Young’s Point, Lovesick, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Talbot, Orillia, ON. June 15-24, 2018

Continuing on the beautiful Trent Severn Waterway.  This shows all of the locks that we go through.

We left Peterborough Municipal Marina headed to the world’s largest working lift lock, one more lock away.  We waited a bit for both locks, here we are waiting on the blue line at lock 20, Ashburnham.

but nothing like the river system in the US almost three years ago.  The lockmasters are all friendly and work as quickly as some of the old manual systems allow.

The lift lock was incredible.  A 90 second ride up 65 feet and smooth as silk.  We continue to marvel at the engineering and building of this lock in 1904!  What a fantastic historic and operating treasure.

An interesting "tower of information" at the lock.  Each lockmaster takes pride in the grounds and plants flowers, etc.  A park like setting for sure.

We stopped for the night after 8 locks, 2 bridge openings and only 16 miles.  

But the lockages make for a full day!  Our stop was lock 27, Young’s Point.  It was a very nice stop.  We found gluten free wings and a good pizza at The Pointe Restaurant a short walk away.  We had a nice dinner on the fly bridge just enjoying the weather and surroundings.

Saturday we left with the destination of Lovesick, lock 30, 2 locks and 10 miles away.  

 Tight channels...

This is a remote island lock and only accessible by boat.  Some very narrow channels and lots of rocks on the way.  Reminds one of the Georgian Bay/ North Channel geography.  Very picturesque.

St. Peter's church is only accessible by boat or sea plane.

We previously heard many good reports as to how nice this is.  We timed our departure to hit the 11:00 AM “check out” of boaters that were staying overnight there.  When we arrived below the lock (where we thought we wanted to stay) we found it full.  We asked the lockmaster about above the lock and were told it is wide open!  After proceeding through the lock and got the spot closest to Buckhorn Lake.  Very nice.

A little note on staying at locks.  Only boaters, bicyclists and hikers are allowed to stay in the Parks Canada lock camping facilities.  It seems to be a good rule because even though we are early in the season, they are well used by this group of users.

Not long after we tied up, two other boats traveling together took the other two available spots.  They were from the marina just down the lake a bit and were very friendly and full of local information.  One of the couples had their twenty something sons with them to celebrate the youngest one’s 23^rd birthday.  Dan, Lori, Rick, Sally and their children Kyle and Ryan were great to be with!    

Some photos from our walk.

As we walked along the dam by the lock, a worker was replacing huge timbers in the lock with a large winch machine.  The timbers were railroad ties on steroids...huge.  It was one of these that floated into Peterborough as noted in our last blog post.  

We launched the dinghy and I ventured out for a couple hours going all the way to the next lock, Buckhorn just to check it out.  A very nice afternoon for a dinghy ride.    

Rick was in the Coast Guard (and still is auxiliary) so he spent a good part of the afternoon working wit the “bumper boat” captains at the lock.  OK, what’s that?  Well they will rent a houseboat to anyone and based on the piloting we witnessed, without much if any training.  They came in too slow, too fast, sideways and bumped into lock walls and threatened boats (like ours) tied along the walls before and after the lock.  Rick did a good job “coaching” the captains, handling lines and helped them all a bunch.  The lockmasters must have seen it all by now because they just take it in stride.  We were happy to have the furthest wall space away from the lock and never had a close call.  Rick and Sally’s boat however was fending off the houseboats.  But with two 20 something sons on board with strong legs to fend off,  no issues! 

Here is a photo of the local cruise ship that we will need to watch out for in some of the narrow channels and such on our way to the Big Chute.  We were advised to check with lockmasters about the Kawartha Voyager’s location prior to departing in the tight sections of the waterway as he will take the entire channel!  Here you see his bow even raised up to fit in the lock!!! Lock is 32' by 150'. It is a large vessel!

Bow coming back down.

