ORILLIA TO PARRY SOUND

THIS WAS ONE OF THE LOCKS ON THE TRENT SEVERNE WITH OUR FRIENDS “PENNY PINCHIN” BEHIND US….JIM AND ROBIN BROUGHT PIZZA FOR DINNER AND WE HAD A FABULOUS TIME…GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD TIMES!

THIS IS OUR FRIENDS, MIKE AND RUTH, HOME IN ORILLIA WHERE THEY AND THEIR NEIGHBORS WELCOMED US TO THEIR DOCK FOR A FEW DAYS. WHAT A FABULOUS PLACE AND THEY TREATED US LIKE ROYALITY…TAKING US SHOPPING AND SIGHTSEEING. DINED OUT WITH THE PULCINES ON ONE NIGHT AND THE NEXT WITH MORE FRIENDS:

BY COUPLES LEFT TO RIGHT: MIKE AND RUTH SCHULLER, RALPHIE AND ME, JIM ADAMSON AND FIANCEE’ ROBIN COCKBURN, DAVE AND ROSEMARY MARKS. GREAT CHINESE BUFFETT…YUMMY!

MIKE AND RUTH LEAVING ON THEIR TRIP MONDAY MORNING AS WE DEPART AND CONTINUE ON OUR WAY AFTER A BRIEF REPAIR AT CRATE’S MARINA…THANK YOU MARK!!!!!

CONTINUING ON OUR WAY BRINGS SOME INTERESTING SIGHTS AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE “BIG CHUTE”.

SOME OF THESE COTTAGES ARE LARGE….I WOULD BE HAPPY TO LIVE IN JUST THE BOATHOUSES!

THIS IS THE ‘BIG CHUTE’ MARINE RAILWAY…I AM GOING TO POST PICS OF OTHER BOATS GOING THRU…BASICALLY YOU ENTER, YOUR BOAT IS PLACED IN A SLING AND YOU ARE CARRIED OVER THE ROADWAY ON RAILROAD TRACKS TO THE OTHER SIDE:

THIS WAS US IN THE CHUTE WITH A SMALLER VESSEL OFF OUR STERN…THERE WAS A TOTAL OF THREE VESSELS….FOLLOWING PICS ARE OF THE WAY DOWN:

 

INTERESTING RIDE BUT SOMEHOW AFTER ALL THE HYPE I WAS A BIT DISSAPPOINTED…..JUST DIDN’T SEEM BIG ENOUGH…..BUT GREAT FUN!

DOCKED AT THE FLOATING DOCK JUST PAST THE CHUTE FOR THE NIGHT WITH FOUR OTHER LOOPER BOATS: ‘PATRIOT’, ‘PENNY PINCHIN’, ‘FIELD TRIP’, AND ‘SPIRIT’. NEEDLESS TO SAY DOCTAILS WERE GREAT!

 

TRAVELING TO THE GEORGIAN BAY WAS TRULY BEAUTIFUL….MANY SMALL ISLANDS AND MORE ‘COTTAGES’…

I LOVE THESE STONE MONUMENTS SEEN ALL ALONG THE WAY IN THE GEORGIAN BAY…..I KNOW THEY HAVE A STORY BUT CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME RECALL WHAT IT IS…..WE SPENT ONE NIGHT AT ANCHORAGE AROUND WRECK ISLAND AND MOVED ON TO KILLBEAR MARINA….VERY NICE PLACE WITH A RESTAUANT, STORE AND MARINA STORE….NO WIFI SO …SPENT A COUPLE DAYS…NASTY STORM ONE NITE:

UNDERSTAND THERE WERE MANY POWER OUTAGES AND MUCH DAMAGE FROM THESE CLOUDS…WE WERE VERY LUCKY.

Peterborough to Orillia, Ontario

THIS LOCK WAS IN PETERBOROUGH: A HYDROLIC LIFT LOCK OF 90 FEET….LIKE SITTING IN A GIANT BATHTUB!!!! WE HAD MET ED, THE LOCKMASTER, AT THE PETERBOROUGH MARINA(VERY NICE BY THE WAY) AND HE SHOWED US THE CONTROL TOWER. WITH GUIDANCE AND INSTRUCTION HE ALLOWED ME TO PUSH THE CONTROLS AND GIVE INSTRUCTION ON THE PA SYSTEM….DEFINITELY A HIGHLIGHT OF OUR TRIP.

