Thursday, July 19, 2012

This morning we woke early this morning ready to go through the Portage Lock when while doing his daily engine check, the Captain noticed a little water in the bilge and discovered that our PEX 3/8’ plastic pipe had a pinhole leak.  It took about a half hour to splice the pipe and put it back together – no leak!  Hooray!  We were on our way.  We locked through 3 locks and at the bottom of today’s second lock, we encountered once again, the Danish sailboat, Avanti – again stuck.  They were pulled off to the side awaiting assistance to help them get through the remainder of the canal and into Simcoe Lake. 

At 10;50 AM we entered into the very unpredictable Simcoe Lake.  This lake has the reputation of changing from calm and beautiful to “upside down” and turbulent within moments.  Signs entering the lake state that the lake is dangerous and that weather is a major factor with how the lake will treat you. Fortunately, we had a fine crossing of this beautiful, scenic lake. 

At one point we traveled several miles through a man-made canal which cut several miles of lake travel for us.  As we approached the Couchiching Lock (pronounced Kootch- itching) the boat traffic had increased considerably and we locked through with six other boats.  It was cloudy and overcast and only 74 degrees.  We tied up at the lower lock wall and discussed our plans for the Georgian Bay.  Jay and Debbie are cruising the Bay but not continuing on as we are.  They will cruise a while then head back the way they came for home in Connecticut, hoping to be home in October.  We each made a few dishes to share and had dinner together on our boat.  It’s 77 degrees inside and quite comfortable.  We will be leaving early tomorrow morning and we’re all tired – especially Pirate and Striper who ran around again today...then Striper even took herself for a swim!  

Couchiching Lock Trent-Seveern Waterway

Say Good-Bye from the observation deck above Couchiching Lock

No one was paying attention to Striper, so she took a little swim on her own

Narrow shallow area in the Trent Canal