It was a very warm afternoon with highs in the high 80’s.  We swam off the boat tied up to the lock (no electricity at this lock) and in the late afternoon we all cooked and had a meal together in the shade of Sum Escape.  

The group was remarking how they regularly swim in their marina, just a couple miles down the lake.   We shared the Electric Shock Drowning risk with them, recapping our experience witnessing an ESD incident in Traverse City in 2011.  None of them had even heard of such a thing.  And the two sons are both electricians.  Hopefully they took our warning to heart.  To our readers, do not ever swim in a fresh water marina with power on the docks.  Google Electric Shock Drowning (ESD) and you will be convinced to never do it.
Later in the evening we lit a campfire and Julie shared fresh baked brownies and popcorn with everyone.  We were joined by  fellow Grand Banks Loopers Monia and John (Miss Daisy) who are moving quickly ahead.  We shared a bunch of Lake Michigan tips with them.  

We also let the generator power the stateroom air conditioner as it was running anyways.  That way when we went to bed the room would be cool as it is only going down to 73 or so this evening.  Wonderful early summer weather!  Well, except that the mosquitoes are now out too!  Julie has perfected the procedure for ridding the sleeping quarters of them though.  She turns on her phone and holds the light up against the low ceiling above the bed….and when they come to the light they become history!

The group warned us that racoons like to explore for food and think nothing of boarding your boat so we made sure all food and garbage was put away.  Not long after we had the lights out, we could hear them running across the deck!  Well, I was lights out and Julie awakened me to be honest about it. Julie's pounding on the ceiling to scare them off the boat awakened me!  So I hopped out of bed to shut the hatches in the second stateroom and head.  We could just imagine one dropping in for a visit!  But I guess they found nothing as the noise ended very quickly.  One can just visualize one saying to the other, “nothing to see here Rocky, let’s go”.  And we did hear stories later about racoons dropping through screened in hatches onto the sleeping stateroom occupants in previous years.  We will remember to close hatches in remote lock tie ups from now on!  Here's the one I had to shut!

The group was also kind enough to share some favorite anchorages and gave us a good plan for Sunday night.  Dan also gave us a board that he uses to clamp onto a picnic table and then drop the umbrella through it to make an umbrella stand.  Thanks Dan, I already bought a couple clamps so we can use it!

We all left the lock shortly before it opened (to avoid any bumper boats).  The other boats headed to Deer Bay to anchor for the day and we proceeded through Buckhorn lock and then to an anchorage off Big Island in Pigeon Lake 23 miles away.  Julie likes this hoe under construction with the "Bunkie" also on the property.  That is what the cottagers call a guest cottage on a property.

Here is our friend's marina and yes, although it is hard to see in the photo, people are swimming in the marina.  We never like to see this in a fresh water marina with power on the docks.  Hopefully our new friends will pass on the message on ESD risk.

This put us within easy dinghy reach of Bobcaygeon and avoids us being along a wall and at risk of a bumper boat strike there.  It was a beautiful spot and we were the only boat there!  We swam and floated a good portion of the afternoon.  It was hot again and the 75 degree water felt oh so good.  It is so nice to be in fresh water for a swim again….no need to wash off salt and no tracking of salt “stickiness” into the boat! 

After a great Father's day steak on the grill, we took a dinghy ride into Bobcaygeon and checked out the town….and of course the famous Kawartha Dairy ice cream!  We had a nice walk around town and it was a wonderful Father’s Day with phone conversations with all our children too.  A nice sunset from our anchorage.

Monday morning, I took another swim and cleaned some of the scum off of the water line of the boat. The ICW “moustache” water stain on the bow will wait for the winter detailers as it is too difficult to deal with from a floating dinghy.  We then departed to hit the first lock opening at 10 AM.  We are heading for Fenelon Falls, 18 miles and two locks away, hoping to beat the chance of strong storms around 1PM. 

