Big Chute Lock 44 to Midland, ON

Miles Traveled 19.1

Total Miles Traveled 5472

Day 320

Our new Gold Looper Friends “Lazy W” snapped this picture of “Moni Jean” and “Gracie” in lock 43 yesterday.

Today was the Big Chute!  “Gracie” went in first and after they were set, we followed.  Once the straps pulled snug against the boat, we felt pretty secure.  It was like riding a slow motion roller coaster in a boat, and Hamp on “Gracie” had his hands in the air on the ride down.

Jeff and Bern, on “2 Infinity” had locked through yesterday, so Jeff took a video of our crossing.  I can’t post the video on the blog, but will have it to show when we finish the loop.

After leaving the Big Chute, we passed through several narrow and rocky passages.

“2 Infinity” making a sharp turn in the channel.

This is Lock #45 at Port Severn; this will be our last lock until we reach Chicago.  We are ready for a break from the locks and ready to explore the islands and coves of the Georgian Bay and  North Channel.

We’re glad we did not meet a boat through this narrow channel under the bridge, we barley had room for our boat and the bottom and both sides are granite rock.  The water is crystal clear with 8-10 feet visibility which makes the bottom look shallower than it really is. 

Leaving the Trent-Severn Waterway and entering the Georgian Bay.

We arrived at Midland, Ontario early this afternoon and are staying at the Wye Heritage Marina.  We will stay here a couple of days getting provisions and doing a little boat maintenance.  I’m also going to help “Gracie” and “2 Infinity” with putting the mast up on their sailboats. We met another looper at the marina, “Cutty’s Ark” that we haven’t seen since the Chesapeake Bay.