Waiting, waiting, waitng, in Midland.

I don't know how many times I have forgotten to take my camera with me, in the last few days, but  there is little to show for our time here in Bay Port Marina and Midland township.

That isn't to say we have sat round, mind you. We have actually been very active, with loooong bike rides looking for parts etc. More of that and we will be VERY fit. Most of the riding is uphill, and our butts are pretty sore at the end of a five mile ride +.

Lets see....

On Sunday morning (which was a nice day, if a bit windy) we got out the bucket of suds and washed the baby on the outside. This was done by about 2.30pm, and we were just finishing up when Brenda and Ken appeared at the boat. They had told us they had a Church obligation, on Sunday, and they were on their way home from that, and called in.
It was good to see them again (We had met at Lock 42, where they were camping (with their 22ft boat) and we were hanging out for two nights), and hear about their trip and to compare notes on the shallow parts:)

They invited us back to their home, just around the corner, and we gladly accepted the ride there. Silly me for not taking my camera...They have a garden to die for...well, some of us would!:) and one which they have built together over the 8 yrs they have lived in the home. There is a stream running through the property (one of my dreams!) with a lovely little bridge, a two tiered lily pond that used to have fish, bit the Racoons and Herons liked to go fishing, so there aren't any left...though Waz spied a frog looking at  us.

The property is large, and runs down to the Lake with their own little beach. Gorgeous trees for shade and shelter, and the property appears to be long and skinny, but in fact opens up inside the tree canopy, where their grandchildren love to camp:) Just perfect in every way. We also saw a Hummingbird while we were having refreshments on the screen porch. Always exciting to see them.

We all decided to go out for dinner, as it got later, and Ken's choice of Italian food at Lily's was inspired.
We ordered starters of Filo wrapped Brie with wild mushroom sauce (served hot), and beer battered mushrooms with ranch dressing....both of which were huge, fed the four of us and might easily have been enough for our mains.

Brenda and I ordered the Truffle and Ricotta Ravioli with wild mushroom sauce (divine!) and Ken ordered the Thai curry which had a wonderful mix of chicken and shrimp in it, while Waz ordered the Honey and Rosemary Roast Chicken. He said it was very sweet, but very tasty.
We ordered a bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, for the table...we like to purchase NZ products wherever possible... and we all enjoyed the crispness and rounded after flavor of the wine.
It was an expensive meal, but certainly we don't mind paying for quality, and this was absolutely one of the better meals we have eaten, while on 'the road', as it were. The company was excellent and we even had leftovers!

Brenda arranged to pick us up at 10am, the following morning. She had to go shopping for them, and offered to take us to her favorite supermarket and meat store. We were happy to accept the offer, as the marina no longer lends vehicles for transients to go shopping. It would have been yet another long uphill bike ride with cart in tow, otherwise.

The supermarket prices were excellent, and we were very happy to see NZ Green-lipped Mussels and NZ lamb on offer....albeit less in price than we could have bought them in NZ! What's with that??

Brenda took us to M&M's, the frozen food store afterwards, and we purchased frozen bacon wrapped filet, for about $3.50 each...each one large enough for me to cut in two and have half each, for a meal! We also bought bacon wrapped chicken which we ate for dinner...most tasty!, Two Chicken Kiev, ready to cook, and something else that I cant remember.

We took Brenda's groceries home, coz she had Ice-cream in the bag, and picked up Ken to go for Lunch to their favorite place, and something of an Icon in town, Dino's Deli. I will have to get the photo off Waz's phone....We ordered the special...Corned Beef on fresh Rye, and I opted for a small salad to go with it. The sandwich only comes with the meat inside....and a pickle! Seriously...the sandwich was 4 inches high! The corned beef was excellent and we shared both the sandwich and salad...wayyyyy too much food, otherwise. Brenda and Ken did the soup and sandwich combo. We sat outside on the sidewalk...hot in the sun, and cool in the shade.

This summer is cool, compared to other summers, here in Ontario (Georgian Bay, actually) and this follows a brutal winter. Normally the evenings would be balmy by now, but there is a COLD wind blowing that means I put my scarf on whenever we go out.
The sun might be shining when we get up, but within minutes, the weather changes, the clouds come over and it is COLD.

