Gently Down The Stream
Our adventures on the Trent Severn Waterway brought us 240 miles across some of the most amazing waters, Lakes, bays, rivers, inlets and canals
Last week I was unable to put a sentence together on my posting because of crap Wifi and cellular service. It has been redeemed as of right now , so I will continue with our story. We have completed the Trent Severn as of now and are in the Georgian Bay, but I’ll save this adventure for another time.
We conquered 45 locks, 2 of them being the highest lift locks in the world and for our added experience, Lock 44, The Bug Chute Railway, which is where your boat is driven into a sling which is attached to a huge moving railway contraption. The boat is literally lifted out of the water and we are transported across the Main Street and down a hill 68 feet and placed gently back in the water! From the beginning to the end, Jim and I learned what it takes to be a team and how to handle adversity in some pretty stressful situations. I’ll say it again, this adventure is not for sissies!
I’m seriously glad to be done for awhile with locking, but, I will never forget this part of our trip. Parks Canada 🇨🇦 knows what they are doing and their customer service is top notch!
From the Peterborough Lift Lock we enter the Kawartha Lakes. This is a beautiful area that abounds in lakeside homes and cottages. Native Indians traveled these waterways by canoe more than 3000 years ago. In between the lakes are sprinkled the great little tourist towns of Burleigh Falls, Buckhorn ( where the houseboat hit us) 😂, Bobcaygeon, and Fenelon Falls. This was a great area to cruise through!
Bobcaygeon, pronounced Bob-Cajun, was the best small town ever! It was quaint, and we were able to tie up to a free wall at the lock. We wandered and had some lunch. I ordered poutine, which basically is French fries with gravy and cheese curds on top. People say it’s the bees knees. I wasn’t that impressed.
This great place, The Kawartha Coffee House, was serene and so cute. It had great Wifi, and I made a few phone calls to check in on friends. Sometimes, I really miss my friends.
One of the most stunning runs we made was through Stoney Lake. The rocky hillsides and islands are what people describe the Georgian Bay will look like. I loved this Lake. It was quiet and so serene. I had to stand in the bow of the boat and watch for rocks, but Jim, of course got us through with no problems. It quiets your mind when you see such beauty. There are cottages on the little islands. We saw a church that made us both drop our jaws. It was white and beautiful and the doors were open. It made us both smile
As I am writing this blog, I have to tell you, this all seems to be a blur. All of this stuff, and all of these places, we passed through last week. It seems like a lifetime ago. It’s really weird how that happens. I feel like I’m in a dream a lot of the time. We plan our day so finite, that just getting from point A to point B is the goal. I see so many amazing sights, that my mind, I think, runs all of my vision and thoughts into a big gigantic jumble. I think a long time ago I said I’m not that good at geography or where I am at any given moment. So, trust me, this is all jumbled up which is exactly how my brain feels. Maybe if I was smart, I’d write my day down, exactly how it happened, but I know if I did that I’d miss so much of the journey. The only reason I know where I am today is because it is where I was yesterday!
Balsam Lake is the highest point on the Trent Severn waterway. It is 840 feet above sea level. We take this Lake to the Trent Canal. It is narrow and the canal is cut through the Canadian Shield. This is a geological feature that covers half of the Country of Canada. So, narrow channel, rocks on either side, and just for shits and giggles - shallow water! This dumps us into Mitchell Lake. A fisherman we passed told us there were logs in the water ahead of us, so out to the bow I went, with my binoculars, (which by the way, good binoculars are a must on this journey) and kept my eyes peeled. Jim and I wear our Marriage Savers for communication whenever we are in stressful circumstances. That way, I can tell Jim what I see and he can adjust what he is doing at the helm. They are the best investment we made for this trip. We use them all the time. I’d go as far to say, I wouldn’t do this trip without them!
From Mitchell Lake we go back to the Trent Canal and more skinny water, with rocks on each side. At the end of this canal is Lock 36, the Kirkfield Lift Lock. It is identical to the Peterborough Lift Lock except it goes down instead of up. Jim drives the boat into the pan, where we are suspended 49 feet up in the air. The lift structure is not enclosed and it really feels like you are hanging off the edge of a 5 story building!
