We
left the marina for the blue line at 10:00 am, when the locks open. The railway car was delivering a southbound
boat to the top of the falls and it soon cruised past us. A small boat was also waiting to go
northbound down the chute and the lockmaster called it to come in first. I was out on the bow, pulling up fenders and
listening for other instructions. The
Captain guided the boat into the center of the car. Once in position, with the props hanging off
the back edge of the car, the slings were tightened and the car began to climb
up the tracks and out of the water. Our keel was now resting on the bottom of
the car and our props where hanging over the rocks. The railway car reached the top of the tracks
and then down we went (a 60 foot vertical drop) – wow! During
the entire transit over the Big Chute, the boat remained level because of a
double set of railroad tracks. At the
bottom, the car went into the water and soon we are floating again.
Our
intention was to travel the few miles to Port Severn, go through Lock 45 and
out on the Georgian Bay to Midland.
However, there were some storms brewing and the Captain did not want to
get caught out in open, shallow and unfamiliar water in them. Instead, we tied up at the top of the lock at
Starport Severn Marina at 11:30 am. We
fueled up, pumped out and did laundry.
The marina has 2 new high efficiency washers and 2 dryers and their use
is complimentary. We made good use of
them!
This
was the hottest day in Port Severn all summer, close to 90 degrees and
humid. I took the opportunity to go in
the water again to cool off. By early afternoon
dark clouds rolled in from the west, the wind blew hard and it poured
rain. Captain Randy had backed into the
slip and the dinghy was blowing up against the dock. Out he went to tie the lines tighter. The marina staff was checking lines and
grabbed a couple of run-away floaty toys.
Two wave runners and a small boat came in and docked to get out of the
storm.
The
sun returned for a time before the second wave of storms hit around 6pm. Another round of wind, rain and this time,
hail pounded the hardtop and decks. The
wind was stronger than during the first line of storms and at times it was
raining so hard that we could barely see the other boats in the marina. I was so glad we were in safe harbor. The
marina had lent us their golf cart to use to go to the neighboring resort,
Rawley’s, for dinner. Our reservation
was for 6:30 pm but it was raining too hard to get there in an open golf
cart. We called to let them know we
would be there as soon as the rain slowed.
It was still raining an hour later but not as hard, so we ventured out
in the cart. We had our rain gear on and
a towel for the seat. Captain Randy
started it up and we realized that the cart had no headlights! Fortunately, the resort was only a short ways
down a back road leading from the marina and we did not meet any cars on
it. I have to say that this was the
first time I had ever walked into a nice restaurant dragging a wet towel with
me. No one seemed to mind and I simply
hung it next to my raincoat.
Our
dinner was excellent – I had pickerel from the Georgian Bay and the Captain had
lobster with pasta. I also had another
fine Canadian wine, a Trius Sauvignon Blanc.
Thankfully the rain had stopped completely by the time we left and we
got back to our boat without mishap.
Besides us, there was only 1 other occupied boat in the marina that
night, 2 slips away from us. It was
comforting to see their lights as we got on board and settled in for the night.
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