07-19-09 Big Chute Rail Lock

Today was one of the highlights of the trip. We left Rama, ON and traveled 4 hours to Big Chute. Along the way, we saw beautiful homes built up on the rocks with excellent docks and “play” places on the water. The houses were more spectacular than the ones previously.





It has been cold here, so we were surprised at these "Crazy Canadians".








Big Chute is the home of the only rail lift lock in the world. We arrived and tied to the wall, not the blue line, so we could go and observer the operation and see the thing in action. It is a carriage, on two rails that take boats from one side of a road to the other, by passing OVER the road. Boats enter the carriage, are strapped in, then lifted 65 feet into the air and then transported to the other side and deposited into the water. Due to the construction of the railway, with two sets of tracks, the load stays level at all times. Based on the size of the boats, the chute can take from 1-6 boats. We decided to spend the night on the wall, go through the lock tomorrow morning and head for Pentetangishene for the gathering of loopers in Canada. Here are several pictures of the Big Chute.




































Along the way ot Big Chute, we passed through Lock 42. It drops us 45 feet.

07-18-09 RAMA Casino

After the Scottish Festival in Orillia, we left Orillia and went 5 miles to a marina at the RAMA Casino. It was time for Betsy to get her “fix”. The marina was crowded, but they found us a spot under the shed and near the restrooms.
The restrooms and showers were excellent. We rate them a 9.















We caught the shuttle to the casino, run by the Ojibway Indians, in the town of RAMA, ON. While getting a player card, the lady at the desk said she could get us tickets to see Crystal Gayle for the 2100 show. So, we said Thank You very much. We went and Crystal gave a great show.

Tomorrow, we are off the Big Chute and the fun really begins.

07-18-09 Special Edition – Orillia Scottish Heritage Festival

Will someone in our church family please make sure my friend Howard Orr sees or hears about this blog. I don’t know if he is a daily reader or not, but I want to make sure he hears about this!!

We are still in Orillia, and one reason we stayed here for several nights is that we knew there was a Scottish Heritage Festival this weekend. I don’t know that either of us has any Scottish blood, but we’ll stick around for any festival!

Over the past several days we’ve heard bagpipes in the far distance every night, practicing up for the big day. Well today was the big day. We are docked right next to the park where the festival is, right at the bottom of the hill on the town’s main street. The Scottish Heritage Festival Parade started promptly at noon, and we had front row seats. I didn’t count how many pipe and drum bands there were, but my estimate would be at least 30 or 40. All were playing different tunes (although they all sounded pretty much the same), and I want Howard to know that I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a real, practiced pipe and drum band before, and these were great!

The bands were from all over Canada, many representing police and fire departments, some representing schools, some just representing pipe and drum clubs. They were obviously all very serious about what they were doing. Having been a former parade marcher myself (way back in high school days), I thought there formations were excellent…nice straight lines, all marching on beat.

The front men (in a band we call them drum majors, I don’t know what they are called in a pipe and drum band) were so serious, very somber faced! I got a real kick out of the one little boy that was following the major, imitating him. I was impressed by the number of young pipers there were.

The parade went on for about 45 minutes, and I was sorry to see it end. In addition to the pipe and drummers, there were Shriners riding around in their funny little cars with their funny hats on, and local dignitaries in antique cars.

Even Scottie Dogs came out for the festivities. Here is a mama Scottie and her 3 daughters, one of which is pregnant (they hope).

Now I’m sitting on the boat, but in the distance I still hear bagpipes. There is some sort of competition going on, but its about time for us to pull out and head over to the casino marina.

So, Howard, I take back all the bad things I said about bagpipes!

07-17-09 We Love Canada!

Betsy speaks: Not much to tell today as we haven’t moved from our spot in beautiful Orillia, Ontario. We intend to stay here 3 nights, as they have a buy 2 get 1 free deal and this is a nice location with lots of shopping nearby and nice facilities. We spent a good part of this morning cleaning the boat inside and out. Then just before lunch we looked up and saw our friend Maurice chugging in on his 21 foot Ranger Tug. We had left him behind in Bobcaygeon and weren’t surprised that he caught up with us here. He’s docked right next to us again.

