Day 24
Travel Time:
~ 8 hours
NM today: 40
NM total: 595
Locks today:
7
Locks total:
66
We left at 9:00 to be on our way to Kirkfield as planned. As we pulled into lock 35, Melinda B from Maine, pulled in behind us. From there, they followed us to the Kirkfield lift lock (lock 36). I noticed at Lock 35 that there were a lot of what we called in Pennsylvania "deer flies". I don't know if that is what anyone else calls them, or if it is a correct or incorrect name. All I do know is that they bite and when they bite, they bring up welts 6 times larger than any mosquito I've ever met. I was on high alert and noticing the surrounding area was becoming very green.
We went through some very narrow, hair-raising waters. The folks we met in Belleville referred to the passage as a ditch - they weren't exaggerating! We had to give a Security Call before entering the Trent Canal "ditch" because it is so narrow that two boats cannot pass when one of them is our size. We gave our security call and shortly afterwards heard Melinda B give hers saying she was following in our "footsteps" so to speak. At one section of the "ditch" it was so narrow we were pretty sure we could reach out either side of the boat and pluck leaves from the trees as we passed by them. Meanwhile, looking down on the side of the boat we could see a rock shelf that looked very unforgiving.
We went through some very narrow, hair-raising waters. The folks we met in Belleville referred to the passage as a ditch - they weren't exaggerating! We had to give a Security Call before entering the Trent Canal "ditch" because it is so narrow that two boats cannot pass when one of them is our size. We gave our security call and shortly afterwards heard Melinda B give hers saying she was following in our "footsteps" so to speak. At one section of the "ditch" it was so narrow we were pretty sure we could reach out either side of the boat and pluck leaves from the trees as we passed by them. Meanwhile, looking down on the side of the boat we could see a rock shelf that looked very unforgiving.
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| Traveling the Trent Ditch, no I mean,Canal |
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| Looking down on the rock shelf as we edge our way by |
We both took a deep breath after exiting the "ditch". Phew!
We approached the Kirkfield lift lock just around 11:00. Looking around me, I decided that staying in Kirkfield did not look like a very exciting choice - very remote, very green, and high potential for dealing with flies all day / night long. So I said, "Clark, do we have to stay here tonight, or can we keep going?" Since it was so early in the day, he agreed that he was fine with continuing on to Orillia for the night. We knew that meant getting in to dock at 4:00 or later, but it seemed like a waste of the rest of the day and a night of our trip to stay where we were. Orillia requires reservations for a marina so we knew that as soon as we were done with the lift lock, we needed to start trying to see where we could stay for the night.
We approached the Kirkfield lift lock just around 11:00. Looking around me, I decided that staying in Kirkfield did not look like a very exciting choice - very remote, very green, and high potential for dealing with flies all day / night long. So I said, "Clark, do we have to stay here tonight, or can we keep going?" Since it was so early in the day, he agreed that he was fine with continuing on to Orillia for the night. We knew that meant getting in to dock at 4:00 or later, but it seemed like a waste of the rest of the day and a night of our trip to stay where we were. Orillia requires reservations for a marina so we knew that as soon as we were done with the lift lock, we needed to start trying to see where we could stay for the night.
The excitement of locking through the lift lock took our minds off where to stay for a while as it was quite breath-taking.
The ride down was over all too quickly and it was time to continue on. Our original plan of two locks for today jumped to seven with the new destination we had in mind. We actually got very lucky with locks 37 through 41. Just as we approached 37 the lift was preparing to open to allow boats traveling the opposite direction to exit. We waited but a moment and were able to enter the lock. We traversed all five of this series of locks by ourselves as Melinda B stopped just before lock 37.
At Lock 38 we were pleasantly surprised to see our new Canadian friends on Coventina, Doug and Nicole, who were returning from their trip to Georgian Bay. We had to pull up to the Blue Line to wait for the lock to empty of oncoming traffic, so Clark quickly jumped off the boat to go talk to Doug as they came up in the lock. Doug was very helpful in telling us where to stay and where to find cheaper fuel for the next leg of our trip, so Clark came back full of new knowledge to help us on our way.
We reached Lake Simcoe which we needed to cross to get to Orillia and were greeted with wide open waters.
We knew we needed to stay on track crossing Lake Simcoe but finding the markers to do so was a challenge. The charts, chart plotter, and the actual markers were not often in agreement. Usually we found two out of three agreed. Markers were not where we expected them or did not even exist as the chart or chart plotter said they would. I used my eagle eyes to help Captain Clark spot the markers way off in the distance. We were forewarned by our Belleville friends that the lake can be quite choppy, but we fortunately had calm seas for our crossing. After the lake, when we entered the narrows and beyond, we found strong winds.
We ended up staying at the Port of Orillia which is run by the town Chamber of Commerce. It is right in town and convenient to all the stores. When we checked in, we learned that there is a bakery in town that was open until 6:00. By the time we heard about it, it was 5:30, so we grabbed our bikes and took off pedaling as fast as we could go to the bakery. We arrived there by 5:45 only to learn that they closed at 8:00. Guess we could have pedaled a little slower. Anyway, I've never seen such a collection of cakes, pies, cookies, cinnamon buns, etc etc etc. Amazing selection!
