Timeless Yacht (2026)

12/06/2026

After a couple of long, shallow days, of locking and careful navigation, we had passed through what should have been the most challenging sections of the Trent Severn for a boat that is 17ft wide and 100,000 lbs displacement. That means that we move 100,000 lbs of water out of the canal when we go by. That’s about 11,000 gallons, or about what a small swimming pool contains and 3x as much as a typical 45ft looper boat. As the boat passed through the narrowest sections after the Kirkfied Lift lock the increase in speed of the of the water by the sides of the boat as it was sucked towards the stern quite literally sucked the water off the bank due to the difference in pressure.. This is called the Bernoulli principle, which was taught to me not in school, but by the first guests on our great loop. Incidentally this guest was a naval ship architect and we watched this happen on the very shallow Okeechobee Waterway. The effect will also pull the stern towards the closer bank, or even the bottom. At 5 knots it was extreme. At 4 knots it wasn't as bad. But we made it.

After some long days and getting through the most difficult sections with a soft thud of a log popping up, and a couple of light touches, the water deepened, the scenery got more beautiful, and I got complacent. We were barely 5nm from the Big Chute and 25nm from the end of the Trent Severn, with the anticipation building. Dee and I were happy, and hopeful the Big Chute which had closed the day before, would open the next day. We were in conversation, motoring along in 30 ft of water, when Dee asked me which side of the marker ahead we should be on. We were only traveling about 7 knots, but at our weight, in 1.5 boat length we had no chance. We slid through and over a section of charted rocks on the wrong side of the maker.

Everyone makes mistakes, and this one was a DOOZY. I guess if you're going to make a mistake, you might as well REALLY make a mistake. We knew there would be damage, and could see most of it when we went over the Big Chute using my Dolphin Cam on the back, on a boat hook pole to look at the bottom. I'm surprised no one noticed in the video we posted previously on the Big Chute, if you look closely, you can see the damage. Our keel took the brunt of it. We probably took off a good 4-6 inches. The port prop bent a blade end back, and ding the others. All 4 blades of the starboard side are dinged and the starboard stabilizer fin has a little damage with quite a bit on the inboard side of its winglet. There are a few scratches though the barrier coat into the glass in the hull. The bottom of the boat is 3 inches thick, solid fiberglass, so there was no water intrusion, no systems were damaged, (except my pride) and the shafts are less than a few thousands out, which is probably what they were when we left.

The pictures are hard to look at, and will make you cringe, maybe frown, and possibly even shed a tear. It can happen to anyone if you just lose focus for a minute or a few. If Timeless does choose to do this section of the Great Loop again, I will get my revenge, as I know it is possible to make it unscathed with 5+ ft draft. I will shorten the days, so I have less time each day to be laser focused.

With all systems operating, we proceeded on with our trip, and headed to Hindson Marina. Due to the previous bumps mentioned above, we had already scheduled a short hall to inspect the bottom. Hindson Marina has one of the few travel lifts in the area which can haul us, but we still nearly maxed their lift out. We've been told they do free short hauls for loopers coming through to do just this type of inspection. The crew at Hindson have been extremely accommodating in turning that short haul into an expedited repair.

With the late opening of the Big Chute, we arrived late afternoon, and spent the night on the dock. The next morning they had the pumpout boat along side to prep for haul out by 0815. Guests gracefully departed a little earlier in the morning than normal, and shortly after Timeless was in the slings and then carefully blocked on stands. Repairs started asap the next morning. Our spare props are there and ready for when the fiberglass repair work is done. The spare shaft we carry in a specially designed compartment accessible from the transom will not be needed.

Thankfully, the next few weeks were already going to be off and not moving or cruising, so if there is any positive, no guests have or should miss their trips. Timeless should be back in the water and as good as new in just a few weeks. My ego may take much longer.

10/06/2026

Today was all about the Big Chute. No photos today, just one video. We woke to a beautiful day and spent our morning thinking good thoughts and raising our radar arch back up. A pretty simple process, but slow and steady.

We heard on the radio the operator tell another ranger that another should keep on grounds work if the chute started operating. They made an announcement a few minutes later that they would call boats up in the order that worked for them and that if a boat caused issues, they would move them to the end of the day. They then called up a sailboat and a 30 foot outboard power boat, but the power boat wasn't ready so they called a small trawler. Then another trawler and the 30 ft sport boat were called, telling us we would be next. After a bit we dropped our lines and floated, waiting for the Chute to return to the east side for our turn. As it dropped a couple of smaller boats in, the anticipation grew.

