Overnight at Kirkfield Lift Lock #36
44°35’22.5600″N, 78°59’13.8408″W
What3Words: ///embassy.ducks.pocketing

We both slept well last night. Especially after our “mishap” on Lake Simcoe yesterday afternoon. We left Lock 39 at 9:30 and passed through 2 more locks before crossing Canal Lake to Kirkfield Lift Lock #36.

Until 2 days ago I thought that the lift lock in Peterborough was the only one on the Trent-Severn system. The only reason I knew in advance that the one in Kirkfield existed is because Catherine read about it in our Ports Cruising Guide Book.

Peterborough’s Lift Lock raises/lowers boats 65 feet while the Kirkfield Lift Lock elevation difference is “only” 45 feet. Peterborough’s might get all of the media attention but even so, Kirkfield’s is a very impressive piece of infrastructure.

As we approached the lift lock we were not sure what to do because we couldn’t see any gates that had to be open and shut. One of the lock staff called out to us asking if we wanted to go up and we replied yes. He told us to come right in – only then did I realize that the “tank” that we would be riding up in was already in position and opened up for us. All we had to do was carefully manoeuvre into position and tie up our lines to the railings that were at waist level on each side of the tank.

We were the only boat going up so it was just a couple of minutes before they closed the entrance gate and we began to rise 45 feet to the next level.

This is a completely different experience compared to going up or down in a standard lock. There is no water movement.

Everything is calm and silent. I wish I had the presence of mind to take a video with my phone camera – but Catherine and I were both focused on keeping the boat still. Before we knew it we were at the top of the lock and the gate at the other end of the tank we were in was opened up and away we went.

Once we were at the top it was quite a sight to look backwards and down to see where we had just been a few minutes before. I took a quick glance but didn’t have the nerve to stare from flybridge – I’m afraid of heights!

We decided to spend the night at this location. It was very quiet – no other boats around, plus I wanted to get a closer look at the facility.

I cooked hamburgers on the BBQ and Catherine made a salad. Except for the very cool ride in the lift lock this was an uneventful day compared to yesterday – just the way we like it.

Bonus – the weather has become noticeably cooler once the sun sets. Great for sleeping!

Cheers!

Overnight at Trent Canal Lock 39 “Portage”
44°29’56.6520″N, 79°7’55.0920″W
What3Words: ///whomever.factually.clothed

We cast off from Orillia Marina around 9:00am. It’s about 90 minutes across Lake Simcoe to the entrance of the Trent Canal. There’s a marina at the narrows junction between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe so we stop to get our wastewater (toilets) holding tank pumped out. This marina also has diesel fuel, and I thought that perhaps we should fill up the tanks there.

There are three fuel tanks aboard Belisama, and the gauge shows that we already have lots of fuel on board so I decide that we will wait a few more days before filling up. This “Tank Tender” system does not use electronics to measure the level in each tank – it uses air pressure. I am familiar with this type of system because they were used with standby diesel generators at several pumping stations that I worked in many years before. This system aboard Belisama works but I am not certain of how accurate it is. We need to get going across Lake Simcoe and there will be lots of places along the way to buy diesel fuel – but that decision turns out later to be a big mistake!

It was a very nice morning with calm weather but the forecast for later in the afternoon is not so good – possible high winds and thunderstorms. We are anxious to get off Lake Simcoe before the weather turns. Lake Simcoe is pretty big with lots of open water so this is an opportunity for me to open up the throttles for the engines and give them a good workout.

The boat has not seen much use in previous years, so the engines tend to smoke at low RPMs. Our surveyor told me that whenever I get the chance, I should take the boat up to higher speeds to make the engines work harder. Diesel engines “like” to be worked hard. It helps them keep clean and running smoothly. So when we get out on Lake Simcoe I open them up and we are cruising at around 18-20 kph – fast for this boat.

Everything is running fine and we can see the breakwater at the entrance to the Trent Canal a few kilometers away. Soon we will have to start to slow down and prepare to enter the canal. All of a sudden, the portside engine stops and then a minute later the starboard engine quits – it’s about 12:30 noon. At first, I don’t understand what’s going on but it appears like we have run out of fuel! We are still several hundred meters offshore so I told Catherine that we need to toss out the anchor to keep us from drifting to shore.

At this point I’m not too worried. The weather is fine, the lake is calm, we are only in about 15 feet of water and clear of the canal entrance so we can anchor comfortably here. The water looks so clear that I’m almost tempted to go swimming!