We tied up just as the black clouds were rolling in.  The clouds looked ominous, but the storm sort of fizzled and we had just a couple drops of rain and a couple gusts of wind.  But we were pleased that the plan worked out!

Tim and Carol (Liquid Assets) whom we met back in the Fall of 2015 on the rivers and we also travelled with from Naples to Marathon, called to tell us to be on the lookout for their friends from Fenelon Falls. Tim had called Phil and Lori and told them to be on the lookout for us.  And sure enough, Lori made contact and invited us to their riverfront home for cocktails on Tuesday night.  Dale and Cindy, other friends of Tim and Carol’s, also joined us.  It was Dale and Cindy's 35th wedding anniversary.  Another display of boater friendliness and so enjoyable.  We told them we would look them up on our way south in the late Summer or early Fall of 2019 as we travel south for that Winter.  Thanks so much for all the hospitality Lori and Phil.  And the “Tim stories: will be put to good use….

It is a nice tie up here in Fenelon Falls, complete with electric (well they call it hydro in Canada).

The Falls

We also met some Gold Loopers, Mike and Maria (Aqua Fennatic) who were also heading our direction.  They had told us that the marina in Orillia has Christmas in June on the weekend so we immediately called and did secure a slip.  That should be interesting.  They are also headed for Orillia for the weekend, so we look forward to seeing them there too.  
We left at approximately the same time and had a nice run across Balsam Lake with them, exercising the diesels a bit for 25 minutes or so.  Balsam Lake marks the highest spot on our journey.  In fact it is the highest elevation (840 feet above sea level) in the world, that one can take a boat under its own power!  Here we are going fast to start going down (to Lake Huron's 577 feet)

Our next stop was overnighting at lock #38, 24 miles and 3 locks away. This included another lift lock, the Kirkfield lift lock and we shared it with Mike and Maria.  

We got to lock #38 late enough in the day to be able to stay on the blue line (the blue line is used to tie up as one waits for the lock) for the night which was fortunate as the normal dockage space was torn up with construction.  

In fact, the next 3 locks on the way to Lake Simcoe are under construction and no overnight mooring is allowed. A local couple Paul and Pat were also there and we had a nice visit with them.
Had another nice swim.

We met a couple at this lock from the UK.  Bill and Sue were hoping to do the Loop but were unable to secure a US visa.  We had a really nice talk with them.  They flew over to Canada and are tracing the Trent Severn by car instead.  They have a boat in the UK that they also call home.  It is really too bad our government denied these nice folks a recreational / tourism visa….

In the evening, we took a nice walk back to lock #37 for some exercise.  The country road along the way.

Some narrow channels for sure!

There were some boats spending the night there too, so we will have some company in the locks tomorrow.  A nice peaceful evening.

My engine room check on Thursday morning revealed another issue we will need to deal with.  The rubber hose connecting the starboard exhaust riser to the fiberglass muffler system has split (due to age and heat no doubt) and has spewed diesel soot and some exhaust water about the engine room.  I guess the blowing out of the diesels yesterday was too much for the old rubber joint.  We will find a mechanic in Orillia to order and replace both sides.  We are also having a mechanic try to troubleshoot our intermittent generator shut down as well.

Thursday morning, we departed for a 12 mile trip through 3 locks.

Our destination is the harbor host of Lagoon City’s waterfront home wall space.  Ken and Georgi (Our Tardis) did the Loop in 2014 and now serve as harbor hosts and graciously allow folks to tie up in front of their almost completed new home. They offered their car, joined us for cocktails aboard Sum Escape, invited us in to tour their beautiful new home and invited us for coffee on Friday (which we declined). They were most gracious hosts!  Thanks so much Ken and Georgi.

Ken is working on installing power and water on the wall for future Looper visitors too.  The home they are finishing is a "bone structure" construction.  You can Google it, pretty interesting.  The windows in the back of the home remind us of the design of Julie's horse barn in the 70's...some good designs just keep coming back!

