Monday, 26 July Georgian Bay, ON

Since the last post much has happened…. We are still travelling at the slower pace. Happy hour and snacks with our travelling companions aboard Takitez and Blue Max have become the norm and now include a toast from our former lockhand Christine, who is back in Florida.

The entrance to Fenelon Falls was bordered by more beautiful homes, no wonder it is called ‘Millionaires Row’! We woke up to rain and wind, which delayed our departure by a couple of hours. All things considered we have been very fortunate with the weather during the entire trip. We completed the last lock going up and crossed Balsam Lake at 840 ft, the highest point on the waterway. All the locks now will take us down, this is a good thing because it means easier work for the crew!

Descending 49 feet on the 2nd hydraulic lift-lock at Kirkfield, we continued through The Narrows, aptly named because all boats must announce their entrance into this section of the canal, as there is no room for boats to pass, since the channel is shallow and has clearly visible limestone shelves on either side… This is an incentive to stay in the middle of the channel!

It took us about 2 hours to cross a rather choppy Lake Simcoe to Orillia, our next stop. Our good friend Donna arrived by car at the same time and we finally got to meet her Dad in person. We had a wonderful visit, ate a delicious lunch at one of the local favorite hot spots and enjoyed the street festival that was happening that weekend. As we said good bye to them and Christine, who was travelling back to Toronto with Donna, Christine was charged with this update to our blog (so we are not responsible for the content!). We are headed to Georgian Bay and will be not be in a marina for at least a week, which means no Wifi. So photos will be added later.

On Sunday Tadpole continued the last 3 locks and Big Chute, the marine railway which transports boats between the upper and lower sections of the Severn River (check out youtube for video, it's pretty cool). That made a total of 45 locks on the Trent Severn Waterway.

As of 26 July, after a long travel day, Tadpole was somewhere in Georgian Bay, rafted up with Takitez and Blue Max. They were about to enjoy dinner together aboard Takitez, preceded, I’m sure, by Happy Hour!