4th Week Out, July 5-10

We entered the Trent-Severn Waterway on Monday, July 6. The first picture is the first lock at Port Severn after we had locked through. Pictures 2-13 are Big Chute the marine railroad. This actually takes your boat out of the water and over the hill. We handed the camera to one of the lock attendants and he took a picture under our boat. When we were here in 1994, they slung our boat with two slings. This time they used two slings but also sat our keel on the deck of the structure and let our props hand off the back. This is the second lock we entered on Monday. We spent the night tied up at this lock.

The last two pictures of Big Chute are the old railroad track that essentially used a railroad flatcar.

The next six pictures are of the Swift Rapids lock. This lock has the highest lift (47') of any conventional lock in the system. This lock is so isolated that the staff arrive at work by boat.

This picture is of one of the many swing bridges along the waterway.

This is a picture approaching and leaving a short conventional lock.

This is a narrow stretch of canal. There is quite a bit of waterway that is like this.

Kirkfield Lift Lock. This lock raises or lowers a boat 49'. It is one of the biggest lift locks in the world. We spent the night here waiting for our mail. The mail did not come, so we rode our bikes into town (about 2 miles) and talked to the postmaster about our options. He was so accommodating. He took our cell phone number and said that when the mail came, he would call us and either bring the mail to us, by personal vehicle or forward it through the canal system mail. The people here are so nice. The post office is in a storefront that is the library, pharmacy, Sears catalog store and post office.

The last few shots are the approach to the Fenelon Falls lock.

3rd Week Out-4,July 4-5

We left Midland Saturday, July 4, traveling 50 miles north through the Small Craft Route to Parry Sound. The small craft route is an intercoastal, well-buoyed route through the very rocky coastline. The small craft route is from Killarney in the north to Midland in the south on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. On our way to Parry Sound, we stopped off for fish and chips at Henry's, which is located on one of the 30,000 islands along this coast. We traveled up there for the scenery and now have to turn around and go back south to enter the Trent-Severn Waterway.

An aerial view of Parry Sound showing the cruise ship that cruises in and out of some of the 30,000 islands.

3rd Week Out-3, July 1-3

The aerial view is of harbor Penetanguishene and port of Midland in the far distance. We arrived Penetang Wednesday morning and topped the fuel tank off again. It only took about 100 gallon but got it for $3.00 U.S.. July 1 is Canada's 4th of July so we saw a nice fireworks show from the dock. The red and white 100ft boat is an old Canadian Coast Guard boat that is now a personal residence.

Thursday morning we moved from Penetanguishene to Midland (about 10 miles). They have a nice bike path and we rode our bikes from our marina on the west end of Midland to Victoria Harbor. As we were riding out of Midland, we saw this freighter coming into port. When we got back from Victoria Harbor, it was unloading grain at the ADM plant in Midland. We stopped and talked to the Security Guard at ADM. He said there were 15,000 tons of grain and it would take about 48 hours to offload the grain from the ship.

We met John Darien and his family, Valerie, Allison and Aden. John is the Canadian that got us the Canadian aircard which Deb uses to conduct her business from Canada. They have a cottage about 1-1/2 miles from the marina in Midland. John and the kids picked us up at the marina in their Boston Whaler and we went to dinner in their boat. Valerie met us there. After dinner, we came back to our boat and visited for about an hour. It was a very nice evening.

3rd Week Out-2, June 30

On Tuesday, we left Tobermory and headed south along the eastern side of the Bruce Peninsula. Our first stop was Lion's Head. We tied up at the shoppers dock for a couple hours and rode the bikes to get some groceries. In Canada, they are trying to phase out the use of plactic bags, so people bring their own reuseable bags; we didn't have a bag so I used my shirt.

The picture with the bike in the foreground is the marina at Lion's Head.

After two hours at Lion's Head, we moved on to Wiarton. We put on 1,289 liters of diesel fuel. It was a very slow pump; we must have been at the fuel dock for an hour. The boys that fueled the boat said it was a record for the amount of fuel pumped in one boat. It was a good price at $3.20 a gallon, U.S.

We spent the night here and, in the morning, we rode our bikes (and walked them part way) up a very large bluff that overlooks the harbor. We were trying to get a good picture so we walked for about 1/2 mile each way on the Bruce Nature Trail that goes down the Bruce Peninsula. We finally got to a lookout for the harbor, but could not get a good picture (too many trees).

This picture was taken as we were leaving Wiarton headed for Penetanguishene. It is July 1, Canada Day.

3rd Week Out-1, June 28-29

On Sunday, June 28, we crossed Georgian Bay from Killarney on the north end to Tobermory on the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula. Sea conditions were not pleasant - 3-6 footers on the nose and raining. It was a 56 mile trip and we had to slow down to about 15 knots.

We stayed Sunday and Monday. It is a bustling little tourist town. The ferry, Chi-Chemaun, crossed from Tobermory to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. During the summer, it makes 4 trips a day and we were amazed at the number of people and vehicles that cross on each trip. We watched them arrive and depart; the turnaround time is amazing. The people drive their own vehicles on and off and they unload and load in less than 30 minutes. The ferry opens at both ends so they can drive their car on and continue out the other end when they arrive at their destination.

The area has hundreds of shipwrecks and some are visible as you can see from the picture of a schooner in Tobermory Harbor. We have never seen water clearer than this. It is beautiful. There are several glass-bottom tour boats; some tour these wrecks. Other tour boats take you to Flowerpot Island to explore. If you look close, you will see Live Wire tied at the dock in one of the pictures.

A 74-foot Viking (same brand and style as Live Wire) came in and tied up on the dock where we were. It dwarfed our little boat. It was brand new, a $5 million dollar boat, that would burn probably 150 gallon of fuel an hour at cruise. It weighs from 120 to 140 thousand pounds.

I failed to mention that, while we were at Duncan Bay, there is a glass case in the clubhouse with two white styrofoam coffee cups that are smaller than a shot glass in size and have the names of Bob and Jill Williams on them. Jill Williams had purchased, from the Russians, a dive to the Titanic and the Bismarck for her husband, in one of their deep diving bells. On one of the dives, they took these full-sized styrofoam cups and wrote their names on them, placed them on the exterior of the bell and the water pressure at between 12,400 feet and 15,000 feet deep shrunk these cups perfectly.

Also, while at Duncan Bay, Dave Trotter, a well-known Great Lakes shipwreck explorer, put on a slide show and discussion which was very interesting. He has personally located over 2,000 wrecks and in one of the slides it shows the legs of a crewmember still intact on a wreck near Isle Royale.

Note: There may be more than one post per week. Be sure to check for additional posts for the week. I am numbering them, for example, 2nd Week Out-1; 2nd Week Out-2; and so on. If these are not on the main blog page, look at the bottom for archived posts.