Timeless has an aft starboard station that is PERFECTLY situated to adjust the boat and talk to the Chute operator. I positioned the boat, discussed the bottom with the operator as if we were standing next to each other, because we were. I even shared my phone with pictures of Timeless in the slings at a travel lift. The sling marks as well as stabilizer marks are visible right in our rub rail. After he grabbed us in one position, looked at the under water cameras, we agreed to move back another 4 feet, leaving more than 17 ft of the boat hanging off the back of the chute. It was full pucker factor onboard.

He wasted no time to bring us up and out, and we were over to the other side before we knew it. The entire process lasted less than 20 minutes and we were off on the last leg of the Trent Severn.

This isn't the story of our our time on the Trent. The crew of Timeless is taking a couple weeks off. We'll have some more stories soon, so don't tune out, they'll be doozies.

For now, fair winds, good night and enjoy the video.

09/06/2026

We were in no huge hurry to leave Orillia this morning, in fact we all acknowledged we would prefer to have a few nights here. The crew have chosen Orillia as our favorite Canadian town on the loop to date. Next time we'll stay for a few days, trying to avoid the temptations of Mariposa. Mariposa bakery is the opposite of Dooher's in Campbellford. While we love both, they're just different. Dooher's is no frills, great baked goods at great prices. Great pies, great butter tarts, great bread and more. Mariposa is the Disney Land of Bakeries. It is much more than a bakery, but all of that too, with the pre premium that comes with all those extras. Hot sauces, picked everything, baked goods, coffee shop, some clothing and gifts, candy and more. If we lived her, we might never bake again, but still gain weight 😉

At 0900 we departed with enough baked goods for a lock full of looper boats, for the Big Chute. Uncertainty in the air as we knew it was closed. We headed north up the east, deeper side of a placid Couching Lake on a beautiful day to cruise, with just the right weather. We entered the canal at the north end, and slowed our speed. The sign for the infamous train bridge informed us of the opening just minutes before, so we proceeded on. Later we found out from the Couching Lock tender the bridge tender saw us coming on Nebo and held the bridge as long as he could and let us through. Win! Unfortunately our cruising buddy from the day before was too far behind to make the opening and had to patiently wait.

We slid into the lock and were gently lowered over 20 ft to the water below. The current increased to a gentle push and off we continued at 6 knots with the throttles at no wake, nearly dead slow position. Kids swam, homeowners prepared their docks, and lots of on and off water activity kept us busy looking out the window. We dined on sweat potato hash, poached eggs and Syrian bread. It might be the captains favorite breakfast.

We passed through the Hamlet Swing Bridge and even though we sounded our (loud) horns three times as we were told to do and the sign reminded us, the bridge didn't open right away, but did after our second whistle signal.

From here the current increased a little more and we continued on, eventually entering and crossing the first open section of a calm Sparrow Lake with a few local boats out and about. After the first part, Sparrow Lake narrowed with our path crossing numerous bays. We felt like we were back home in Maine. Beautiful, serene and mostly deep, especially inside the markers. As we approached Lock 43, Swift Rapids the doors opened as the lock tender had prepped for us. This lock may be one of our favorites. While Bobcaygeon is the oldest lock this is the newest and largest single chamber lock on the Trent Severn dropping over 45ft. While there are wires like all of the other chambered locks on the Trent Severn, there are also a number of floating bollards similar to the inland rivers for those of you have done those locks. The drop was fast, but at the same time easy without turbulence. It went down so fast you could feel it, ie a very gentle elevator. The air cooled inside the chamber, out of the sun. The lock tender also gave us an update on the Big Chute, leaving us hopeful that maybe it would open tomorrow.

From here we cruised the Severn River, various Bays and cuts reformed by the dam at the Big Chute. Follow the makers closely, you could go from 40 ft of water to a rock before you realize. We arrived at the Big Chute at just after 1400, completing the 30nm cruise nearly as planned, but more on that later. For now, we were content to take a stroll and see the big chute from land.

08/06/2026

Today rivaled the hardest day we've done on the loop. It wasn't close to the longest in distance at 42nm or length at 9 hours and 30 minutes but it was hard none the less. Shallow, slow and one inconsiderate and oblivious boater really can make what otherwise would have even a great day more challenging.

The sections from Balsam Lake in the Trent and Mitchel Lake Canal to the Kirkfield Lift lock are narrow and shallow. The sides of the canal are close enough to touch the trees. The sides of the canal are ledge, so moving to either side too far could trip off a stabilizer fin or result in an expensive prop repair. At dead slow we are still sucking water into the canal from the edges as we displace the water. Logs are also sucked up from the bottom and bump the hull. The charts don't really show the shallowest water. The canal from the Kirkfield Loft lock leads through Canal Lake which was the shallowest water we saw. This section is filled with vegetation reaching up to the surface, further slowing us down. Much of the day we spent with inches under the keel, slowly moving along at 4 knots.

