Without doubt, everyone was right – Canada is beautiful! We are one day away from exiting their lock system, the Trent-Severn Waterway, where many Canadians take their summer respite and enjoy the water. The Waterway shores are lined with summer cottages decked to the nines with water toys including slides, gazebos, water trampolines, and of course, boats. Some areas were frighteningly narrow and shallow and others spread out into ponds and lakes filled with tiny, rock islands with homes built on them. Imagine spending the summer on your own island!

Tiny cottage on island

Home on left-most island

We were directed to pass through these two islands!

Our fellow boater traveling through islands

Water playground-so many of these

Slides everywhere

Water’s edge decks galore

Fun patio, always brightly colored

Lovely spot to relax

We’ve been through 70 locks since we started the Erie Canal. We went up 418 feet then down 180 in the Erie. We went up 600 feet and came down 260 in the Trent. Your faithful First Mate grabbed lines, tied them down, hung on tight to keep Joy Girl steady, put fenders out, took fenders back in…70 times.

Due to sheer exhaustion, I earned a three day rest in the beautiful boutique town of Orillia, birthplace of Gordon Lightfoot and our favorite city on the waterway.

Main street with lovely shops

Gordon Lightfoot memorial

Lightfoot Trail

Lots of art around town

Boardwalk

A few locks deserve special coverage, namely the Peterborough & Kirkfield Lift Locks and the Big Chute Marine Railway. Captain Craig will explain the technicalities of the lift locks for the guys…

Unlike conventional locks which open or close valves to fill or empty their chambers, the lift locks feature two matching pans holding between 1300 and 1500 tons of water each. Boats displace water equal to their weight (hence the term displacement) so their presence in the lock chambers has no effect on the weights. Once the boats are in and secured, the water level is increased by merely a foot or so in the upper chamber, and that is all it takes to aid the two sides in their opposing 65 foot vertical journeys. It’s incredible to think about, and even more so to behold and enjoy. And yes, enjoy is the correct word, because with their almost constant water levels, it is much easier on the crews who don’t have to attend the lines nearly as closely.

Front of lock

Back of lock

Joy Girl waiting to lift

Upper lift that will come down when we go up

Joy Girl at the top of the lift

Canoe in other pan that will go up as we go down

Big Chute was the only lock to pick Joy Girl up in a marine railway car, drive us over land, and plop us down 58 feet on the other side! It was like a slow motion boat roller coaster ride and a great way to end the Trent-Severn with a big bang (no, we didn’t fall out of the slings 🙂

Another boater headed up

They are going up and over

Joy Girl in her slings

Looking over the top to the other side

Made it to the other side!

After tomorrow it’s goodbye to the Trent Severn and hello to the Georgian Bay, the land of 30,000 islands and crystal clear water. Where the heck is that? We’ll be in the highlighted area of this map.

This is a place of unspoiled beauty and not many towns or marinas, so we’ll be anchoring out for about a week. We won’t have much of an internet connection, so we’ll reconnect on the other side. Ciao for now!