August 13, 2013 Port Severn (Starport Marina)

I was up at sunrise this morning.  Very calm and stunning at the Swift Rapids Lock..

We locked through lock #43 with a small runabout at 9am.  The weather which was dead calm early this morning started winding up with wind and clouds.











As we wound our way through fjord like channels, the winds increased but so did the quality of the scenery.  About mid way to Severn our Navigation system reached the end of the route I had so carefully laid in the following night.   So we were left basically navigating by eyeball, meaning we simply looked for the next buoy and hoped it was marking the channel to Severn.

The small lakes through here were warm deep and clear and oh so inviting.  But on this journey we simply didn't have the time or decent weather to swim or engage in any  Chunky-Dunking.

Boat on the rail platform 

The last exciting lock after the two lift locks at Peterborough(#21) and Kirkfield(#36) is the Big Chute railway lock.  Here they have you drive your boat on a large platform which is equipped with big slings.  They place the slings under the boat which stabilize the sides as the rail car is moved out of the water.  This keeps the boat from tipping over since its actually resting on its keel.  The rail car traverses about a quarter mile of land and drops about 58 feet.  Rather remarkable idea for moving recreational craft without constructing a lock.



The entry to the rail car today was a nail biter though.  With the normal port-setting current augmented by a very stiff wind also setting us to port,  I had to make a powered approach offset to starboard.  Got in ok, but the stern swung out as I backed the starboard shaft and we bounced on the slings.  Later one of the dock guys told me they set those slings to help boats in high winds.  Instead of careening off the steel sides of the rail car we careened off the sling.  Luckily!

At the top of the lift

Shortly after leaving Big Chute you come to a high faced channel with a blind 90 degree turn to port into a very narrow cut with exceptionally strong currents.   And of course we met two boats coming out of the darn thing in the opposite direction.  We got lucky because maneuvering to avoid squishing them placed us perilously close to the rock wall.  Luckily we avoided chewing up a prop!







We finally emerged in Severn on a twisting channel boarded by several marinas.  But we were intending on tying up at the Lock wall so we passed them by even though the wind was really howling by then.  This last lock is the smallest lock (we'll have to go through it alone) so the the wall is rather petite.  And of course there were 5 boats already there leaving no room for us. So back to a marina we had to go which meant a 360 turn. In this wind, and given and our boats penchant for acting as a sail, such maneuvers can lead to many moments of unwanted excitement.  But it went fine.

The boat behind us is about 3 feet from our stern. 

Called the marina on the radio but didn't have my glasses on and got the name wrong.  They answered immediately when I finally got the name right.  We docked at the gas dock momentarily and then proceed to a long side dock between two other boats with the roaring wind pushing us into the dock.  Another exciting moment but no crashes or anything untold.  So we're sharing the face dock with a go fast Sea Ray behind us, and Albin 43 and a marvelous 36' Manatee in front of us.




Great staff here!  They are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.  And I hope their knowledge extends to the water next to us because I don't have a clue of how to extract ourselves from the narrow confines of the dock without a precise understanding of the water depths.

Heck, that'll be Thursday's excitement.  Wait!  Did say Thursday?  Damn retirement.  Cant keep the days straight.  I meant Friday.  Georgian Bay is still rough today but early Friday morning. the winds will die down transforming Georgian Bay from an angry torrent of water to an inviting, placid pond.  We much prefer placid ponds. Meanwhile I changed the oil in the main engines today so we are all set to go ... after I clean out the water maker primaries and do some navigation work tomorrow.

Currently listening to waves slap the hull which is lulling me to sleep.