The saying here goes...If you think this is bad, just wait a few minutes! :) Weather on the lake appears to be very changeable, which doesn't bode well for those making the crossing to the other end.


These looking out to the Lake.

 This one looking East to the Fuel Dock, just opposite where we are docked. I was standing on the front of the boat to take this photo.

Our little bit of excitement on Tuesday, was the Canadian Coast Guard coming into the Marina.

Waz, having been a NZ Coast Guard Volunteer (Almost all the NZ CG is volunteer staffed),  is always interested in the 'gear'....these photos are for YOU, Karen Elliot! (Another NZ CG Skipper!)

The young woman skipper had two goes at docking, which surprised us...perhaps she was in training?

They tore off out of here later in the day, having picked up a third crew member.

We had seen a new anchor, up at the Marina store...a 30kg one. We had a 20kg Bruce on the front, but after talking to the locals, here at the dock, we felt the need to go a bit bigger. The 30kg Bruce look-alike (locally produced?) has now been installed, and the 20kg anchor is back in the anchor locker up front. We now have three anchors, which is greater comfort, with the variety. Apparently storms on Georgian Bay are legendary for their violence, and many a craft has dragged onto rocks during one of them. We don't want to see any more rocks, close-up and personal, so bigger is better, in this case.
Here she is sitting on the dock.

We had taken the dock cart the 1/4 mile up to the Marina store, and Waz is returning it to the head of the dock, after hauling the anchor back in it.

Installed and ready to go...added insurance, as far as we are concerned

 30kgs!

To get the anchor onto the track, we had to first lasso the old one, let the chain out, with Waz holding the end of the rope in order to pull it onto the dock. He exchanged the anchors on the dock, dropping the new one into the water, and I hauled her in with the windlass. The old one, at 20kgs, is able to be handled without TOO much difficulty, and we set her on the side of the boat to manhandle into the locker, which kind of needed a cleanout first. That accomplished, we had a cup of tea:)

We were going to leave the dock, after last night. Well, you get three nights on the dock, courtesy of the Marina if you are having work done. As soon as the work is done, you pay for your nights. They have a buy two get one free promotion right now...We would have to come back to the Marina on Thursday night to pick up the Prop and mail, and they would give us that night complimentary, as a result. So...we asked at the office what we owed them....They are comping us all but three nights, which we pay for. That will mean we get four nights complimentary. We feel like we have paid for two weeks, already, with the cost of Haul Out etc. WOW! Twice the price of what we paid to haul out in Houston! They only have a short summer to make their money, up here, and it surely shows.


It got to be 4.30 yesterday afternoon, and we were feeling peckish. I haven't made any white flour/sugar baked goods for almost 8 months, but I had a pot of fresh raspberries that would make wonderful muffins, with a touch of lemon zest...so I got creative. The smell in the cabin was wonderful:) Feeling that muffins would encourage us to eat too much of a good thing, I decided to make the mix into a cake, instead. Portion control is easier that way.
So, here is my fresh Raspberry/Lemon Muffin Cake. I don't have fresh milk, and didn't want to make up a powder mix, so  I used cream instead! Worked well!
We ate this for dessert with cream, last night:) It should have been warmed first, but it was very tasty, with less sugar than I would normally include.

It was so good that we had that (warmed) with the left over raspberries and some fresh blueberries and cream for breakfast, this morning:). Why not eat dessert for breakfast?? No rules, are there?

Waz has been waiting for parts for the Raw Water Pump...it seems to have taken longer than it should, to get this thing repaired. Today was no exception. He needed a Puller to complete the task, and we took off on our bikes to find one with the parts to be pulled (bearing), in the backpack. We thought we might find one to borrow, at Car Quest, but they don't loan tools. Bah! That meant we were back on the road and back up the loooong hill to Canadian Tire. There we rented the tool ($84 + tax = $103 and change), and took it outside to the parking lot where Waz did the deed. All done in ten mins. It took longer to assemble the tool than it did to pull the bearing. All done, we took the puller back for our refund. Lunch looked awfully good, by this time, so we rode along the main road to A&W Family Food restaurant. This is advertised as being 'local', NO GM, NO hormones etc etc, in their meat.
We found them to be expensive, though they did serve Sweet potato fries...for $1 extra, over and above the cost of potato fries. Our lunch still cost us $20!!

