin at leaving all that behind, our new itinerary ensures the plan to navigate the St Lawrence River and Lake Champlain remains intact.
We want to be on Long Island NY with our son, Nick, on US Labor Day September 2, and ultimately make Jacksonville FL during the first few days of November.
Transiting locks and weather (Beryl’s remnants), and routine maintenance simply took more of our time than we expected. “240 miles in 24 [leisurely] days (x2 … each direction)” was not enough time.
Internet Service
Good Internet was elusive… and reportedly it was on a trajectory to get worse if we continued west. I could elaborate on this, as it was my field, my profession. When I was paying the bill at the office, the dockmaster here said, “The WiFi should be pretty good, we just got this whole system upgraded a couple of weeks ago,” pointing to the antennas and routers on the wall.
So, I asked, “Is this the only place in this marina were there are antennas?” “Yes.”
Armed with the secret marina WiFi codes, I walked back to the boat to give it a try. The bandwidth was too slow to even get a “mbps” test result down or up! So I went up to the fly bridge, and hooked up my directional yagi antenna for 2.4gHz WiFi.
I was now able to get a halfway respectable signal I can use for the night.
Adult Beverages
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) has a clear agenda and plan to release their monopolistic grip on wine and liquor retailing in this province. This is a good thing in our opinion and experience.
However LCBO’s retail employees don’t agree so they have forced store closures as they strike across this whole province during the same time we are cruising up here.
https://financialpost.com/news/lcbo-strike-ontario-what-you-need-to-know
Transportation
There was a lack of Uber/Lyft type services. Some of the taxi services were price gouging. They laugh at the thought of a marina courtesy car!
There is no Instacart either.
Pharmaceuticals
Rx and OTC drugs were going to become a problem if we stayed in Canada. Some OTC drugs in the States require a prescription from a CANADIAN physician.
Pharmacies here cannot fill Rx scripts by US physicians. There is zero reciprocation agreements.
Fuel, Ice, Pump Out
Availability of fuel and pump-out locations were a fraction of the same stateside. Same with ICE. Almost every marina in the States sells ice, as they know it is something their customers need! Sadly, not here in Canada.
The lack of a competitive market for diesel fuel means prices will be higher of course. We paid US$6.57/gallon (CAN$2.25/liter) in Peterborough ON at the only fuel dock we had seen since Trenton, 90 miles earlier.
(By comparison, diesel we purchased in US this year ranged from $3.30 to $3.79 per gallon).
All these little things equate to “death by a thousand paper cuts.” It’s just irritating.
I guess it makes me really appreciate the free-er market, and more entrepreneurial mentality that is very influential in the US.
The availability of products and services is much more plentiful in the United States. Sunday cannot come soon enough! Clayton NY! We can’t wait to get back to the US.
I *almost* did not post this, as we rarely take on a “negative” tone on this blog. We are “positive” thinkers. But, I also wanted to be journalistically accurate.
I’m hoping the remaining miles [kilometers] in Canada are better than the past few weeks. The PEOPLE have been WONDERFUL: Lock Staff, vendors, local boaters, etc. So we do not want to paint a picture that any of them have let us down!
Addendum 7/27/24
ALSO
7/30/2024
