Archives July 2023

Day 66 : July 30, 2023. We passed through the final lock (Port Severn #45) on the Trent Severn Waterway this morning completing the 240.6 mile journey through 44 locks that we started on July 8th. So many quaint little towns and friendly people along the way. We did spend 2 nights at Port Severn, before passing through lock 45, not that it had very much to offer! There’s a convenience store, a liquor store and a few restaurants but that’s it. It was a little rainy and the boat needed a good cleaning inside, so we stayed an extra day. We had the pleasant surprise of a flotilla of about 20 canoes coming through on Sunday morning. Apparently, they are traveling from Penetanguishene (say that fast 5 times!) on Georgian Bay to Peterborough between 7/29 and 8/5, arriving to celebrate the opening of the Canadian Canoe Museum. The following day they will paddle to Rice Lake to celebrate with the Hiawatha First Nation.

We pulled up the the blue wall at the final lock around 10:00 am on Sunday, but there was a bit of a traffic jam on the other side such that if they locked us through, we wouldn’t have been able to fit between the boats tied up below. This is the smallest lock in the system with a vertical drop of just 12 feet but it is only 23 feet wide (Legacy is 17.5 feet). The lock masters cycled the lock twice moving boats from below up to our level to make room and directed others not to approach the blue wall until we came through. That was not totally easy for those told to stay back, since there is a bit of a current on the Georgian Bay side of that lock. All worked out fine and we were off into Georgian Bay around 11:20 am.

Georgian Bay is sometimes called the sixth Great Lake. It is 100 miles long and 50 miles wide. The eastern shore where we will cruise for a few days is a different world of islands, inlets, coves and bays laced by complex twisty, turny waterways. The coast is predominantly granite surrounded by stands of pines. This area is known as the “Thirty Thousand Island” region and one of greatest cruising grounds of the world….no salad dressing named after them, however! Since the Great Lakes are non-tidal, depths seem quite true to the charts and routes are well marked. Thankful Canada has a “red line” to follow on the chart plotter, (unlike the US) even if the channels are a bit narrow!

Here’s a couple videos of us navigating through the markers and around the rock islands.

Our destination was Honey Harbor, northwest of Port Severn through a twisty, turny path carved by glaciers oh so long ago, but well marked. One particularly tight spot was Potato Channel where a large boat on the other side waited for us to pass since it wasn’t wide enough for the two of us. We dropped anchor in a nice little cove, just past Mermaid Island before South Bay. Thinking we might swim, we elected to sit on the sun pad instead and make a pina colada….. after all we are on a vacation!

There was a little more boat traffic than we thought there would be, but the locals were returning from the weekend. It was great to take down our fenders and stow them, since we don’t see any more locks in our future for a while! We removed the covers, tied them onto a line and threw them over the side to get rid of some of the caked on lock crud…. super gross! That will be a commercial washing machine job once we arrive in Midland on Wednesday.

Sitting on the bow, we noticed a couple sitting on their pier checking us out as we checked them out….that strange feeling when binoculars meet! We decided to put the dinghy in the water and go say hello. They were the nicest couple! We had an adult beverage and chatted with Mike and Kelly for a couple hours. We learned a bit about the Canadian health system, golden passports and their plans to split their time when they are fully retired between Georgian Bay and Portugal. Their hospitality was over the top! We returned to the boat to grill a steak for dinner as the sun went down and the temperature cooled. It got down to 55 degrees overnight which made sleeping with the generator off and windows open just fabulous! Sunset is below.

It was still a bit cool when we pulled anchor and left around 10:00 am – about 65 degrees headed to a daytime high of 68. Winds were about 5.5 knots from the NE, which was very pleasant. We headed north west to a local favorite anchorage called Hockey Stick Bay at Bone Island, only about an hours run. We were hoping we’d have it to ourselves, but that was not to be. We heard there could be as many as 30-40 boats here on a busy summer weekend, but found around 10 on a Monday. All were very quiet and it was super peaceful. Met some other loopers (Steve and MaryEllen on Remedy from Syracuse) and of course exchanged boat cards. They were also kind enough to give us 5 pages of detailed notes of where to go and what to do in Georgian Bay, since they were coming from the opposite direction and about to head into the Trent Severn through Lock #45.