The other looper boat that is here is Idyll Time, a 48 foot trawler, so you have the smallest and the largest boats that we’ve seen looping here together.

So since there’s not much to tell today, I want to talk a little about things we like about Canada. Generally, it is a beautiful country with beautiful waterways and wonderful people. But there are several specific things that we have appreciated and that we think the US would benefit from.

First, they are SERIOUS about recycling. At some marinas in the US we saw signs encouraging you to recycle, but that is hard to do when there aren’t any recycle containers to be seen. Here in Canada, there is a recycle container next to nearly every garbage can. We have always been able to find the place to put our cans and bottles, be it at lock sites, restaurants, marinas or city parks. We discussed recycling with some Canadians and they indicated that the goal, in the beginning, was to reduce landfill use by 65%. They have exceeded that goal. In Canada, they are closing landfills, not because they are full, but because they do not need them.

If you want a plastic bag to carry your groceries in, it costs you a nickel. They have reusable grocery bags available everywhere for about 99 cents. They want you to buy and use them rather than using plastic bags. I know I’ve tried to get in the habit of taking reusable bags to the store when I go, but I usually forget. If I had to pay a nickel for every bag I brought home from the grocery, I’d be more likely to remember to take my own bags!

On another subject about grocery shopping: how mad do you get when you see someone leaving their cart in the middle of the parking lot, too lazy to push it to the cart holder or back to the store!? It infuriates me! At some of the grocery stores here, you have to pay a quarter deposit to get a cart. Then when you return the cart you get your quarter back. What a great idea! However, there’s a funny story to go along with that. The first time I saw this was at the grocery store in Peterborough. I saw a long line of grocery carts right outside the store. I tried to pull one from the line, but I noticed they were locked together with a chain on each cart locking it to the next cart. I just figured this was some way to get all the carts back to store without them coming apart…I didn’t pay much attention to it and headed for another group of carts just inside the door. A man was pushing his cart from the parking lot toward the store, so I just reached for it and said “I’ll take that for you.” He gave me a funny look and sort of hesitated, so I said again “I”ll take that cart into the store for you.” He let me have it and sort of walked away shaking his head. It was then I noticed a quarter sticking in the slot in the handle. You’re supposed to stick a quarter in the slot to get your cart, and then you get your quarter back when you take your cart to the proper place and attach it to the next cart and your quarter pops back out at you. So that poor man I’m sure thought I was some crazy American too cheap to use my own quarter.

Another smart thing the Canadians have done, and I think we’ve touched on this in previous blogs, is to turn the lock operation over to Parks Canada, which has done a marvelous job of making the lock grounds beautiful. The lockmasters and their interns all wear nice uniforms and all are exceptionally nice and helpful. Always cheerful, they go out of their way to welcome you to “their” lock. Each lockmaster is responsible not only for the operation of the lock, but for the landscaping of the lock site and for the maintenance thereof. The first thing every morning they go around with a broom and clear spider webs off all surfaces (there are LOTS of spider webs up here). The bathrooms are always clean. The picnic tables are always clean. There is not trash falling out of the garbage cans. It is just incredibly clean and fresh and beautiful. You can stop at any lock before or after locking and tie up to the wall and go in and use the restrooms or have a picnic lunch. If you want to spend the night tied up to the wall, they give you a key or code to use the bathrooms during the night. We did not find this to be the case at most of the locks on the Erie Canal.

Everywhere you look there are beautiful flowers. Where our annuals in North Carolina are usually parched and spent by mid July, here they are beautiful. There are lots of hanging baskets, lots of gardens, and all are so vibrant and healthy looking. Nearly every lock has gardens and baskets, all the parks have beautiful flowers, and nearly every city has hanging baskets on the light poles, which is reminiscent of Alaska and of Europe. I’m sure climate has a lot to do with it.

