Day 117 @ Queens Cove Marina, Victoria Harbour, Ontario – Great Loop Boat Trip

What a day! What a day!

I woke up too early, but enjoyed the sunrise with my morning coffee.

After a few checks we packed up and headed out for our last 4 locks on the Trent-Severn Waterways.

We quickly caught up to fellow loopers and our NY friends.

Jealous Mistress, Mimi & Me and Conventina in front of us. Lock 42 Couchiching

20.2 ft descend

This is getting easy or maybe just routine.

There was about 15 miles to the next lock and we had a few narrow areas to go through. This house has a cool train next to it! Nick loved this as he worked for Canadian Pacific RR.

This house – I just loved! So cute.

This is the Severn River and Sparrow Lake. It is wedged between red and gray granite walls cut by glaciers to form the fjord like cliffs.

We weren’t in love with this sign.

This video shows the MacDonald Cut (named for Canada’s first Prime Minister). It was excavated by hand in 1905!

Lock 43 Swift Rapids

47 ft descend

This is the deepest single lock chambered lock on the waterway.

I was so busy preparing to lock through that I didn’t have time to take pictures. But it was so big the best pictures came as we exited the lock. Note the stairs on the left side. About 5 stories of stairs!

As we took the Severn River towards our next lock – the anticipation was making knots in my tummy that a hardened sailor couldn’t fix.

Lock 44 Big Chute Marine Railway

58 ft descend (or drop or slide)

We arrived and tied off at the usual blue wall (as all locks). This isn’t really a lock at all. This name says it all. It’s called Big Chute Rail!

These pictures were taken on the street that the boat crosses over.

Here is a view back at our boat on the blue wall.

This is the waterfall that is next to the Big Chute.

Here is a plaque explaining this engineering marvel!

This is a picture from Waterways Guidebook that depicts it well.

The straps don’t raise you – they just stabilize your boat. This is our friends on Jealous Mistress from Minnesota.

Before we go in we spotted this little sign. Here we are – the view from the stern.

If you go into the visitor center it will tell you that the goal of this is to prevent the lamprey (parasitic leech-like fish) from invading and ruining the fishing of Lake Simcoe. However, truth is – the reason for the railway chute back in 1917 was lack of concrete.