Tonight will be another relaxing quiet night where we will grill some shrimp and contemplate life in this glorious spot that God made. It’s great being disconnected from day to day news et al in the US. We do get pulled back periodically….. but not tonight!

Day 64: 7/28/2023. We pulled anchor around 8:30 am with completely flat water, no wind but a slight spittiness in the air. Our anchor had a good hold; we could tell from the lots of mud that came up on the chain and anchor – just what we wanted to see having been concerned if the bottom was muddy or rocky. Rock is not good to anchor in and much of these waterways were created by the glaciers oh so long ago, so you find solid rock sides and bottom. Hooray for mud!

On we went to Lock #43 (Swift Rapids) through narrow channels with granite walls opening up to beautiful lakes and homes. Lock 43 is a modern hydraulic lock with a huge 47 foot descent. Built in 1965, it replaced an original marine railway that was built in 1919 as a temporary cost savings measure…. More on that below. Lock 43 has the highest lift of any conventional lock on the system. It is also unique in that once the drainage process starts, it can’t be reversed, so as a safety measure you are not allowed to cleat (tie off) your lines (you must just hold them.) Imagine a line getting stuck and a boat hanging from its lines on the side of the lock. This is also why Gary and I each carry a switchblade as we pass through the locks. Mine is clipped onto my life jacket and his on his belt. In an emergency, you need to be able to cut a line quickly. Final fun fact, the road to the Swift Rapids lock is a rough bush road so the lock staff commute to the lock by boat. It was a fast drop without incident, and interesting to see all the floating foam as we exited. We’ve seen that in North Myrtle Beach before – the foam is organic materials from naturally decaying plants and animals that reduce the surface tension of the water, and when the wind blows across it, or waves wash against the shore, bubbles are produced. Some call it “natural suds.”

The Waubic, located just beyond the Swift Rapids lock east of Flat Rock Point, was a highly recommended local restaurant where we wanted to have lunch, so our timing was perfect. We were concerned we’d be too large to dock, but we arrived around 10:15 with no one there in anticipation of their 11:00 opening. Plenty of dock space and a great conversation with the 80+ year old owner and his wife. We got the first hand history of the place where it started as a boathouse with a hotel in the early 1900’s. That burned down and it changed hands several times, restaurant operators trying to make a go of it. They bought it over 20 years ago, after it sat abandoned and decaying for years and brought it back to life. Originally from England, we enjoyed their sweet accent, hospitality and humor. Well knows for its fish & chips and burgers, neither disappointed! We really enjoyed chatting with them, tossing a frisbee for their 18 month old golden doodle and hanging with the locals. We left with our bellies VERY full, headed to the much anticipated Big Chute.

THE BIG CHUTE! As we headed toward the Big Chute we wound through some currents and rapids and around more wounderful cottages. It was interesting to note that anything on our starboard side was only accessible by water whereas the port side was accessible via a very rustic road.

We arrived at the big chute and took our place on the blue line to wait our turn; there were only 2 little boats in front of us. We had filled out a fact sheet about our boat last night, so they knew we were coming. This is required of all boats if your beam is more than 11 feet. We barely got tied up when they called all 3 of us into the carriage. They wanted one small boat on the front of each side and us directly behind them. We’d be secured in 2 big slings with our keel resting on the bottom of the carriage. You need all your fenders in and to proceed slowly and do what they say. They carefully placed the slings protecting our stabilizers and insuring all 100,000 pounds of us was balanced. These guys and gals were amazing in how quickly and efficiently they got us loaded and transported. It was literally 6 1/2 minutes from getting onto the carriage and into the sling until we were over the other side and on our way! Just wish we had a 3rd hand to take a video and pics from land; Check out the videos below:

A little history: In 1914, contracts were let to have 3 locks built to connect the Severn River to Georgian Bay at Port Severn, Big Chute, and Swift Rapids. With the start of World War I, however, there was a shortage of manpower and resources. Lock 45 at Port Severn (the last one we’ve yet to go through) was nearing completion, so it was finished as a small, “temporary” lock. (It remains in use to this day.) The locks at Big Chute and Swift Rapids were not completed, with “temporary” marine railways built instead. The original Big Chute Marine Railway was completed in 1917, and could only carry boats up to 35 feet long, preventing navigation by large commercial vessels. The Swift Rapids Marine Railwaye was completed in 1919, using the same plans as the Big Chute railway.

