On Tuesday, July 19th, we entered Georgian Bay, located in the northeast corner of Lake Huron and such a large body of water that it’s sometimes referred to as the sixth Great Lake. We had heard such wonderful things about this leg of the Great Loop Cruise that we were eagerly anticipating this journey. However, unlike our route so far, where we had been following a specific course, now we were faced with so many choices of destinations, routes, anchorages, and marinas, that it was overwhelming.
But our first destination was an easy choice, since we had already decided to attend a Looper gathering hosted by Beacon Bay Marina in Penetanguishene (often referred to as Penetang). Taking advantage of a very reasonable weekly rate at the marina, we arrived a few days early, which gave us an address where mail could be forwarded, plus plenty of time to re-provision for the trip ahead, not to mention the opportunity to soak up the local atmosphere and sample the cuisine.
At the Looper event, local mariners shared their knowledge, providing helpful advice about must see destinations, protected anchorages, plus dangerous routes to avoid along the way, which made our stop at Penetang well worth the time and effort.
The mail forwarding idea, however, didn’t work out very well, at least in part because of a strike by Canadian postal employees, as well as the fact that it takes a whole week for mail from the U.S. to even reach Canada. As it turned out, we ended up leaving Penetang long before our mail package arrived at the marina, and now they are sending it to us via friends of ours who live in Michigan.
Armed with the information gained at the Looper gathering, we decided to cruise through the 30,000 Islands section of Georgian Bay along what is referred to as the small craft channel, a 165 mile trip from Port Severn to Killarney along a challenging, but beautiful, route that weaves in and out among small granite islands.
July 28th, our day of departure from Penetang, dawned overcast with a forecast of showers later in the day, so we chose a protected anchorage at Indian Harbour, 23 miles along our planned route, to sit it out until the weather improved. This was a lovely spot, even in the rain, and before long we were joined by Joe and Pat aboard “Glory Days,” with whom we ended up traveling together as “buddy boats.”
By mid-morning the following day the rain had stopped, allowing us to move on. As we left the harbor, we spied a pile of rocks appearing like a sentinel who must have been guarding us throughout the night.
Then it was on to Fryingpan Island just in time for lunch at the famous (or infamous?) Henry’s Fish Restaurant, where we, along with our cruising companions, enjoyed free dockage while we ate a great meal.
By now we were three boats traveling together, having been joined by Brian and Jean aboard “Spirit of Whitbey.”
In this area there are virtually hundreds of channels and bays one can explore, so after lunch we chose a well marked alternate route for a side trip to Port Rawson Bay in search of an appealing anchorage for the night.
Apparently, lots of other boaters, including many vacationing Canadians, had the same idea, because there were lots of boats anchored in Port Rawson Bay already. But, luckily, it was large enough to accommodate us as well. After all three boats were securely anchored, we enjoyed happy hour together aboard “Glory Days” and then dinghied back to our respective vessels for the night, a ritual oft repeated throughout our journey.
For the next few days we continued our cruise in the 30,000 Islands area, carefully following the small craft channel, which at times was quite narrow.
As advised, we avoided the most dangerous passages, such as Hangdog Channel, where, after passing the Point Au Baril Lighthouse, we headed offshore into Georgian Bay, rejoining the small craft channel after safely passing Hangdog Reef.
We sometimes enjoyed the amenities offered by marinas along the way, including Big Sound Marina at Parry Sound and Killbear Marina, which featured a restaurant on site offering German cuisine.
We celebrated our 43rd anniversary on August 3rd, sipping martinis on our foredeck at Wright’s Marina in Byng Inlet.
Then it was on toward Killarney, which would mark the northern terminus of Georgian Bay. Once again we carefully observed all channel markers to avoid unexposed and unforgiving rocks lurking just below the water’s surface.
The marinas at Killarney are located along a channel connecting Georgian Bay with the North Channel, which would be our next destination.
After tying up, we noticed that the water color had now changed to turquoise, something we would have expected in the Bahamas, but not in the fresh water of the Great Lakes.
From the Sportsman’s Inn Marina at Killarney, everything of interest is along the waterfront within easy walking distance, including the most notable eatery, the ever popular Herbert Fisheries Fish and Chips, housed in a bus.
Although our intention had been to spend two days at Killarney before beginning our North Channel journey, we saw our favorable weather window narrowing and decided to just “go for it” while the nice weather conditions lasted.
Everywhere we had traveled so far, it seemed that folks were always telling us, “Just wait; the best is yet to come.” Well, as much as we had enjoyed each region we had sampled up to this point, we really think they were all right; what was to come next was, in our humble opinion, beyond comparison.