A small SeaRay with a single man and his dog, who we helped tie up the night before in Fenelon Falls passed us at the absolute shallowest water of the day. We weren't even making 4 knots, and for some reason, he thought he should be almost on plane within 3 ft. I kid you not, nor exaggerate. If you don't believe me, ask the crew of Tenasi, who we enjoyed traveling and locking with all day. They witnessed the most ridiculous pass I have seen in 20+ nautical miles on the water. His wake literally could have put us on the bottom or sucked us into his boat. At 100k lbs and being stabilized we will not react in shallow water how you think we will. The Bernoulli effect will suck us towards the fast moving waters like the banks of the canal, or another boat passing us too closely. If he had only waited 5 minutes he would have plenty of room. This boat ended up with us at Orillia Marina, somehow, someway I didn't say something, set the boat free or pull the plug. In close, extremely shallow waters unfortunately our forward facing camera was not recording.

Kirkfield, like Peterborough is an amazing feat. While it only drops and raises 6 Ft less than Peterborough, it is more spectacular when locking down, as you look right over the edge of the tub from the bow. I've included many pics, plus a few of other parts of the trip.

We'll drop lines and head to the Big Chute tomorrow. It's currently broken, so not sure how that will impact our plans.

07/06/2026

We spent the morning checking out Bobcaygeon. The farmers market was this morning, but we chose to have breakfast out at the dinner (better than the Google stars it's earned). We wandered through the shops, spent too much at the bakery and enjoyed Bikerfest which shut down Bolton Street for the fair, bikes and visitors. What a fun surprise to have this event going on.

We dropped our lines at noon, slid into the lock, and motored down the canal for the two hour trip to Fenelon Falls. As we left the canals and the water deepened, our bow poked out into Sturgeon Lake, past the protection of Birch Point it was clear the lake wanted to toy with us. We pushed the throttles forward, just a little and cruised southwest even though Fenelon Falls is directly west of Bobcaygeon.

The wind increased to 15, then 20 then a steady 25 knots. We passed a couple of houseboats struggling. They should not have been on the lake. Then a small pontoon boat, our thoughts were the same, none of them should be out here. For Timeless, it was a light chop. The only casualty was a plant blowing off the table on the aft deck.

As we rounded Sturgeon Point to head back north to Fenelon falls, the wind on our starboard side tried to heal us, but our stabilizers really showed their value. We pushed the throttles up a little more to increase the water across the fins and chines.

As we reached the northern end on the west side of Sturgeon Lake by Ellery Bay, the lee of land, dense, tall trees laid the waters down. As we made the turns into the canal to Fenelon Falls, we passed a brief shower, which stopped as we rounded the corner to the lock wall. We could see the lock tenders were lowering the water and prepping the lock for our arrival (we called of course, so they knew we were coming, surprisingly they don't use VHF radios).

We rose up, slid out of the lock and moored to the wall on the starboard side. Not long after the larger of the houseboats we passed pulled up. They had taken water all the way up their sliding front door, and into the boat. They had put all the weight they could aft and used towels to block the door. Thankfully it held. Later we helped a small SeaRay 260 pull in, a little shell shocked and abused from the conditions.

The rain stopped and we strolled through the town, checking out the variety of shops. Don't wait too long, many close at 4p. We did pick up a new pot from one of the antique / resale shops. It wasn't intended to be a pot, but this ceramic shell will make a nice new home for the geranium.

Tomorrow we'll drop lines for some of the best, and a boat our size would could be the most challenging part of the Trent Severn. Shallow and narrow.

06/06/2026

Peterborough to Bobcaygeon, 42.6nm is a long day. 10 hours underway, it’s a long ass day and this won’t be my normal eloquent prose.

Well almost 10 hours. We were tired to a lock wall for nearly an hour. Add in 11 locks at it's really long. Nearly every lock was open and ready but a long wait at one for a traveling crew and a shorter wait at another didn't help much. If we did this again, we would definitely break up this leg.

But at the same time, it's a beautiful stretch of waterway. City scapes, tight turns, rocks like the Maine coastline, and deep open water. Even the locks were varied from the Amazing Peterborough Lift Lock, the small manually operated locks above it, and the fast hydraulic locks further along.

We waked through town, and had dinner at the original Just for the Halibut. Great service, good food. Definitely recommend.

Lots of pics of Peterborough. Definitely a bucket list item. Lots of other great sites.

