Penetanguishene, Ontario

On Monday, August 6, we finally arrived in the much anticipated Georgian Bay!  We left our lovely anchorage in the Lost Channel at 8:45 after each of us enjoyed some paddleboarding.

We had two more locks to go through before we completed all 45 locks on the 125.6 mile long Trent-Severn Waterway.  The Big Chute is truly the most unique one of all.  This lock is a railroad-style lift that actually hoists the boats up on straps and wheels them over a rocky cliff to the other side.

We tied up Zendo before entering the lock and walked over to watch the Big Chute in action.  It was an amazing sight!  It is the biggest lift of its kind in North America.  We were lucky to arrive when we did because the day before it broke down stranding dozens of small and large boats for the night!

Having satisfied our understanding, we took a place on the blue line where we lined up to wait our turn to load onto the lock.  The lockmaster determines who goes and when based on how many boats of varying sizes can be accommodated.  In our case, we had to wait until two other groups went ahead off us.  When it was our turn, they assigned two 28 foot boats in front with two jet skis behind them and our boat alone in the back in the middle.  The lock tenders ride alongside on the lift as well. The lift brought us all up and out of the water and over a rocky ledge then slowly lowered us into the water on the other side.  All this took only eight minutes and was an incredibly cool experience.

We took off for the last lock of our journey, the Port Severn lock.  This was the smallest lock of all of them.  We had to wait almost two hours at the lock wall to go through because it can only accommodate a small number of boats.  So we chatted with fellow lockmates and had lunch.  While waiting, Lynn happily discovered how to retrieve the blog posts that occasionally disappear on her causing her to have to do numerous rewrites.

When it was finally time for us to load, we were packed in like sardines. So much so that our dinghy was touching the back wall of the lock. Also, one of the lock tenders acted as a human fender to prevent our boat from knocking into the one next to us.  Of all the locks we’ve been through, we’ve never been packed in like at this one!

When we exited that lock, we officially entered the Georgian Bay!  We went through the Potato Channel where it was very important to follow the narrow and winding passage through numerous rocky outcroppings  above and below the surface of the water.

As we entered the open bay, we left the small boat channel and headed towards our anchorage for the evening.

Our anchorage for the night was in Penetanguishene Harbor opposite the Discovery Village complete with 18th century schooners.   It was a beautiful setting with only a sailboat joining us in the calm waters there.

Lynn made a delicious chicken curry in her Smart Pot with chick peas, cauliflower and peas.  We had a pleasant dinner on the aft deck.  Anchoring out in these pristine anchorages is truly our favorite thing!

Lost Channel, Ontario

We got a late start on Sunday, August 5 as Lynn was having trouble loading two days of  her blog entries which ended up loading the Orillia entry out of order with the one from Fenelon Falls.  We did get to use the shower facilities at the Starport Marina and while Lynn was fussing with the blog, Jonny invited one of our dockmates aboard to see Zendo.  

We finally took off across Lake Simcoe bound for an anchorage further along the Trent-Severn.  Boat traffic was heavy due to the great weather and the holiday weekend.  We passed a lot of “cottages” which are getting bigger as we go.  Some even have seaplanes parked next to their boats!  Many have garages for their boats.

Georgio is keeping a very low profile hiding under a chair and not doing his usual early morning crying or wandering.  He is either very contrite or in shock from his late night excursion. We hope it scared him enough to stay put!

After crossing the northeast corner of Lake Simcoe we entered a narrow portion of the Trent Canal and cruised past the city of Orillia (the biggest one on the Trent-Severn).

We got stuck behind a swing bridge while waiting for two very long freight trains to pass. 

We cruised through Sparrow Lake where the trees started changing from deciduous to mostly fir trees and the rocky landscape of this northern section became more apparent.

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We started looking for an anchorage before the Big Chute lock and found a lovely spot in Lost Channel (great name)!  It was calm and serene with a few cottages in sight but also a significant piece of undeveloped wooded shoreline.  Once we set the anchor we realized that the house on the point lot was entertaining for the weekend (all the blow-up toys and small watercraft should have been a clue for us)!  They had their music cranked up.  It was loud but not too obnoxious.  We considered moving for about a minute but it was already 6:00 and we didn't want to bother.  

So we settled in and went for a wonderfully refreshing swim and cooked burgers on the grill.  The music ended before too long and we ended up having a blissfully calm night.

Fenelon Falls, Ontario

We were the first in line at the Burleigh Falls lock wall on Friday, August 3.  The locks opened at 9 a.m.  We went through with a houseboat and a few other boats and proceeded on to Lovesick(!) and Buckhorn locks before arriving in Bobcaygeon at about 1:30.  We had hoped to stop at this active and popular town especially known for its shoe store right by the lock.  But, as predicted by everyone we spoke with, the town was very busy with lots of boats and people on the long weekend holiday.  This was definitely the busiest place we’ve seen during our whole time in Canada.  We wanted to stop at the famous shoe store but there were no places on either side of the lock to tie up so we continued on our journey.

We are trying to decide where and how to store the boat for the winter.  Jonny was calling several places from Norfolk to Delaware City to get quotes so we can decide soon.

Our cruise took us past more attractive lakeside homes.  They are getting bigger and more numerous and almost all with colorful Adirondack chairs.

Before too long locks we arrived st the Fenelon Falls lock wall.  Miraculously, we found a spot in a premier location overlooking the falls.  

We tied up behind Ron and Diane who were very friendly.  This area is not as crazy busy as Bobcaygeon but it was in high spirits due to the holiday weekend.  The stores and lock were decorated and in the park next to the lock preparations were underway for a War of 1812 re-enactment.

