July 27…What is it about plans??? Our clue should have been that the lock folks showed up and were actually calling us over before 9 AM. They determine who goes first based on boat size…so they wanted us in the harness first, followed by NEARLY PERFECT. We were “Johnny on the spot”…but once we arrived, they couldn’t get the railway car to start up and load us in. They pulled and punched all sorts of buttons, scratched and hem-hawed, called on the radio and phone…after about an hour, they backed us out and sent us back to the blue wall. Small problem…other boats had arrived and we no longer had a spot. Lucky for us, NEARLY PERFECT offered to let us raft to them. Lock master announced that it would probably be three hours or more before they were up and running. The electrician was coming from Peterborough to fix things. So we kicked back…I challenged the girls on NEARLY PERFECT to a RUMMICUB game…we snacked, giggled and discovered that Jennifer had attended school at Southeast with Dennis. Small World!!! We had lots of notes to compare about that whole situation. Meanwhile, more and more boats were arriving…the docks filled up…lunch was had…and finally the electrician arrived. Locks are wonderful when they work…and it doesn’t take long for things to go south when they don’t. At 2, things started moving…and we were once again “Johnny on the spot” at 2:30 when they called us over. Thank goodness, we weren’t part of the mob that arrived today thinking they’d lock through. We did think ourselves pretty brave to be the first boat over…it’s a scary ride!

This chute is truly a marvel! This lock is actually a complex system of straps and rams that actually lift your boat up out of the water (keeping it level), over a road, and carry you down a very steep rocky terrain and place your boat ever so gracefully in another basin. Cross currents make entering the railway car pretty tricky…but Captain Floyd made it look easy…not once, but twice. It’s like a roller coaster in slow motion…

And because we were so late leaving, we decided we couldn’t make Frying Pan Bay…so we finished the day at Lock 45 Port Severn…on the wall below the lock, ready to head straight to Parry Sound in the morning. It’s pretty noisy with water rushing over the dam right beside us. But we have great shade, a little park area, and we are positioned to leave before 9 AM. Oh, joy!!! We traveled 8 whole miles today…whew!!! We are done with the Trent-Severn…

We figured we have done 123 locks since June 24^th and spent 15 nights on locks walls. Captain Floyd thinks the fees were well worth the cost. He’s happy…everyone is happy. I figured we are nearing 100 days of boat living…by the time we finish this trip, it may be our longest boating stay. I think I’ll plan a little celebration for Wednesday…just like in elementary school, 100 days!!! Don’t tell…it’ll be our little secret.