Orillia to Swift Rapids, ON

It was 49F when we woke up, after spending our first night this summer with the cabin closed up to keep warm. The chilly north wind was not as blustery as Monday or Tuesday, so we cast off at 8:30 AM and left Orillia. Lake Couchiching was choppy, but tolerable, and we reached the far side unscathed by 10:00 AM. We traveled through one lock, a couple more man-made cuts, Sparrow Lake and the Severn River, for a total of 26.2 miles (a regulation marathon), stopping for the day at the upper wall at Lock 43–Swift Rapids. This is the most isolated of the Trent-Severn lock-stations—staff must take an unpaved 11-mile access road to work—and is the largest lift on the waterway with a traditional chamber (47 feet), Construction on the lock and dam began in 1914 and was suspended in 1917 due to wartime shortages. A “temporary” marine railway was put in place, which operated until the current lock was completed in 1965. Map Link: Swift Rapids, ON. We lounged, mingled with the neighbors on the full mooring wall, grilled our dinner aboard and strolled around the grounds, which adjoin a hydroelectric plant on the dam.

Photo Journal:

“O” is for Orillia

Huge fake lighthouse at Studebakers Restaurant 

And another tiny fake lighthouse on the waterway

Caboose cabin

Six of us in Lock 42 at Coochiching

Another hand-dug canal

Almost done: Locks 44 & 45 are the last two