We walked into town to the local pub to have a beer and decided to stay for dinner.  We strolled around to check out this lovely town and later returned to Zendo. 

As we were getting ready for bed, the boat that had pulled in behind us put on their very noisy generator.  Ron came by for Jonny to show him Active Captain.  Ron was extremely annoyed with the guy with the generator and thein Jonny became annoyed.  The sound of the generator was completely obliterating the natural sound of the nearby falls and the peacefulness of the setting.  Jonny tried to knock on the door of the offending boat but no answer.  It was so loud that Jonny tried to sleep in the V berth to get further away from the noise.

Orillia, Ontario

Before we left the attractive lock wall at Fenelon Falls on Saturday, August 4, Lynn wanted to see the 1812 re-enactment in the park next to us.  Even though it was not scheduled to begin until 11 a.m. participants had been gathering since the day before and a number of them had stayed overnight in tents.  They were already in costume and setting up their areas so we strolled through and talked to a few of them.  One was chopping wood, another was cooking over an open fire.  There were all kinds of festivities planned for the day but we decided to move on.

We tied up at the blue line of the Fenelon Falls lock around 9:30 and went through the lock with three other boats.  This was a busy day of locking.  We went through a total of eight locks, almost always with a full load.  It was slow going as we had to wait for all the boats to load and sometimes we had to wait for the locks to open. The Kirkfield Lift Lock was the coolest because we started at the top on a huge tray and dropped down smoothly from there.  We didn’t have a bird’s eye view at the front of the lock but it was still a trip.

We cruised through Balsam Lake early in the day but most of the time we were on the very narrow Trent Canal which had been blasted out of rock and was not more than 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep.  It was lined with cottages whose owners were out in full force enjoying the beautiful weather  and holiday weekend.  People were swimming off their docks very close to the passing boats since the waterway was so narrow.  

Fortunately, the few boats that passed us going the opposite way were very small.  Frankly we don’t know how we would have handled a 60 foot boat coming in the opposite direction.

We had friendly lockmates throughout the day and one told us about a great marina near where we planned to anchor that was offering free dockage for transients this weekend!  So we called and they confirmed that they still had space.

We wanted to get across Lake Simcoe today because it was expected to be a rougher passage the following day.  Lake Simcoe is huge - the biggest body of water we’ve seen since Lake Ontario.  It was fun to be out in the wide open spaces having spent so much time in twisty turning narrow passageways.

We arrived at the Starport Marina at 6:30.  It’s the only marina we’ve ever seen where all the slips are covered.  They directed us to one at the very end of this large marina.  All the boats were docked stern in so they could take advantage of the picnic tables on all the docks.   But we had such a hard time making the turn in a tight space to go stern in that we said the hell with it and went bow in which is our usual practice anyway.

We had a relaxing drink to recuperate from our long day.  Jonny went to shower while Lynn made a dinner of crab cakes, boiled potatoes and green beans.  All was good until we looked for Georgio who had disappeared.  We spent the next hour looking in all of his typical hiding places then walking the docks and the surrounding grounds in the dark to find him.  As of 10:30, no Georgio.  We didn’t think he would go on the dock because there is quite a gap between our boat and the small finger piers. We were getting frantic but finally, hoping that he would return, we tried to go to sleep.  Around midnight we heard him jump back aboard and need less to say we were incredibly relieved!  He is definitely getting bolder and we will need to be much more careful going forward!

Burleigh Falls, Ontario

We left Peterborough Marina at 8:30 on Thursday August 2 so we could be on the blue line waiting for the luck to open.  There were so many boats in the marina that we didn’t want to be stuck in a long queue.  Luckily we bought, we were the first in line!  This was the Peterborough Lift Lock, the largest of its kind in the country.  Boats actually tie up onto a huge tray and the entire tray is lifted up to the higher water level while the tray across from it is lowered.  It’s an amazing piece of equipment and is definitely one of the gentlest locking experiences we have had. Jonny had taken photos f it from land the day before.  You don’t get quite the same view of it from inside but we have photos of both.

We went through a total of seven locks, many of them within a mile of each other. For most of them, we were with the same boats  - one was a big refurbished houseboat.  They are usually hard to control especially in the confines and turbulence of locks, but the owner of this one was very capable.  Here’s a photo of the houseboat next to the lift lock.

Everywhere we go people are so friendly.  We received some more advice about towns to visit and where to rent a car in the Georgian Bay for our upcoming side trip to Toronto. 

We were torn between anchoring in Stoney Lake (called that for good reason) or by the lock wall in Burleigh Falls.  We cruised through Stoney Lake but didn’t find a good place to anchor immediately due to the number of rocks and cottages. 

So we went on to check out the lock wall in Burleigh Falls.   It was located in a very small area with what looked like minimal grounds to explore and it was also next to a highway.  Fortunately, we found a good wide open anchorage just around the corner and set our anchor there.  Our anchorage was in a very pleasant spot with no other boats around and within view of the lock so we could make another early start.    

Lynn spent an hour with Verizon getting them to fix the fact that she was not receiving any phone calls.  To relax, we each took turns paddleboarding on the calm waters.  Jonny made a delicious omelet for dinner with the colorful mushrooms from the farmer’s market.  And after another fabulous sunset we called it an early night.  As of this date, we have gone through 27 locks on the Trent-Severn and have 17 more to go.  We’re past the halfway point in numbers of locks and a little under halfway through in terms of mileage with 114 miles traveled out of the 240 mile waterway.