Afterwards, we stopped into the local bike shop which closed at 7:00. Clark was looking for a mirror for his bike helmet, but they didn't sell what he was looking for, so no go on that one. After that we decided to head back to the boat. On Saturdays there is a farmer's market in town, so I plan on visiting that tomorrow, and Clark wants to check out the marine store before we move on our way.
Two boats we met previously on the trip are here at the marina for the night - Rock Me Baby and Palmetto Paradise. Before dinner we met a couple on Chimera, a Monk 36, who are from Alberta, Canada and also doing the Great Loop. They introduced themselves to us as they saw our bikes and were fascinated by them. We brought one of our bikes over to their boat after we returned from our quick bakery run, so we could demo them. They invited us on board and we had drinks and a nice long chat until it was time to go cook dinner.
Earlier, when we had just completed docking at the marina, Clark saw another Mainship 350/ 390 in a slip near ours, so after dinner he went over and introduced himself. The owners of that one are from Rochester, NY, but they are not doing the loop this year. He must have invited them over because when he came back, he said that I should expect visitors shortly, and sure enough, a few minutes later someone was knocking on my hull. They came on board and we sat and talked for a good long time.
It is so nice to meet so many friendly people along the trip. We don't travel together and we don't always stay at the same spots, but our paths crisscross and occasionally intersect as we travel along a common path! We compare notes and share knowledge gained along the way. Seeing Doug and Nicole from Coventina earlier today was like meeting an old friend. Even though we couldn't match up our schedules to stay in the same town with them again, it was nice to see them even briefly on the waterway.
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| Approaching Kirkfield Lift Lock |
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| Clark looking nonchalant with the 49 ft drop behind him |
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| Melinda B pulled up next to us to get a front row seat as well |
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| Exiting the Lift Lock - our lowered side is down ant the raised side is now up |
At Lock 38 we were pleasantly surprised to see our new Canadian friends on Coventina, Doug and Nicole, who were returning from their trip to Georgian Bay. We had to pull up to the Blue Line to wait for the lock to empty of oncoming traffic, so Clark quickly jumped off the boat to go talk to Doug as they came up in the lock. Doug was very helpful in telling us where to stay and where to find cheaper fuel for the next leg of our trip, so Clark came back full of new knowledge to help us on our way.
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| Coventina exiting Lock 38 - Nicole's driving |
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| Lake Simcoe ... what a change after traveling through the "ditch" |
We knew we needed to stay on track crossing Lake Simcoe but finding the markers to do so was a challenge. The charts, chart plotter, and the actual markers were not often in agreement. Usually we found two out of three agreed. Markers were not where we expected them or did not even exist as the chart or chart plotter said they would. I used my eagle eyes to help Captain Clark spot the markers way off in the distance. We were forewarned by our Belleville friends that the lake can be quite choppy, but we fortunately had calm seas for our crossing. After the lake, when we entered the narrows and beyond, we found strong winds.
We ended up staying at the Port of Orillia which is run by the town Chamber of Commerce. It is right in town and convenient to all the stores. When we checked in, we learned that there is a bakery in town that was open until 6:00. By the time we heard about it, it was 5:30, so we grabbed our bikes and took off pedaling as fast as we could go to the bakery. We arrived there by 5:45 only to learn that they closed at 8:00. Guess we could have pedaled a little slower. Anyway, I've never seen such a collection of cakes, pies, cookies, cinnamon buns, etc etc etc. Amazing selection!
Afterwards, we stopped into the local bike shop which closed at 7:00. Clark was looking for a mirror for his bike helmet, but they didn't sell what he was looking for, so no go on that one. After that we decided to head back to the boat. On Saturdays there is a farmer's market in town, so I plan on visiting that tomorrow, and Clark wants to check out the marine store before we move on our way.
Two boats we met previously on the trip are here at the marina for the night - Rock Me Baby and Palmetto Paradise. Before dinner we met a couple on Chimera, a Monk 36, who are from Alberta, Canada and also doing the Great Loop. They introduced themselves to us as they saw our bikes and were fascinated by them. We brought one of our bikes over to their boat after we returned from our quick bakery run, so we could demo them. They invited us on board and we had drinks and a nice long chat until it was time to go cook dinner.
Earlier, when we had just completed docking at the marina, Clark saw another Mainship 350/ 390 in a slip near ours, so after dinner he went over and introduced himself. The owners of that one are from Rochester, NY, but they are not doing the loop this year. He must have invited them over because when he came back, he said that I should expect visitors shortly, and sure enough, a few minutes later someone was knocking on my hull. They came on board and we sat and talked for a good long time.
It is so nice to meet so many friendly people along the trip. We don't travel together and we don't always stay at the same spots, but our paths crisscross and occasionally intersect as we travel along a common path! We compare notes and share knowledge gained along the way. Seeing Doug and Nicole from Coventina earlier today was like meeting an old friend. Even though we couldn't match up our schedules to stay in the same town with them again, it was nice to see them even briefly on the waterway.
Great
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