Trent Severn 12-13

We got a late start out of Orillia and stopped for a pump out since we located a marina with $10 pumpouts. It's best to ask in Canada what the charge will be; one marina quoted us $45 for this most necessary service, so the $10 was looking pretty good. The western end of the Trent Severn Waterway was the last part to be built. The biggest cut through the granite rock is at McDonald's Cut; imagine excavating this cut by hand in 1905. The day was again cloudy, so the picture does not quite show the beauty of this section of the canal.
We went through Swift Rapids Lock, the tallest one on the TSW, with strong rapids at the bottom end. Our goal was to secure a tie up at the Big Chute, a highlight of the TSW. The lock tender at Swift Rapids called ahead and told us there was room.
These are the rapids next to the Big Chute. Again, cloudy day. The next day was clear and was our last day on the TSW.

The Big Chute was the last lock completed on the TSW. It was originally designed as a "temporary measure" in order to finish the waterway. As you can see, it's really not a lock at all, but a giant "travelift on rails" that you drive your boat onto and they lift it over the land. Here's a 47' Bayliner coming onto the chute car on the upstream side. They tighten the slings to hold the boat in place. They can also divide the slings into two or three abreast to take the smaller boats through. We were there early on a Saturday, so no crowds yet, but they are very efficient.

Once the boat is secure, the Chute comes up on the tracks. The back wheels and front wheels each ride on a separate track, so the boat stays level as it travels uphill to the top, which just happens to cross a road ....

.... and then down the other side, where they lower the slings and you cruise away.

Most newbies, like us, stop to watch it work a couple of times and go to the Visitors Center. We learned that in the 1970's, they were going to replace it with a regular lock. At this time, the lamphrey eel was invading the rivers, so Canada decided to leave the Chute as is in hopes of keeping the eels out. Next it was our turn. Here's the view from our flybridge at the top of the Chute. Notice the two separate tracks. Cables are attached under the lift to pull it up and lower it down ... slowly.

We drove off with Eschaton close behind.

Below the Chute are more narrow, beautiful rock gorges, with some swift current. It is advised that you give a "security call" on the VHF radio when you enter these cuts, so that you don't meet another large boat head on.

The last lock on the TSW is the busiest lock on the waterway. At just 80' long and 22' wide, it's also the smallest. On this busy Saturday, we had to pull up to the crowded "waiting wall" and wait our turn. The lockmaster tells each boat when to come in and in what order. They can only take one big boat at a time, and then bring as many small boats in as will fit. As you can see, they really pack 'em in. It's now a historic site, so they couldn't make it any bigger if they wanted to. Oh well, the whole place had a festive air about it and everyone shows patience and good cheer.

We got through and it had been a long day of cruising. We weren't done yet, we had an anchorage on Georgian Bay picked out so off we went. We had thoroughly enjoyed the TSW, but were looking forward to some "lock free" cruising.

As you know, we're depending on WiFi to blog from Canada, and it's been 10 days since our last, so i'll do a separate one on our first half of Georgian Bay after this one is published.