Port Severn Lock 45
44°48’15.4548″N, 79°43’15.2328″W
What3Words: ///dangers.free.lacked

(NOTE: Sorry for the long delay in posting our daily adventures. We will try to catch up to current time as quickly as we can! We are having a wonderful cruise but for many days in early August it was so hot that all we wanted to do at the end of each day was have a light dinner and then head to bed. This combined with feeling a bit overwhelmed travelling in unknown waters on a “new to us” boat with a few “teething” problems. I wanted some new boating adventures and I certainly have them now! Wouldn’t have it any other way!)

Saturday, August 8, 2025 –  Finally Underway – This was the big day we had been waiting so long for.

Coffee on flybridge at Bay Port Marina in Midland before cast off

At 11:00am we cast off from slip E21 at Bay Port Marina in Midland headed for Lock 45 at Port Severn. It was a cloudy, overcast day but visibility was fine. Wouldn’t you know it – after weeks of hot, sunny days it began raining. Thankfully it was more drizzle than rain but the forecast for later in the afternoon was possible thunder and lightning storms.

Finally underway! Lock 45, here we come!

We all enjoy the view from the flybridge. This is one of my favourite things about having a trawler style boat.

Catherine and Valerie keep watch from a relaxing position

Our trip to Lock 45 took about 90 minutes. I often tease Valerie and David about how good they look aboard a boat and that they should consider getting one of their own. They could moor it at the marina in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC!

Valerie telling David how much fun it would be to have their own boat!

We arrived at the lower lock basin about 1:30pm but had to wait for almost an hour due to backlog of boats wanting to go up and some coming down. It was a relatively narrow channel and there was no place to tie up, so it became a mandatory time for me to develop my boat handling and hovering skills – especially with boats in front of us and boats behind us in the same predicament.

We finally got our turn in the lock and got a ride up 14 feet to the next level on the Trent-Severn Waterway. It was about 3:00pm and the sky was looking pretty heavy so we quickly decided to tie up at one of the overnight spots beside the lock.

I went into the Lockmaster’s office and purchased a season’s pass for going through the locks and for unlimited nightly moorings at any lock on the Trent-Severn and Rideau systems. The mooring pass allows us to stay two nights in a row at most locks. Some of the more popular spots limit your stay to 1 night but you can return to each lock as many times as you want through the season – so it’s a very good deal for boaters who want to minimize their spending at marinas where single night fees for a boat like ours can range from $40 to $100.

We could see Rawley Lodge across the little bay from where we were moored for the night. After we got settled on the dock we took the five-minute walk over to the lodge and sat in the bar to have a drink and show Valerie and David where Catherine worked as a summer student 50 years ago! This is also the place where Catherine and I went for her birthday dinner “way back” on July 15! That seems so long ago now.

Exploring Rawley Lodge after drinks at the bar

After a relaxing drink we went back to the boat and began organizing dinner. We had fresh trout so I convinced David to be in charge of the BBQ. Catherine and Valerie prepared corn on the cob and a salad while I cruised the dock talking to some of the other overnighters.

Catherine and David at Lock 45 recalling self-serve lock operations in France

I spotted an older Albin trawler on the next dock and went over and introduced myself to the owner. Turns out he had just purchased his boat from someone in the Owen Sound area. We exchanged boat search and shopping experience and we had a laugh to discover that he and I had looked at the same boat near Halifax, Nova Scotia. He had only looked at it online and he had talked to the owner on the phone. I explained that I actually went to see it in Halifax and went for a ride on the boat with the owner. I came close to buying it but in the end decided that was not the boat for us.

We had an excellent dinner around 7:00pm. By that time the sky was looking pretty ominous and there were lots of thunder booms coming from a distance away. Thankfully the storm never made it to our location.

A good night’s rest was needed for all. Tomorrow, we head for “The Big Chute Marine Railway”. The lockmaster at Port Severn told me that there was a backlog of about 40 boats waiting to go up or down the chute today. She said staff at that location were hoping to clear most of the backlog before closing time today.

Our first day out was a real success. We had a safe an uneventful trip from Midland and were sharing the experience with close friends. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Cheers!