Hastings to Peterborough via Rice Lake

Day 17
NM today: 33
NM total: 500
Locks today: 1
Locks total: 47
Travel Time: 5.5 hours

Today, like yesterday, was bright and sunny.  The days warm up but the nights are chilly.  Last night it was 52 degrees.  We have a couple of blankets on the bed, but I guess the sheets are too satiny because I wake up multiple times during the night to yank the covers back up as they seem to want to travel towards the end of the bed.  I guess I need non-skid sheets on the bed.

Just before we planned to leave the vessel Ariel came in to dock behind us as the wall.  They have a Mainship 390 which they have owned for just one year.  We chatted and compared boats and before we knew it time had flown and we were looking at a departure time of 10:15 for our trip through Rice Lake.  Another couple on Palmetto Paradise were concerned with reports of Rice Lake becoming rough in the afternoon, so they departed bright and early.

I prepared the boat as I do when we go out in the ocean - make sure nothing is ready to fall off the counters, close windows in case of spray, etc.  As we traveled across Rice Lake, we saw nothing but smooth waters except when jet skis and speed boats went flying by and made a wake.  In other words, it couldn't have been smoother!  I guess you never know.

Slow Speed - No Wake??? I don't think so!!!

Fishermen in rowboats and canoes everywhere

Cottages with docks also everywhere

 Having spent the last few days at lock walls with varying levels of amenities - some with water,  electric, and showers and some with nothing except a washroom. We decided to stay at a marina in Peterborough for two nights.  It is luxury accommodations with all services compared to last night where we had no electric, water supply, or showers.  To top it off, we found they offer an AGLCA discount so we got a reduced rate for our stay here.  Yippee!

Peterborough seems to have a lot to offer, so we decided to explore via bicycle to see what we could find.  We needed a new water hose - ours had sprung multiple leaks so that it generated a fine mist as we used it to fill our water tank.  Once again we arrived in town late in the day, so we didn't expect to find stores still open.  As luck would have it, the hardware store in town didn't close until 8 p.m. so we snuck in and bought a hose - it's one of those "as seen on TV" type hoses that expands under water pressure and collapses back to pocket size when the water is turned off.  We shall see how this works.

We had wandered up the main drag - George Street and down a few side streets and stumbled upon Hunter Street Cafe District during our meanderings.  After scoping out the town and buying our new hose, we decided that we might as well ride our bikes up to see the historic lift lock that everyone has been telling us about.  Apparently the lock has two chambers.  You boat into one and depending if you are going up or down they either add water to the other "bucket" or let water out to raise or lower the partner bucket.  One person referred to the two "buckets" as 'cake pans'.  Whatever you call them, it looks to be an interesting new challenge for us.

Historic Peterborough Lift Lock

The lift lock is on the other side of a hill at the edge of town.  The bike ride up the hill was more than I could manage.  I got about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up and that was it - I had to walk it up the rest of the way.  Of course Clark just kept on going like the "energizer bunny" he is but even he commented on his heart rate at the top of the hill.  The ride down to the lock after cresting the hill was steep and fast.  We explored all over the lock.  The only way we found to look around on top was to climb a very tall set of stairs.  Of course I had to carry my bike up there.

Stairs to top of lift lock

After getting up to the top huffing and puffing, I found the "cake pan" that basically looked like a swimming pool for a boat.  I also found a road back down from the lock ,so I didn' t have to carry it back down the stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs, this same road said "do not enter", "do not enter", but it never said "do not exit" so I figured it was okay to take the road out!

Once we mounted the tremendous hill separating the lock from the town, the ride back into town was a breeze.  After my bike accident last fall, I am more cautious of high speed so I did not take the full advantage of the hill that I might have done in the before-mishap past.  It was nice to coast all the way into town and luckily we got a lot of green lights so not much stopping along the way!

Hunter Street Cafe District in Peterborough

 By the time we finished exploring - a good two hours worth - it was getting on supper time and I needed to find one of those washrooms, so we decided to eat in a restaurant in town.  I wanted to eat at a pub with traditional pub food.  We couldn't fine one.  We found lots of pubs - one with nothing I considered pub food and one with no food at all.  We finally settled on a regular restaurant with outdoor dining where we could have our bikes at the table with us.  It was getting on for 8:30 by the time we finished eating, we had several blocks to go to get back to the boat, and we were starting to get worried about running out of daylight as we had not brought bike lights with us.  In other words, we didn't stay for dessert.

With the exception of George Street which is packed with cars, other streets in town are reasonably quiet and pretty to ride on.  The picture below shows a view of Peterborough late in the day as we were wandering around town.  With the number of restaurants and shops we found, perhaps I should be referring to Peterborough as a city since I expect it qualifies as such.

Street in Peterborough late in day

We're hanging out here one more night - what a treat not to face any locks tomorrow!  The Captain wants to go out in the kayaks tomorrow exploring the waters  of Little Lake, so I expect that's what we'll be doing for some portion of the day.  There is a fountain in the lake visible from the bow of our boat where we are docked here at the marina.  It is quite unusual and very pretty.  If we get too close to it kayaking tomorrow, I guess we'll get a shower.  As we passed it on the boat coming in to dock, I felt the spray from the fountain.

Fountain in Little Lake with Peterborough in background