BLAH CITY - SORRY PETERBOROUGH
July 16-19, 2026
So, why did we decide to stay for three nights in Peterborough? That was a question I asked myself on day one. The park adjacent to the marina is FILLED with goose poop. I mean it is everywhere. You literally can’t use the park as every step requires precision. I tried throwing the ball for Bella in the water, but it was no fun.
Not sure you can call Bella a “bird dog” as there were close to 100 geese and all she wanted was her ball to be thrown.
Due to weather, they cancelled the concert that was supposed to happen on Saturday night. It is not a very walkable city as we had to take Bella to the vet to make sure her exposure to this Anaplasma tick disease was not affecting her (it was not-blood test was all good). The walk there and back was through a lot of heavy traffic areas and not a pleasant time.
On a positive note, we did go out with Scott and Amy on Thursday and Friday nights. It was Scott’s birthday on Friday so Scott, Amy, Tim, Noelle, Will and Tony, Howard and I went out for a really nice dinner at a brewery. Had a great time chatting with everyone and got to know folks better.
Peterborough was a mecca for looper boats. I think the day we left, there were close to 20 looper boats in the marina. Well, guess what that meant?!? Yep, everyone decided that July 19 was the perfect day to leave. By the time we got over to the first Peterborough lock, there were 10 boats in line. It took us over three hours to get through that first lock.
The lockmaster at the Peterborough lock was not efficient. It was taking close to 30 minutes to get one set of boats through the lock.
The only redeeming thing about it was that John and Sharon from Once Around had hired a drone pilot to shoot their boat going through the Peterborough Lift lock. We contacted Keegan the pilot and he agreed to shoot the Bella Nova as well (see youtube link below). Opened in 1904, it is one of only two hydraulic lift locks on the Trent Severn waterway.
Finally heading into the first Peterborough lock around 12 p.m. We got there before 9 a.m.