Well not so fast! The Big Chute is one of the last locks on the Trent-Severn Canal. Actually, it’s not a lock. It’s really more of a cross between your basic hoist that you would see in a marina and a San Francisco trolley car. The Parks Canada lock tenders strap three or four boats into a tram and pick you up in Copp Bay and drop you down in Gloucester Pool. There’s just one problem. There aren’t enough lock tenders, and the ones they do have, well they haven’t been trained well enough to handle boats over 30 feet. And then some of the workers got covid….
So, there’s a bit of a backlog of boats waiting to get through the Big Chute. While we are really looking forward to the Georgian Bay, we are actually fine taking our time and letting those fine lock tenders get all the training they need. It would really ruin our day to be dropped out of one of those trams. Oh, did I mention that we ride in Egret while she’s on the tram?
The Trent Severn continues to amaze us. We’ve had spectacular weather the last few days. Brilliant sunshine followed by cool, crisp evenings. We left Bobcaygeon on Friday, July 8th with every intention of going to Fenelon Falls. We had heard and read some nice things about the town and we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately, a few other people had also heard nice things about it and all the lock wall space was taken. We did tie off on the staging section of the wall before going through the lock and Chrisy walked around town a bit to scope whether there was room for us above the lock. It was pretty crazy as there was a big festival going on. We pushed on to the Rosedale lock where we were really lucky to get a spot on the free Parks Canada wall just big enough for Egret. The park adjacent to the lock serves boaters and campers so there are lots of facilities. We were pleasantly relieved that Fenelon Falls was too busy for us as we had a wonderful relaxing weekend at the Rosedale lock, taking nice walks through the trails and meeting several Canadians on holiday on their boats.
We finally broke loose from the Rosedale lock at 3 pm – a bit late for the typical cruiser – and headed to the Kirkfield Lift Lock, the second of the 2 lift locks in Canada. This lock drops you 49 feet. We spent the night above the lock on the lock wall – only one other boat there with us – and then dropped the 49 feet at 9 am. At this point, we have made it to the top of the Trent Severn Waterway. From Lake Ontario to here, we have traveled upstream, each lock carrying us higher above the level of Lake Ontario, about 597 feet. From the top of the Kirkfield Lift Lock, the canal drops gradually, first to Lake Simcoe, then via the Severn River to Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, a total descent of 262 feet.
Update on the Big Chute – the lock tenders are all trained, and they actually were able to clear all of the backlog of boats in the last two days. We head out today aiming for the Big Chute and depending on our departure time and energy levels – we may or may not head over the Big Chute.
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