Orillia, ON. Waiting out the winds

The winds have been howling out of the north for two days, as forecast, and we’re staying put. Whitecaps are visible on ten-mile long Lake Couchiching, and since it is oriented north-south and we’re at the bottom, we’ll wait until tomorrow to let things settle down. It’s mildly rolly even at the dock and the temperature has fallen 20F, but all is well. And we're not in a big hurry, with only 50 miles left to go, and we definitely don’t want or need to push it. 

We’re mostly relaxing here in Orillia, but did go to a matinee at the local cinema—so few of the towns up here are big enough to have a movie theater. We saw Despicable Me 4, a delightful escape from boat life and Kathleen’s first Minions film. There several restaurants and a large grocery store nearby, but we are trying to eat down our food stores before we stop cruising. 

Photo Journal:

Getting ready for Orillia’s Labour Day Weekend Pirate Party 

The Kawartha Voyageur was here for the night

Bolsover to Orillia, ON

The weather forecast yesterday was the same as the day before—intermittent rain showers in the morning with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. The winds were expected to be light from the south, which was favorable for crossing Lake Simcoe, the largest body of water on the Trent-Severn, at 16 by 20 miles across and known for quickly developing choppy conditions. The weather was expected to turn in the evening, with higher north winds through Tuesday, very unfavorable for crossing Lake Simcoe. Decision time: Risk the rain and get across Simcoe, or hole up in our safe, but very remote, marina for several days. We opted to go. The rain forecasts have been wildly inaccurate, we can handle getting wet (it is a water sport, after all) and our next stop would be Orillia, ON, a city of 31,000, with a protected harbor and things to do. Our first obstacles were more of the Trent Canal’s narrow sections, five locks and one swing bridge before we got to the lake, but the stars aligned and Parks Canada was en pointe to get us through quickly. Kathleen did the quinfecta of locks at the helm, and more than one Lockmaster warned us about the weather and gave us advice on bailout options if we got caught in a storm. Fortunately, the forecast was once again overcautious, and we never got wet, although we did have to outrun one big thunderstorm as we steamed north on Lake Simcoe, with a one-foot following sea. After passing through the Atherly Narrows, we were on Lake Couchiching, and soon docked at the Port of Orillia, after 24 miles and minutes ahead of another thunderstorm. Whew!! 

The Port of Orillia is a top-notch municipal, transient-only marina right in town and the Orillia waterfront is almost entirely parkland, connected by paths. The city is the birthplace and childhood home of singer-songwriter and Canadian national treasure Gordon Lightfoot. His song “Couchiching” is all about his hometown. Map Link: Orillia, ON 

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4S3izWlu9sGYsJIDdWCs9J?si=tONw4VE4RnOQWepezbXegA&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Acouchiching

Bonus Question: Is Gordon Lightfoot alive or dead? (Answer at end of post)

We ate dinner onboard, then went for a walk on the waterfront. The weather did turn sour as predicted, with grey skies and a stiff, chilly north wind. We plan to stay in Orillia to wait out the blustery conditions. 

Photo Journal:

Red and white striped “safe-water” buoys mark the route 
across Lake Simcoe

Bonus Question Answer: Gordon Lightfoot passed away in May of 2023 at the age of 84.

Fenelon Falls to Bolsover, ON

We timed our morning departure to cross Cameron Lake and arrive at Lock 36 in Rosedale (a name we know well) when it opened at 9:00 AM. The doors swung open on the hour, we were lifted four feet and were on our way at 9:09 AM. Rosedale is the last lift on the Trent-Severn, then we were on Balsam Lake, the last of the Kawartha Lakes and the highest point on the Waterway, at 598 feet above Lake Ontario and 841 feet above sea level. From Balsam Lake, we entered the narrow, shallow Trent Canal, dug by hand through the Canadian Shield granite. Our first step on the 260-foot drop down to Lake Huron was the Kirkfield Lift Lock, which operates just like the Peterborough Lock, with two pans of water moving vertically on hydraulic pistons. The Kirkfield Lock is different, in that it is less enclosed and you are going down (49 feet), looking out over the edge of the pan above the canal below. It’s pretty cool!

The weather was forecast to turn rainy in the afternoon, so we cut our day short after 22 miles and pulled over at Sunset Cove Marina, a remote, family-run outfit on the Talbot River. We took badly needed showers, then waited for the rains that only came sporadically. We ate dinner onboard (there were no other options), then enjoyed the quiet setting for the rest of the day. Map Link: Sunset Cove Marina

Bonus Activity: More Club Parka games!

Photo Journal:

Bobcaygeon to Fenelon Falls, ON. Wrapping up this leg very soon.

Apologies for getting behind on posting. Two reasons—our data connectivity has been poor in the Kawartha Lakes region, and I must admit to some blog fatigue. I do enjoy composing these updates, but it takes energy that I sometimes don’t have at the end of the day. This may be a symptom of our decision to end this year’s Great Loop segment when we reach Lake Huron sometime this week. Our summer on the lakes, rivers, canals and waterways of New York, Vermont, Quebec and Ontario has been outstanding, but the beautiful scenery is starting to look the same. The towns we’re visiting are a lot of fun to explore, but they’re getting to be similar too. Both of these are signals that it’s time to take a break. Last year we waited until it wasn’t fun anymore to stop cruising, and one takeaway from that experience was to quit while we’re ahead, and the end of the Trent-Severn Waterway seems like a good stopping point now. A secondary reason is that from Port Severn, ON, to Chicago, IL, there are no locks or low bridges. Our logical thinking there is that we’d bring back our mast and sails to continue on the Great Lakes next year. Stay tuned for more updates.

We traveled 15 miles and went through two locks to Fenelon Falls, ON, where we tied up on the wall above the lock in a shady spot. We had lunch at the Cow and Sow Eatery, then took a bike ride on the Victoria Rail Trail along the shore of Cameron Lake. We did some souvenir shopping, visited the town’s namesake waterfall and relaxed for a bit before eating dinner on the patio at Murphy’s Lockside Pub, with Dragonfly in view. Map Link: Fenelon Falls, ON

Photo Journal: 

Buckhorn to Bobcaygeon, ON

Yesterday we traveled 17 miles with no locks (a first for us on the Trent-Severn), stopping in Bobcaygeon, ON. We’re moored on the lower wall at Lock 32, the first built on the waterway in 1833. Bobcaygeon is a popular, vibrant tourist town—the name comes either from the French “beau bocage,” meaning “beautiful farmland,” or the Mississauga Ojibway “baabaawaabikojiwanaang,” meaning “at the rocky narrows with current.” Map Link: Bobcaygeon, ON

We walked a mile to the Kawartha Settler’s Village, a collection of 19th and early-20th century structures and artifacts relocated to a site between the town’s water tower and lawn bowling club. Then we stopped at the Kawartha Dairy, whose ice cream is known all across Canada. The Food Land was next for provisions, then dinner at the Wing House, followed by the weekly Concert in the Park, featuring Tom Polley and the Old Tomorrows from Toronto. The music was excellent, and attended by a nice-sized crowd of 200-300 on a gorgeous summer evening.

Rules for Teachers

Photo journal:

Lots of narrow channels between the lakes

The Cormorant Tree

TFLOD

They need a bigger boathouse or a smaller boat

Croc creature