It was all down hill sailing from there, and  we didn't stop for a Dairy Queen this time:)

We did stop at the small grocery store on King Street to get some more yellow beans, and sweet potatoes. The beans are wonderful and 100% on what is offered at the big supermarkets, where they look weeks old.

On the way up the hill we stopped to take this photo ...what can it possibly mean, on the side of the road of a steep hill??? No prizes, sorry!

and just to get a little more excited...this gorgeous old girl is opposite us...well, kitty corner, actually, in the Marina. I do love the old boats with their lovely varnished wood. Just to completely digress!!

Now for some $$ information, just in case you get too excited about keeping a boat in this Marina on Georgian Bay...

Our neighbor with a 47ft Sail boat (Yacht, for you're kiwis) pays $8,700 for Dock Fees FOR THE SUMMER SEASON...which is about three months long (maybe 4!). THEN, he has to pay for haul out, because ALL the boats come out of the water for the winter season....AND shrink wrapping, if he chooses to leave it out in the snow, OR have it incarcerated in the HEATED Boat shed. They do things a little differently in these here climes. He did quip that they call the Marina PAYport, instead of Bayport:) ha! 


As I went looking for clothes to wear, this morning, I became disenchanted with the ever shrinking selection...this is with GOOD cause, I might add. It was time to have a grand try-on and get rid of those things that don't fit me any more.

I had been keeping (for who knows what reason) a selection of 'boat worthy' shorts...meaning that they were not suitable any more to wear OUT!...as in Off the boat. Those are now nicely packaged and about to be on their way to the trash...not good for rags or recycling, unfortunately.

Our immediate neighbors in their yacht, are a Doctor and his wife (a former surgical nurse). I noticed from the previous week, that she wears similar colors to myself. I went next door and enquired after her preferences, and if she was interested in receiving some of my hardly worn clothing, or knew where to take it? She said yes, she would be happy to, and if she didn't want/fit it, then she could find a good home for it with a women's organization in Toronto. Yay! Well done!

I have lost 4 dress sizes in weight. Don't ask me the pounds, they are unimportant. I just need to know what size clothes I can fit now.
I am somewhere between a 14 and a 16...a 15? The 16's are a bit large and the 14's a bit neat....not long tho!
The selection of clothing in the closet is getting narrower, but I don't mind...I will have a shop- up when we return to the USA.

 As I may have mentioned before, we have been eating like kings, without sugar (added sugar, or refined sugar, that is) and white flour processed carbs et al. We eat plenty of wonderful fresh food...meat, dairy, fruit and veg, and occasionally an ice-cream or other 'treat' which we don't always enjoy...too sweet!.  This isn't just to lose weight, but to make a lifestyle change so that we are fitter, healthier, leaner, in our golden years, and more able to fight off diseases (we hope) and other possibly age-related illnesses etc. So far so good!


I have been sitting here eating a large bowl of jumbo cherries...making the most of the summer fruits...for a snack. They work wonders!! I highly recommend them for a morning clean-out:)

Waz has finished putting the pump back together. I have finished shining the stainless steel and I have even vacuumed the inside of the boat (yesterday afternoon), so we are all ready to go on the next portion of our trip.

Keeping our fingers crossed for the mail arriving tomorrow, along with the Prop.

We even had a pump-out yesterday afternoon! woohoo!!  Literally went across the small channel to the Fuel dock and back again. We did need help getting back onto the dock though..the wind was blowing us off. Two dock hands were there to help us:)
The place is crawling with dock hands and others, all wearing bright green t-shirts. This is their summer job! Mind you, they are kept running in the weekends when all the boaters are out and about. We watched the four young folk on the fuel dock, this past weekend, absolutely run off their feet from 7am till 8pm.

Well, time for tea to warm up. It is cold! Im going to put a sweater on and maybe even my sheepskin slippers!  We might be motoring up the bay in our down jackets this rate.

