Where to Watch
The best of it for onlookers is the lock passage at Bobcaygeon, and it happens twice - 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., then again 2:40 to 3:45 p.m. Each time the fleet cycles through in two lifts over about an hour: boats staged, engines down, close enough to talk to. Lock 32 sits in the heart of downtown Bobcaygeon, with good viewing from either side and most people gathering right at the lock walls - no need to pick a spot in advance, and everything else in the village is a short walk away.
The weekend opens Friday, October 2 with the traditional captain and crew reception and barbecue at Birch Point Marina, 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. Saturday's auction and awards dinner is where the hands are drawn and the winners named - nothing is decided on the water. The run, the auction and the giving all come down in the same room.The fleet runs the Trent-Severn in legs, each one ending at a checkpoint. The full day, start to finish — the public is welcome at any of it. Times are approximate and weather-dependent:
• 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. — Birch Point Marina, Bobcaygeon: boats launch, crews check in
• 10:00 a.m. — the fleet departs Birch Point Marina
• Checkpoint 1 — Fenelon Falls Dam — the fleet runs up to the dam and turns for Bobcaygeon, departing at 10:30 a.m.
• Bobcaygeon Lock 32 / Checkpoint 2 — Green Bay — the fleet arrives at the lock at 11:15 a.m., cycles through in two lifts, and regroups at Green Bay just the other side; away by 12:15 p.m.
• Checkpoint 3 — Buckhorn Locks — a brief touch: in at 12:45 p.m., out at 12:50
• Checkpoint 4 — Great Outdoors Landing, Bridgenorth — the lunch stop and the only real layover of the day, 1:15 to 2:00 p.m.
• 2:00 p.m. — south to Tindle Bay, then the loop back toward Bobcaygeon
• Bobcaygeon Lock 32, again — the fleet cycles back through, 2:40 to 3:45 p.m.
• Checkpoint 5 — Ancona Point — departing the locks at 3:45 p.m.
• 4:15 p.m. — the fleet returns to Birch Point Marina and the run concludes
• 7:00 p.m. — Auction and Awards Dinner, Birch Point Marina