JACKIE B III Going Loopy

What a special treat it was to cruise with these two dear friends. Ralph and his family are largely responsible for getting Mike into boating and he was Mike’s best man. Gail and I enjoyed our morning coffee, taking in the sights of Lake Simcoe. This island was covered with birds. As we approached our first lock of the day, there were several French Canadian/non English speaking boats lined up.  We spent the day going through the locks with these folks trying to use the French we  had studied many years ago😁. We saw many more cottages and beautiful scenery between locks. We let Gail enjoy the ride while Ralph took the stern lines.  This is at the top of the lock.  We are going downstream at this point on the waterway. And here we are at the bottom of the lock. Gail our VIP (Very Important Passenger) Ralph on the stern and me on the bow. The beauty of this area did not disappoint. But we were getting excited approaching the most exciting lock of the day, “The Big Chu...

From Fenelon Falls, we crossed Cameron Lake to enter the Severn canal.  This was the narrowest canal of the trip so far. Although it was not the mooring we had become accustomed to, this lock had its own beauty. In the morning the guys had bagels and locks (tee hee) after Ralph took his morning swim. We finally arrived in Orillia. Even though it was cloudy, its a beautiful city. . Scott drove Ralph’s wife up to meet us and we had some fun while he was with us to include an early birthday cake for Mike.  Wish Scott could have actually cruised with us. Mike saw Scott off early the next morning and got a shot of the Jackie B at the dock with all the night (early morning) lights. Our Journey “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Leaving Lovesick we were struck by the beauty of the area once again Approaching Bobcaygeon we began to notice a lot of cottages. The water was so clear and most people in this area really seemed to like Adirondack chairs. We were only able to tie up to the wall in Bobcaygeon long enough to go our for lunch at an outdoor Mexican restaurant.  A cruise ship was coming in and had the wall space reserved.  We spent the afternoon paddle boarding and stayed at a marina that night. More of the same beautiful cottage country as we made our way to Fenelon Falls There are actually waterfalls here and we were able to get a spot on the wall below the lock which we grabbed at once after our experience in Bobcaygeon. As we walked around town we happened upon STEAM in the park activities that I went nuts over. We had lunch in the brewery overlooking the craziness of the lock traffic. We took a chance and moved our boat above the lock.  We had a spot without power.  I went paddle bo...

The Peterson Lift Lock was built in 1904.  This is an amazing piece of technology. This was an amazing thing to experience. We saw many of these rental canal boats that people can take along the canal route. The canals could be very narrow at times. Then it opens up to lakes with lots of islands.  This church can only be accessed by boat. We went to Lovesick Lock.  Named for a lovesick native boy who was rejected until his friends rescued him. Note the blue line ahead of our boat.  While on the canal you can tie up before the line but tieiong on the line indicates you would like to go through the lock. Note our boat behind us looking back and the lock behind us for the next day. We crossed the bridge to the island where the lovelorn stayed for a while. The locals created a “hot tub” that was just a little warmer than the other waters around. Mike of course had to climb the cliffs. The day ended after some fantastic paddle boarding with a beautiful sunset. Our Journey...

Initially the weather looked pretty bad and we weren’t going to leave Hastings but then we decided we could make it before the lock closed so we went for it and are we glad we did.  This is the Canadian Canal Park we ended up staying in for two nights we liked it so much. The forecast was for two Foot waves.  This was not even close The lock in the park was so old and charming. This was the view behind our boat for our stay. The first night we rode our bikes up to the lift lock that we would be going through in a couple of days.  It is the largest lift lock in the world. The view up top was amazing. We were able to get some really cool shots thanks to our new friends Deb and Dan. The next day we explored Petersborough by dinghy. You can see Deb and Dan behind us in their dinghy.  It is a beautiful city with lots of art work in the many parks along the river. We ended the evening at a free concert in the park next to the marina where many of our friends were staying. ...