Close to the End of the Trent Severn Waterway
July 7, 2025
Last night the winds died down about 8. We sat out on the foredeck and listened to the sounds around us; birds chirping, the passing of fishing and pontoon boats – near and far, conversations (carry over the water rather well) and, of course the songs of the loons. It was such a peaceful setting; we had the whole anchorage to ourselves. Pulled up the anchor about 7:30 this morning; the chain and anchor were covered in weeds; you couldn’t even tell there was an anchor underneath it all. As Brian was working on the anchor, Lauren was able to get a short video with recording of two loons fairly near the boat – they were rather vocal. Once the anchor was up, we made our way from Buckhorn Lake into Pigeon Lake. It took a little over an hour and a half traveling an average of 6 knots to get to our first lock in Bobcaygeon. There were four boats already lined up waiting to enter the lock. We were able to squeeze our boat behind them at the end of the blue line. As the four boats started entering the lock, we moved our boat up to first spot on the blue line for the next opening. Just as Brian finished securing our lines, a lock attendant called for us over the loudspeaker to go ahead and also enter the lock; a nice tight fit. While in the lock, Brian asked about space on the wall outside the lock once we exit and hookups for electric. Yes, there was plenty of room for us, but no hookups. The hookups were back before we entered the lock and on the opposite side of the blue holding line. Oh well, we don’t need the electric hookup since we have a generator if need be. After getting settled and Heidi out for a walk, we walked into town looking for (can you guess?) a bakery. Quite a few of the business (mostly eateries) were closed. We did find a coffee shop and they had one butter croissant left; Lauren requested it before anyone else could and Brian got a chocolate hazelnut croissant – both were very good. As I sit here typing, I’m watching one of the lock attendants going along the canal wall, dipping a pail into the water and walking along watering what looks like tree saplings. We’ve noticed that the grounds at every lock since we’ve entered Canada are well maintained. The attendants keep busy with taking care of planting beds and mowing lawns, weed-wacking, keeping the restrooms clean, etc. when not working the locks.
On the way back to the boat, we stopped at the local grocery store and picked up fresh strawberries. Lunch today will be yogurt with our own honey, strawberries, blueberries and a bit of granola. When we arrived back at the lock, we saw Paul and Jill on Pelican. They had come through the lock because they saw us and assumed there were hookups. So, they had turned their boat around and were heading back through the lock again to park on the wall where there was electric. We were able to chat a few minutes with them and made plans to meet up for dinner.
Brian received an email from Monique (and Andrew) of Livin’ The Dream. We had met them in Kingston in a marina. Monique sent Brian a picture of their damaged rudder. The rudder has to be replaced; too much damage to just repair it – bummer. Hopefully, it will get taken care of fairly soon so they can get back out on the water.
Brian reading: The Goodbye Man by Jeffrey Deaver
Lauren: The Forgotten by David Baldacci
July 8, 2025
There is always something to attend to on a boat other than just boat projects and constantly cleaning. For instance, the toilet paper holder fell apart – an easy fix with an allen wrench. The pull tab on a zipper fell off of Lauren’s “Cinderella dress”; thankfully, another easy fix. So, back when Lauren was a stay-at-home mom, she got into the habit of wearing a simple sleeveless, on-size too big “house” dress. It was just a very comfortable garment for her to do housework, gardening, even interior painting and other refurbishing projects. The hem of those dresses was used to wipe up spills, tears, snotty noses (after the tears), etc. When we lived on our sailboat for 3 years, she also wore one, until it practically fell apart from the sun. So, she’s back to wearing a “Cinderella” dress on the boat again because it is just so darn comfortable.
July 9, 2025
Yesterday early evening we were invited for “docktales” by Paul and Jill on Pelican. We were joined by Kim and Scott (had seen Kim at a previous lock) on Sea-cluded Isle and another couple on Restless Girl. Lauren and two other women passed on the drinks. It was a nice bit of socializing. After about an hour, we all headed across the street to Graz. There were no complaints with anyone’s meal. The waitress was very engaging.
This morning we left Bobcaygeon about 7:30 and traveled about 2 hours to our first and only lock of the day in Fenelon. Once through the lock, we were able to tie up on the dock wall with electric hookup. Brian figured out the lithium ion electrical system monitor. So, no issues this time when we hooked into it – yeah!! If we need to run our a/c, we will be all set. We took a walk about town looking for a bakery; found one, but there were no pastries, mostly cake items. So, we continued our walk and ended up at On The Lock, a restaurant that served breakfast and lunch. We both opted for a breakfast for our lunch. Lauren had an omelet with salmon and onion and substituted the cheese with fresh spinach – yum! Back on board it was tidying and cleaning. Brian Scrubbed the foredeck and side decks 10 to 12 times each until the water came out clear. After the last cleaning, he applied Semco; a teak preservative. This process should be once a season per instructions on the can. Brian doesn’t know if that means, once a boating season or once every 3 months; Brian is opting to do this every 3 months. Lauren ended up with a migraine and was having a difficult time resting because while Brian was scrubbing the decks, the water pump kept cycling on and off; it was annoyingly loud down below. Earlier in the day, Brian had invited Paul and Jill on Pelican to join us for dinner out along with Scott and Kim on Sea-cluded Isle. After finishing the decks, Brian let Jill know Lauren wasn’t feeling well and would not be joining them.
We pulled leftovers from the fridge and early evening took a stroll and got ice cream.
Because we are in no hurry to get to our reserved slip (in about 10 days) at a marina for when we have to get back home for appointments, we are trying to mosey along. We will stay on the wall tomorrow, check out shops, the museum and there’s a trail to walk.
