Tanya's Great Loop Adventure: Counting down to the Georgian Bay

I have finished 41 of the 45 locks on the Trent Severn Waterway. Two of the locks were lift locks. As usual, there are always new challenges on this trip. I left Campbellford and headed to the Petersborough Lift lock, and was the first on the lock for the 110th anniversary. I thought it was way, way cool... but the Canadians are laid back about everything, and I was more excited than anyone about it. At the bottom of the lock, my stern thruster worked fine, then at the top, it quit working. I have been handling the locking and docking without the use of my stern thruster and working on my boat handling skills. The cables between the locks are closer together now, so I am tying up the stern of the boat on the port side, then heading to the bow of the boat to hold onto the second line. The most intimidating lock so far on the Trent Severn has been the Kirkfield Lift lock. This lock drops 49 feet, and you are suspended in the air in a large container of water. I was the first into the lock, so headed to the front of the lock, followed by Francesca, another Looper boat. We also had a canoe and one other boat with us.

Going down the locks can be intimidating. As you can see from the picture, instead of heading towards a wall, I am headed to the edge of what feels like a cliff. You can see how close I am to the edge, as I was sitting on the front of my boat, floating in a pool of water!

The waters are beautiful up here. There are small islands, lakes, and some very narrow channels. I have not had auto pilot for a few weeks now, so taking pictures is more difficult. Surprisingly to me, there are more small, single engine seaplanes.

Yesterday, I arrived in Orillia, Ontario. Chuck and Margaret, on Francesca, let me know they were planning to cross Lake Simcoe, so I decided to cross as well. The lake was very peaceful. The traffic heading into Lake Couchiching was terrible though. There is a railway bridge, which is barely wide enough for two boats to pass through, and there was a line going each direction. Today, was rainy and windy, so I stayed here in Orillia.

I am tempted to leave tomorrow and get one day closer to Georgian Bay. My friends, Jim and Wendy from Bluenoser, live in Penetanguishene. They left Southport Marina with me the day I started the Loop. I am looking forward to visiting them. From here, it is a two day boat trip. Jim will get on my boat at the Big Chute Railway lock, so he can be onboard with me when I head into his home town. Georgian Bay has the reputation of being the most beautiful place on the Great Loop.

Here are a few random pictures. It is beautiful and fairly cool up here. The temperatures have been in the 70's.