July 2, 2017

Well the day started of with a 'thud' at 6:30AM.   We had a bathroom sink issue, caused by me! Who knew that Metamucil could plug a sink?  Jim learned and believes he should keep it on hand to plug any leaks on the boat!  He was very thankful that I didn't pour it down the toilet! I'm very glad that the Bailey's have a great sense of humor and we all had a good laugh about it afterwards and no doubt I will hear about for the rest of my life. 

WOW.. who knew we could go from Metamucil to Carnival Cruise and White Water Rafting in a matter of hours, but it started with THE BIG CHUTE.  If you haven't done this please see Penny's video of this adventure.  This lock was built in 1978 (40 years old next year) and it is quite incredible.

In simple terms... a railway car is lowered into the water, the boat drives into it, the railway car is driven up, across the road and over, and down the other side back into the water...

We left Severn Falls at 8:15 to head to Port Severn, we had to wait for Big Chute to open at 9:00. 

Lock Descending

Railway Lock at Big Chute

Penny Stabalizing our Descent

Where we came from

It was absolutely breathtaking. As an aside, our Lock Master was first day on the job as lock master, he did a great job!

We descended the railway lock and we headed to our final lock, Lock #45, Port Severn and yes the journey was almost over for the Trent Severn Waterway (I could see the glean in Penny's eyes).  

At approximately 11:00 AM we arrived at our final lock. We had to wait while the lock was raised and we entered with a few boats behind us.  We were a little 'stressed' when we looked at the channel and saw it was very narrow and there were not one but two boats docked waiting to come into the lock.  Only one REALLY BIG problem. We had to get off first, there was no way were we going to go around two boats.  I could feel Jim fretting about how in 'hell' this was going to happen.  The good news is that the 'helper' at the lock told us to wait while he asked both boats to move.  They did and we exited. One would think the fun was over, but no, not meant to be, we hadn't had our white water, nail biting moment for the day yet.

This lock is manual. They have to manually
crank this unit to start the water

Alex is back at work

Lock #45, once through

Penny's final lock, you can't see the
HAPPY DANCE 

We exited the lock and realized that where we were to dock for the night was to our immediate left.  With five boats in line waiting to get into the lock we weren't making that turn.  No problem, Captain Jim said "we will simply go out and turn back".   This was before he realized we were going to have to white water raft.  

You cannot appreciate how narrow this
truly is until you are trying to navigate it on a
19' wide boat... it was an incredible feat of Jim's
piloting abilities

The channel markers were 24 feet apart and we are 19 feet, can you imagine trying to navigate the Colorado Cat with only 3 feet on each side and in rapids to boot!!! Oh and did I mention the water was only about 4 feet deep!!

When we finished Jim's adrenaline was pumping at an all time high and Penny's stress was in the red zone! Alex and I had alcohol.

Of course we survived it with a Champagne celebration; finishing the Trent Severn, surviving Lock 45 AND never having to return! Alex skipped the glass and went straight for the bottle.

It was a tough day!

Our next challenge was finding a new dock, we decided on the Midland Harbor advertised as full service.  Note to self, make sure you watch for comma's and periods in sentence... Nearby facilities..was referencing the boating facilities not the local city nearby.  Good news, we found the dock, Jim as always managed to get us onto the 'Wall' (this so reminds me of Game of Thrones).  From here it was the big Deflating Party!  Susan and Alex had a "Jim's Deflating Party" and of course Penny joined in.. see pictures.

Deflating Jim's Balls

Tomorrow is another day and no doubt it will be fun filled as we head to Parry Sound. As an aside in keeping with the sights and sounds it was incredible, the scenery was breath taking and since all the Canadians were somewhat partied out from 7/1 the Colorado Cat was able to travel the lake on her own!