Today will be another unique and cool lock experience for us. This section along the Talbot River was originally the portage between Balsam Lake and Lake Simcoe. However when the Trent-Severn Waterway was constructed these five original locks were placed between Canal Lake and Lake Simcoe to replace the land portage.
These locks are designated historical landmarks and are maintained and operated in exactly the same manner as when they first went into operation almost 100 years ago. The lock doors are opened/closed manually as are the flood gates which are operated by manual hand cranks which are located on the top of the lock doors. Once the boats are secure and the lock doors are manually closed by the attendant, then each of the attendants will manually open or close the flood gate located in the lock door to adjust the water flow accordingly.
Even after the rain, the heat continues to just be nasty…it is so hot and humid. But we caught a break in that following Gamebridge Lock # 41, we were be on the open waters of Lake Simcoe which is quite large and provided some much needed “sea breeze”. We were a little concerned about the wave conditions on Lake Simcoe since the wind direction had changed, but the waves were in the 1-2 foot range and the Lolligag handled them just fine.
There is no pump-out facility in Orillia and none until we reach Penetanguishene (at least two more stops ahead), so we took advantage of the facilities just as we exited off Lake Simcoe. Yes, we have found the pump-out charges to be very high in Canada. We have paid fees ranging $15 to $27 per pump-out with most marinas charging $20. This is quite a bit considering that we are accustomed to receiving either free pump-outs or paying in the area of $5-10 dollars in the US. If a pump-out fee is charged by a marina in the US, the fee is almost always waived if fuel is purchased, so it was certainly a double whammy to have to pay so much for a pump-out when purchasing $200 worth of fuel.
When we entered the Port of Orillia we could not believe all the Looper boats – there had to be at least ten of us all gathered together. Of course, we were very excited to see our friends aboard Summer Star and we could not wait to find out how mariner Frankie the dog was feeling.
Hours on the water: 5.75
Nautical miles traveled: 28.25
Number of bridges to be opened: 3
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 5
Next Destination: Big Chute Marine Railway
What we are listening to: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Lesson for the day: Loopers Loopers Everywhere!
Obligatory knitting report: Socks for me
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