Carousel

Carousel

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Trent Severn Waterway Part 4:

Orillia to Port Severn, ON

Catching Up

We are at anchor on the Georgian Bay today waiting for an all-day rain system to pass. We have been having really great boating weather and, I believe, this is only the third rain day that we have had since June when we started.

So, this becomes an opportunity to catch up on the blog. Updating the blog takes a pretty good data connection so I have fallen behind. However, Deb has been updating the CarouselCruising Facebook page pretty regularly with pictures as we have been going along from her phone with marginal service.  Today while at anchor we have a pretty good cell service!

Deep Bay

Lake Couchiching
On July 24, from Orillia we proceeded north on Lake Couchiching for about 8 miles back towards the waterway. Lake Couchiching is a fairly shallow lake and we had to continue to watch our course to stay in deep water. 

We planned a pretty short day for ourselves with a short 2-3 hour, 12 mile journey to Deep Bay (map here) just off of Sparrow Lake.

Our list of obstacles for the day included some tight bends in the channel, a swinging railroad bridge and only one lock!

CN rail bridge closing JUST after we passed through!
Other things to look out for along the way
We moved right along and arrived in Deep Bay about 1PM. We moved toward the back of the bay and anchored between land with a few cottages and a large rock. The forecast included thunderstorms overnight so we selected this well-protected place with a good mud bottom to give the anchor great holding. The area was one of the prettiest that we had seen so far!

Sunset on Deep Bay

The Big Chute and Gloucester Pool

On July 25, our 14th day in the Trent Severn Waterway, we had a bit of work to do in getting the anchor up. The anchor and chain were covered with mud and weeds! The whole operation took about 20 minutes to clear the weeds and hose off the anchor chain as it was brought on board.

The trip along the way included several tight bends and narrow channels. By this time we have become pretty used to navigating in these tight quarters but continued diligence is necessary!



Weeds in Deep Bay




Deb navigating the channel

Sometimes it feels a little close.

Zut Alors!

In some places, the channel becomes so narrow that larger boats like us radio ahead on VHF channel 16 to warn of our approach and entry into the area. This lets other larger boats know to hold off until the first boat is cleared. The warning follows a standard format that is easy to recognize; "Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité. This is Carousel, a 42 foot trawler approaching Little Chute in 5 minute. All concerned traffic please respond on channel 16."
Lock 43 - Swift Rapids

This was also the big day for the tallest lock on the system and the Big Chute Marine Railway. The lock dropped us an amazing 47 feet and everything about it seemed large! No manual operation here - there was actually a concreate control tower. However, this is pretty small compared to the full-size Laker locks we will see next year getting to Lake Superior!

The Big Chute Marine Railway is another engineering marvel. The two bodies of water actually do not connect so the marine railway picks up the entire boat. The process is that all boats dock along "the blue line" and the lockmaster will call each boat over a loud speaker as he is ready and as he can fit them on board the railway. We got to go alone and you can see the video of our lift here.





Back in the water, leaving Big Chute!

After Big Chute we navigated a zig-zag course to an anchorage in Gloucester Pool (map here). We were serenaded by Loon calls in the evening. Another beautiful spot for the night!

Gloucester Pool Anchorage

Port Severn


July 27 was our last day on the Waterway. With only one lock to go we admitted that we were ready to move on and put the locks behind us for a while. The waterway in this area was very scenic with cottages along the way.

Lock 45 at Port Severn is quite busy since it connects the Waterway with the Georgian Bay. It is also smaller than most locks and, therefore can hold fewer boats. We had to wait about 30 minutes to enter the lock and we found the combination of wind that day, the current into the dam, and the closeness of the other boats that were waiting, made us do quite a bit of maneuvering to hold our position.

Waiting for the group ahead of us at Port Severn
.
Two smaller boat in the lock with us

Then, upon exiting the lock, one last navigation challenge. The exit is an obstacle course of buoys leading under the the Highway 401 bridge, which strangely, has a large rock under it that needs to be avoided. Then we were in the Georgian Bay!

Highway 401 bridge






No comments:

Post a Comment