Pray for fine weather and flat water for us this weekend. It is a long weekend, so the place is going to be a bit of a zoo, me thinx.
Ciao for now.

Damage Control in Midland..or Going out with a Bang!

We thought we had settled in on the Lift dock at Bay Port Marina, so we left the boat there and walked into town. It took about 25 mins to get to the Town Dock where we went looking for food. Talk about hungry! We could have eaten two horses and three ducks, I think. All that anxiety makes you hungry!
On the walk there, I took a couple of photos...of course:)

 A typical small coastal town, with plenty of public artwork on walls:)

 King Street is the main drag...It goes down to the waterfront park.

We settled on the Boathouse Restaurant, and were ushered inside where it promised to not get cool, by the time the sun went down.
We ordered some calamari...couldn't think too well without food, and that looked like a good default  starter. It was served with Tsatziki..and somehow didn't taste good. Could have done with some garlic aioli!   ordered our mains and didn't have to wait too long for those either. Waz ordered ribs, which were pronounced fantastic, and I had a pork schnitzel with mushroom gravy and mashed and yummy stir fry veg. Fantastic good honest food. The best was yet to come!!! They had REAL home  made Crème Brulee. This is the first REAL Crème Brulee I have had since being back in the USA(all the others have been made with a 'mix'). You can taste the egg in the custard! That's how you know. It was delicious. Wow! What a great way to finish a shitty day!:)
We walked back to the boat along the town bike path, which would have been a better way to get into town, but never mind....now we know!
We arrived to find the boat had been moved back, along the dock. There was another boat coming in that needed the travel lift NOW! Uh Oh!

As we had come out of Port Severn, we had heard a MAYDAY alert on the Coast Guard radio (channel 16) from the occupant of a vessel in the Potato Island channel (the preferred channel, apparently) that exits the Port, to say they had struck a rock and were taking on water. Well, we weren't the ONLY ones to hit a rock...and I would guess a whole lot of other people did too!

As we heard the call, we looked through the binoculars to see the boat, not far away, listing to port, and stationary. We could not aid them, so continued towards Midland.

This turned out to be that boat I told you to remember, at Lock #42, where we stayed for two nights. The Four Winns 43...remember??

Well, the tow boat arrived at the Marina with her in tow, about 9.20pm...it was almost dark, but there was enough light for them to get all their stuff off the boat etc, and for people to be able to see some of what was underneath, when she was lifted out of the water.
The towboat had four pumps on the stern of the boat, and they were spewing water faster than you can say knife...great gushes of it! The hoses snaked down into the bowels of the boat.

I wouldn't like to make any predictons at all, but they must have been going at speed to do the kind of damage they did, to their boat. They tore the Pod Drive off the starboard side. The pod is designed to let go, apparently, but not to hole the boat. This one had obviously failed!

Shredded, would be a good word for it!
By the way...this is NOT our prop!

By the time they got the boat loaded onto the travel lift, if was a bit too dark to take more pics, but I did manage a dark one of the pumps on the back of the boat. Might have to post it later, as there is limited internet right now.

Our hearts go out to the Family from Montreal who were a week into their family vacation.

We were up early for our haul out in the morning, having slept like logs! I took a sleeping tablet, just to insure the quality of sleep:)..it worked!

The boat above had been put on blocks, so we were ready to go around 8.45am.



I had readied the large load of laundry to do while our girl was out of the water...not sure how long for...and went off and did that.
The minute she was out in the sling, the pressure hose came out and the staff had her cleaned off in a flash. How nice to have that done for us. It obviously is all part of the 'cost' of hauling the boat.
It meant that when she dried off, we could see if there was any other damage to her hull, having hit rocks along our keel, but all we could see was a bit of paint off. We soon touched that up, along with a whole lot of other spots. I took on the task of removing the little barnacles from all the orifices, and then painting them, when dry.

