Anyone run the Trent-Severn Waterway?

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I have gone back and forth on what boat I want to buy and am seriously thinking about a 23-25 bowrider with an enclosed head and full camper top as my next boat, perhaps a late model Yamaha AR240 or Chaparral 230 Suncoast.

One of my bucket-list trips would be a two week trip to Canada, one week running the Trent-Severn Waterway and one week with a rental home on the Georgian Bay. I'm wondering if anyone has run a significant portion of the Trent-Severn in a bow-rider style boat? I have taken a quick look at the Trent map, and I'm thinking that with a week along the Trent we could probably get a room for five of the nights and camp on the boat the other two nights.

It's hard to find any trip logs on anyone making this trip in a smaller boat, although several folks with 22'-25' C-Dories have posted info on their trips on the C-Brats website. Granted the C-Dory, while the same size, is an enclosed boat that is more designed for this type of adventure.

Any thoughts?

Jim

 

[swatski]

I'll be watching this thread! I'm very interested in this trip as well.

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[PEARCE]

From what I've seen, most, if not all of the Trent-Severn is a no wake waterway. I would think a boat that is comfortable to drive and safe to ride in at those speeds for long periods of time would be ideal. Something with a prop and skeg/rudder I would think and not a jet unfortunately. I'd check out Boating with Bogaboo on YouTube to get a taste of what it's like and what most of the boat types are.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I have watched the Boating with Boogaboo videos for quite a while. Their videos are one of the reasons I would like to travel the Trent-Severn. Dream was once to get a 30-34 foot SeaRay Express Cruiser as it would be big enough to stay on for extended periods of time and still be within the oversize width and high limits to have professionally hauled to different bodies of water. LOL, that dream faded when we decided to pour so much of our money into our retirement dream house.

The Trent-Severn is about 240 from one end to the other and would make a good one week transit. I think for this type of transit I would want a full enclosure and a head and that it would be doable in a SX240/AR240 but would be even better with a Chaparral 230/250 Suncoast. The Chap's usually come with 200 - 300 hp Yamaha outboards.

Jim

 

[Chillypilot]

I’ve gone from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay in my 230. Absolutely no issues. You can camp at locks and there is accommodations along the waterway. The whole thing would be a great trip.

 

[blackfx]

I haven't run the whole Trent-Severn but been in various sections of it. There are some beautiful areas at both ends of it as well. At the east end of Lake Ontario there's Sandbanks Provincial Park with camping and massive sand dunes running right into the water as well as the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River with some great boating. We have a place rented there this August.
At the Georgian Bay end there's great boating in the Gloucester Pool and the 10,000 islands near Parry Sound in Georgian Bay.
Navigating it in any boat shouldn't be a problem since it's narrow and slow. There's every size boat on there.
One thing to plan ahead for is the timing of the locks closing. For instance, say that the Big Chute lock closes at 4pm. You may need to arrive there much earlier to get through since there could be a big lineup on certain days. On the other hand, if you didn't get through, you could just camp on the side that you're on.
Plan to go in July- August for good swimming water temps. The water is clean and beautiful.

 

[Unsinkable-Two]

We only did part of it, basically from Lakefield toward Georgian Bay. There are a lot of no-wake zones.

We decided to stay in a hotel and move the boat to the next section at the end of the day. The locks are easy, but they take time, so the truck and trailer speed things up as you can avoid the sections with lots of locks close together.

The pic is entering Hells Gate on our 2012 242 Limited, an excellent boat for the trip.

 

[212s]

FYI - due to covid many of the facilities are closed or reduced. Most if not all of the lock-side camping is closed. Last fall the lower part of the system was closed for repairs or updates to locks and you couldn't navigate the entire system end to end. Not sure what the status will be this spring yet. Keep an eye on the official site for 2022 news and info:

Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site

Salute human ingenuity navigating the heritage canals and locks along the 386 km Trent-Severn Waterway, connecting the playgrounds of Lake Ontario and Lake Huron.

www.pc.gc.ca

 

[Kevin-yyz]

From what I've seen, most, if not all of the Trent-Severn is a no wake waterway. I would think a boat that is comfortable to drive and safe to ride in at those speeds for long periods of time would be ideal. Something with a prop and skeg/rudder I would think and not a jet unfortunately. I'd check out Boating with Bogaboo on YouTube to get a taste of what it's like and what most of the boat types are.

I did the trip between Couchiching and Severn a few years back on a 242x....lots of open water on plane...lots at no wake....was about 5 hours to get to georgian bay, with a stop for lunch. great trip.