Orillia to Georgian Bay

We stayed in Orillia until the August 3rd.  All the necessaries (laundry, groceries, etc.) were taken care of by the 2nd, so Tom agreed to attend a musical comedy at the Orillia Opera House that night.  We saw Mid-Life, the Crisis Musical.  It was a series of short skits, such as:  "Side effects" and "Why did I come in here?"  We could definitely relate!  This theater is over a hundred years old.  The play we saw was held in the small, intimate theater which sat about 100 people.  The larger, elaborate theater upstairs holds 700 and is named for the local celeb, Gordon Lightfoot.

Orillia Opera House

As mentioned on the last blog, the town of Orillia was holding a painted chair contest in the downtown area.  Two of the winners were outside the theater.  Several were in honor of a local author,  Stephen Leacock.

Part of the "Canadian navy", Heather and Robert, that we had met along the way was also at our dock at Orillia.  We enjoyed having dinner with them prior to the play.

Robert and Heather  aboard Care Knot

Friday morning, the 3rd, we left Orillia and headed to Port Severn.  We were held up at RR Bridge 207 waiting for two trains to come through.   After they passed, the attendant walked across the bridge, up the ladder and hand-pulled the motor to start the engine that swung the bridge.

Look carefully and you can see the attendant entering the office 

Once past this bridge we went through 2 regular locks and then reached The Big Chute.  Here instead of a lock,  boats are transported over a hill via a marine railway.  Once all the boats are inside and secured using slings underneath the boats,  the actual trip up and over takes seven minutes.  Pretty amazing.

The bed of the railway platform continually tilts to keep the boats somewhat flat-- similar to the way the cars tilt as they travel up and down the legs of the arch in St. Louis.  There is a you-tube video of the big chute if you would like to see it in action.

Coming up to the Big Chute

Raydiance being loaded

Straps tightening under Raydiance

The water drains out.

Looking back as we start up the incline.

Looking back as we descend.

Tom enjoying the ride from the bow.

Looking back as we exit.

Leaving the Big Chute we encountered a very narrow, tight  turn.  We gave a security call and horn blasts and were mighty glad no one else was coming around the corner at the same time.  We pulled into Port Severn mid afternoon and spent the night at the town marina.  While making a reservation for dinner we ran into the After Taxes crew, so we all enjoyed a meal together.  The owner had a birthday that night and, apparently following tradition, he was treated to a lake bath.  Our waiter, a really personable young man named Andrew, ended up in the water also.  Needless to say, this was casual waterfront dining!

Saturday morning after leaving lock 45,  we said good-bye to the Trent-Severn Canal system.  Since leaving Lake Champlain we have gone through over 100 locks.  Hard to believe we won't be in another until we head down the river system in Illinois.  But now it is time to enter Georgian Bay.  We have heard so much about the beauty of this area that we are very excited to be here.

Narrow channel leading out into Georgian Bay.