JUST A FEW OF THE INTERESTING VIEWS WE HAD ALONG THE TRENT CANAL…WE SPENT NIGHTS AT THE LOCKS, ALL OF WHICH WERE BEAUTIFUL AND QUIET. WE HAVE MET AND MADE MANY FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY, AS HAS CHEWY! I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LACK OF PICTURES AND NOTES BUT FELT THE NEED TO DECOMPRESS AFTER THE TRIP HOME TO NC AND JUST SELFISHLY ENJOYED THE VIEW. HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE BETTER WITH THIS BLOG…

CANADA DAY 2015

We spent Canada Day (July 1) in the little town of Hastings…We had a good spot on the wall and enjoyed their spectacular fireworks…They even had some that seemed to launch from underwater…

We made good friends with the Canadians behind us, and they found an 11 year old part in their bin that we needed to repair a shore power cord…Cost one beer – saved $159 CA(about 190 before the 13% tax).

 

Came to Peterborough and docked at the marina…That’s when Kaitlin convinced her Mommy to fly down to North Carolina for Kaitlin’s shoulder repair…

 

So…I am dog sitting Chewy until Mommy gets back…As you can see, he is enjoying laying in the sun and watching the Calgary Stampede on the only TV channel we get…

GREAT LOOP VERSION 2015

We are getting caught up on everything and want to get everyone up to date…Sorry for the delay, as we have had plenty of time…

We had a late start due to getting the Vestal house ready for marketing…That held us up a week…Finally, on June 8th, we gat a ride to Brewerton to get the boat out of winter storage…We had made three trips getting it prepped. We decided to leave Tuesday am, but heavy rains delayed us…Finally, on Wednesday we set sail for the western Erie Canal…We went through lock 23 and to the Three Rivers Junction, pictured above…Three hours into our trip, we called Lock 24 for passage, and were informed he would lock us up, but the canal was closed and we would have to dock for a few days…

As you can see from our dissatisfied roaming gnome, a few days ended up 14 in Baldwinsville, NY…Fortunately, we had 12 other good neighbors…I was elected Mayor of our little group and negotiated with the Lock keepers and the Village…The folks of Baldwinsville helped us out immensely…We got free docking,water, and electric, and a church provided a bus and driver to take us grocery shopping…Except for a minor sewage incident I was involved in, it was a pretty good time…So good, I got a plaque for my efforts, and mention in the Syracuse Post Standard…

 

 

After escaping from lock 24( we gave up on any more Erie Canal sightseeing – one three hour tour is enough), we went through the Oswego Canal and spent the night in Oswego with two fellow captives…Next morning we braved Lake Ontario and were repaid with a beautiful, calm crossing to our good friends, the Corrigans, in Brighton, Ontario…They live in a waterfront neighborhood, but more designed for run abouts and shallow draft boats…Nonetheless, cleared customs and were guided into the canal (in reverse, no less) to Doug Corrigans dock…His sea wall was even with our gunnels, but three feet away, posing a problem for Linda…

No problem too hard…Doug and his neighbors came up with some lumber, screws and a saw…Ten minutes later, we had a gang way to shore…needless to say, he was her hero!

we spent several days visiting with Doug, Agnes and Miles and totally enjoyed our relaxing time with good friends. A special was the arrival of more good friends—Jim and Robin—for dinner one night! Not wishing to wear out our welcome we departed for the Murray Canal en route to the Trent Severn waterway for the next phase of our journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what was waiting for us on the first lock of the journey-----A waterfall in the lock! the lockmaster came out to assure us all would be well –he had observed the looks of confusion on our faces!

 

Not too much excitement after that…It rained most of Tuesday, and we pulled into Campbellford to swap out our expensive wiper blades that didn’t work for some cheap ones that did…Imagine our surprise when a dapper older gentleman approached and knew our names…It was Doug Corrigan’s dad and mum who saw our boat as they were crossing the bridge…So cool…

Then several more hours doing the locks in the rain…

Today (July 1st) is Canada Day and the little village of Hastings is throwing a great party…Food, parade, and (we are told) the best fireworks on the Canal…

 

 

Until our next posting…