TRAVEL DAY 89 - Bobcaygeon to Fenelon Falls
August 3, 2023
2.9 Hours/14.8 Miles
We moved through lock #32 and at the top we were greeted by a flotilla of re-created Birchbark Canoes. These massive canoes were the principle water transportation for the indigenous people and were also used by the early fur traders because of their size and ability to carry a load. This particular group was paddling to the new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough.
 |
| Birchbark Canoes |
A pretty uneventful day as the two other boats traveling with us, one ahead and one to the stern made their way through the narrow rock strewn waters. If it weren't for the red and green buoys we would have whacked the bottom more than once.
 |
| Locking Thru |
Just before Fenelon Falls we entered a protected cove with high stone cliffs and quaint vacation houses. Summer time in Canada means lots of people outside, in & on the water.
 |
| Interesting homes and docks |
We pulled up at the lower side of Lock #34 at Fenelon Falls to scout out the area and see what our options were for docking on the upper side in the town and along the lock wall. Our group spoke with the lockmaster Adam and he advised us that we had gotten there at a good time as it was not very busy and it appeared there was room for us on the wall if we locked through now.
 |
Now that is a load of rocks!
|
 |
| Flowers everywhere |
Light the fires and kick the tires.... I mean fenders. Lines off and into the massively high lock to the next higher elevation above the falls and to our resting spot for the night. We were just close enough to a power pedestal to get electricity and it was warm enough that we needed air conditioning.
 |
| Fenelon Falls, ON |
 |
| Fenelon Falls beach |
Steps away from the waterfront and town we had more than a few choices for lunch. We sat down at Murphy's Irish Pub and had lunch. A trip to the little beach for a swim before a storm set in and we were forced to wait it out at Fenelon Falls Brewing Co., what luck!
 |
| Fun with the Crew! |
 |
| Bobcaygeon to Fenelon Falls |
TRAVEL DAY 90 - Fenelon Falls to Talbot
August 4, 2023
6.42 Hours/22.8 Miles
This day would prove to be both long, but fun. From Fenelon Falls lock, we crossed Cameron Lake and Rosedale Lock #35 on the Trent, then into Balsam Lake.
 |
| Will she fit? |
We entered a very narrow canal after Cameron Lake that was so skinny, large boats meeting each other would have difficulty passing. Drifting out of this passage would have certainly been catastrophic. The boat in front of us called on channel 16 "Securite, securite, securite...6 vessels heading west leaving Cameron Lake". This security call is suggested to warn boats coming the other direction to respond that they are in the canal or will hold up. As we got about a third of the way in, 3 boats approached from the east. They had apparently not been monitoring their radios and proceeded in. Fortunately, we were able to stop at a wider area as the 3 boats passed closely and carefully on our port side.
 |
| No room for error |
All of our party arrived at Kirkfield Lock. The second lift lock and the first that would start our down elevation to Lake Simcoe. We knew that the lock was having issues with only one of the 2 pans operational. This meant we had anywhere from an hour to 2 hours wait time at the wall. We made the most of it with a picnic style lunch on the back deck of Ottyssey.
 |
| Kirkfield Lift Lock |
 |
| Lock Buddies |
Once through the lock more narrow and shallow water awaited us and a change in markers. Now it would be green on the left & red on the right. Our group moved into shallow Canal Lake and through 2 more very remote locks. Most of the locks in this section of the Trent-Severn are manually operated with equipment installed in 1900 and still being used today to open & close the valves as well as the gates.
 |
| 1900's lock valve equipment |
At Lock #38 Talbot, we tied up to the wall and settled in for the night with hamburgers on the grill and conversation with our travel mates. The water flowing over the damn created a soothing lullaby for evening sleep.
 |
| Talbot Sunrise |
 |
| Fenelon Falls to Talbot |
TRAVEL DAY 91 - Talbot to Orillia
August 5, 2023
4.0 Hours/22.9 Miles
We were close to Lake Simcoe. We had been warned not to underestimate this body of water and to keep an eye on the weather. Sudden storms can develop over this 279 square mile lake and the shallow nature of it, much like Okeechobee, can form some pretty large waves. Today however, we had a perfect weather window & an easy crossing.
 |
| Orillia City Hall |
4 more consecutive locks all about 1/2 mile away from each other, through another narrow ditch and out of the narrow rock jetty into Lake Simcoe. For most of the trip across the lake it was a straight shot to Orillia.
 |
| Trent-Severn |
 |
| Entrance to Lake Simcoe |
 |
| Crossing Lake Simcoe |
Once off the lake, we entered into "The Narrows" and through to Lake Couchiching. Being a busy holiday weekend (Canada has one 3 day weekend holiday a month), the boat traffic through this skinny pass was constant.
 |
| Orillia |
 |
| Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot |
We received our slip assignment and settled in for a 3 day rest in Orillia, the home of Gordon Lightfoot. This was a great stop with plenty of shopping and restaurants, and of course no town is complete with out a brewery and Orillia has Couchiching Brewing, a great brewery with awesome beers. I have sampled a lot of good beers in Canada..."Cheers to Canada, eh!".
 |
| Orillia Waterfront |
 |
| Couchiching Beach |
With a 2 night stay we got the 3rd free by signing up for an app called Docklinks. The discount app only works in Canada but saves us a little. We took advantage of the next beautiful day to explore Orillia saving the chores for tomorrow which promised to be overcast & rainy. Not only was Monday a washout, so was Tuesday. We extended our stay for the 4th night with the expectation of sun and less wind on Wednesday. We are anxious to move on and get to the final locks on the Trent-Severn.
 |
| Talbot to Orillia |
Comments
Post a Comment