After the week in Orillia it was good to be moving again. Not that we've traveled a great distance but we made our way to the end of the Trent-Severn System and the last lock until we reach Chicago. We're now in Midland, Ontario.
What a crazy busy holiday weekend! We thought we could avoid some of it by leaving Orillia and anchoring out for the night at Big Chief Island - which we did - along with about 60 other boats who spent the night. No matter which direction you looked, boats were flocking to the place! And of course there are always a few boats who truly believe their role is to provide music for the entire bay - but hey - it wouldn't be boating without them! Not sure what time they quit - it was an earplug night. As we continued west, the line up of boats coming east was crazy with about 15 boats lined up to enter the lock we had just passed through.
Traveling downstream in the Severn River was a wild ride sometimes when the channel narrowed and all of that water from the drainage area had to go somewhere. The standing waves are an indication of how fast the current was! Our speed when from 6.1 mph to 10.2 - a new record!
Having spent the previous night at Big Chief Island, the quiet of Swift Rapids lock was wonderful. This lock (something like a 49 foot lift) is the largest conventional lock on the system and replaced a marine railway car that was built when the government ran out of money to complete a real lock. We rode this marine railway down back in the 50's - the new lock is much faster! It was again a hot day so we decided to head a short way (like 3 miles) down the Severn River to a small marina and spend the day in running the air conditioner! When it cooled off enough, we put the mast back up after it being down since we first entered the Erie Canal last August! Steve was happy :-)
We found a great place to anchor out again - the Lost Channel. Extremely peaceful - and HOT. Seems the entire east coast is sweltering in the same heat we have had up here. Our great thought was to move the boat closer to shore to take advantage of shade, right? Wrong :-) It was a fiasco - better done now than when we had high winds or heaven forbid - other boaters watching! First we grounded the back of the boat on shore (not intentionally) and with stumps and rock very visible, Steve had to tie a rope to the boat and pull us off. Meanwhile, the front anchor wouldn't hold and we almost drifted back again. Did I mention it was HOT? Anyway, it ended up to be a great place. The third picture was the view out of the little porthole when I woke up.
Big Chute: the most unique lock on the system is not a lock at all but a marine railway. We first went over this railway in the late 1950's when it was much smaller and way less sophisticated! We were the only boat going over so it was easy. We just drove onto the rail car after it was run into the water, the keel of the boat sat flat on the wood floor and the straps kept us from falling over sideways! Over the hill we went and back into the water. Total trip: about 8 minutes. The old rail car? It's actually still there but as of 2005 is no longer used as a backup. If you look closely at the last picture below, my mom is on the front of their Starcraft Chieftan - taken in the early 80's.
Wed night was again spent at a marina in Port Severn - just so we could run the air. Man, was it hot!
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