"storing" the boat in NE Lake Michigan for the winter so we will probably be home sometime in October or November.
Since our last blog, we finished going through the Trent Severn Waterway including all 45 locks. There is a variety of lakes and passages between each lock and we generally went to a marina every two or three days and anchored out or stayed on a "wall" the rest if the time. The water was very clean and warm so swimming was often on the agenda. I also did a bit more fishing and finally started catching a few large mouth and small mouth bass. Here is a picture of me with one of the "big ones" that I caught off the back of our boat.
Some of the Trent Severn is quite open, but other parts are VERY narrow. Here is a picture of us approaching another boat
(there are actually three small boats behind him) and as you might guess, it was a slow difficult process to pass. One guy in a 25 foot boat wasn't too happy with me judging by the yelling and single finger gestures.
Of course one of the main memories of the Trent Severn is the locks. They come in all sizes and designs. In the last blog, I put in a picture of the lift lock just past
Peterborough that goes "up". Here is a picture of the Kirkfield lift lock (the other lock where you drive into a big pan and they make the whole pan go up or down) where you start going back "down". As you enter, it looks like you are going off into nothingness!
We worried for weeks (months?) about going over lock 44 which is called "Big Chute". They load your boat on a special railroad car and then take you (and your
lock mates) up and over a hill and down into the river below. Here is a picture of us going down the "Big Chute" and you can see that there is not any water for the boat to float in. We sat on our keel and the lock keepers (Canadian Park folks) put straps under us to keep us from falling over. When you get back in the water down below, you just float off and away you go!
After the Trent Severn, we entered Lake Huron to continue our way West. There are
thousands of "cottages" (not cabins!!) along the waterway of all types. Here is one that Linda picked out to show you.
At one place, we anchored in a bay off of a park and settled in for the afternoon. Little did we know that we were in front of a YMCA camp and would soon be surrounded by
boys and girls trying to learn how to sail by racing out on the harbour and around us! Here is a picture of one of their boats.
Today's insight - we didn't realize how "bug challenged we were coming from Seattle. In Florida we were attacked by "love bugs". In the Carolinas big black biting flies took over, and recently the mosquitoes and gnats are attacking en masse! Bring on the chemicals!
I think I will post this a couple of days early because the next part of our trip is reportedly quite remote and I worry about having internet.
We have firmed up our plans to store the boat in NW Lake Michigan (the town of North Port Bay) for the Winter and come home sometime in late fall.
We look forward to seeing you then.
Tod and Linda.
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