Oh Canada, Happy Canada Day!

Arrived in Bobcaygeon (in the rain), so much for the weather forecast. This is definitely house boat country. Many Canadians rent houseboats for a vacation and the bulk of those activities are here in the Kawartha Lakes. We had a boater yell "watch your boat, they are out of control". The woman on the houseboat yelled back, "we aren't out of control, we've just never driven a boat before and we have never been in a lock before"! We were tied to the wall at the park and they were moving through the canal...everything turned out fine. The lockmasters are very good in the way they load the locks, they always make the houseboats go in first (they crash into each other). Once they are tied securely in the locks they let the private boaters come in. Staying there for a couple of days and watching the activity in locks is real entertainment.

Houseboats in Bobcaygeon lined up and waiting to be locked

 through in the morning. They go first, before the boats with

the expensive fiberglass!

 

On Wednesday the weather forecast was for clearing...we went to the parade (it sprinkled), we went to the concert in the park (it rained), we went to dinner with Sunny Days and Kat in the Hatt and it actually did not rain. We went back to Kat in the Hatt to watch the fireworks from their bow.



The weather was iffy but there was a great crowd

to watch the parade.

 



Bigley's Beach House float, girls dressed in heels and

bathing suits.

 

The Bigley's float featured a bunch of girls modeling and a giant cake. Right in the middle of town the top of the cake popped off and hundreds on balloons were released. http://www.bigleyshoes.com/

 

Dinner at Just for the Halibut. 



"The Gang" on the bow of Kat in the Hatt after

the fireworks.

Here we are on the Kat in the Hatt. 

 

Thursday we finally awoke to beautiful sunshine! Finally this weather is suppose to continue for several days. Moved on to Rosedale, Ontario.

 

Friday was another beautiful day and we decided to anchor in Balsam Lake. We found a nice little cove off the beaten track. Mark did some more fishing and has decided after watching the other fisherman and how his fishing went, that there are no fish in that lake :) We watched and listened to the loons, they are so cool to watch. We took a 3 mile dinghy ride to Coboconk and had dinner at The Pattie House Smokin Barbecue. So far this is the "dinner find" of the trip. Food was fantastic and they never got the memo that "the tourists are in town, raise your prices".

On the hook at Balsam Lake

 

Happy 4th of July! Another beautiful day, we left Balsam Lake and headed to Thorah Lock. We went through some very narrow channels and were lucky to only pass 1 big boat. Then went through the 2nd lift lock in the system. Kirkfield lift lock takes us down, so when you pull in you are suspended about 50 feet in mid air. Quite the thrill ride and a beautiful view.

 

Very narrow section of Trent Canal.

Passing a big boat is like pulling into a slip!

 

In the "Tub" The Kirkfield lift lock

 

After the narrow section of canal we entered a few small lakes and then the Trent River. The river is very picturesque and I like seeing all of the back yards of the people who are lucky to live along it.

 



Houses along the Trent River.

 

We settled in at the Thorah lock and I sketched and we watched the boats come and go. The Canadians were quick to wish us a happy Independence day.  A short time later the lockmaster came and said another boat would be spending the night...it ended up being Sunny Days. We had some "docktails" as we discussed where we both had been the last couple of days.

 

Sunday we left Thorah and headed to Orillia through Lake Simcoe, where we are now. This is a nice marina with new docks for 200 transient only boats.

This is the first marina we have been in since Port Colborne, 2 weeks ago. We will stay here a couple of days. They are talking about rain on Tuesday, so we will head out on Wednesday.

We walked the town a little yesterday and will explore more today. We did find this amazing bakery, will be going back. They tell us people come from miles around to get their baked goods. We went out to dinner with Sunny Days and Pura Vida. Steve and Shelly from Pura Vida will be crossing their wake in the beginning of September in Michigan. Crossing their wake means they have completed the loop and will be  back where they started. They have been doing the loop for 1 year and have only been off their boat for 4 days.

Port of Orillia Marina

 

Mariposa Market - incredible bakery!