A beautiful day to do the Peterborough Lift Lock. We crossed Rice Lake first thing in the morning and we couldn't have asked for a smoother crossing. This lake is very shallow and can get quite bumpy in windy weather. As it was Saturday. all the water sports people were out in force. Lots of speed boats, kayaks, and even our first water skier!
Nobody was using it but this unique water toy looked interesting.
More young people out jumping off bridges
Even sandy beaches to play on!
Beautiful scenery abounds!
When we arrived at Lock 20, we discovered that today was the day of the Lock 'n Paddle - the 2nd annual challenge to see how many boats can fill the tubs in the lift lock at Lock 21. We arrived at lock 20 at 1:00 which was when the event was occurring so we tied up at the bottom of the lock and waited for the flood of canoes and kayaks to come down river. It wasn't quite as impressive as expected as many boats were pulled out of the water before our lock but there were still a good number that came through the lock.
The event was a success. They broke the record by squeezing 328 boats (canoes and kayaks) into the two trays of the lock. I wish we were close enough to see it but it was still fun watching the little boats come down the river.
Then it was our turn! The lock looks huge from the river.
This lock was opened in 1904, took 8 years to build and is still the tallest lift lock in the world (65' lift). What you see in the picture is the right side tray in the raised position and the left hand tray lowered. The lift is hydraulically controlled. 1 cubic foot of water (130 tons) added to the up side and in a teeter totter type effect, the extra weight carries it down and pushes the other one up. From the bottom the trays don't look very large, but we had 8 canoes/kayaks, 3 speed boats, Magic and ourselves in the tray.
A wall materializes from under the water across the back of the tray and we begin our surprisingly fast (about two minutes) ascent. We pass the other tray going down and suddenly the ground is a long way down!
When we reach the top the forward wall sinks below the water line and disappears and we are free to continue our journey. We tie up to the wall outside the lock and watch the next group of boats enter the tray for their journey down. It appears they are sailing off the edge of the world!
Here is a video of our friends coming up with the video sped up 8X.
We then walk down to tour the visitors center at the halfway point. Such an interesting day!
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