Plans for today were to go as far as Burleigh Falls lock and spend the night on the wall. That lasted until we were part way across Clear Lake. It was such a nice day that we decided to pull in behind Tanner Island and anchor. Kind of a tight spot once the anchor was set but enough room to stay off the rocks. We enjoyed the down time and I even broke down and suggested playing a game of Dominoes!
All was well until just after dinner when another thunderstorm rolled through. This one brought some strong wind and hail the diameter of a fifty cent piece followed by some heavy rain that lasted until 10pm. We both thought the boat would be damaged. Fortunately everything survived intact. During the storm I sat at the helm watching the rain on the radar, listening to the Canadian version of NOAA which broadcasts in both French & English, and had the keys on just in case the anchor decided to lose it's grip on the bottom.
7/19/11 Tuesday So today we thought we'd get to Bobcaygeon and Lock 32. Pam was looking forward to it since she had been told there was a shoe store right near the lock. That plan got derailed when we arrived at the Burleigh Falls lock and pulled in to the Blue Line to await the lock opening and found that the storm had knocked the power out for all of Burleigh Falls including the lock. (This lock is not of the manual variety like some of the others.) Estimated time of opening would be noon. OK. We wait. Of course noon came and went and one of the lock attendants walked down to tell us it would now be 6pm. Uff Da! We did find out though that the General Store was operating on a generator so we walked over and bought some cream for Pam's coffee and an ice cream cone for each of us.
Island church we passed on way to Burleigh Falls
Burleigh Falls General Store.
Finally at 3:30pm they restored power so we locked through and tied off to the upper wall for the night where we were joined by the crew of Coconuts. It was a tough day which deserved a cocktail reward once we were secure!
7/20/11 Wednesday Pam hasn't given up on the shoe store and reminded me of our original plans to stop. We worked our way through the locks along with Coconuts and arrived at Bobcaygeon at 1:15pm in time to get cleaned up and check out the town. It's a nice little town with a few bar/restaurants, the mandatory ice cream shop and of course Bigley's (the shoe store). Shoes, shoes, and more shoes! Plenty to choose from if you wanted to pay the price! To say Pam was disappointed is an understatement. As a consolation we had dinner out at one of the local establishments.
Shoot the gap!
7/21/11 Thursday Hot! Hot! Hot! We left Bobcaygeon at 9:10am and quit for the day at 11:45am above the lock at Fenelon Falls. Of course the decision to stop was made easier because of the recent addition of power outlets on the upper lock wall.
The local sports shop had a sale on water socks so I purchased a pair and walked a block to the beach and went for a swim.
Not exactly Vanna White!
Tourist & Coconuts @ Fenelon Falls
It was so hot the local kids were swimming out to the swing span on the train bridge and jumping off! Try that in the states!
In line to jump off the bridge.
Oh! And Pam found a pair of sandals at one of the local shops! We're all happy now!
7/22/11 Friday A big day today as we transited the Trent Canal and the Kirkfield Lift Lock. The pictures tell the story of the canal. Shallow and narrow with rocks on both sides waiting to slice into the fiberglass on Tourist. Slow is the name of the game in the canal.
Sign stating vessels over 40' must announce a securite' over the VHF as they enter the canal.
Steady as she goes!
Rocks along the edges of the canal.
We are now descending in the locks which made driving into Kirkfield all the more thrilling. Nice view if your nerves can take it!
Approaching Kirkfield Lock.
View from the front of the lock!
Coconuts coming through the Hole in the Wall.
We ended the day tied to the upper wall at Lock 40 with Coconuts. To our surprise a couple from Midland, Ont. who we had met earlier in our travels, walked a mile from the previous lock with their charts in hand to show us some of their favorite places in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Canadian hospitality at it's finest!
Chart review.
We ended the day with a bonfire in the fire pit beside the lock. Bru & Sandy from Coconuts even cooked dinner over the fire! Now that's roughing it!
Lock 40 pyromaniacs.
7/23/11 Saturday An easy day consisting of only two locks and some open water running across Lake Simcoe. A beautiful lake that deserves more time on it than we have. Came through Orchard Point and got waked as bad as I've ever been rocked by some muscle head in a 35 Meridian trying to impress his overly inflated girlfriend. Shortly after we pulled into Port of Orillia Marina. A convenient location to town but a little shy on power on the docks. Every time someone new plugs in the breaker pops. As a bonus the bottom is covered with weeds that grow nearly to the surface. We were told that the bottom had just been mowed. I think the only mowing that took place was by boats coming and going. After we were in our slip the dockhands came around and raked the weeds from behind Tourist.
Pitchfork full of weeds @ Orillia
Later in the afternoon we were met by Bill & Mary Toon, Canadian friends from Florida who had driven over to say hello and go out to dinner.
7/24/11 Sunday We left Orillia at 9am and continued west toward Georgian Bay. Two locks and we were at the Big Chute Railway. Big Chute RR is basically a travellift on rails that you drive the boat into. The staff tightens the slings to steady the boats while they rest on the floor of the rail car. It then travels up, over the road, and down the bank on the other side and deposits the boats back in the water to continue on. Quite an engineering marvel.
Big Chute Railway
Ridin' the Chute
Down the other side.
We pulled in to the courtesy dock above the Chute to walk over and see how this thing operates. It looked
simple enough so we went back to Tourist and marked the spots where the slings should go with painters tape. We cast off and motored over to the Blue line to await our turn. We were third in line behind two smaller boats. When we pulled up it didn't appear as though there was enough room for us. Even so we were motioned in until told to stop. They started to tighten the slings but I quickly protested the placement of the straps since I thought they would be right over our water intakes for the engines. One of the workers got down from his station and looked under the bottom. Once back up he rolled the carriage back into the water and repositioned Tourist so that we wouldn't damage the thru hulls. 7 minutes later we were splashed into the water on the other side of the road. We made a hard right turn and tied up to one of the docks to spend the night. We were joined a short time later by Crawdad and Grianan, two other looper boats.
7/25/11 Monday We awoke to a rainy dreary day. We have a short run of only 15 miles today but one that takes us through a couple of narrow areas and through our last lock of the Trent/Severn system. Not a good picture taking day. We made it through the lock to find the narrowest channel we have seen to date. Fortunately it was only for a short distance but it required my full attention. To further complicate things, once through the lock the bouyage changes form green on the right to red on the right. That lasts until you go a mile and then it changes back to green on the right if you avoid taking the Potato Channel. A lot to think about when you're looking through rain drops.
Anyway we made it safely through and arrived at Queen's Cove Marina in Victoria Harbour, Ont. where we will be for a couple of nights re-supplying and visiting with Bill & Mary who live nearby.
Nice narrative and great pics!
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