We left Couchching Lock around 9 or so with a destination of Swift Rapids Lock. Instead of lakes connected by locks or small channels, the travel is now on the Severn River as it flows toward Georgian Bay. A fortunate stop at a marina on Sparrow Lake gave us a place to tie up for a couple of hours as a rain storm went through the area. Steve said - ok - let's go and off we went - staying ahead of the dark clouds behind us. We could see the blue sky but really never quite reached it!
Traveling through this part of the Trent is really one of the prettiest parts of the system. Granite rocks at the edge of the waterway and the cliffs created by them are really fun to travel by. Sadly the sun wasn't out for this part of the trip but then maybe it will be for the way back!
By the time we were tied up and settled for the night the sun was back. All of this region really needs some longterm rainfall but it just doesn't seem to be forthcoming.
Anyway, we ended up on the blue line (part of the wall where boats wanting to enter the locks wait) since the only other room was on the concrete dam side and it had no picnic tables. Worked out fine as we wanted to head out early on Wednesday anyway. If you park on the blue line (only after 7 pm are you allowed to), you must lock through when the lock opens at 8:30 am.
Swift Rapids lock has the highest conventional lift of any of the locks on the system. The lift is 46.5 feet and is completed in 8 minutes as they redesigned this lock unique from any other on the system. The doors are massive and I always wonder what would happen if the upper door failed and the water came crashing down on us!
The lock has an interesting history. Originally when my family traveled the system in the late 1950's, this lock was a marine railway. The boat was put on a railcar and run down to the level of the river below. The lock was started during WWI and the lack of concrete during the war (plus the cost) dictated that the railway be built instead of a lock. Lockmasters are always amazed that our family traveled the system in the late 1950's.
The day was again beautiful. Good weather for boating = bad weather for the farmers and this year is the year for boating. It would be nice to have the rain though as it is really needed. Cruising toward Big Chute (the new marine railway) was again just breathtaking. We never seem to tire of it as we travel along.
There are many homes and cottages along the way which add to the fun. I love the multi-colored chairs that seem to be popular in the area :-)
And of course we are always on the lookout for our favorite bear which appears right on schedule every time we pass! I think it has been here for ??? many years - complete with the sign for "Don't Feed the Bears" :-)
Big Chute is the last 'lock' before Port Severn - gateway to Georgian Bay. It too was to be a conventional lock but was instead converted to a marine railway. The old railway is still there (which we also traveled on - well, the boat at least - everyone but my dad had to just walk down the hill) but no longer used. A new railway was built (instead of a regular lock) to keep the parasitic sea lamprey from migrating into the Lake Simcoe fishery. It's quite the engineering feat! A couple we met at breakfast (who have been living on their boat for 18 YEARS) were quite interested in seeing it. We suggested they drive to the Big Chute, go to the lower blue line and stick out their thumb - surely someone would let them ride across, right? Wonder how they did. They were camping in the area and doing a land tour of the area around here. We found it amazing that Big Chute interested them - given they have traveled on their catamaran to South American and back!
It is still amazing to us so actually it makes sense it would be of interest to someone who had never seen it. The bed of the railway has many different configurations of slings so each boat is lifted at the rear (to keep the weight from sitting on the engine(s)) and the front end just sits on the wood bottom of the bed of the railway. If the bottom of your boat has a very unique configuration you have to notify the lockmasters ahead of time so they can figure out how to lift your boat.
We ended up at Port Severn yesterday afternoon and stayed again today. Storms were to be rolling around and we aren't due into Midland (reservations at the municipal marina due to the long weekend up here) until tomorrow. They have built a very nice little covered picnic area right in front of our boat so Steve took advantage of it to cook supper.
The moon was full again last night. And no mosquitoes! What more could we ask for :-)
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