Friday October 3

Friday October 3,

Yesterday was a brutal crossing of Lake Simcoe. It was cold foggy, rainy and rough with winds right on the nose and standing waves. We heard that the weather around Georgian Bay was pretty awful too.  It took 5 hours to cross the lake so we didn’t get to the first lock until 1:30 pm . Keep in mind that we have to be at the last lock by 3:30 because they close at 4:00. That means that the door is locked at 4:00 and they are gone!

The first obstacle is a swing bridge... no sweat, he opened it and said he would tell the next lock we were coming. We could see the next lock.  When we arrived about 20 minute later, it was open so we went in and waited...and waited...and waited.. I called... honked the air horn .. yelled and finally we decided to back out so Rick cold climb on shore and go get them. It took a half hour for them to show up. So now we are down to 1 and a half hours to o the next 5 locks to get to our destination.

 The locks are all 15 minutes apart, and these guys are each doing two locks. They have a golf cart that they run up the trail beside the canal. The third lock took 6 of them!!!! Four guys watch and gab and two to operate the lock.  The last obstacle was a swing bridge at Bolsover. We wanted to get there because Rick has a surrogate sister (Cheryl Whalley Jones) living on the river and we wanted to visit before moving on.  

When we got to the swing bridge, it was 3:45. As we approached, thinking we would have to find an anchorage and dinghy up to see Cheryl and Bill, the attendant came out and asked if we wanted to go through? Of course, we said yes, and SHE opened the bridge.  

We reached Cheryl and Bill’s dock around 4:30 and then Rick remembered that there was another swing bridge right there. So were stuck overnight anyway, but Cheryl and Bill didn’t charge or docking !

So it’s a cold but sunny morning October 3. We have about 10 miles to the next lock and then we need to find a place to change the oil because we are coming up on our 50 hours. The fuel consumption is great. We put in fuel twice -  at Owen Sound and Port Severn, and we still have a half tank.

We are sitting at the dock and the oak tree is hurling acorns at us. They are bouncing all over the boat. I will have to get up and uncover the solar panel...birch leaves! It is a very windy day but in the river it won’t be as rough as the open lake was.

It’s 9:20 and we are getting ready to start up and approach the bridge. We can only go 7 hours each day because that’s the time frame for the locking system. The website says they have extended hours Friday as well as Sat & Sunday but the operators aren’t performing. So tomorrow and Sunday we can travel farther faster. Of course those are the places where the locks are spread way out so it wouldn’t matter!  If someone wants to contact Ministry of Tourism and complain...

Time to get started. Will post at the next hotspot and add pics. The scenery really is beautiful at this time of year.

Have a good day, all!