…nor dark of night shall stay this boat from it’s appointed rounds. Well it used to work for the Post Office so I thought I could use it. We did head out Tuesday morning with an iffy weather forecast of high winds and thundershowers. And certainly the high winds part was right on. Within minutes of leaving we could feel the breeze kicking up and after about a half hour we began to wonder if this was a wise decision. We began to plan a lock to lock strategy such that we could bail at any lock wall and stay the night before entering.
Our first real problem came in a rather tight canal when we came upon a RR swing bridge that was supposed to be open unless a train was coming. For the next 45 minutes we tried to maintain position as three freight trains and one passenger train rumbled through. Luckily we were in a tree sheltered area and the one quiet section of water on this canal because it would have been difficult, though not totally impossible, to turn around. When finally the bridge began to swivel we were much relieved and moved on.
Thus began the windiest day in tight quarters we have yet encountered. Shortly the Canadian Coast Guard would issue squall warnings for Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, all of which were behind us. We had just left Lake Simcoe as the closest big body of water. But never despair, it was not 30 minutes before the warning was upgraded to include Lake Simcoe. Too close for comfort!
At one point we were so tired of fighting the wind that we pulled over and tied up on a lock wall thinking we were done for the day, but after conversing with the lock attendant we discovered that this was not a place to stop. He said that if the wind died down here the flies were so bad that we could not come outside the boat. So we untied and risked the wind going into the lock. It turned out to be a good decision.
Our next stop was the Big Chute Railway. This will take some explaining. But for now let’s just say it is going to be exciting tomorrow when we ride on this engineering marvel. There will be pictures and a tutorial to go with it.
We decided to stay the night on piers provided at this location and take the Chute first thing in the morning. They don’t call it a chute for nothing. Think of taking your boat on a roller coaster.
I wrote this knowing I had no WIFI to send it but at least it is contemporaneous and can be posted at our next stop.