Once the anchor is set, I take a closer look at the fuel tank gauges. The fuel tank we are drawing from shows that it’s about 1/3 full so fuel should not be a problem. I tried to start each engine but no luck. It’s obvious that they are not getting any fuel. I crawled down into the engine compartment and switched to another fuel tank – but still no luck. Next, I try to prime each engine by manually operating each primary fuel pump but still nothing. I tell Catherine not to be worried (!) but that it’s time to call for assistance. I am not familiar enough with these engines to try anything else and am concerned if I do the wrong thing that I could make things even worse.

I found a phone number for C-Tow, a marine assistance company that is essentially CAA for boaters. Ironically C-Tow has an office at the marina in Orillia where we had stopped earlier this morning to get our holding tanks pumped out. I explained our situation to the office manager, and he said they would send a mechanic out to our location right away. It would take them 30-40 minutes to reach us, as long as there is no thunder as they have to stop then and find shelter!

When the C-Tow boat arrived, I explained our situation to the mechanic. He took a close look at the engines and fuel system setup and set to work. He got the starboard engine running in just a couple of minutes simply by cranking the engine over and moving the throttle back and forth – just about the same as pumping the gas pedal in a car. The portside engine was a little more difficult to start. He ended up having to bleed the injectors but that only took a couple of minutes before that engine started up.

The mechanic was kind enough to explain what he was doing each step along the way so if the problem ever occurred again, I could take the same approach to remedy the situation. We let the engines run for about 5 minutes and then the mechanic started and stopped each one a few times to confirm that everything was OK.

All told, they were only with us for about 30 minutes and then back on their way to home base. I won’t bother to say how much that service call cost us, but it wasn’t cheap. Thankfully our boat insurance will cover a pretty good portion of the service call, and I will chalk up the balance of the fee to a lesson learned.

Note to self, join C-Tow service plan. As of this posting we are also now subscribers to C-Tow. That gives us two free tows each season plus unlimited service calls. A bargain at $160 a season.

We were ready to get back underway. The anchor was raised, and we entered the Trent Canal. There are 3 locks in quick succession. We arrived at the 3^rd lock, #39 which is named “Portage” around 3:00pm. It was still nice out, but we could see clouds gathering on the lake and an hour or two later we could hear thunder in the distance. We were pooped! It was time to stop for the night and reflect upon the day.

We were lucky that our problem was not all that serious. The only damage that was done was to my ego, my boat knowledge reputation with Catherine and our credit card. On the upside, I now know what to do to try to get the engines started if that problem ever occurs again. Belisama will be getting new fuel gauges for Christmas. Wally will be getting a lump of coal in his stocking.

Where’s the Tequila? Now that we are safe and securely tied up for the night, I need a jumbo-sized drink (Margarita) before I do anything else!

Tomorrow, we tackle the next stretch of the Trent-Severn. Fingers crossed for smoother sailing!

(It never did rain at our location that night which was too bad as there are forest fires nearby and everything is parched)

Cheers!

Overnight at Port of Orillia, Slip 169
44°36’48.4236″N, 79°24’42.8868″W
What3Words: ///rowdy.strutting.expressive

Catherine writes: We had an early breakfast aboard Belisama. Valerie and I enjoyed coffee and tea in bed – just like in France – served by the men.

It was a little convoluted figuring out transportation but this what we did: Wally, David and Valerie walked to the car rental location to pick up rental car at 9:00am. I stayed back to organize the galley.

We all drove to Midland in the rental car – about 45 minutes away. David and Valerie picked up their car at the Bay Port Marina.

We all drove to our storage locker in another part of Midland. David and Valerie very kindly took a carload of things back to London for us. We said our goodbyes there. What wonderful friends! We will really miss them! It reminded us of putting them on the train to Spain in Angouleme France after our week boating with them there!  Au revoir!

We drove back to the Bay Port Marina to pick up our car and check on our substantial bill which was still being prepared – ka-ching. I drove our car, and Wally drove the rental car back to Orillia. We met Dan’s son Steve at his house where he kindly agreed to let us park our car until we are finished cruising for the season. How we will get back to Orillia in September remains to be determined (a problem for future Wally to worry about)

We were able to meet up with Dan and Isa again for dinner at the Swiss Chalet followed by ice cream at Kawartha Dairy outlet – yummy! Funny story – Wally and Dan continued to talk about their careers and it turned out that they both had worked for the French based Veolia company at roughly the same time, but in completely different corporate divisions. Dan was in Veolia’s public transportation services division and Wally was focused on water and wastewater operations, management and business development. A small world gets smaller….

