The Big Chute Marine Railway and Georgian Bay with Barb and Donn

On Friday, July 24 we left Orillia at 7:30 and crossed Lake Couchiching to get to the next lock opening at 9:00 am. Just before the lock there is a train bridge that needed opening and unfortunately a long train went through and it finally opened about 9:30. We made it through Lock 42 about 10:30. We continued on to Lock 43 Swift Rapids which was a 47 foot drop, the longest we have had since the inland rivers. We made it to the Big Chute by 1:30. The Big Chute is a looper favorite and very unique.  When we arrived the  blue wall (used for staging the boats) was full so it took about a half hour to get on the wall. The Big Chute is a looper favorite and very unique. It is the only one in North America still in use.  It transfers your boat from the Severn River to  Six Mile Channel  by taking it out of the water and over a train track and takes you 60 feet up over the hill. It's quite the engineering feet and a little scary. The lock masters decide how many boats can fit and we got through with 2 smaller boats and 2 jet skis. Chris and Diane (boat Midnight Rambler) got a photo of us entering the carriage and being lifted. We made it through by about 4:00 and then moved on to a marina called Starport by 5:00. This was right near Lock 45 so we would complete that the next day and get to Georgian Bay. The marina was great and it had a Looper map where you could put a pin in where you are from. We took the dinghy to The Grill  and had dinner with Chris and Diane (boat Midnight Rambler). 

On Saturday, July 25 it was time for our last lock on the Trent-Severn, Lock 45! Starport Marina was very close so we headed over just before the 9:00 opening, and ended up 3rd in line. This lock is very small and usually only does one boat at a time of our size boat. While waiting I took some photos of the historic information around the lock. Once we got through we were basically in Georgian Bay, and the markers changed to green port, red starboard. It's important to stay on the channel,  which is narrow and winding at some points, because it is a very rocky area. The good news is the water is clear so you can see the rocks pretty well.  We made it to South Bay Cove Marina, about 13 miles after the lock by around 1:00. We were greeted by our friends, Barb and Donn, who have their looper boat there. They finished their loop that week! They now have the gold looper flag (meaning they completed the loop)  so I snapped a photo of that.  We met them during the Loop but hadn't seen them since Venice, Florida on the Gulf side!  They only had the one day left here as they needed to head back to Toronto for family commitments, so we were grateful we could spend time with them that day. We followed them by dinghy to their lovely cottage on Little Beausoleil Island and later had dinner back at the marina at Finn City Restaurant. On Sunday, after they headed home, we caught up on laundry and chores and rest! South Bay Cove Marina had a deal of one night free with 2 nights stay so we stayed on Monday, when we cleaned the boat and did some planning for more of Georgian Bay! Stay tune