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By Ontario Sports Review
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What we thought would be a quaint little jaunt up the Trent-Severn through a couple of locks and back again; became a 2-hour walk through history, some incredible story telling and a lot of fun and laughter.
Captain Grant Kent, owner/operator of Lift Lock Cruises in Peterborough, takes up to 100 people at a time on the Island Princess III, on a large variety of cruises throughout the weeks of the summer. We had the pleasure of joining him and his crew on one of their chartered luncheon scenic tours. "The Island Princess is a 48' replica sidewheeler built out of aluminum," he explained. "It's a fully self-contained double decker that is licenced with an excellent wireless sound system."
Kent talked about the fact that it was definitely a family run business. "Today I have 2 of my daughters as part of the crew, along with my wife, my son and future son-in-law," he stated proudly. "Both my son and future son-in-law are certified licenced captains and man the helm regularly."
The cruise boat was just backing out of the Peterborough Harbour to head out into Little Lake when the commentary began. With Captain Kent manning the mic as well as the helm, he began describing various building structures in the downtown core, their history and current uses. Each time we passed something, Kent had not only the history of it but usually a story that went along with it doubled up with anecdotes and humour.
As we passed through Little Lake and enjoyed the scenery that encompassed it, Kent described various pieces of property, owners and their history. As we approached lock #20 at Ashburnham, Kent began speaking very fondly of a man by the name of Richard Birdsall Rogers, who had been hired by the Ministry of Railways and Canals to act as Chief (Superintending) Engineer of the Canal. Kent empathically described the engineering prowess of this individual and how, through a change of Government in 1896, the new body of power made every attempt to discredit him. He was finally forced to resign on February 19, 1906; this after having, 7 months previously, been awarded a long-awaited salary adjustment.
I asked Kent about having so much information to bring forth, whether he had considered ever just putting some of it on tape. "I actually did at one time," he responded. "Even though it can be very tiring at times, I find it is much more personable to do it live. I feel I can relate to the group much better and I think they appreciate it more as well."
While part of the crew was mooring us into lock #20, the rest were busily clearing the plates from the 1st course of a 3 course roast beef luncheon. "We need a Captain, Engineer and at least 2 to 3 crew to operate," stated Kent. "We actually operate with more than that because we're in the service industry." Kent went on to explain the knowledge of all crew members. "Our crew are all trained, licenced and certified with Transport Canada," he explained. "We also do extensive in-house training ourselves with the full crew, including servers and bartenders, so that they have a full understanding of the operation of the vessel."
Working our way northwards through the canal, heading to the largest hydraulic liftlock in the world, we witnessed the grounds along the canal were well manicured and kept in a pristine fashion. As we approached lock #21, Kent told the travellers the history of the lock and the entire mode of operation. Describing the fact that the lock was 140' in length and lifts to a height of 65', Kent explained how the hydraulic rams would raise and lower the locks. "Water is fed through a high pressure pipe to the upper lock filling it to a level of 1 foot higher than the lower lock and gravity then takes over. With the extra weight in the upper lock, now exceeding the normal weight which is approximately 1500 tons, it lowers itself to the ground while raising the opposite lock to the 65' level." It is also interesting to note that it makes no difference how many boats are in each lock due to the principles of physics which dictate that a boat will displace the amount of water equivalent to its own weight.
Once slightly north of the Peterborough lock, we turned around and headed back down the canal. This time heading into the lower end of Little Lake, Kent described how some of the landscape was carved out by the iceage and talked about the 125 damns that had been built upstream to assist in the flow of logs down the river back in the 1800's. This man never seemed to be short of historical or current knowledge of the area. It also seemed as though every section along the way, Kent would have another story to tell, keeping the group well amused throughout the trip.
As we approached the huge fountain in the centre of the Lake, the Captain described various musical venues that occur at the pavilion in the downtown park and how the sound system is wirelessly pumped straight into the sound systems on both of his vessels. "It's great when we have a full group on for things like the Festival of Lights with a great musical venue at the Park." He went on to explain that they also frequently use local talent themselves on board for entertainment. "We've seen some great parties on board," he smiled.
"We typically cruise 4 to 8 times per day," Kent explained as we were pulling back into the docks. "We have luncheon and scenic cruises during the day; and day and evening cruises for weddings, parties, special corporate affairs and fundraisers."
Lift Lock Cruises operates daily from Victoria Day Weekend through to mid October when the waterway closes for the season.
You can visit them at www.liftlockcruises.com to book your own fun on the river.
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