We said our goodbyes to Dan and Isa, such lovely people. We leave tomorrow morning for Lake Simcoe and the Trent Canal.

Cheers!

Overnight at Port of Orillia, Slip 169
44°36’48.4236″N, 79°24’42.8868″W
What3Words: ///rowdy.strutting.expressive

A minor crisis has arisen aboard Belisama! The marina’s bathroom pass card is missing! Belisama is thoroughly searched by the entire crew, but the card is nowhere to be found. Our $30 deposit is forfeited if the card is not returned at checkout. Catherine thinks she might have left the card in the washroom/shower room while she was there but it’s not there and no one has turned in a lost card. I’m not so sure that she is the one who misplaced the card. I obtain a “new” card from the Marina Office in exchange for another $30 deposit, but the marina staff say, sorry there is no refund for the missing card. More about the missing card mystery will be revealed in a few days – stay tuned!

Catherine and I had lunch with Dan and Isa at one of their favourite “locals” followed by a driving tour of Orillia and a lot more conversation. It is wonderful to catch up with them after so many years of not seeing each other or much communication. We all get busy in our lives and time just slips away – first weeks, then months and then years! Where does the time go?

Dan’s father and my mother were brother and sister. They were close when they were growing up and they remained close even as adults with their own families and busy lives. Our families may have been far apart by physical distance but not emotionally. Dan and my aunt and uncle spent their entire adult lives in Orillia while my family lived in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and finally eastern Ontario.

I can remember when I was growing up we would go to Orillia in the summer to visit my uncle and aunt and my cousin Dan or they would come and visit us and other relatives at our grandparent’s family farm and summer cottages near Moose Creek, Ontario. Dan is about five years older than me, and I always remembered him as my cool older cousin who was happy to spend time with his younger cousin at an age when a 15 or 16 year old often would not like being stuck with having to entertain a 10 or 11 year old. Dan was not like that. We talked about cars and boats and other cool stuff that he knew a lot about and I was just learning. His family had a house on Lake Couchiching. We went for boat rides and swimming in the lake. Those were great times, and I remember them fondly.

Years later we visited Orillia occasionally. Dan now had Isa in his life (a very cool woman then – and she still is today) and, like me, they had started a family and were busy building careers. It was fun to catch up then, but once again busy lives, competing priorities and physical distance got in the way of keeping in touch. That’s why it is so special now to be able to reconnect – especially when we are all getting to an age where it is best not to take time for granted! Dan is still my cool, slightly older cousin!

While we were out with Dan and Isa, Valerie and David explored the Orillia Waterfront Festival at the park beside the marina. The weather was fine, and they enjoyed themselves.

Catherine and I got back to the marina around 4:00pm. We all considered our dinner options and decided that it would be fun to have dinner aboard Belisama for our last night together. Sadly they have to head back to London tomorrow but we are looking forward to the next time they can join us for more cruising adventures. It was great to share Belisama’s inaugural cruise with them.

Cheers!

Saturday, August 9
Port of Orillia, Slip 169
44°36’48.4236″N, 79°24’42.8868″W
What3Words: ///rowdy.strutting.expressive

The crew was up at 6:30am. We had 13 kilometers to travel to reach the Big Chute and we wanted to arrive there around or before the 9:00am starting time so we could cover a good distance for the day. We cast off after breakfast at 7:45am and arrived at the Big Chute around 9:00am.

David and I stayed up on the helm while Catherine and Valerie took advance watch positions on the bow.

The only swimmer they spotted was a loon. Sorry gals, we can’t stop there today – The Big Chute awaits our arrival!

We arrived at The Big Chute shortly after 9:00am. There was already a line up of boats waiting for the ride up but thankfully there were two large floating docks nearby that are part of the waiting area and managed to get a spot there.

The original Big Chute began operation in 1917. It raises/lowers boats 57 feet – depending upon which direction you are travelling. A newer version of the marine railway began operations in 1978 and that was the one we would be travelling on. However, the original system is still in place and apparently can be put into service if needed.