In 1921, plans were once again made to build three locks at Big Chute, to be part of a new section of canal which would take boats from Big Chute and rejoin the existing waterway downstream from the Little Chute, avoiding the fast water in the Little Chute. However because of the post-war recession the scheme was put on hold once more. In 1923, the original railway at Big Chute was replaced, as the size and number of boats had increased, with the second carriage being able to carry boats up to 60 feet long. The 1923 carriage was used up until around 2003, on days of extremely heavy traffic, or as a backup for the new carriage. Although the old carriage is no longer used, it remains on display.

In the 1960s, surveys of the area were done yet again. The old, outdated Swift Rapids Marine Railway was replaced with a single conventional lock in 1964, and plans were made for a single lock at Big Chute.

Before construction began the sea lamprey, a parasitic fish native to the northern and western Atlantic which had been devastating the fishing industry in the Great Lakes, was found in Gloucester Pool at the bottom of the railway. Plans for the lock were put on hold. Several ideas were suggested, but no practical solution could be found. By the end of the 1960s, the old marine railway could not keep up with the amount of boating traffic in the area. Long lines formed at either end of the railway, with waits often being overnight. Research was done to find a way to prevent the migration of the sea lamprey into Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, while still effectively increasing the flow of traffic. A biologist sat at the bottom of the railway for days, checking the bottom of boats that locked through, and finally saw a lamprey attached to the bottom of a boat. The lamprey fell off after less than 6 meters, so the railway was determined to be effective at preventing the sea lamprey’s migration. In 1976, it was finally decided that a new, enlarged railway would be built. The current carriage was opened to the public in 1978, and can carry a boat up to 100 feet long and 24 feet wide. It cost $3 million to build .

The railway and carriage work on an “inclined plane” to carry boats in individual cradles over a change of height of about 60 feet. It is the only Marine Railway (or canal inclined plane) of its kind in North America still in use. (Source: Wikipedia)

After the Big Chute, we proceeded through the Little Chute with some interesting currents as well as several small tight channels and large open lakes. We felt like we were back in the Thousand Islands with cottages and homes on islands large and small. Depths varied from 7-8 feet to 90+ feet. We searched for a place to anchor, hoping to recreate the solitude of last night, but didn’t have much luck. One cove we tried was just solid rock on the bottom (after all, it was made by a glacier) and another already had 2 day boats in it (no room for us), so we moved on and grabbed a spot on the wall at Lock 44 (Port Severn). We’ll spend the night here, and likely stay and extra night to do some planning for our travels through the Georgian Bay, do a top to bottom clean of the inside and let the rainy day forecasted for Saturday pass us by.

Day 63 & 64: 7/27 and 7/28. It was such a peaceful afternoon and evening on anchor in McLean Bay. Just what we needed! Calm, clear, deep water and little/no boat traffic.

Just a little reflection as we sit here on the sun pad and watch the sun go down….doing the loop has been more physical work than I anticipated: managing lines and the boat with multiple locks, back to back, day after day; provisioning differently via bicycle in smaller quantities than driving to Sam’s Club and the local grocery store; keeping the place relatively clean; making fresh water underway and opportunistically doing laundry at the same time since the generator is running; keeping up with personal and work email; prepping for and attending meetings. All first world problems! So why do I bring it up? Because it helped me appreciate tonight just sitting at anchor and taking a swim, making dinner just the two of us and watching the sun go down while sitting on the bow listening to music. Sooooooo peaceful! This is what I thought it would be and happy to say, it is!

Thinking of my cousin Rick and Heidi’s daughter Erin and the celebration of her life this weekend in Rockport, MA that we will miss. Erin passed away at age 41 from ALS. Thinking of my own Dad, who passed way too young at age 45 and how he introduced his children to boating and put that love in our souls that we still chase today. He is the inspiration for the name of our boat – Legacy. Thinking how blessed we are to be sitting here having these nostalgic thoughts and missing those who have gone before us.

Feeling blessed to have all of you in our lives, following along on our crazy journey. Missing seeing our kids. Looking forward to seeing Todd and June next week in the beauty of the Georgian Bay.