As we travelled in New Jersey and New York, we were often appalled by the language we heard in restaurants, on the street, or dockside. I know I’m a little trashy mouthed sometimes, but we heard language in public that I would never use, and we heard it over and over and over. We have not heard any foul language out of the Canadians.

We’ve met many very nice Canadians, but one just stands out and I want to tell you about him. His name is Al…I have no idea what his last name is. We first met him at the marina in Peterborough. Al travels in a little 17 foot homemade boat. He had cut a plan out of Popular Mechanics magazine in 1958 and saved it. Then in the mid 70s his wife encouraged him to build that boat. So he started on it in the mid 70s and finally finished it in about 1990. He told me he really built the boat for his wife because she loved the water, and they had a great time on it for one year and then she died.

Now Al travels back and forth on the Trent Severn every year, probably several times a year, by himself. Several of lockmasters told us he was a regular. He never stays at marinas, always at lock walls. He eats 3 meals a day on the boat; for his evening meal he gets out a checkered table cloth and puts it on a nearby picnic table and cooks on a little portable grill, usually something real simple like a baked potato.

Inside his boat I couldn’t stand up, but Al is short so he could stand up. The boat itself was made from the plan, but all the insides he did himself. The seats are old automobile seats, so he tries to keep them from getting wet. He has plastic/canvas enclosures, but if there is rain coming, he covers that area with a single sheet of plastic to keep the inside dry. The steering wheel was custom made by a friend because every storebought steering wheel he tried was too large. The friend has since died, and Al put a bronze plaque on the wheel saying who had made it and when.

We ran across Al on several occasions after Peterborough. Our final meeting with him was the night before we got here to Orillia. We pulled over to a small marina to spend one night. As the marina staff was showing us which slip to take, we realized we were going to be next to Al. Turns out this was his home port, and he was through travelling for this week. He actually lives 2 hours away from where he keeps the boat, and he said he was going home long enough to pay the Visa bill and then go boating again.

I just loved Al’s little boat. It reminded me of my daddy building our first boat in our backyard in Durham when I was about 7 years old. It was made out of wood, then coats of fiberglass. I remember him telling me to stay away as he put the fiberglass on so I wouldn’t get the bits of glass in my fingers. I remember the smell of the coating. I wonder if his was a Popular Mechanics plan as well. That was the June Bug I, which was finally lost in Hurricane Fran. Wonderful, nostalgic memories.

Al’s boat had a 75 horsepower Mercury outboard, which meant it could probably go pretty fast. But Al never went more than 6 or 7 miles an hour. He always wore a life jacket (smart). He was just a nice, nice man with a beautiful boat and he loves the water.

Enough of that. Tomorrow we plan to leave Orillia and just head across the lake to the Ojibway Indian marina and casino for one night. Sunday or Monday we will make it to Big Chute to do the railway lock. You won’t want to miss that!

07-15-09 Orillia, ON

We had a very easy day of it today. We did not leave the marina until 1100, and passed 5 locks in 4 miles. Then, it was on to Lake Simcoe. We skirted the Eastern part of the lake, heading for Orillia, ON. The total time was 4 hours and the distance was 25 miles. The lake was glassy smooth and we made great time. Cruising guides and locals warn that the lake can be very rough in a hurry if the wind kicks up, but it was perfect for us.

Before arriving at Orillia, we decided to pumpout our holding tank. We stopped at a marina in the narrows. The cost to pumpout was $20. This seems excessive to us, especially since most of Canada is very serious about waste control, recycling, and keeping the water clean and we only have a 10 gallon tank. A lower pumpout price will encourage boaters to pumpout, rather than dump the waste into the water systems.

Orillia is a rather large city, and is one of the “must” stops on the loop. Many people stay here three days since the town marina, run by the Chamber of Commerce, offers 3 nights for the price of two. And the rate is $1.40 per foot. They have excellent restroom/shower facilities (we rate them an 8) and power (hydro) and good free internet. We did have to move to get a better internet signal but it is great now. A large boat in front of us blocked the signal, as it was good before the boat arrived. Such are the trials and tribulations of being the smallest boat in the marina, as we frequently are.