 

 

This zinc on the shaft needed to be replaced, having come undone...hmmmm...as did some of the others, so we did all the shaft zincs! The trim tab zincs and Rudder zincs also got changed out. We also got the chance to paint anti-foul on the props, struts, rudders and water intakes. We did spot painting on the hull and all the important things that we had time to do, before putting her back with a matched pair of Props. We now wait for the starb'd prop to be redone by Thursday, and we are on our way. No way for us to pick her up in another port, unfortunately.

She was out of the water until just after lunch, on Friday, which gave us time to check her belly. We are happy to see that everything looks pretty good. We will eventually need to give her bottom a paint, but that isn't urgent at this stage. A good winter project!:)

 

Damage!!! a pretty wee bend...enough to stop our engine, and make the other blades look like the rats had been gnawing!

 

We hadn't had time for breakfast before taking her out of the water, so we were pretty hungry by 1pm. Once she was on a dock, I set out to make Saimin noodles...something very filling!!

Waz tying up on the dock opposite the fuel dock. I guess I would call it the Jump Seat...this is where they put the big boats ready to go out the channel opposite. It is not an ideal settling place, coz we are in the main channel out, on a corner that all the boats seem to want to accelerate around. We also get the wake of those coming in off the bay...they come down off the plane and their wake follows them into the channel:( We have a bumpy ride most of the day, but the nights are quiet.!

Saimin noodles with carrots, cabbage, broccoli and Italian sausage..yum!:)

We watched the light diminishing, enjoying the cloud formations, above the marina.

This fella with his 7 month old Golden/Poodle mix, 'Chester', who loves the boat:) He is gorgeous, but a handful...the dog that is! Dad talks the hind leg off a donkey, but gave us some interesting 'tips'.

 More sunset:)

 Our view out the starb'd side of the boat...the Fuel Dock. This marina has fantastic amenities...each of those spigots sticking upright on the dock are pump-out stations! the best we have seen anywhere.

And as the sun went down some more, I had to take this photo of the liquid gold. Reflected sunset on water. I never get tired of reflections of boats.

Saturday:

We did a little bit of a tidy up on board, took trash out, went to visit Helen and Bob for some chart information, and spent an hour or so with them, getting the .50c tour of their 50 ft Motor Yacht at the same time:) They have lived aboard for 10 years!!! Both of them are retired Electrical Engineers. Helen is the Captain and Bob is the First Mate.  She is a highly competent Captain too! He has vision impairment, so is a little challenged for some tasks, but they manage very well, the two of them.

We ate fruit salad for lunch, to finish up all the berries that needed eating, and then got the bikes off the boat and went exploring ...well, kind of.
After a large brunch, around ten am, we decided to go and find another bearing (the marina could only furnish us with one and we needed two), and a pop riveter...something has come loose, and needs riveting.

Our travels took us up a looooong hill away from the waterfront. We walked/biked all the way up, and got onto a main highway...not a great place for a bike, nor is a parking lot at a mall...we used our bells/horns a lot. They rather took people by surprise, I think, but it sure got their attention. Parking lots are certain death to bikers...people pull out without looking!!! aieeee!

Eventually we started our way back down the hill...looking primarily for a coffee shop, but it was now 4.30pm! We did happen upon a DQ (Dairy Queen) and decided we had already burned all our brunch calories off, so a Blizzard would definitely refill the calorie bank. We opted for Mini's of the new flavor (much too sweet) of Peanut butter Rolo. Wont be doing THAT again! Yuk!

We finished our bike ride all the way back to the main drag, and along the bike path to home.

I think we travelled at least 5 miles...at least! and were glad to get out of the saddle.

I made a cole slaw and Katsu Chicken  ( Boneless chicken thighs coated in Dijon mustard and Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs and shallow fried in veg. oil) for dinner with an avocado on the side. Pretty simple, but yummy.

I have to admit to not taking any photos..sorry! Too busy, and sometimes I just need to attend to the task at hand...so Im told:)

Thunder and lightening preceded the Rain, and Waz had gone the 200 feet up the dock to the Showers, without a raincoat...hmm....He was stuck there in the shelter for a good 45 mins before the rain stopped enough for him to come back to the boat, in the dark, without having TWO showers.

I have been trying to finish these blogs for  few days now, but the internet is slow and photos take a long time to upload...I think this is now caught up.