Day 63: 07/27/2023. Orillia was a larger port than we’ve been in recently with a population of 31,000 and ample restaurants, shops, grocery, liquor store and bakeries nearby. After walking the downtown area and shops on our first day, on our second day we biked to Bridgeport Marina which was right at the entrance of Lake Couchiching from Lake Simcoe where Pam and Jeff on Sea The USA stopped to have a mechanic look at their generator. Their original plan was to proceed with us to the Port of Orillia municipal marina but this trip is no fun without a functioning generator. Port of Orillia has over 200 transient slips, but only about 20% of them were occupied.

It was about a 2.5 mile bike ride each way through a very nice park that we enjoyed watching the kids playing and admired the Canadian commitment to public spaces. The paved “Gordon Lighfoot Trail” links all of Orillia’s waterfront parks. Gordon Lightfoot, most famous for the song about the wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald, was born here. He just recently passed away in May of 2023 at the age of 84.

We arrived at the marina hoping for good news that the mechanic was reinstalling a rebuilt starter that afternoon, but that is not how it went. We decided that an ice cream was in order to drown our sorrows (too early for Jeff’s signature G&T). We biked back and tried to finalize our plans for dinner with 3 other loopers at a highly recommended Italian restaurant (Rustica), but that was also not meant to be – they were fully booked up for the night and could not accommodate us. My hopes for eggplant parmesan were dashed! We punted to dinner at Studabakers, which was okay but unremarkable. The company, however, was superb with Sea the USA, Into the Mystic and Thistle.

The highlight of Gary’s night, however, was neither the food nor the company. When we got back to the boat he tossed in his line and caught 2 fish – first of the season! He and Jeff had been fishing, but not catching, so this was a great triumph for him and redemption of his “Man Card!”

We thought we’d spend 3 nights here but found that 2 was enough and we’d press on to get closer to the Big Chute (lock #44). The Big Chute is a Marine Railway that takes the boat overland and over Route 17 down a 58 foot drop between the Upper Severn River and Gloucester Pool. During much of the season, due to lack of trained staff, they would only move large boats like ours Monday – Friday. We’ve heard rumor that is no longer the case. Unable to verify, we decided to head there and attempt to pass thru the Chute on Friday so as not to have to wait there until Monday. That would also avoid (hopefully) some of the local traffic on the weekend that may travel the chute for fun. It is quite a novel experience and we are looking forward to it. Unfortunately, we had to leave Sea the USA behind as they wait on their starter; we will catch up with them as soon as they are back in action.

Leaving Orillia, it was overcast and a bit misty, but not raining with temps in the mid 70’s and forecast of high of 79. We entered Couchiching Lake and carefully followed the markers, including a section they call the “bowling alley.” The lake is quite shallow and the passage narrow but well marked. Lake Couchiching ends at the mouth of another section of man made canal (another dang rock lined ditch) that we traveled for about a mile until we arrived at the CNR Railroad swing bridge where we waited about 30 minutes for a train to arrive and pass before the bridge was opened. There were 3 boats in front of us and 2 behind but it was easy to stay in place despite the narrow channel with no wind or current. We got a kick out of the sign where the bridge tender tells you when it will open…..”ish.”

In another mile or so all of the boats stacked up at the swing bridge arrived at the Lock 42, which would take us down 21 feet. With too many boats to fit in, we were asked to wait until a first group got through and then lead the second group. Timing was perfect as we had time to make and have lunch. This section of canal is actually the Severn River with varying depths from 7-8 feet to over 35. It is also lined with lovely homes large and small, some with “bunkies.” Check out the particular cute one made from a caboose!

We had our eyes on 2 potential anchorages off of Lake Sparrow prior to lock 43 at Swift Rapids – Deep Bay and McLean Bay. After having such a lovely day cruising, we decided not to tempt fate and try to enter Deep Bay since our charts said the entrance was only 4-5 feet deep and opted for McLean Bay with consistent depths of 10-13 feet. It was a beautiful afternoon for a swim/float and time to enjoy the solitude of this beautiful area!

Tomorrow – onto the Big Chute which will be an experience in itself! See stock photos below!

Day 59: Sunday, 7/23/2023. We left Fenelon Falls around 8:30 am to arrive at the Rosedale lock right at its opening at 9:00 am. We were in the first group to lock through (just a 4 foot lift) and enter Balsam Lake. We had been warned of low water, but found plenty. We were fairly stress free navigating around the south side of Grand Island, arriving at the entrance to the Trent canal.