On Friday, August 5th, we entered the North Channel headed for Baie Fine (pronounced “Bay Fin”), according to our cruising guide, “the closest thing to a fjord you will ever cruise in.” This ten mile long narrow bay is lined with magnificent quartz mountains, making cruising vessels appear like toy boats in a bathtub.
At the end of the bay, a narrow channel leads to “The Pool,” a popular anchorage, and our destination. Here we anchored, along with buddy boat “Glory Days,” in surprisingly warm water and enjoyed a swim, along with breathtakingly beautiful scenery. While we were in the water, a few little fish decided that Ken would make a nice meal, and they kept biting him. I guess I wasn’t as tasty.
The next day, after soaking up the natural beauty and taking appropriate photos in the early morning light, we reluctantly decided to pull up anchor and move on to our next stop at the Port of Little Current where we could tie up at the municipal dock and see what the weather decided to do.
However, pulling up anchor was not as easy as usual, due to a huge clump of weeds and mud which Ken had to clean off.
We made it safely to Little Current before the weather deteriorated too much and tied up safely at the town docks.
That night we ate dinner with Joe and Pat from “Glory Days” at the Anchor Inn, well known among cruisers for hosting The Little Current Cruisers Network, broadcasting everyday at 9:00 a.m. on VHF Channel 71, with marine weather forecast information, news highlights, plus call-in opportunities for fellow cruisers to report their current locations as well as cruising destinations.
The following day, with scattered showers in the forecast, we decided to take our chances and move on to Kagawong, about 15 miles away at the bottom of Mudge Bay, hoping the rain would hold off until after we arrived. Well, you guessed it; we got caught in a downpour just as we were entering the bay and had to hold offshore until we could see well enough to enter the marina.
There were two main attractions we hoped to visit while at Kagawong, and after the rain stopped and the weather cleared up in the afternoon, we managed both. First, we stopped at the Anglican Church at the town dock. It’s famous for its nautical décor, including the undamaged half of a sunken wooden powerboat that serves as the pulpit and the stained-glass windows echoing the nautical theme.
Next we hiked the nature trail along the Kagawong River to Bridal Veil Falls. Not only was the falls itself beautiful, but the trail was so reminiscent of those we have hiked and loved in the mountains of North Carolina that we began to feel nostalgic.
Luckily, the weather continued to improve, so the following morning we headed for our next destination, an anchorage at the Benjamin Islands, which are composed of pink granite, as opposed to the white quartz of the mountains to the north and the limestone of the lower, surrounding islands.
This proved to be a very popular spot, and we ended up sharing the anchorage with thirty five other boats, including eight other Looper boats. This resulted, of course, in an impromptu Looper Rendezvous, with happy hour on the rocks, so to speak. As usual, a good time was had by all.
One more anchorage opportunity called out to us before leaving the North Channel, so, on Tuesday morning, August 9th, “Docker’s Inn,” Glory Days,” and “Dovekie,” (following us due to GPS difficulties), headed out once again on the small craft route, destination Beardrop Harbour, the northernmost destination along our planned route. There was a light breeze and calm water all the way, but clouds were gathering and the forecast was for deteriorating weather, so we were anxious to get safely and securely anchored in what we expected would be a protected harbor.
As the sun set that night, the wind was picking up, and we could see storms all around us, but we thought everyone was securely anchored, including “Glory Days” which was up wind from us.
Reality set in at 6:00 a.m. the following morning when we awoke with a start to find “Glory Days” snugged up against our bow, with Joe and Pat trying desperately to push off from us before any damage was done to either boat. The four of us together managed to do this, but that resulted in them dragging anchor on past us and toward the rocks behind us before they were able to get their engine started, the boat under control., and to re-anchor in another spot further away.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of the nightmare. What followed was an entire day of high winds during which several boats in Beardrop Harbour, including “Docker‘s Inn” and “Glory Days” (several more times), dragged anchor and struggled to maneuver into an appropriate spot to re-set their anchors, which was a daunting task in 40 mph winds. Night was rapidly approaching again (with the prospect of being adrift in the dark of night in a violent storm) when things finally calmed down enough for all of us to get settled in and anchored (hopefully securely!) once again. Not much sleep was had that night, but with the dawn came the realization that we had all survived, and no one had run aground on the rocks. Therefore, all was well with the world, as it had been prior to the worst episode of the cruise so far.