We pressed on, for it was getting late and there was no room at the bottom of this lock for overnighting on the free wall. We went another 8 miles, through Canal Lake, through a very famous, very old, constructed in 1900, bridge, called the Hole in the Wall Bridge. I’ve seen pictures of this bridge on bright sunny days, where if you get the angle just right, it mirrors itself and appears like you are actually going through a hole in the water. Our day was cloudy and stormy. It was still cool just the same!
We went through lock 37 and pulled to the wall for the night. The storm was closing in and I was grateful to be done for the day.
This is how that night panned out in some very nice photos!
SPECTACULAR
On arising, we were pleased with the weather outlook for the day. Our journey on this day takes us down 4 locks and across a Lake. Lake Simcoe is some twenty miles long and 16 miles wide. It is the largest lake on the Trent Severn Waterway and must be crossed in a good weather window. There is a sign when you enter the lake telling boaters of all of it’s adversity in stormy weather. The open water, along with westerly winds can bring 8 foot waves. We checked all the National Data for this area, and deemed it a good day to cross. This crossing will take us to Orillia, Ontario, to Bridge Port Marina, where we will stay for 3 days. Our mail is being delivered here, which is nice. We have been staying on walls lately and haven’t had electricity for several days! Air conditioning will be nice! This is our time lapse video of the day. Takes us right into the slip at the Marina. I love watching these little videos. They crack me up! Hard to believe that this is a 4.5 hour trip!
So - We ended up staying 4 days in Orillia. We used our Dock Links Savings card and dockage was only $42.00 a night. We rested and we relaxed. We took our dingy to the town docks of Orillia on one day. We have been tending to fight off afternoon thunderstorms all week. The skies turn black! It’s very cool. We used our down time to grocery shop, get some laundry done and do some chores on the boat. Jim did monthly maintenance and it was nice to see him nap and relax a bit. We were invited one evening, for conversation and “docktails” (boater cocktail hour) by a group of local folks. Orillia was a nice stay, but, I think, both Jim and I got a bit antsy and were definitely ready to continue on. We are just about done with the Trent Severn and were looking forward to the adventures ahead of us! The Big Chute and the Georgian Bay.
The end of Lake Couchiching is Orillia Island and the beginning of the final stretch of the Trent Severn. This area is a low lying farm land which gives way to breathtaking granite rock formations. It is heavily forested and very isolated. The cruising is wonderful and no rocks or logs to contend with. We traveled through a few more locks and a few more little lakes. It was very picturesque!
Lock 43, Swift Rapids is a huge lock! It is very tall and the drop is significant. We were in the lock with 5 other boats. It was a tight fit. This lock hosts the Hydro Plant, which supplies water to the waterways. It was impressive!
From here we travel through Severn Falls and the Lost Channel. We arrive at the place we’ve been looking forward to this whole trip across the waterway. Lock 44, The Big Chute!
We were about to do something truly amazing! Jim will pilot the Happy Destiny onto a railway cart which will take us over land and deliver us to the body of water 68 feet below. We arrived at the freewall and spent the night. We wandered over to the railway to check things out and see exactly how it works. This thing is literally like a ride you might take at Disneyland! The mechanics and the history is very interesting, and I, for one, could hardly wait.
THE BIG CHUTE
This is a seven minute video of the adventure. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did doing it. This is the grand finale of cruising the Trent Severn Waterway!
We still had one more lock to go through, which we did and we were dumped into the Georgian Bay!
The Trent Severn was an incredible journey. Jim and I traveled the 240 miles in 15 days. 5 of those days were non movement days. That just means we hung out in a marina for a longer than one day. We became lock professionals and have seen some of the most amazing sights that Canada has to offer. I know I keep saying this, but I seriously can’t believe I get to have this Great Loop Adventure. Jim and I both still say to each other, “this is crazy, right”!
Today is August 6, and we are well into our Travels across the Georgian Bay. I learned so much on the Trent Severn. I learned that I can replace fear with faith. I learned I am enough. I learned that I’m strong and have courage. I learned that from my mom. I learned that sometimes I just have to be quiet and pray. I found that I trust Jim to get us safely to each port. He has been amazing in his navigation and docking skills. We got to a few meetings in the 15 days. That’s was a bonus! They are hard to come by here in Canada when you are on a boat. I know for real, for real, that without my God, and my recovery, shit like this is impossible! I know today - I’m one lucky girl, and a badass!
Until next time -
We wish you peace and send our love.
♥️