On Friday we departed early so we could stop on the way to Orillia and get fuel and a pump out.  It was very nice out on Lake Simcoe.

On the way into the “Narrows”, we heard a securite’ call on the VHF for the Kawartha Voyager, the large cruise ship we included in the photos from Lovesick lock above.  It takes the entire channel so was announcing its transit through the area.  We were a few minutes out so it did not impact our travels.  But it is certainly narrow and with a current, so I am glad we did not have to wait there for him.  

We stopped for fuel and a pump out, all handled by the two capable and friendly dock hands, a big difference from the US where they hand you the fuel nozzle and the lump out hose!  Had to do some liters to gallons calculations to decide how much fuel to ask for.  After our AGLCA discount of 5 cents (Canadian) a liter, and conversion to US dollars, the cost was about $4.30 a gallon so we certainly have better prices in the US.  This is likely the only fuel we will need to purchase in Canada though as we have over 500 gallons aboard now.

We arrived in Orillia shortly after noon and many boats arrived all afternoon as they are filled up for the Christmas in June celebration. 

 Yes, when you live aboard you come prepared for Christmas in June...see our tree?

The Christmas in June celebration was quite interesting.  Some folks go all out for sure!

 And a band too!

 This is the winner of "best decorated" and the boat owners even had matching shirts and hats.

 A very creative use of a boat fender!

The marina has a pay for two and stay three days so that is nice too.  We will stay a few days as we have a generator issue (fuel pump working intermittently) and a leaking exhaust coupling (the rubber boot connecting the stainless steel exhaust riser to the fiberglass muffler) and parts are on order.  The last of them come on Wednesday.  We plan to anchor out a lot, so the generator is important! 

The city is very nice with 150 shops, 25 restaurants,  a grocery store, etc.  We had a great burger at Studebaker’s near the marina on Friday at noon.  We have taken a couple long walks and went to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning too.  Julie found some great dairy and gluten free baked goods and I found the famous Chelsea bun from Wilkies Bakery.  Both were outstanding!

 A shot that was actually a mistake....but it shows the Chelsea buns waiting for an accompanying coffee!

Our slip neighbors John and Pam are from the area and were so welcoming too.  They shared a number of favorite spots in the Georgian Bay and John took me to numerous marine supply stores on Saturday in search of a replacement 50 amp cord male connector.  We went to a half dozen places but all only had 30 amp in stock, so I ended up ordering one from Amazon.  Our shorter cord stopped working a couple hours after we arrived here.  Fortunately, our longer cord is till OK so we have dock power.  This again proves the value of some redundancy in equipment.  But a new cord end should solve the problem.

Because we live aboard, Julie broke out the décor we have on board so we could participate in a small fashion.  We had a lot of people stopping by to learn about our cruising lifestyle.  All were so friendly and helpful with local tips too.  Some flowers along one of out walks at the  Stephen Butler Leacock Museum.  

We have now completed 40 of the 44 locks on the Trent Severn.  We have gone through 125 locks on our adventure thus far.  It will be nice to finish the lock system and just drop a hook in the Georgian Bay when the weather cooperates.  After these locks, we will travel all the way back to West Michigan without additional locks.  Our three year adventure will include 128 locks in total.  We are still on target to be in Killarney on July 19 for the Great Lakes Grand Banks Association rendezvous and look forward to seeing these folks given our last attendance at one of these functions was July 2015.  Then onward to Michigan for our August family celebrations.

We were able to watch Fr G's last Mass from the Cathedral on Facebook Live.  He will be moving on to Boston on July 1.  We wish him the best in his Senior Pastor status and we will certainly miss him!

Sunday, our slip neighbors John and Pam invited us to their home on Monday.  Yet another example of all the nice folks we meet in every port!  They are picking us up to show us around a bit and spend the afternoon at their cottage.  How nice!
Everyone is gone now....but a nice sunset!