It was exciting to get a ride on this unique system. When the Trent-Severn Waterway was being designed this particular location was an engineering and a financial challenge. The rock formations here and the difference in elevation made building locks impractical and prohibitively expensive so the decision was made to install the railway lift instead. It is a highlight of most boater’s trip on the waterway and it attracts lots of land based visitors as well.

Our trip up the Big Chute was delayed for a short time because the operating staff were being extra careful where they placed the slings on our boat. They had to make sure that the aft sling did not put any stress on our propeller shafts. Once the straps were safely in place our ride up the chute began. Parks Canada staff at all the locks on the Trent-Severn and Rideau Waterways are great. They have extensive knowledge of the area and are always willing to help make your journey through the system safe and relaxing. Of course, Catherine and I are a bit biased – both being former Parks Canada employees ourselves in Yoho National Park.

It was pretty exciting. On this trip we shared the ride with about a dozen jetskis and a small runabout boat.

I stayed up on the flybridge “trying” to enjoy the view and praying that our sling didn’t let go.

David took a short video of the ride up on his phone.
←Click on the image to view video

After the ride up and we were back in the water we went over to the mooring docks to tie up for a short while so I could crawl into the engine compartment to inspect the area around the propeller shafts. I wanted to confirm that no harm had been done by the sling. When we haul the boat out of the water this fall for winter storage I will determine the best spots on the boat for lifting slings to be placed and make sure they are well marked on the hull. That will help The Big Chute operators a lot as well as any other location where the boat will be hauled out of the water by slings.

Back to our adventure… our objective for the day was to reach the City of Orillia and spend overnight at the marina there. My cousin Dan also lives in Orillia with his family. I haven’t seen them for many years so I had arranged to also visit with Dan and his wife Isa.

When we arrived at Swift Rapids Lock 43 on the Severn River the staff informed us that there was a railway swing bridge about a kilometer past the lock. There was only 13 ½ feet clearance from the bottom of the bridge to the water so the bridge has to be swung open to allow the larger boats to pass by – and that includes our boat which needs about 18 feet overhead clearance due to the height of our bimini.

Unfortunately, the high temperatures this day (35 C+) were causing the railway tracks on the bridge to expand and basically the bridge had swelled shut. The railway would not be able to open the bridge until later in the evening or early the next morning when the temperatures were lower. This is still an active section of track for freight trains so it is understandable that the railway would not want to force the bridge open for a few boats only to find that they could not get it closed to allow trains to pass over it.

The lock staff said we were welcome to stay overnight on the lower or the upper side of the lock or, we could try to pass under the bridge if we took our bimini down and could get our clearance below 13 ½ feet. Our crew had a short discussion about what to do and we quickly decided to take the bimini down and try to get under the bridge. David and Valerie only had a few days with us before they had to head home. While we enjoy staying overnight at the locks we wanted to have some adventures in Orillia as well.

It only took a few minutes for us to lower the bimini and after several measurements we concluded that our new height was 12 to 12 ½ feet.

Parks Canada staff put us through the lock and we headed down the river towards the railway bridge. Catherine stayed up on the bow. When she was standing on top of the forward cabin her outstretched hand was higher than the little windshield up on the flybridge (the highest point). David and Valerie were at the back of the boat holding the bimini down as tight as they could get it.

I knelt on a pillow on the floor of the upper helm and said a prayer.  We approached the bridge at a snail’s pace. When we were almost there I put the boat in neutral so I could immediately put the engines in reverse if we were too high. Catherine touched the bottom of the bridge as we passed under it but we had several inches of clearance for the bimini (and the top of my head). Hooray! We made it! High fives all around!

This part of the river channel is very narrow and there was no place to stop so we decided to leave the bimini down and travel “topless” the rest of the way to Orillia. David came up to the flybridge to help me with steering and navigation while Catherine and Valerie stayed on the foredeck enjoying the view. We still had another lock to get through before we reached Orillia. We passed through Sparrow Lake and then Couchiching Lock 42 into Lake Couchiching. It was over an hour from there to the Port of Orillia Marina.

It was close to 6:00pm by the time we arrived at the marina. The wind was blowing stiffly so we had some fun getting docked. David helped me get the bimini back up and the rest of the boat settled. We were all pretty tired and hungry so I contacted my cousin and asked if we could meet the next day instead. Nobody felt like cooking so we walked over to a nearby restaurant and had dinner out – fortified by extra large draft beers for the fellas and wine for the ladies.

Today was certainly a day that will not be forgotten anytime soon and we will all sleep well tonight.

Cheers!