Sunday:

We got all the charts out and found which portions of our next part of the journey we are missing, and purchased those from the Marina store. We are making decisions as to which route to take, with minimum stress both for the boat and for us, while letting us enjoy Georgian Bay.

More on that at a later date. We will again be without internet for a few days, once we leave the marina, but I will write the blog on Word, if I can. Lots to remember always!

We had a long chat with one of our dock neighbors, a Lawyer from Toronto, who travels the 1 1/2 hrs to this marina, on weekends, all summer. He has sailed this Bay for 30 something years, so it was good to hear his stories and opinions. At the end of the day we have to make our own informed choices though.

Well, that's it for now. I need to go fill a bucket with soapy water, get the scrubber out and go clean the baby. Ciao for now

A rest day in Couchiching and onwards to The Big Chute and beyond.

Our rest day was much needed. I was feeling VERY negative towards arrogant boaters, shallow water, rocks, narrows etc....ok,,,make that ALL that is involved in boating, right now.
I have to say that Hitting The Wall, as it were, took me one year, one month and three days! Not bad, I reckon:)
Anyway, I needed a day off to regroup, re-gather my confidence, hang out with Waz (he needed it too, I might add here!!!) and walk off the negativity and low vibes. We both benefit greatly from these 'do little' days. This kind of boating is very stressful! What boating isn't, in all truth?

Moving on....
We took three walks during the day, on our day off. On each walk we were accompanied by clouds of mozzies, which Waz took much delight in (well, not MUCH delight) in swatting. He had omitted to put anti-Mozzie stuff on, so what can I say??? You would have thought, by the third time he would have gotten the message, lol.

The tall trees are lovely, and we can identify some of them, but not many. Anything not a conifer is a little off our radar. We can, however identify the wildflowers, and delighted in the wild sweetpeas, the Black Eyed Susans, Shasta Daisies et al. Lots of saw-toothed ferns too! We are in awe of Mother Nature...one day there is snow on the ground, the next there is a field of wild flowers, so we are told.

 Good old Dock Leaves and flowers.

The Day lilies are spectacular, everywhere.

 Yellow Cone Flowers ?

 We  were the only two boats on the lock wall, most of the day. The blue topped 22 footer belonged to folks from Midland, who invited us to enjoy their private beach and check out their stunning garden. Ken and Brenda live in Midland most of the year, and were such helpful folks. We hope to see more of them.

 The Lock Offices usually have a garden of sme kind. This one is very colorful, with a birdhouse right in the middle, on a rock.

 They are also growing tomatoes and Zucchini!

 The view from the Lock Office level, where the bathrooms are. No showers, but nice clean Loos.

 Opposite is the rather run-down former home of the Lock Master at #42. This home is under revision as to what to do with it. Something needs to be done, as parts of it need major surgery!

 The wild blackberries were not too sweet!

 Cone Flowers are always stand-outs in any garden

 Wild sweetpeas that didn't really have a scent, unfortunately.

We finished our day with a walk in the 'other' direction, a nice meal, a sit and chat with Ken and Brenda, before retiring out of the clouds of mozzies. The threatened rain didn't actually happen, but it was overcast and coolish. We wore sweaters some of the day. This is unseasonably cool, they tell us.


We told the Lock Master we intended to lock through first thing, on our last day through the Trent Severn Waterway. 

We were up and ready to go in the morning, but decided to wait for two fast boats to lock through first. No hurry.

Slightly foggy morning, but clear and very pretty, looking back down the canal.

 The front boat is the Four Winns which I will tell you about in another post...or later this post. The rear boat is a Formula. They were travelling together, from Montreal, and had taken only a week to get to Lock 42..which rather flabbergasted us! Not much time, but they mostly travel at around 25-28 knots! Remember that for later!!

 We have pulled away from our lovely two day position, on the  way into the lock

Out the other side and down another twenty or so feet...the canal was relatively narrow, with cottages and some permanent homes along the waterway.

The cottages are not large! and I wouldn't be paying that kind of money for them. A bit too expensive, I think.

People are very creative with their tree stumps:)

 Lovely homes with large outcroppings of rock either part of their house, deck or yard. I would love to do some landscaping to include them!