The Trent Canal is literally a 7 mile trench, affectionately known as a ditch, but officially called a canal that was cut through the rock called the Canadian Shield, a geological feature that covers half the country. You don’t get much more than 6’ of depth in the Canal and although it CAN BE 40’ wide it CAN BE less and the banks slope inward to the center leaving only 25-30’ width of deep water with a granite ledge on the edge. Legacy being 17.5’ wide, that left us just a few feet on either side. When you enter the canal, you are required to make a Securite broadcast on VHF channel 16 to let others know your location, size and direction of travel. This tells someone on the other end of the canal not to enter until you have emerged since 2 boats of our size would not be able to pass in the very narrow channel. We had 2 boats in front of us and 4 behind. We saw depths as low as 5’9” and we draw 5’. Not anticipating a soft sandy bottom, we proceeded slowly. Some areas were so narrow, I could have picked leaves off the trees standing in the gunnels! It was a bit of a harrowing 7 miles made a little more stressful by the boat in front of us, for reasons unknown, kept speeding up and slowing down. We were running at idle speed, so when he slowed down our only choice was to go to neutral and if you are a boater, you know you lose just about all navigational control in neutral. Not good with no room for error!

In total, it was an 18.8 mile run from Fenelon Falls to the Kirkfield lock with some open lakes (albeit still very shallow) and a lot of very shallow granite lined ditch. We were certainly remembering why they made us sign a waiver way back at Lock #1!

Check out the videos below.

We were happy to emerge from the Canal to the Kirkfield lift lock with a lift of 49 feet. Kirkfield is the slightly smaller sibling to the Peterborough lift lock, (where the lift is 65’). It is also the ‘summit of the waterway’ at 840 feet above sea level. Kirkfield was our first lock on the waterway going down, so it’s all downhill from here. This is also the spot that we switch from red buoys being on our right to being on our left. This is one of just 8 of this type of locks in the world, this is 2nd highest behind Peterborough with its smaller brothers and sisters in Belgium, Great Britain and France. Designed by Richard Birdsall Rogers, a Canadian engineer who also designed Peterborough, it was built between 1900 and 1907 and modernized/electrified in the 60’s.

The lock is supposed to work by raising and lowering boats in two steel chambers. Since the beginning of the season, they’ve only been able to run one chamber at a time and rely on pumping the water to move the pistons instead of gravity and the closed water hydraulic system. Each chamber is 140 feet long, 33 feet wide and holds over 230,000 gallons of water weighing 1700 tons. There are 2 chamber rams, each 7.5 feet in diameter plunged into a water filled cylinder and the cylinders are connected by a pipe and a valve in a closed water hydraulic system. Any movement in one chamber forces and equal and opposite movement in the other.

To transfer boats, normally the upper chamber is overbalanced by taking on an additional foot of water. When the valve connecting the hydraulic rams is opened, the heavier (upper) chamber travels downward, forcing the opposite chamber an equivalent distance upward. Sounds like a bath tub see-saw! It doesn’t matter how many or what size boats are in each chamber, since according to Archimedes principle of physics, each boat displaces a quantity of water equivalent to it’s own weight (before the chamber door is closed). For the direction we are headed, you start in the upper chamber and lower 49’. If working as designed, that would be less than 2 minutes, but today was about 30. That’s because it was all done with pumps (the back up system) instead of as designed. 

Once at the bottom, the front wall of the chamber drops down to spill a foot of water back into the canal. Then the lockmaster gives the all clear to proceed out of the chamber. All this happens while we are tied off to the horizontal rails, but are completely hands free of any responsibility while in the lock. There is no turbulence, unlike the other locks we’ve been in, because they are moving the entire chamber, not the water.

When we arrived, there were 5 or 6 smaller boats, us and 4 or 5 larger boats but smaller than us. The lockmasters goal is to move as many boats as possible in each trip, so they asked us to go first into the lock and filled it was as many of the smaller boats as they could, including a sailboat in sideways. Unfortunately, this left us separated from the boats we were traveling with by almost 2 hours – half an hour to get us down, 10-15 minutes to reload the lock, an hour back up, 10-15 minutes to reload and another half hour for them to come down.