We need to be in Penetanquishene on Monday for a mini-rendezvous, so we will stay here for at least 3 days. Then we may stay at a nearby casino marina one night so Betsy can get her fix. We have only 4 more locks, including the Big Chute, and only 50 more miles to cover in the Trent Severn Waterway. We will be creating a small blog entry each day, but mostly we will be touring and seeing Orillia.

07-14-09 Sunset Cove Marina, Bolsover, ON Thru Lock 36

Rick speaks. We got up this morning and had breakfast at a local restaurant with our “new best friends” John and Gail, residents of Bobcaygeon, ON. They have been very helpful to us as they are just finishing the loop after 2 years. They are going to have some adjusting to do after being on the boat for so long. They are a wealth of information.

We left Bobcaygeon for Fenelon Falls. There, tied to the lock wall, were Jack and Pia Griffin on board the boat “Still Busy”. We had met these folks, from Charlotte, at the rendezvous in Charleston in April and they have been about 3 weeks ahead of us. However, they went to Ottawa and Montreal and came to Kingston via the Rideau Canal, so we caught up with them. We had a grand old time catching up. Afterward, we toured a very nice museum, dedicated to the town of Fenelon Falls. This is a tourist stop, for all types of folks, including boaters. There are about 10 ice cream shops and other touristy places.

When we returned from eating and visiting the museum, we found, as several people told us, that a houseboat entering the lock had been attacked by the wind and had run into our boat as it was tied to the wall. Fortunately, there was no damage. One bystander had jumped onto our boat and pushed the attacking houseboat away before any damage was done.


We made our way to the next lock, Rosedale. As we left the lock, the port engine would not go into gear and at the same time, the steering wheel seized up. We immediately thought that the houseboat had done damage and we were just now finding out. But, we had just been across a large lake, with no problem. So, we raised the motors and found that one of our lines had gone AWOL, jumped out of the boat, and committed suicide by become wrapping itself on the port prop. Rick cut the offending line, cleared the prop, and off we went. Moral of the story. It is not always perfect each and every day. There is some stress, some days.

We cross Balsam Lake and according to the GPS, we reached the highest elevation we can expect, 852 feet. From now on, we will be going down, and the locks will be much easier to negotiate.











We easily negotiate Trent Canal. This canal is carved from rock for several miles and one does not get out of the channel. It is only about 40 feet wide and 7 miles long. Then, we get another highlight. We ride the Kirkfield Lift Lock. This lock is like the Peterborough Lift, except it is made of steel, not concrete. However, we start out up top, and look out over where we are going as we descend 5 stories. We were the only boat in the lock, and it was a thrill.











We then navigate the Trent Canal more and come to the “Hole in the Wall” bridge. The picture speaks for itself. All of this afternoon has been in very closely marked narrow channels. Some of the markers look like airplane runways.

By 1800, we arrive at Sunset Cove Marina. We decide to stay here as we need a shower after two days on the lock walls. It is an old marina, but they have what we want, hot showers.

In all, we cover 3 locks and 37.1 miles. Tomorrow is another day……

Remember, you can click on any photo and make it bigger to enjoy.

07-13-09 – Young’s Point through Lock 32 Bobcaygeon

Betsy speaks – We went through 4 locks today, for a total of 33.2 miles. We stopped along the way in Buckhorn for lunch, eating again at a picnic table right next to the lock, all part of beautiful and well run Parks Canada.

As we finished lunch, we saw many canoes approaching the lock. They pulled over to the blue line, which meant they were going to go through. They were fairly well spread out, we saw 4 or 5 at first, but then they just kept coming. Each canoe held 3 young teenagers, along with plastic garbage bags full of gear and clothing. They were well weighted down, and the kids were having a hard time controlling them. The final count was 21 canoes that went into the lock at the same time, and we heard the adult in charge tell the lockmaster there were 3 more stragglers. The lockmaster said they would have to catch the next opening, as there were boats waiting as well. This is a very busy lock, and one of the very few where the lockmaster has a loud speaker to tell boats what he wants them to do.