 ...and of course the settler style home with a lovely cottage garden always draws my camera:)

 The Hamlet Swing Bridge, which the boat underneath didn't seem to want to wait for, but it looks like they fit!

 Coming to the end of the canal from Lock 42

 Next up, 26 miles of little lakes, along the Trent River.

Some is skinny water, other times we were in 24 feet, as perhaps you can see.

At mile 221.2 is McDonalds Cut. I mention that here because it was all cut by hand in 1905. No machinery was used at all. When you consider how long it took and the work involved, you can perhaps...I say PERHAPS...appreciate the skinny channel...maybe in a small boat!:)

At Mile 224.5 we approached Swift Rapids and Lock #43...almost finished!!!! two to go!!!
This is a very tall lock. We are forced to tie up to the wall to wait our turn along with the myriad other large and small boats. We were not on the blue line, as that was full of waiting boats, already.
A large 55ft Sea Ray with a SeaDoo Jetski in tow muscled her way straight into an already full to busting lock, only to be ordered back out...whereby her captain slotted himself into a tiny space at the head of the queue! Sigh!

We found out that the captain is Russian, and he had a crew (guests?) of four. He was not a patient man!!!
The Lock staff are very much in charge of the order of business and who goes in and when. We indicated that we were in line, tho not ON the line, to go into the lock. We managed to eat some al fresco lunch while waiting...boats were coming in and going up and in and down, in the half hour we waited and ate.

Waz went to the staff again to indicate we were ready to leave, and there ensued a conversation with the Russian and the Lock Staff....They were to go in first, and we had to go in alongside....more sighs! There was literally NO ROOM BETWEEN US! Our fenders were right against the hull of their boat!
We went down without incident, all 47 feet of lock...and when it came time for the gates to open, I asked them politely to go first (made good sense) BUT...to go VERY slowly past us, while I pulled their boat off the wall and guided her past us. He complied for 2/3 of the way, then hit the gas. Our front fender swung up, narrowly missing me and allowing the boats to come within an inch of each other. Sheesh! Who needs these nutters? He was the kind of guy who was probably the class bully! His boat name pretty much says it all...Man O' War!!

We were happy for them to leave us in their wake, except that we also had current from the Falls to deal with, and lots of rocks on either side.


Looking behind me, back at the Dam at Swift Rapids.

 

All the little boats went  out through the lock before us, creating plenty of wake to negotiate as well as the current.

 

 

I wasn't able to get pics leading up to the boat being driven onto the slings at the Big Chute Railway, so this is the first opportunity I had to take any. Waz is still positioning the boat according to instructions from the crew directing the operations. The slings literally lift the boat to stabilize to hold it from tipping once the railway comes out of the water and over the road and down the other side. We are then hanging in air, but our Keel is resting on the wooden deck of the carriage. Fenders are now on deck to avoid getting tangled in the slings.

 You can see the rails going over the grass, ahead. The man on the right was working the forward slings into position.

 Being tightened

 ...and we are underway, I believe. This photo also is looking back at the boats on the Blue Line waiting for us to get to the bottom, any boat there to come up, and they will be called into position for their own trip over the hill to the water down below. It is a fascinating process and over in a flash. I chose to sit on the front of the boat and videotape the whole thing with my little camera.

 You can clearly see the Blue Line, which is where any boat waits, here or at the various locks, to indicate they are ready to lock through, or move forward when called. The wind was blowing us onto the dock, therefore to port, as we made our way onto the railway. Waz handled her beautifully. Hats off to him!

 We are about to get to the summit, then will go over the top to the water below.

 

 ...and it is all over in a flash!. We are now leaving the Big Chute Railway, and into the water again below the Dam.

I raced to the back of the boat to get these next two shots of the railway. Doesn't look much, does it? Hard to believe it carried our boat over the road, out of the water!

 Spectators can stand on the steps to watch the process, or like the folks on the deck of the building, which is then about our own height, as we go over the top.