We’ll be in no rush tomorrow. Sleep in, breakfast out and sometime in the afternoon we’ll make the short jump to Fenelon Falls. It’s BikeFest tomorrow. Should be interesting.

05/06/2026

Peterborough Lift Lock. Bucket List.

05/06/2026

This post is for the birds. And the lock.

We left Hastings pretty early at 0700 as the first and only lock of the day was near the end of our trip. For those behind us, for much of the southwest end of Rice Lake the vegetation reaches the surface. If it slowed us down it will likely slow down any boat not on plane. We made the turn to the north out of the lake and slowed to reverse the vegetation off the running gear. Our line cutters probably helped. Our day finished after we locked through the relatively small Scotts Mills Lock and got tied up in Peterborough after 33.6 miles in a little over 5 and a half hours.

We saw at least 2 eagles, 🦅 the one in the pic buzzed the bow before landing on the tree. Always great to see loons and we’ve seen quite a few.

Peterborough is a large town. Nearly 100k residents. Large grocery stores, marine supply and restaurants all walking distance but that’s not why we stopped.

We stoped here to visit the Peterborough Lift Lock before locking through tomorrow. It IS amazing. You can get there by walking about 1.5 miles, riding a bike or use the U ride app. We viewed the lock from above, below, and the lock tender Griffin provided a visit to the control room. It’s both simple and amazing simultaneously. The pics simply don’t do this 122 year old engineering fest justice. It’s highest hydraulic lift lock in the world. The pictures don’t do it justice.

Tomorrow they’ll raise up all 100,000lbs of us. I hope. 🤣

04/06/2026

Another beautiful day. Campbellford to Hastings. A relatively easy 17+ nm run in a little under 4 and a half hours including 6 locks including the Healy Falls flight raising us up over 50 ft. There are bigger locks to come, it's quite quite impressive.

The waterway is varied including cottages, houses, rural settings, farmland and towns. Hastings is pretty small but the Captain's Table, family style restaurant is known for great fish and chips, which we enjoyed.

Dee decided to serve 12 Bean Soup, with fresh bread from Dooher's and a fresh brewed mint iced tea with mint delivered by Patti from Pirates Cove Marina, just before we got to Oswego. YUM!

Ed and Kyle, gold loopers dropped off more butter tarts and Kawartha Dairy Ice cream. more YUM!

We're going to leave early, with just one lock before our destination in Peterborough, we're going to get their a little bit earlier and head up to the lock to check out the one of a king hydraulic lift lock that opened in 1904. We get to transit the lock on Friday.

03/06/2026

How perfect can a day really be? Hot but not too hot. Sunny. Dry. Quiet waterways. Open lock doors. What’s not to love. I guess it was a tad breezy this afternoon between a few lock. Of the horror.

We departed at 0900 from the wall above lock 6 in Frankford and were on our way for the 21nm trip to Campbellford. A leisurely 5 hours and 6 locks and we had completed another great day. This is all new water for everyone onboard, so each new waterway section, lock and view is novel and exciting. We arrived at our first lock at just after opening at 1000 to the doors creaking open and each successive lock was ready for us with friendly lock tenders to laugh at my silly jokes, like “thanks for ordering summer” and “you’ll make sure the weather is like this the entire way”

While I know we have some exciting locks to come, like THE Peterborough Lift Lock and THE Big Chute, the Ranney Falls flight of locks 11 and 12 didn’t disappoint. As you make the turn to port fighting the current pushing towards the port lock wall the size of the first chambers massive door reveals itself and then looms over you once you’ enter the chamber. You can see the water leaking through the doors a bit disconcertingly from the upper chamber. The large gates close behind you and all 100,000+ lbs of us smoothly rises the first step of about 25ft. The doors open and you slide into the next chamber. While the doors don’t seam as massive, you still rise more than 20 more feet for a total lift of 48 ft in what is a relatively small lock. Campbelllford lies just a few minutes up around the corner. We chose to dock in town to head to dinner ashore and visit some local shops and a bakery.

The Ranny lock was so amazing we had to head back down the trail from town about 1.5 miles to take peak from shore. Butter tarts and amazing pastries from Dooher’s Bakery at great prices was the reward for the leg stretching stroll to see the falls and lock.

Tomorrow will be an even shorter day with a later start. With the locks opening at 1000 and the next lock around the corner we’ll have another relaxed start and maybe a chance for an encore stop at Dooher’s.

Timeless Yacht

12/06/2026

10/06/2026

09/06/2026

08/06/2026

07/06/2026

06/06/2026

05/06/2026

05/06/2026

04/06/2026

03/06/2026

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