June 10, 2025
Yesterday we spent another day in Fenelon. Early morning we took a walk on a bike and walking trail; we walked about 3.5 miles. After getting back to the boat, Brian spent a bit of time researching chocks and making telephone calls. Chocks are brackets that hold a dinghy on deck. We really want to get the dinghy off the davits that hang over our swim platform. The dinghy basically blocks us from trying to get onto the swim platform from the aft deck, unless we lower the dinghy into the water first; sounds simple enough, but it’s a bit of a pain. In the afternoon, we took a stroll downtown and ventured into a few stores.
This morning, we left Fenelon at 7:30 and traveled west through the Trent Canal, to Cameron Lake, Balsam Lake, Mitchell Lake, to Canal Lake then ended up at a lock wall in Talbot. On a good part of the trip today, part of the Trent Canal is called the Narrows for good reason. There is not enough room for boats heading in opposite directions to pass each other. In order to avoid problems on each of those sections, we had to get on the VHF radio and announce a Security (pronounced Secure-i-tay) to warn other boats of our approach. We were informed by one of the lock masters at Kirkfield Lift Lock that a cruise ship was coming through and we would have to wait at the Talbot Lock for it to pass through.
We, along with Pelican and another Looper pulled up and tied off to the lock wall in Talbot and decided to just stay the night as it was already mid-afternoon and the cruise ship was going to be about another hour before coming through the lock.
Tomorrow we will go on to Orillia, about a 4.5 hour trip with the locks.
July 12, 2025
Yesterday’s trip was uneventful; a beautiful day for travel. We were told before heading to Lake Simcoe to watch the weather as the lake can get pretty nasty if the winds kick up. Lake Simcoe is 20 miles long and 16 miles wide; the largest lake on the Trent-Severn Waterway. From Lake Simcoe we traveled through The Narrows to Lake Couchiching. The Narrows are aptly named as the waterway narrows considerably between the two lakes, so much so that passing another good-sized vessel going in the opposite direction can be a bit nerve-wracking (at least for Lauren). We had picked a perfect day to cross the lake. Arrived in Orillia mid-afternoon and docked in a reserved slip. Pelican traveled with us and docked next to us. The dock system is well-maintained. Each slip has placards with large enough numbers that you can see easily while looking for one’s assigned slip. The cleats for wrapping the boat’s lines around fold down flat when not in use; great design. A dockhand was walking up and down the docks with a broom sweeping the away and debris, spider webs, etc. Once docked, we turned on the a/c as it was very hot and humid with no breeze. We took a walk into town; numerous restaurants, liquor store, pharmacy clothing shops, grocery store, cannabis shops are numerous here in Canada, three bakeries (hmmm, Cannabis connection?), etc. There are a lot of Canada geese here; actually everywhere it seems. Brian took a pic of them with the top half of their body submerged and the back half straight up in the air.
This morning, we took a walk to the Mariposa Market; baked goods galore (pies, cakes, cookies, tarts, fritters, ….)! They also sold a varied selection of jams; savory and sweet, relishes, T-shirts with funny sayings, etc. An enjoyable store to walk through. We made our selections and sat outside to enjoy them and people watch. It’s going to be another hot, humid day. Afterwards, we walked to the grocery store and provisioned with fresh produce. Once back on board, the a/c was turned back on. Lauren took Heidi out for a stretch of her legs; Heidi ambled along tree sniffing, marking the tree, scratch the grass and then move onto another tree. Staying in the shade on our walk (crawl) made it tolerable especially since there was a bit of a breeze.
July 13, 2025
Left Port of Orillia Marina at 7:30 accompanied by Pelican. An uneventful day of travel except for the Railroad Swing Bridge we needed to get by. When we arrived at the bridge there was one trawler already waiting; they had been waiting since 8 am. A sign on the canal announced that the bridge wouldn’t open until about 9:45. Since it was only 9:15, we dropped anchor to wait. Six more boats lined up behind us. On the other side of the bridge, there were at least four boats that we could see also waiting to get by the bridge. After a train crossed the bridge, we thought it would swing open shortly after. Still waiting about another ½ hour when another train came by. Again, still waiting for a while after the second train. Two boaters behind us got antsy and bumped ahead of everyone else and tried to get under the bridge, but one of theT boats didn’t quite make it and the bridge workers weren’t too happy with them. They had to do the walk of shame back to their original position in the line. All total, we were anchored for at least an hour and a half.
Once through, we meandered along until we ended up at Swift River Lock and tied up for the night – with an electric hookup. Again, it is so hot and muggy even though there is a fairly stiff breeze. The deerflies are horribly annoying. The lock tenders have to take a boat to get here to work; Swift River Lock is rather remote. The sky is really hazy; we were told it was because of fires; you can actually smell the smoke. We met Twila and Andy on On Business. They graciously went through charts with us showing us where there were great anchorages, what to avoid, what to pay close attention to, places worth stopping, etc. We were joined by Jill and Paul on Pelican and Peter and Sue on Lake Effect. Tomorrow we enter the Great Chute. The Chute is a platform you pull your boat onto. They then place straps under the boat and up on the sides. They hold the boat in place. The whole platform then is lifted out of the water on railroad tracks, up over a large hill and roadway and then down a steep decline on the other side of the hill. Depending on the size of the boats waiting to transit the Chute, more than one can be transported at the same time. It should be quite the experience!
Brian Reading: Masked Prey by John Sandford
Lauren: The White Room b y A.J. Matthews