So here are 21 canoes, 7 rows of 3 each, holding on to the right hand wall of the lock, along with 3 boats on the left hand side. As they were going down, the lockmaster asked “which one of you is going to lick the wall this year? Last year someone took chunks off the wall and actually chewed them!” Now, these lock walls are covered with disgusting slime, literally dripping off the wall. Apparently it is customary for some of these kids to lick the wall each year (the lockmaster told me later this is a once a year thing for this camp). Anyway, one of the boys licked the wall, then turned around to spit. This caused uproars of laughter and they got so carried away that someone let go of the wall. The first two rows of 3 canoes each ended up floating away from the wall toward the boats on the other side. They were very inexperienced paddlers and had no clue how to get back to the wall. Their counselor was up on the wall yelling at them to pull the paddles toward the canoes to sidle over to the wall, but it was fruitless. Pure mayhem!

Once the lock was down, the lockmaster slowly opened the doors, the canoes all floated out without any control at all, with the counselor up top yelling at them to grab the wall as they left so they could wait for the 3 stragglers that were now waiting at the top of the lock to come down with the next opening. There was a slight bend in the wall, so we really couldn’t see the final outcome, but I’m sure it wasn’t what the counselor had in mind. We hear this camp costs $3,000 per child per week. I wonder if the parents of these kids have any idea what was going on! The kids did all have on life jackets, but the canoes were way overloaded, the kids did not know how to paddle well enough for this undertaking, several had already swamped (I saw one girl in the bathroom using the hand blow dryer trying to dry out her clothes…she told me her canoe sank from having too much weight in it. Several of the kids were dipping water out of their canoes as they were in the lock.

It was a very windy day, and the water was very rough in places. What a story these kids will have to tell, if they survive! I remember well learning how to handle a canoe when I was at Girl Scout camp in my youth, but I don’t think we ever did anything like this!

This is a picture of the final 3 stragglers waiting for their turn to lock through as all the rest are trying to wait for them at the bottom of the lock.






This is only one of the shivering kids that had been "dunked" by an overloaded canoe!





We finally left Buckhorn and crossed Pigeon Lake heading to Bobcaygeon. Again, it was a very windy day and the lake had a stiff chop. It wasn’t a problem for us, but we did try to radio our friend Maurice in his 21 footer to warn him. By the time we reached him he was at the point of no return, and ended up pulling into Bobcaygeon several hours behind us.

The creek leading to Bobcaygeon was one of the prettiest things we’ve seen. Quiet and peaceful after the lake crossing, beautiful homes on each side, beautiful landscaping. We had met some Bobcaygeon residents during our trip that were finishing their loop, after 2 years. They reached home about 4 days prior to our arrival. They had told us to be sure to look them up once we arrived, but I wasn’t sure how we were going to do that since we’ve disabled our cell phones. We had e-mailed them thinking we would arrive in Bobcaygeon on Tuesday, but we actually arrived Monday. As we approached the lock, we passed a marina and I saw their boat. Thinking I saw someone on the boat, I tooted the horn, and sure enough there was John. So we pulled over to the marina and Gail also came around the corner. They were proudly flying their gold AGLCA burgee, which you get once you’ve completed the loop. We chatted with them for a while, and arranged for them to come to our boat later in the evening as it was John’s birthday and they already had dinner plans.

They stopped by after dinner and shared a drink. Then we arranged to have breakfast with them the following morning.

Bobcaygeon is the site of the very first lock built on the Trent-Severn. It is a lovely little town with wonderful shops and restaurants and a nice museum. We are spending the night here on the wall. Tomorrow a marina will be in order because 2 days without a shower is enough.

I am constantly in awe of how beautiful the Canadian waterways are. The scenery day after day is just breathtaking. We keep reminding ourselves it is only good for boating about 3 or 4 months out of the year.