Today we said goodbye to Mike. He has commitments for the weekend and because of the uncertainty in weather he decided to jump ship earlier than planned. Our hope and plan was to get him to Detour or St. Ignace but due to weather which WE COULD NOT control he made alternate plans.
We truly appreciated his offer to assist us through the Trent-Severn Waterway. This was a bucket list for him and he did hope to get all the way up to Killarney, ON., and I’m confident he will get that chance to cruise Georgian Bay again.
Morning storms!
As the storm passes this little momma comes out carrying her babes on her back.
Once Mike was on his way, Glen and I got right back to it, relying on each other and we locked through our last lock on the TSW, Severn Lock 45 (14' drop). This was the smallest (chamber size) lock on the TSW, allowing only one large boat to lock through at a time. Following the exit from lock 45 we tackled the narrowest channels yet through a field of red and green buoys.
Because of our late start with the locks not opening until 10:00 and Mike's arrangements we were not able to start north and make it to a marina (not many options) before dark. Ideally, with an early start we would have shot straight to Killarney, 104 miles on the upper east coast of Georgian Bay or Tobermory, 80 miles on the upper west coast of Georgian Bay. With neither a good option with the late start, we went just 9 miles northwest to Midland, ON. to hold up for three-days at Wye Heritage Marina due to extreme wind warnings issued for Georgian Bay . Our next weather window appears to be Sunday, June 19, 2022.
The Lockmaster at Lock 45 informed us that the TSW would be closing down for a week, between Trent (Lock1) and Buckhorn (Lock 31) due to high water concerns. I’m glad we are out of there.
I’m thankful to be done with locks, I must say it was a pleasure dealing with Park’s Canada and the many Lockmasters and attendants that made our experience seamless and pleasant.
Our extended stay in Midland, ON. was crazy windy with extreme temperature shifts causing us to spend a lot of time on the boat, But all in all it's been very pleasant. We met a few nice local couples. Wendy and Colin are on a Camano 31 "DeTour" and plan to start their loop July 1. We enjoyed docktails on their vessel while listening to their story and telling ours. We hope to meet up with them again in Charlevoix.
Our plans are now to go Northwest to Tobermory on Sunday and then West across Lake Michigan to Presque Isle, MI. on Monday or Tuesday.