Big Chute - What Next?????

Remember the railroad tracks in the last blog!  Yes, that is 20BUCK$ resting in that big box on tracks being “portaged” over land to the water on the other side.  In most locks you drive your boat in and it floats in the water while the water either fills or empties to bring you up or down to the next level of the waterway.  The “Big Chute” lock carries you out of the water, over a road and down a hill on rail tracks to the water on the other side!  Amazing!!!!!  We are about to go down the hill!

We are now on the other side, safe and sound back in the water!  This was quite an experience as are all the new experiences on this trip!  Thanks to our friends Charlotte and Stephen from Jackets II for their photography!  Tara and Joe on Seabatical are coming down in the lock while we waited for them on the bottom!

We had one more lock after the “Big Chute”!  We are now out of the Trent Severn Waterway and done with locks until we arrive in Chicago and head down the Illinois!  We have gone through 163 locks so far!!!  Hard to believe! 

We are now in Georgian Bay which will take us 168 miles up the small boat channel through some of the most pristine waters we have been on ending in the North Channel, we know will be a true highlight of the trip!  Crystal clear waters await us!   As you can see by the picture of Ken on his noodle, the waters are pretty clear here as well!

We arrived yesterday in Midland, ON at the Harbour Town Docks.  The plan was to provision the boat for the trip through the Georgian Bay and leave this morning.  We woke to a weather prediction for high winds and chance of thunderstorms.  Our destination was to be an anchorage and our travels would take us across the Bay in beam seas so we decided to sit at the dock one more day!

Tomorrow we will leave and bid farewell to our friends on Jackets II and Seabatical.  We have so enjoyed our travels with Charlotte, Stephen, Tara and Joe.  Many laughs over dinners and docktails!  We know we must keep moving to get me back by 9/1/12!  They are slowing down and will spend more time in these beautiful waters!

We have traveled 6,104 miles on this wonderful voyage!  I updated the Great Loop map so you can see how far we have come!  We continually say to each other that we can’t believe we have actually done this!  Stay aboard!  The trip is not over!    Pat