Day 74- Orillia, ON Lock 41 to Big Chute Marine Railway Lock 44

June 29, 2024

We left Orillia in time to get to the first lock when they opened at nine. About a quarter mile before the lock is a railroad swing bridge. Most RR bridges are normally open and close for a train. Not so here . Not only was the bridge closed, there was nobody here. Eventually, we saw a pick-up truck arrive, the gent got out, went to the little house, did things, came back out and walked onto the bridge. He stopped at the near end and kicked a few things with his foot. He walked to the other end and kick some more things, then he scaled the staircase to the little shack up top. He unlocked the doors, probably started the coffee pot and eventually came out, put the flag up and carefully unfurled it and yelled that he would have us on our way in a couple of minutes. Then came the incredible racket of a diesel motor starting up! That's how this thing operates.

Amazing.

Nonetheless, we were off and running by 0920 and missed the first locking of the day.

I think this thing got tired of waiting for the bridge and retired.

Think they have long, cold winters up here?

See the rope swings?

Kids enjoying a swim. Me? I'm reminded of the opening scene in JAWS.

Looks like fun to me, but I would need a wetsuit. Brrrrr!

Places to go, things to see...

Swift Rapids lock. This is the first time I have seen a floating bollard in a lock wall. It goes up and down with the water. Just loop your line around it and down you go. Swift Rapids is the biggest lift/drop for a conventional lock on the waterway, 47 feet.

Watch Swift Rapids Lock here.

The doors had the most reinforcement of any of the locks.

Understandable with the 47' lift.

Looking back on Swift Rapids Lock, power plant and dam.

We saw a lot of these saunas today. It says something about the price of real estate.

I'm sure these folks need the soothing heat after a long day

of watching someone else stack the firewood.

Bears? You see them all the time, but a frog band? Now we're talkin'!

Remember that giant fish from a couple of days ago?

This is the bobber they used to catch it.

When you build your house on a rock you need a lot of stairs to get to the water.

The camera doesn't do it justice. These were the brightest orange roofs ever seen.

The green didn't help.

But Paul, they had matching chairs on their dock!

Another house built on a big rock.

Hold my beer...

If you can't read the red lettered sign it says "SuiSide".

Look, a white chocolate bear. He still has his ears too.

These trees are literally growing out of the rocks.

The Karwartha Voyageur at the end of the line. They turnaround, take on new shiny faces and motor back to Peterborough. I am very glad we didn't meet up with this in the narrow bits of the last two days. To the left is "Escapade", our compadre from the Rideau Canal. We've been leap-frogging with him ever since.

The Karwartha Voyageur goes through the same locks we just went through. The bow folds so that they fit. They have 5" on the sides while in the lock chambers.

I finally saw and was close enough to get a photo of an open water lily flower.

We are now at the "Big Chute" a numbered lock, but there is no lock. There is this contraption of a marine railway that lifts the boats out of the water, crosses a regular road and trundles them down to the waterway below.