Kawartha Voyageur

Exploring the Waterways of Ontario aboard Kawartha Voyageur — A Look Back to a 1997 Cruise

By Theodore W. Scull

This article is a look back at Ted’s Kawartha Voyageur cruise in 1997, in a story he wrote for the now sadly defunct “Cruise Travel” magazine.

Good to know some things haven’t changed much!

Kawartha Voyageur approaches a lock on the Rideau Canal. * Photo: Ted Scull

A glance at the map of Ontario Province shows the land lying between the Great Lakes Huron and Ontario laced with watery patches and meandering streams.

Map of southeast Ontario. * Map: www.britannica.com/place/Great-Lakes/

To encourage the region’s commerce and tourism, 19th-century Canadian visionaries joined them with a series of short canals and 43 locks into the continuously navigable 240-mile Trent-Severn Waterway.

Ontario’s 240-mile Trent-Severn Waterway from Port Severn to Trenton.

In 1982, a farming family named Ackert went into the cruise business by offering overnight trips here and along the 125-mile Rideau Canal, the latter connecting Kingston and Ottawa, Canada’s former and present capital.

They named their one-boat company Ontario Waterway Cruises.

Between mid-May and mid-October, the 38-passenger Kawartha Voyageur offers three different five- and six-night itineraries.

At first sight, the trim blue and white vessel, docked at a downtown Peterborough marina, resembled an overgrown houseboat.

Stepping aboard Kawartha Voyageur (in 1997)

The main deck corridor led to 19 outside cabins, minute by deep-sea cruise ship standards. Seventeen doubles are fitted with twin beds, open shelves, pipe racks for hanging clothes, a curtained-off sink and toilet and a large screened window that opened.

Commodious showers with dressing rooms are located along the passageway (there are no showers in cabins). Two additional cabins cater to the handicapped and single traveler.

On the deck above, a cheerful observation lounge occupies the forward end with a one-sitting dining room amidships and a tiny library alcove off to the side. Aft is the galley and crew quarters for eleven — captain, first mate and an all-female hotel and deck staff.

An open deck above runs the full length, and additional covered decks are located fore and aft on the main deck.

Suellyn & Ted Scull on the boat’s open top deck

The Passengers aboard Kawartha Voyageur (in 1997)

On average, the mostly retired passengers are equally divided between Canadians and Americans who come to enjoy a slow-paced, scenic cruise with other genial folks.

Many passengers return to complete all three itineraries — Peterborough-Big Chute, Peterborough-Kingston, and Kingston-Ottawa.

Bill Huus, a former Sandy Hook pilot in New York harbor, delights in the complexities of navigating narrow channels, fast flowing rivers and broad lakes.

Kay Stevens has made seven trips and finds continually intriguing settings to photograph — a camp tucked into the trees, an osprey nest just off the water, a canal slicing right through the center of town and all manner of passing craft.

Mal Horton, a retired engineer, enjoys the engineering marvels of a pair of hydraulic lift locks built at the turn-of-the-century.

Rideau Canal slices right into Ottawa, Canada’s capital. * Photo: Ted Scull

An hour into the cruise, the Kawartha Voyageur encountered one such massive concrete structure and slid into an open chamber, and while the gates closed behind, several small boats settled into a second parallel tub 65 feet above.

Without getting too complicated, an extra foot of water in the upper chamber caused it to descend while raising its opposite. And so, soon passengers standing at the stern were peering over a precipice to the channel far below.

The rhythmic process was witnessed by dozens of onlookers from the shore.

And being by far the largest vessel in these parts, we got accustomed to being ogled as if we were the giant liner Queen Mary gliding through Lilliputian land.

A mighty horn and steam whistle announced our presence, and small boats darted into tiny coves to let us pass.

Kawartha Voyageur is a Family-Operated Affair

Captain Marc Ackert, along with his brother John, comprise the second generation to own and operate the boat, while their wives Heather and Joy do the supplying and run the home office in Orillia, the largest town we visited.

When the boat was tied up at a marina, they would often show up, with one or more children in tow, to bring needed stores and to socialize.

Dining aboard Kawartha Voyageur

The dinner meats came from the family butcher, such as baked ham with candied yams, chicken breasts in melted Swiss cheese with brown and wild rice, and farm sausages with sauerkraut. The bran muffins, banana bread, lemon meringue pie and English trifle were all baked on board.

While there was no choice of menu, most passengers eat this kind of food at home, so the only “no thank you” would be for seconds.

Menus are the closest thing to home cooking.. * Photo: Ted Scull

Views & Excursions along the Way

During the day, intrepid Captain Marc Ackert took us ashore to the 19th-century home of Stephen Leacock, Canada’s Mark Twain.

Captain Ackert warned us to sit down when we were about to pass under a low bridge, offered freshly baked cookies to lock masters to speed our way through 22 locks, and entertained us at the keyboard one night after dinner.

The boat ties up at night and passengers can go ashore. * Photo: Ted Scull

He let us loose on small canal towns to shop or search for historical curiosities and told us when we might go for a walk between closely spaced locks.

We tied up at night, usually adjacent to a quiet park.

After breakfast, we got under way, threading along wooded waterways dotted with summer camps, cruising areas well away from human habitation, then suddenly coming to a vast expanse of water to cross before entering yet another twisting channel.

On the final morning, we docked adjacent to the Big Chute Marine Railway, an ingenious mechanism for lifting boats around a Severn River waterfall.

Boats slid into a submerged transfer platform, and once tied down, the structure rose on rails out of the water. It then crossed a highway protected by gates and flashing lights then descended to settle back into the river below.

The Kawartha Voyageur used to ride this contraption to reach Georgian Bay, but since being enlarged to 108 feet, the marine railway has become the end of the line for Kawartha Voyagerr.

The Marine Railway lifts and lowers boats between Lake Ontario and the canal system. * Photo: Ted Scull

What took five days to cover by water, was but two and a half hours by bus, returning passengers to their cars or to connecting transportation.

Kawartha Voyageur Booking Info

For up to date per person fares, including the single cabin, for the five-night and Spring Plus six-night, one-way cruises, including tax and cancellation premium, check with the line.

Ontario Waterway Cruises, Box 6, Orillia ON, Canada L3V 6H9. Reservations 800-561-5767.