That is, all was well until we attempted to pull up anchor. We had tried so desperately to make sure that the anchor was securely set, that it was now really stuck in the hard clay. Finally, with the help of both engines moving the boat forward in various directions, the anchor broke free of the clay bottom, but what a mess this was to clean off when we reached Blind River Marina a couple of hours later.
What a relief it was to be tied up safe and sound at a marina when the sun set that night!
On Thursday, August 12th, one week to the day after we had entered the North Channel, we crossed its northwestern end, arriving at Drummond Island Yacht Haven, where we cleared U.S. Customs and reflected on recent events before watching the sun set on U.S. waters for the first time in over six weeks.
So, how did we like our cruise through Canada, and especially the North Channel, you ask? As Charles Dickens would say, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”
On Tuesday, July 5th, the long-awaited computer chip for our GPS chartplotter finally arrived, allowing us to move on and enter the Trent-Severn Waterway.
This 240 mile long inland passage between Trenton and Port Severn, Ontario, provides a route for cruisers between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay, on the northeastern side of Lake Huron. The waterway traverses rivers, lakes, and canals, with 44 locks connecting them. Since we got a late start, on our first day we intended to cover only a little over seven miles, passing through the first six locks. But when we arrived at the top of Lock 6 at Frankford, there was no room for us to tie up, so we moved on another 6.5 miles to Lock 7, Glen Ross, where we tied up in a beautiful park like setting.
Here we were able to spend a little time taking a closer look at how the locks work, including the manually operated gates which lock tenders open to let boats in and out of the locks.
The next morning was overcast, with a prediction for rain later in the day, but we decided to cover a few more miles before the weather deteriorated.
By around noon we had made it through six more locks, including Locks 11 and 12 at Ranney Falls, our first set of flight locks (where boats exit one lock directly into the next one), and were approaching Campbellford, our intended destination, just before the storm caught up with us.
We tied up along the Municipal Park wall, with electrical hook-up for a reasonable fee ($1.50/ft.), sat out the short rain shower, and then ventured forth on foot to explore a bit. First we had to check out the famous sculpture of a giant “Toonie” (Canadian 2 dollar coin) in the park.
Then we went in search of a late lunch/early dinner, ending up at Capers Restaurant, where we sat outside and sampled some gourmet poutine, consisting of French fried shoestring potatoes covered with a lemon butter gravy, and topped off with goat cheese crumbles, all washed down with local draft beer. Yum!
Since this happened to be a Wednesday, we also enjoyed a free country music concert in the park that evening. What a deal!
The next morning it was sunny and warm, just perfect for continuing on another 20 miles along the waterway through six more locks, including another set of flight locks at Healey Falls. Flight locks were typically constructed where a large lift (in this case 54 ft.) had to be achieved in a short distance. Just above Lock 18, we tied up at the village of Hastings overnight.
Our plan was to cruise during the week, tying up overnight at mooring walls along the way, and then spend weekends at various marinas, mostly staying off the waterway when boat traffic (especially through the locks) would be the heaviest. With this in mind, On Friday, July 8th, we headed for Peterborough Marina, another 38 miles (but only two locks) away. This marina is situated at a waterfront park in the heart of Peterborough on Little Lake, just off the Trent Severn Waterway.
Our slip was conveniently located right next to the marina office, restrooms, and the Lighthouse Lounge and Grill. We also had a wonderful view of the fountain in the middle of Little Lake, which brought to mind the one we had seen many years ago in Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
While there, I had the occasion to experience the Canadian healthcare system first hand. Recognizing the symptoms of a bladder infection, I knew that I needed to see a doctor to get some antibiotics. After inquiring at the marina office about the location of a health clinic, the marina manager drove me to the local hospital emergency room and told me to call him when I needed a ride back. I found the service at the emergency room to be efficient, friendly, and not nearly as time consuming as I had expected. After seeing the doctor, and obtaining the necessary prescription, I asked what to do about payment (since Medicare doesn’t cover medical care outside the U.S.). They said they would send me a bill in the mail! Can you believe how trusting they are?
Another reason we wanted to spend some time in Peterborough before moving on was to view the operation of the famous Peterborough Lift Lock in advance of entering it in our boat. So, off we went on our bicycles to the Visitors Center, which has an exhibit about its construction, plus a movie about the Trent-Severn Waterway. Then we observed the Peterborough Lift Lock in action. This lock, which is the largest lift lock in the world with 65 ft. of vertical lift, consists of two huge “pans” filled with water which act somewhat like a seesaw, with the weight of the water in the pan at the top forcing that one (and the boats in it) down while raising the other pan (and the boats in it) to the top. To make this happen, a foot more of water is first added to the top pan, which makes it heavier the one at the bottom.
