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Sunday afternoon August 2 – Monday August 3, 2015
Sunday morning was beautiful, and we’d seen very few boats going by. We decided to move on. It was a good decision as we had the waterway to ourselves most of the time. We passed through the very narrow McDonald Cut. The granite hill had been hand cut when it was constructed. At one lock we found out that a massive thunderstorm was coming thru later in the afternoon. We were pretty sure that we could make it to the Big Chute before then. And we did.
The Big Chute was amazing. We arrived around 3pm, and tied up on a pier off to the side of the marine railroad operation. We went to the visitors center and climbed to the observation tower on the roof. Boats were loaded and secured with straps one at a time. Then the wooden floor of the carriage came up, and the whole structure rolled up out of the water, across a road, and down a long hill to the water. A one way trip took 10 minutes, and covered 750 feet. Very cool.
We escaped the worst of the thunderstorms that were all around us. Later we found out that there were tornadoes associated with the storm in Ontario.
In the morning, we were first in line for the Big Chute. I was told to drive the boat into the center of the carriage. A big strap caught the bow. Then two big straps were positioned to stabilize the stern. Before we knew it we were off, with another boat to our stern.
After the big Chute, we had the Little Chute. We approached what looked like the end of a cove. Then I noticed channel markers that indicated we should make a 90 degree to our port, followed by a very narrow passage with a very strong current. Phew! We made it. Soon we passed they the last lock of the Trent Severn Waterway. What an adventure that had been. 17 days and 240 miles.