We had such a peaceful night at anchor! We pulled our anchor around 8:00 am so we could be at the next lock when it opened at 9:00. What an enjoyable ride!

We had a couple narrow spots to go through that required a Securite message over the radio. We could hear that the boat which which we shared the anchorage was about 45 minutes behind us because we heard them make their own Securite announcement as they went through the same pass.

We made it to the Swift Rapids Lock 43 at 9:00 to find other boats that had stayed on the lock wall going into the lock. There was just enough room for us! We were happy to be able to go through on the first passage of the day.

As we get closer and closer to Georgian Bay, the scenery gets better and better. The landscape is rocky and speckled with cottages of all shapes and sizes. One thing we have loved about the entire Trent-Severn Waterway is that people here clearly know what they have–they are out on their decks, patios, and docks, in the water, on their bots, and soaking up this stunning piece of the world where they are blessed to live!

My pulse surged as we approached Big Chute. Along with the Peterborough Lift Lock, Big Chute is another engineering marvel that just adds another feather to the decorated cap of the Trent-Severn Waterway. We could see other boats waiting at the docks near the Chute. We knew we had to pull up to one of those docks, as we would not be able to get through the Chute until the next day. Thankfully, there was an “Our Dash” sized spot at one of the docks. We pulled in and had immediate help from our neighbors. We were fourth in line.

Another boat pulled in after we did, followed by the boat we share last night’s anchorage with. There ended up being about a dozen boats waiting for the next day.

We hopped off the boat and talked with the other boaters. Then we were eager to explore the Big Chute.

Wikipedia provides a good explanation of the history of the railway, and YouTube has several videos of vessels going through it. Still, what a marvel to see in person!

The spot we were tied up was actually the location of the original railway. We could see the remnants of the track beneath our boat, where the water is still so clear. The carriage that was used back then is still there and can be climbed upon. I love that Canada makes all these places parks! There are stairs that follow the old tracks that lead to the other side of the rocky terrain.

Then we went and watched the real thing. How exciting to finally see it in person! It was so hot today, but we were determined to watch the boats come up, get lifted out of the water, over the street, down a hill,a nd be placed back into the water on the other side. We watched it over and over. There was a “cottager” there (that’s what they call the cottage-dwellers here), who said he used to watch the old carriage work, too. That one wasn’t built to stay level during the ride, so boats pointed up to the sky at the beginning and had a scary angle down at the end. He said if he listened closely, he would hear the dishes clanking inside those awkwardly positioned boats!

We had lunch at the restaurant at the Big Chute Marina next door, then back to the boat to cool off a bit. We talked to our boat neighbors from last night’s anchorage. While we had an easy ride past yesterday’s railroad bridge, they had to wait TWO HOURS for it to open! Boy, were we lucky!

That revelation called for ice cream, so we walked with them to the marina’s ice cream shop. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t take a revelation for Owen to have an excuse to eat ice cream. That was just today’s nonevent excuse.

The area filled with big boats eager to make the passage tomorrow. As the day’s locking came to a close, one of the lock workers came over to talk to us. She said that because the delay in getting us through the lock was not our fault, we would not have to pay to stay the night. The price there is one dollar per foot, so that saved us $45! She gave us the bathroom codes to use through the night and encouraged all of us who were waiting to head over to the blue line* as soon as the lock closed so that we could be in the right order for the next day and so that more boaters could pull into our current spots to get in line.

So at 6:00 pm, the first six of us started our engines and pulled up to the blue line for the night. We must have looked like an odd boat parade as we backed off the gray wall and over to the blue one. We all helped each other tie up.

Owen and I went for another walk to look at the lock while everything was closed and not busy. We had to make sure we took a picture of the six of us lined up. We can’t wait for tomorrow!

*Each lock has a blue line. It’s a section of the wall leading up to a lock that is literally painted blue. The rest of the wall is the gray line, which is just…unpainted. When a boat is tied up to the blue line, it indicates to the lock tender that the boat is ready to go through the lock. It’s a big no-no to tie up to the blue line during the day if you aren’t ready to go through, however, boats can tie up there overnight after the locks close as long as they are ready to go first thing in the morning. Most locks allow anyone to tie up overnight to the gray wall for a fee ($1 per foot or included with a mooring pass, which is $10.50 per foot that includes the Trent-Severn and certain parks in Georgian Bay).