Completing the Trent-Severn Waterway and into Georgian Bay

 Tuesday, 16 July – Orillia to Waubic Inn – 30 mi., 2727 cum mi.

Blue sky, warm, 77 degrees.  The scenery along the waterway seemed to improve as we

traveled west, with more rocks, more pine and fir, and narrower passages. At the Waubic Inn, we met up with Maggie and Ron (Soundwave 3) and Dianne and Henry (First Affair II). We first met Sondwave 3 when we docked beside them in Trenton. We enjoyed the fish and chips (house specialty) and drinks and a dip with our fellow boaters.
Waubic Inn is a small, family run restaurant with some dockage and limited 30 amp service. The eight large vessels that docked overnight
sucked out all the power and tripped the breakers. They had to disconnect the dock electricity to keep the fryers going until the restaurant closed. The food was good, but the best thing about the Waubic Inn (besides the scenery and clean water) is the comradarie between the boaters (and the docktails).

Wednesday, 17 July – Waubic Inn to Midland, ON – 24 mi., 2751 cum mi.

Hot 82 degrees. Highlight of the day was the Big Chute Marine Railway. A wooden structure on rails
dips into the water, we drive into it over slings that pick us up, then we get lifted out of the water and over a hill back into the water on the other side. Really cool 7-minute ride! As the lockmaster said, “Better than Disney World, and less expensive.” The last lock at Port Severn was routine, but the obstacle course afterward was unexpected – very narrow channel, under a bridge, with swift current and boat traffic to avoid.
Completing another milestone – the Trent-Severn waterway – we headed south to Midland Harbour and to the Bay Port Yachting Centre. They have a full service marina; they give AGLCA members
a discount (three nights for two); and, they have a pool in which we cooled off after a muggy day’s cruise. On Thursday, we took a bus from Midland to Barrie, then a rental car to Toronto to see our son Chris who was touring with the Jonas Brothers. It was really great to see him and spend an evening with him as he worked the concert. Chris is the Production Manager, and he got us a VIP parking spot, food at the catering set up, and an up close and personal tour of the venue. We got to see the concert from “front of house” where the video and sound crew worked their magic at the computerized controls.

We enjoyed walking around the Toronto waterfront. To top it off, the Tampa Bay Rays were in town to play the Toronto Blue Jays, so we
stayed Friday night to see Tampa beat the Blue Jays – go Rays! The Steam Whistle brewery is right next door to the Rogers Centre, so folks gather there to have some brews before the game. What a fun tour and tasting experience!

Sunday, 21 July – Midland to Frying Pan Island – 30 mi., 2780 cum mi.

Blue sky, 69 degrees.  We intentionally got a later start, waiting for the winds the calm down. Glad we did. The water was calm, the sky was blue, and the storm Friday night blew in some cooler weather.
We took the small craft channel through hundreds of islands. Very pretty. Although quite narrow in spots, the water was deep enough not to worry about going aground on the hard granite surrounding us – as long as you stay in the channel. We docked at Henry’s Fish Restaurant on Frying Pan Island. Henry’s is a “must do” stop on the loop. It’s been around for 39 years.  The current owner, Paul, has
run it for the last 20 years. Rumor is that the island got its name from a restaurant that used to feed all the loggers in the old days – they had a huge frying pan on a rock to mark the spot. Henry’s has a simple menu, generous portions, and the best fish and chips on the loop so far. And it’s on a beautiful island, visited by many sea planes and every kind of boat imaginable. Oh, did we say we liked it?


Monday, 22 July – Frying Pan Island to Parry Sound – 16 mi., 2796 cum mi.

Breezy, 73 degrees. The scenery is very nice, somewhat reminiscent of Lake Champlain, with steep, rocky cliffs and deep water. Very different, however, are the narrow channels meandering through the
rocks. It was a short cruise to the Big Sound Marina. We stayed three nights, waiting for the winds to calm down (and taking advantage of the free third night). We docked next to Keith and Loiuse who gave us good advice on some choices for travel. We also met Trevor and Arlene (on the Mainship Great Scott) who showed us
 a great website to find wind conditions.  We explored Parry Sound by bicycle, discovering the farmer’s market and a kayak shop that had a chart we were missing.  We were surprised to see Osprey had pulled in. We had not seen Patty and Geoff since Picton before we started through the Trent-Severn Waterway. The winds reached 30 mph before calming down to single digits. The 3-night stay gave us a chance to relax with friends, catch up with provisions, do laundry, and a little boat work.