Thurs July 27: Fenelon Falls to Thorah Lock #40 upper wall

Sarcasm ahead alert, in case that's a trigger for anyone..

I LOVE IT when the day starts with a really long, narrow channel that requires you to announce a 'Securite' at the beginning to alert other boats you have entered the channel since it's impossible to pass another boat because the SHALLOW channel has ROCK WALLS ON EITHER SIDE VERY CLOSE TO YOU- I'm still recovering from the narrow roads in Ireland and now THIS?

Rick wanted to talk about how hard is must have been to been to dig a channel through this ground, but I had no bandwidth for that.  All I could think about was HOW CLOSE and UNFORGIVING the walls were.  Can you see them extending down into the water here??  As a super bonus, the water is clear so you can see, with alarming clarity, what you MIGHT HIT AT ANY MOMENT...

We kept saying 'go into the light' to each other, as a way of staying the in middle of the channel and not giving into the weird vertigo that we were drifting left.

Just follow the line of light!

A completely UNNECESSARY speed limit sign - we are barely moving, we are so nervous.

Finally ... we emerged out into the open at the top of the second lift-lock, Kirkfield. It's good we arrived calm and collected -- just in time to drive into the pan which, because this lift is the headed down, the pan is extended out INTO EMPTY SPACE!  This lock is operating on only one pan, while they fix the other piston for the first time since 1904 (when it was built).  That means it is terribly slow, and we anticipated a 1.5 hour wait.  So, while it was unnerving to be the first boat in the pan and, therefore, 5' from the edge, we didn't have to wait.  So, um .... hooray?!

Off our bow - looking over the 50 ft drop! Very strange to be in a boat this  high up.

The video would be more fun, but we can't figure out how to load it onto the blog.  So please enjoy the view as we approach and arrive at the bottom.  Unlike the other lift-lock, it was a VERY slow descent, due to the mechanical issues.  Which was fine.  Better slow then a 10-second drop to the bottom, eay?

Welp-it’s all down hill from here… no really-it is. Rosedale is the last of the Trent Severn locks to take us up.  Starting with the Kirfield Lock we begin locking downward to the Georgian Bay.

Through the 'Hole-in-the-wall' bridge with our entourage.  No point in anyone going fast, the next few locks know we are coming (Kirkfield will have radioed them how many boats to expect) and will hold the lock until all 4 of us arrive. Two of the boats are little Quebecois boats, the other is our friend C'renity.  They kindly offered us a slip at their home marina for tonight, but we plan to stay on a wall at the Thorah Lock, #40 (we are cheap and wanted to be out alone away from the crazy marina life).

The final stretch of locks was on this canal, which is very different than earlier today.  Gravel banks, wildflowers and farm land remind us very much of the Richelieu River we took to Lake Champlain last year.  At least the threatening walls are gone.

We enjoyed a peaceful evening, once the Devil's Anvil of a sun went down... A couple of other boats joined us, but it still felt solitary and quiet...