On Monday, July 11th, we stopped at the fuel dock to top off our tanks before heading out. At a price of $1.40 Canadian per litre ($5.29 Canadian per gallon), one of our biggest expenses on this trip is diesel fuel, having spent almost $6,000 so far this year. So, we’re helping the economy, right?
As we approached the Peterborough Lift Lock behind “Jolly Tolly,” with fellow “Loopers” Ron and Jan onboard whom we had first met back in Virginia, an indicator light directed us to enter the chamber on the starboard (right) side. Further instructions were given verbally via a load speaker.
Once “Jolly Tolly” pulled in, we slipped in beside her, both of us moving forward as far as possible to make room for two boats behind us.
As soon as we all secured our boats with lines attached to the sides of the lift, the whole “pan” began to rise, with us in it and observers watching from above. What an awesome experience!
Before we knew it, we were at the top, 65 feet above where we started, and the other “pan” was down below. On we went, through a total of 7 locks that day, noticing an increase in the number of boats we had to contend with now that many Canadians were vacationing on this portion of the waterway.
We arrived at Lakefield just above Lock 26 around 2:00 in the afternoon. Hot, but satisfied, we took a swim in the river to cool off.
Next we entered the area referred to as the Kawartha Lakes. Here the scenery was just stunning, with the channel weaving itself in and out and around between tiny islands, some uninhabited, some with a single house perched on rocky, tree lined shores.
Of course, there were more locks to navigate, the most interesting of which turned out to be Lovesick Lock, #30, where four big boats (including ours) had to squeeze in together, and we just barely made it.
After the next lock at Buckhorn, we called it quits for the day and tied up to the town mooring wall. There we enjoyed watching others maneuvering in and out of the lock.
We had hoped to go further that day, to the very popular town of Bobcaygeon, but we called ahead and found that there was no room for us. So, we set out to explore the amenities available to us at Buckhorn. Just a short walk brought us to the public library where we gained computer and internet access to check our email. Then we stopped at a waterfront restaurant for a bite to eat. Being tied up at the town dock in a public park also put us in contact with locals strolling by, plus Canadian tourists, all of whom greeted us cordially and welcomed us to their part of the world. In fact, this has been our experience wherever we go here in Canada. We are warmly welcomed.
On Wednesday, July 13th, we continued our trip through the Kawartha Lakes region, characterized by a series of lakes joined by locks and interspersed with great little tourist towns. This whole area is a favorite vacation spot for Canadians, and we could see why. Our next stop would be Fenelon Falls, like Bobcaygeon, which we reluctantly passed by without stopping, another popular tourist destination.
As we approached the Fenelon Falls Lock, we had to make room for the large tour boat, “Kawartha Spirit,” exiting the lock. Then, we had to wait for a huge houseboat to enter the lock before us. This area is noted for rental houseboats with inexperienced captains struggling to maneuver in and out of the locks. This one was no exception, and it took a while for it to get settled in the lock. While we were patiently waiting for the houseboat to make its move away from the wall and into the lock, however, an opportunist in another boat appeared out of nowhere and rushed right into the lock ahead of all of us, the result of which was that there was no room for us. So, we had to wait for the next loading of the lock after it went up and came back down again.
When we finally made it to the top of the Fenelon Falls Lock, there was the guilty culprit, tied up right where we wanted to be, at the mooring wall with “hydro” (electric) hookups. Luckily, there was still just enough room for us as well at this very popular spot. We celebrated with a great dinner at a restaurant overlooking the falls for which the town was named, sitting outside so close to it that we could feel its power.
The following day we crossed shallow lakes connected by narrow passages of the Trent Canal. It was so calm that sunlight shining on the water created beautiful mirror images of the route ahead as we approached Lock 35 at Rosedale.
After crossing Balsam Lake, we had reached the highest elevation on the Trent Severn Waterway at 840 feet above sea level. All of the locks still to come would be dropping us in elevation. On the west side of Lake Balsam we entered the narrow rock cut all cruisers dread. This canal is a very shallow land cut through the Canadian Shield, which is so narrow that vessels must make a security call on their VHF radios prior to entering to alert vessels at the other end of their presence. With unforgiving rocks guarding the canal’s edges, you can be sure that we gave this passage the respect it deserved.
As if this was not enough to keep us on our toes, we were also approaching the Kirkfield Lift Lock, similar in operation to the one at Peterborough, only much more thrilling. With this one, instead of entering the “pan” of water at the bottom and riding up, we would be entering at the top and riding down.