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Leaving Kirkfield, we entered Canal Lake, a very shallow man made lake through the “Hole in the Wall” bridge. Our charts and guide books indicated good anchorage there with 10-12 feet of water but every time we moved out of the channel toward a potential spot, our depth sounder told us otherwise. We pressed on through all of Canal Lake and 2 more locks until we arrived at a lock wall with room for all of us at Lock #38 – Talbot. The lockmasters were super accommodating and made room so that Legacy, Sea The USA and Into the Mystic could all fit in for the night.

There were 3 Canadian boats there on holiday and lets just say they were quite the hoot! It was a long day for all of us and they welcomed us right into their ongoing party. 

We will stay here a day with thunderstorms in the forecast in the afternoon then on through 3 more locks to Lake Simcoe and onto the highly anticipated town of Orillia.

Day 61; 07/25/2023. We’ve been on the loop for 2 months having left on 5/25/2023. Fun to see our progress with the push pins on the map.

The forecast for severe thunderstorms on 7/24 kept us an extra day in Talbot. We ended up with a few scattered showers and thunder rumbling off in the distance, but the big storms never really appeared. We felt it was better safe than sorry since the next leg of our trip would take us across Lake Simcoe, which apparently can be pretty nasty in high winds and weather. That’s okay – we were safe and got a good walk in around the lock. There was nothing but farmland out there once you left the Canal property – soybean as far as the eye can see!

With sunshine and literally no wind, we locked through Trent Severn locks 38 (Talbot), 39 (Portage), 40 (Thorah) and 41 (Gamebridge) to reach Lake Simcoe, descending a total of 51 feet. All 4 locks covered about 2 1/2 miles so they were one right after the other, separated by a man made canal which was literally a trench with gravel on either side only about 6-8 feet deep. There was more room than a couple days ago through the granite blasted canals, but not by a ton. We followed Karma (another looper in a 49’ Grand Banks) the whole way. If he could get through, we could too, but it was wise to go slow. We were both churning up some mud and could tell we were gathering weeds on our props and rudders, but neither of us bumped the bottom. We were quite happy to reach Lake Simcoe and it’s deep, open, clear water!

It was about a 2 hour run across Lake Simcoe and it was as flat as a pancake the whole way. As Gary said, we saw more waves in the bathtub locks! We arrived at Orillia around 2:00 pm and once we got settled in, headed out on our bikes to explore the town a bit and pick up some provisions. We will spend 3 nights here then off through Lake Couchiching, Sparrow Lake, Swift Rapids, the Severn River and onto the Big Chute Marine Railway. 45 locks in all on the Trent Severn, we’ve been through 41.

Day 58: Saturday, 7/22/2023. We spent a beautiful 2nd day in Fenelon Falls where we both found a place to get a haircut, walked the town, did our final provisioning and roasted a whole turkey (yup – far better for you than the processed luncheon meat from the deli)! We were sitting in the cockpit in the afternoon while the turkey cooked and it proved to be quite interesting! As I mentioned before, experience levels of boaters varies greatly and that was totally on display! It was bumper cars with Gary fending of a little ski boat where the driver should not have been on the water. It wasn’t just us he was careening off of, and his reaction to fix it was to go faster. It was a total mess of a traffic jam with 8-10 boats in a very narrow channel with lots of yelling and screaming – all avoidable if everyone had just followed some standard rules of the road for entering and exiting a lock.

After all settled down, we decided to forego the trip to the little local museum and just watch the crazies in the day boats and make pina coladas. Being a Saturday, it was crowded and this was probably a good defensive play!

We were able to get to tickets to the outdoor theater to see “The Comedy of Errors” Saturday night – an early work of Shakespeare that they reset in New Orleans at Mardis Gras and added a little audience participation and a few more puns . It was “interesting” as Shakespeare can be hard to follow, but we all enjoyed it and were impressed with the talent of the cast. We were particularly thankful for the bug spray we brought! The theater is within walking distance so we got a little exercise as well. After speaking to the locals, we chose a restaurant (Murphy’s) for dinner before the show. Although most of our restaurant experiences have been good, this one passed the test of “I’d come back and order that again” on all four of our meals.

