6/22,23 Orillia to Fenelon Falls, ON

Monday, 6/22/15 Mariposa Landing (Orillia) to Fenelon Falls, ON

Today was a beautiful day to travel so we ended up going 40 miles through 6 lakes and 7 locks.

The locks were all small and intimate with friendly attendants who always wanted to know where we came from and where we were going. 

Chatting with the attendant
while waiting on the water.

Notice the instructions below. Fumes accumulate in the bottoms of the locks so all engines and flames have to be out before beginning the locking process.



All of the locks are in a park-like setting with well-manicured lawns and tables for boaters who want to tie up and rest and even spend the night.

Notice the 2 boats tied up enjoying the day at the lock

Just about all of the locks are manually operated which means it takes 2 people, one on each side. They have to work pretty hard to get the gates to open or close.

From the looks of the telephone booth in their back yard, we figured superman must live here. 

We spent quite a bit of time in what they call the “ditch” which is where they simply dug a canal through the countryside. Still pretty, though. Part of it ran through fields and part looked like it was blasted out of dense forests. The ditch parts connect a variety of lakes in order to create the waterway.

This was a bridge that connected 2 sides of one of the lakes. We had to pucker up a bit to get through! Sweaty palms time!

Most of the ditch was quite narrow. In fact, too narrow for another boat to pass us.

Several times we broadcast a “securite’ “ call on our radio to let other boaters know we were coming. Fortunately, it was a quiet day on the water and we didn’t meet anyone else. We seem to be early in their season - still. PTL.

Many people have bucket lists. Today, Samba took a “bucket ride” – a very llaarrgge bucket.

The 49 foot Kirkfield lift lock was the most amazing thing we have ever seen. It is basically 2 very large tubs of water. 1 is up & the other down. In our case, we were on the bottom, wanting to go up.

You pull into the open one, they close the gate and add water to the top one until it is heavier than you. Then it went down and we went up, all in the course of about 10 minutes – wow!

The lock on the left was up. We entered the one on the right. 

Carol talking to the attendant

The control tower on the left managed the water levels in the buckets or tubs.

You can see the upper tub from our vantage point in the lower one.

Up close, the tub locks are huge and amazing feats of engineering. 

To the right is the upper lock that will soon fill with water to counterweight us for the trip up. They just stick right out in space - - full of boats and water!!

The gate is now up and we will make the ascent along with 2 other small boats.

Up we go as the other lock comes down

In the picture on the left, you can see we're higher than the other lock now. 

Notice the water in it?

Now, we’re on top and actually above a highway. This is the view from our boat looking over the side. How amazing is that?!

After a pretty long day, we tied up along the wall at the Fenelon Falls lock to spend the night. It was right downtown Fenelon Falls and was a very pleasant place. This is the location of the first hydroelectric plant in Canada so the short walk to the falls was fun and interesting.

Fenelon Falls and the doors leading into their hydroelectric plant.

Tuesday, 6/23/15 We stayed put

Boy, what a difference a day makes. They called for some rain last night.

We got buckets of rain - maybe an inch or more. We also had quite a storm with lightening and lots of wind. This morning and pretty much all day, the wind is blowing 25-30 knots with gusts up to 45knots.

Needless to say, we decided to wait this one out!