Yet another narrow channel lies ahead of us. This area is known as the Little Chute. The walls are rocky and unforgiving and the current swift. Almost straight out of the lock we confronted with an almost 270 degree turn to port. This involved us doing some quick jiggery pokery to get around the corner in the small space we had, between the red and green markers. This was another Securite Call on the radio, to announce our intentions, and to avoid any conflicts with other larger than 40ft vessels. We encountered a couple of small boats and Pontoon boats which didn't appear to have any radios! sigh! You can see from the photo below, just how narrow those markers make the channel.

The next narrow channel was called The Narrows...and not for nothing!!! This is five mile on from the Big Chute Railway. This is the LAST of the rocky channels...so they sat! We found one more....later!
We were going SOOO carefully, negotiating between rocks, and then THUNK!!! ALL alarms started going, and the boat veered severely to port. The starb'd engine had stopped! We had hit a rock!!...and we were being SOOOO Careful, with me glued to the chart plotter, calling out the directions for Waz to steer to get around this nasty area. What we think happened, was that the boat symbol on the chart plotter covered up the + sign that indicates a rock of indeterminate depth below the surface. Grrrr! 
We got our VERY shaken selves back to rights, because there was literally nowhere else to go, in this part of the channel, and the boat was drifting towards the cliff...aieee!! No time for a meltdown...yet!

 We were literally shaking, both of us, but Waz restarted the starb'd engine and got us underway again. We couldn't (then) figure out how we had hit the rock, considering we were being so careful.
Everyone we have talked to since, has their own story of rock hopping, to tell!..and bent props and shafts and much more. We also hear about the $20,000 insurance jobs that have to be done to some boats. Thank Goodness we didn't hole and damage the boat more. We were only moving at 5.4 knots, as this is a 10kph area, for good reason.

With one more Lock to negotiate, we were sooooo OVER the whole Trent Severn Waterway. I had already mentally booked my ticket home. I was about to abandon ship...Waz said I would have to come after him!! He isn't one to panic or show how flustered he is, but this hit us both pretty hard.



The sign at the Georgian Bay end of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Mile 0!

Our Last lock, #45 ! Yayayay! This Lock is at Port Severn, and then the Servern Road Swing Bridge. The last lock is the smallest of the whole lock system. It was NOT wide!

 

One more bridge to get under...the Highway Bridge at Port Severn...not a lot of room on top, for us, but we made it, and through these VERY skinny markers to do so.

 What you cant see here, is the rock everywhere just below the surface! No room for error...and stick to the channel!

No time to get complaisant, once out of the Trent Severn...the channel to take us into Georgian Bay was just as narrow as any we had come along, and there were a gazillion rocks waiting to jump at us.  We were already nervous wrecks, so this was the last exhausting bit before some deeper water and less rocks.

 Land is never very far away...or very far beneath the surface.
I hope you can get an idea of the intensity that is required to negotiate these waters. Im not normally a panicky person, but my poor heart had an overflow of adrenalin, today! It was not feeling 'normal' by any stretch of the imagination. I have a feeling that the Captain had his own dose of the same. He would never admit to it tho!:)

 Our destination once out of the silly waters, as I now call them, was the Bay Port Marina at Midland, across the Bay. We could feel the abnormality of the damaged prop, so we didn't go too fast to get there. The Marina is indicated on the middle right, below the True.

Midland is just one of the towns in the area with huge murals on buildings. This one depicts the beginnings of the area. This was taken as we came into the Bay, before turning towards our Marina.

Waz had contacted the Marina the day before, to book a night or two, but this time when he radioed to let them know we were on our way, he asked that we go straight to the dock for Lift Out of the water. We were directed to the travel Lift Dock, well inside the marina. Here we are on approach to the marina, with the fuel dock on the left, where the yacht is. We had to turn a tight left after that, then a right, then another tight left, to get to the travel lift at the back of the marina. After all that turning, I was done for!

 ..and so we are safely where no more rocks can jump out at us! phew!. The travel lift would take us out first thing in the morning...or so we thought!. it is now 5.30pm. A LOOOOONG DAY!

I want to throw this photo in, just for the heck of it.  The yellow pole (or red or other color) is on the top of the fire hydrant so the fire dept. can find them in the snow!!!

Another day tomorrow...or so we thought.