Tomorrow – we are up and out early with the goal of getting either ‘to’ or ‘through’ the Kirkfield Lock #26 – about 25 miles. Kirkfield is the 2nd lift lock (see-saw bathtub) on the Waterway with a vertical lift of 49 feet. See my earlier post on how the Peterborough lift lock works – they are the same and it is quite fascinating.

Day 56 & 57: Thursday was another beautiful day of mild weather and pleasant breezes. I still had a 1/2 day of meetings followed by a couple calls later in the day, so many in our informal flotilla headed out to Fenelon Falls on Thursday, a day ahead of us. Gary needed to change the oil in the generator and I was committed to atleast walking into each of the cute shops I saw in downtown Bobcaygeon, so our afternoon was busy. You are only supposed to stay on this wall 2 days, but we “asked nicely” for a 3rd and our request was granted. Being mid week and not very busy, I’m sure it was a factor. The nights have been great for sleeping with the generator off and windows open. The temperature dips down into the mid 50’s overnight but then comes a mid 70’s day of sunshine in the morning!

Wednesday night we enjoyed “little beers” which we learned is a looper tradition. It’s a shot of Licor 43 topped with some heavy cream so it looks like a beer. Jeff and Lisa on Bomerang had been searching for Licor 43 and finally found it! So the crews of Boomerang, Sea The USA, Witness, Into the Mystic and Legacy enjoyed the tradition along with the traditional toast: “There are good ships, and wood ships and ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships and may they always be!”

Thursday night we were treated to a free concert in the park right at the lock. The locals came out with their lawn chairs and sat on both sides of the canal. We sat on the bow of the boat on the sun pad a short distance away. The concert was cut short by rain as a very strong storm came through with wind gusts exceeding 25/30 knots. We enjoyed some time on the bow and then inside when the rain started with Sherry and Doug on Thistle, who arrived today.

Friday morning we were off to find the pump out station at Birch Point Marina which was a very tight squeeze in and out. Weather was cool and overcast (very gray) but thankfully no wind to make that narrow passage more difficult.

The journey to Fenelon Falls was just 15.4 miles through Sturgeon Lake. No one knows why it’s called Sturgeon Lake, since there’s never been any sturgeon in it. We enjoyed it’s deep water and many boathouses and beautiful homes on the way, despite the lack of any sunshine. Fenelon Falls is said to be a prime tourist and cottage town in the heart of Kawartha Lakes – “the jewel of the Kawarthas.” The town is said to be named after Abbe Fenelon who fell over the falls in the late 1600’s. We seem to have a pattern here – lakes named after tragedies!

We were advised that Fenelon Falls is the last place that provisions are available until you reach Lake Simcoe, 27 miles and 7 locks away….so we made a list and checked it twice! Found a nice farmers market before heading over to the grocery store.

In Fenelon Falls, we are 153 miles along the 240 mile journey on the Trent Severn Waterway to the Georgian Bay. There is a forecast for docktails tonight with a bunch of loopers here on the wall. Jeff found fresh coconut so we are off in search of some fresh pineapple for pina coladas. After all, it is the weekend!

We will spend 2 nights here then off to Kirkfield or Bolsover, where we will start our downward descent in the locks. So far, each lock has taken us up. Soon we will start going down. At that point, the ‘red on right returning’ flips and we need to keep red on our left since we are no longer returning!

We are only a few days away from the “Big Chute,” but more on that later!

Day 54: As we pulled out of Burleigh Bay to lock through at Burleigh Falls (Lock 28), Jeff and Pam noticed they were not pumping water through their engine, which is what cools the engine….so that was a bad thing! After a quick clear of the weeds in the intakes, all was fixed and we were off to be part of the first group to lock through #28 at 9:00 am. Burleigh Falls (#28) has a vertical lift of 24 feet. This used to be two locks, but was combined into one in 1968, so there is no lock 29.

The lock master at #28 packed four of us in like sardines. I’d say we were too snug (see below), but it all worked out. Being a newer lock, there was less turbulence, otherwise this might have ended badly. We were off into Buckhorn Lake on a twisty turny 3 mile path between rock islands, ledges and shallow spots to Lock #30 (Lovesick). We were traveling in a neat line of four boats with us at the rear, so we followed our charts and the path of the boats in front of us carefully. We were happy to be behind other boats with them conveying to us water depths they were seeing. This was much appreciated as we draw more water than any of our predecessors. We draw 5 feet and were traveling through areas with water as low as 7.5 feet.

