Friday July 31, 2015
Given that it was going to be a long weekend (Monday August 3 is a holiday), and given that it was a beautiful day, we decided to forgo our third night free at the Port of Orillua, and get some mileage in before the weekend.
We crossed Lake Couchiching, and headed into a narrow channel. Soon we had five or six powerboats behind us, waiting for the channel to widen so they could pass us. We have learned from lock 7 to hold our ground, and not go out of the channel. The boats zoomed by us, but that was not the end of them.
We entered a man made canal that meandered thru residential neighborhoods. We approached a swing railroad bridge, and there were the power boats that had passed us, waiting for the bridge to open. Off they went, ahead of us, as soon as we’d passed the bridge. Rounding a corner, there they were again, hovering in the narrow canal, waiting for room on the blue line at lock 42.
After about 20 minutes, all the boats in front of us had found a place to tie up on the lock wall, when a new crop of motor boats, about 6 or 7 of them, showed up behind us.
I have become a master hoverer. Neutral, a little reverse, back to neutral, a little forward to realign, and so on. I was doing my thing, while slowly drifting toward the lock. The boats behind me were slowly drifting into my space. Fortunately everyone was very nice. I told them that they could maneuver their boats better than I could, the canal was only slightly wider than our boat was long.

At last we were called into the lock. We secured our locking lines. I settled onto the combing by the cockpit, and Jim was on the fordeck. I could relax.

I must have relaxed a bit too much. Suddenly I slid off the combing and fell on the main winch.  i felt my breath escape as the pain built in my ribs. The woman on the boat behind us yelled up to Jim that I was hurt.
Meanwhile, the lock gates were opening. I rallied enough to steer us out of the lock while Jim cast off the bow line, then he took over the helm so I could lie down.
So much for getting some distance in before the weekend. i was not going anywhere more remote than we where we already were.