Day 80, July 15, 2012 (Orillia, ON): After Fenelon Falls the countryside around the waterway becomes isolated and rural. We locked through to Lake Simcoe by 13:00 after an early morning start to make first lock at Rosedale (lock 33). At that point we followed an old and slow trawler, not that he could have gone any faster even if he gave the horses a laxative! Here, the waterway is shallow, weedy in the channels and rocky outside so we just followed along lucky to be going seven knots in places. And if the channel wasn’t as above it was so narrow that I hoped not to meet a waverunner coming in the opposite direction. Once we floated into Lake Simcoe we pulled in our fenders and put the hammer down crossing the 15 miles to Orillia in 40 minutes.

The Bridge Port Marina is full, full service, a covered slip, dockside amenities-the works at $1.45 per foot. This is where the horses finally get a little TLC for having carried us about 2000 miles. The only disadvantage to Bridge Port, which is about one-half mile above the bridge over the narrows, is its distance from downtown Orillia. We walked it and figure it to be about five miles. Today, Kyle, the marina manager, loaned us his truck so we could go into town and do a little provisioning. I haven’t driven a vehicle since Deltaville, Virginia. After putting the truck in a space in front of the Metro Supermarket I was looking for fenders to hang out!

Here are some of our favorite pics of the trip from Fenelon Falls.

The prize winner: Sunset at Fenelon Falls. Photo by Edie.

Hole-in-the-Wall Bridge over Canal Lake between Locks 36 and 37 on the Trent Severn. Photo by Edie.

Fear of heights. Atop the Kirkfield lift lock (#36). Honorable mention from a weak-kneed photographer on the foredeck floating in a 2000 ton tub 70 feet above the Talbot River. Photo by Joe.