We made the executive decision to let the 3 other boats go ahead into Lock 30 (Lovesick) and we’d lock through after them with a fifth boat, not quite so crammed and a lot less chance of damage. That was a lot less stressful through the remaining 3 locks. We went through 3 lakes (Buckhorn, Lovesick, and Pigeon) each with different characteristics and stress levels to arrive at Bobcaygeon, a very cute little town with some intriguing shops, great restaurants and all else we would need.

What a name: Lovesick Lake! Legend says Lovesick Lake got it’s name in the 1800’s when Polly Cow, daughter of a handsome and charismatic native chief named Jack Cow, fell in love. Sadly, she was rejected by the one she loved, heartbroken and fled to a deserted island on the lake where she nearly died from lovesickness. No one knows what ultimately happened to Polly, but the name stuck…..since that’s the story printed on the menu of Lovesick Cafe, it must be true!

Another fun fact: Buckhorn (lock 31) is the halfway point of the Trent Severn 240 mile Waterway to reach the Great Georgian Bay. Yahoo – so we are half way there!

Buckhorn is also the first lock for many houseboat charters who are headed in or out of Pigeon Lake. This being their first experience driving a boat and/or going through a lock, the Lockmasters are well aware of this and have the houseboats line up on the blue line (lock waiting area) and walk the houseboats through the lock with their engines off, away from other boaters; this theoretically prevents bumper cars!

The last leg before Lock 32 and our arrival at Bobcaygeon was Pigeon Lake. We were happy to see open deep waters and can see why this lake is home to most of the houseboat rental companies – less obstacles! As we approached Bobcaygeon, the waterfront homes became quite impressive.

We’ll spend a couple days here since I have a 1.5 day BOD meeting. In case you were wondering what that looks like, here is my office set up on the boat!

Day 53: Left our spot on the Lakefield wall at the 98.7 mile mark around 8:00 am with a light breeze and flat seas. No rain in the forecast so it looked like a beautiful day to navigate the multiple lakes ahead of us. The river/canal was super narrow with granite/rock walls on either side and low bridges. We were glad that was a short run as we entered Lake Katchewanooka passing through Lock #27 (Youngs Point) with a 7’ lift. It was a bit of a traffic jam at Lock #27 and ended up rafting 3 across with a rental houseboat, who thought this was great fun, as we waited for other boats to lock through.

This is an area with a lot of rental houseboats and lets just say their boating experience is quite mixed! There was a little bit of bumper cars going on when one houseboat found his reverse no longer worked. He just slightly clipped the corner of our swim platform and of course felt awful. It’s literally a scratch but I can only imagine the fear in his heart as the rental boat he just lost control of is heading toward our boat! It all ended fine!

Lake Katchewanooka was quite open and beautiful with decent depths – we even hit our cruising speed of about 9.5/10 knots. Lake Katchewanooka feeds into Clear Lake which was also open and beautiful so it was more cottage gazing in the open water vs. winding narrow rivers. At the end of Clear Lake, you reach an area of tight turns around rocky islands called Hells Gate. It was very different than Hells Gate in NY where the currents all collide and smaller boats can find themselves running down river sideways. There was no current to speak of and although very intimidating on the charts, the channels were very well marked with plenty of water.

It was a easy gorgeous ride checking out the island cottages, boat houses and even a church on an island with a pier for the parishioners to come by boat on Sunday mornings in July and August. Built in 1914, it’s called St. Peter’s-on-the-Rock Anglican Church.

As we approached Lock 28 at Burleigh Falls we spotted a small cove just before the lock and decided to drop anchor there, have a swim, get out the floats and explore a bit in the dinghy. It was our first swim and float of the year. We rafted up with Jeff and Pam on Sea The USA, but being Floridians they thought we were a bit crazy to be thinking about jumping in, which we did. Jeff put his toes in the water; that was enough for him!

It was a lovely night filled with Pam’s margaritas and their “Dick Lane”chicken, corn on the cob, caprese salad and brownies. Tomorrow, we are off to traverse Lovesick. Buckhorn and Pigeon Lakes to Bobcaygeon where we will spend a couple days since I have a 1.5 day BOD meeting and Gary will certainly see if there is a golf course to challenge him.