We’ve been traveling with a buddy boat since we locked through A little Loopy at Peterborough (we were in the control tower for a tour before we locked through). We caught up with them at the next lock and traveled with them through Lakefield, Buckhorn, Bobcaygeon and Kirkfield. Dayle and Jan Kuhn are from the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland; we bonded pretty quickly with our new friends and are enjoying traveling together.
Departing Kirkfield, we transited a series of five locks in 4 miles then headed across Lake Simcoe. Dayle and Jan were headed to Starport Marina; they had an appointment with a Volvo mechanic for an engine problem. We were headed to Port of Orillia for a couple of nights in a marina. After we had parted ways on Lake Simcoe, I got a text from Jan that their engine had stalled. Captain Jim’s Sea Tow persona immediately kicked in and we diverted to their aid. Dayle got the engine re-started but could only get up to about 1200 rpms. We followed them to Starport to make sure they made it in okay.
Dayle insisted we stay at Starport for the evening and have dinner with them in appreciation. Twist my arm; this marina had a saltwater pool, free laundry and daily garbage pickup at your boat! We backed up our reservation in Orillia for a day and tied up next to A Little Loopy at Starport. Jan and I did laundry while relaxing at the pool😊. We hope to reconnect down the road after their engine repairs and our mast stepping in Midland.
The next day, we crossed Lake Simcoe to Port of Orillia. It’s the first weekend in August, a holiday weekend in Canada. The 400-slip Port of Orillia marina was packed; lots of locals on their boats for the holiday weekend in addition to about 10 Looper boats. Friday night was pretty rowdy with folks partying on the docks; we finally had to go inside the cabin to get some peace! We learned the next day that the police were on our dock twice during the night; makes a night on the lock wall pretty inviting! We organized a Looper dinner on Saturday evening at Rustica Pizza & Vino; great food and conversation.
Sunday, after breakfast at the bakery, we went on a 2-hour trail ride. Visited the Gordon Lightfoot Memorial Park; the artist was born in Orillia. That evening we had dock tales with 5 other Looper boats: Tug O’ My Heart, Whiskey Business (from Louisville!), Carolina Dream, Saltaire & At Last. Good fun!
After 3 nights in Orillia, we headed toward the Big Chute, Lock 44. This is a unique lock, it is actually a marine railway that lifts your boat out of the water, across a road, and back in the water on the other side. This is to keep a nasty marine species out of the Great Lakes. Quite the ride! You drive into the submerged railcar while the lock engineers tighten lift straps under your vessel. As the railcar lifts out of the water, your vessel is sitting on its keel on the wooden bottom of the car. The car travels on rails 500 feet and drops you 58’ to the water below. It’s like a slow-motion roller coaster!
The final lock on the Trent Severn is the smallest lock in the system; we locked through by ourselves because 2 cruising vessels cannot fit at the same time. When the lock doors opened, we sailed out into our next adventure, the Georgian Bay.