To add to the thrill factor, the structure of this lift lock is not enclosed, so you get more of a feeling of “hanging out there.” So, we proceeded into a pan of water suspended nearly 5 stories in the air. Of course, as luck would have it, we entered the lock first and had to pull forward to make room for another boat behind us before we could secure our lines. Fear of heights, anyone?
When we made it safely down, we breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to ourselves that it hadn‘t really been that bad after all.
But when we looked back after exiting the lock, it still looked rather ominous, sort of like the creatures in the movie, “Transformers.”
Since we were now heading downstream toward Georgian Bay, we had to change our mindset about how we interpreted the channel markers from here on until the end of our Trent-Severn Waterway journey. Now, green markers would be to starboard (right), and red ones would be to port (left). This was important to keep in mind as we traversed Canal Lake, since we could easily become distracted by the extreme weed growth and many deadheads we had to avoid along the way. But, almost as a reward for our due diligence, we encountered a beautiful sight as we approached Hole in the Wall Bridge.
Just to keep us alert, a couple of miles later we came upon a closed swing bridge and had to request an opening by signaling the bridge tender with three short blasts of our horn.
What we wanted that evening was a nice quiet, rural setting where we could relax after what had been a very full day, and that’s exactly what we found at the top of Lock 40 where we tied up for the night.
Our next destination was the Port of Orillia, on the southern shore of Lake Couchiching, where we intended to spend another weekend off the waterway at a marina. But first we had to cross 20 mile long, 16 mile wide Lake Simcoe, the largest lake on the Trent-Severn Waterway, where cruisers are known to have encountered up to 8 foot waves under windy conditions. The weather was with us, however, and the lake surface was glassy when we crossed it on Friday, July 15th. In the narrow channel (appropriately named “The Narrows”) connecting Lake Simcoe to Lake Couchiching, a sign alerted us that our desired destination was not far ahead.
As it turned out, we picked the right time to visit the town of Orillia, since a Scottish Festival was taking place at the town’s waterfront park adjacent to our marina that very weekend. Pipes (bagpipes) and drums marching bands came from all over to compete, and we watched and listened as they paraded through town.
The glorious weather we had been experiencing finally turned foul Sunday night, and we were awakened at 4:30 Monday morning, July 18th, the day of our planned departure from Orillia, by a severe thunderstorm. This passed relatively quickly, however, so with clearing skies in the direction we would be traveling, we crossed Lake Couchiching and entered the final section of the Trent-Severn Waterway. At this point, we only had four locks to go before arriving at Port Severn and the entrance to Georgian Bay. The most unusual of these, Big Chute, is not really a lock at all, but actually a marine railway which transports boats from one body of water, up and over a road, and then deposits them into another body of water on the other side. This we very much wanted to observe before actually doing it ourselves, so we cruised that day as far as the Big Chute, arriving around 2:00 p.m., and tied up for the night. A few of our traveling companions, with whom we had been locking through all day, had the same idea, so we all had ample opportunity to watch the process and talk to the Parks Canada‘s staff who would be assisting us the next day.
On Tuesday morning we were ready to go, so we positioned ourselves and awaited instructions. Using a loudspeaker, the lock attendant called on two boats ahead of us, instructing them on how to enter and position themselves in the railway car for transport, with the smaller boat forward and the larger one behind it.
When they were secured, off they went, out of the water and over the road.
Then it was our turn, along with “Dovekie,” a Looper boat we had first encountered in early March at Boca Chita Key in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Now, here we both were over four months later being strapped into a marine railway car together in Ontario, Canada.
What a thrill as we were carried out of the water, over the road, looking out at the view below on the other side.
Then they set us back into the water and lowered the straps so that we could float out of the railroad car and be on our way again.
Just a few short miles later we were at the Port Severn Lock, the final one on the waterway. At 84 ft. long and only 23 ft. wide, this is the smallest lock in the system, which made for a challenging task when trying to fit the boats into it. Consequently, we had quite a while to wait for our turn here.
When our turn finally came, however, we had mixed feelings about going through, because this would mark the end of our Trent-Severn Waterway journey, which had been such a wonderful experience. Although we are now looking forward to what is still ahead, cruising the Georgian Bay, North Channel, Lake Michigan, inland rivers, plus the Gulf of Mexico, in the months to come, we are also reflecting on what we have accomplished together so far. Since heading north from Stuart, Florida in mid-March, we have traveled 2,142 nautical miles, through nine states, one Canadian province, plus a total of 74 locks, and all of this in a 47 ft. X 15 ft. confined living space. And, we’re still talking to each other!
