Orillia was a super charming town. The marina was fantastic and within walking distance of everything.

Orillia has a surf shop (although there is no ocean anywhere near) from which I bought my dad a t-shirt for his birthday. There was a huge street festival and farmers market on Saturday. The best times were at the docks where we met new friends…shout out to John Paul (and his beautiful dog) who gave us some great local anchorage tips. There was live music Saturday night which was great.

Orillia is probably most known as the birthplace of Gordon Lightfoot.

Many folks were leaving on Monday, so we decided to depart Sunday and try to beat some of the crowds to the locks. Departed Sunday afternoon to beautiful blue skies and a lot of boat traffic. Stunning views.

Went a short ~18 miles to include one lock which was a SUPER tight fit! The gal behind us had to fend off our dinghy with her legs from her bowsprit!

Arrived Deep Bay Anchorage @ 4:15pm and dropped the hook in about 18 feet. Super hot day again! Beautiful anchorage.

Departed Deep Bay @ 7:55am. Went through Swift Rapids Lock, a 47 foot drop, without incident. This leg through the Severn River was absolutely stunning.

We arrived to The Big Chute lock around 10:00am. We were anticipating this lock with both excitement and trepidation. You drive your boat into a sling which is hoisted out of the water onto a railcar which takes your boat about 150 feet over land into another body of water. It is a TRIP! Literally, and figuratively. Lucky for us, our friends, Jay and Barbara on the Blessing, were on the lower part of the lock and stopped to take pictures and video of this event.

We went through our 44th, and final, lock of the Trent-Severn Waterway with Jay & Barbara of The Blessing. This is, by far, the smallest lock on the waterway where they normally take one boat our size through. We figured we could get both our girls in with some maneuvering…and did! Barb did a brilliant job keeping their bow off our stern!

My pictures do not do them justice, but the cottages in these parts are stunning, and charming with their colorful Adirondack chairs. If they are not Canada red, they are other bright colors.

We arrived in Midland around 2:50pm. Went to an extremely informative 2 hour seminar this night about cruising Georgian Bay by the marina owner. Got a ride into town (it was pouring rain) to a fantastic restaurant where we had some epic french fries. They also made a pretty damn good Old Fashioned.

Met a group of naval kids from Maryland who were in Canada to look at, and possibly acquire, a military vessel. Mike bought them a drink (except the kid in the middle who looked 12).

Departed the next day around 1:00pm in some brisk winds. Beautiful day.

Winds were up and into our heading, so had a pretty wet, but good, ride to Brown’s Bay where we pulled in around 3:30. Lo and behold, we saw The Blessing! Dinghied over there and had a couple beers with Jay and Barbara.

Took off from that anchorage at 9:30 the next morning with no destination set. The trip was absolutely stunning!

Ended up in Three Finger Bay around 1:25 to rendezvous with Heartbeat (whom we hadn’t seen since North Florida), INNTW (whom we hadn’t seen since Yorktown), and The Blessing. We had cruised with all these folks during the past year, but never during the same time. Was an absolute treat to all be together!

We ended up having a raft-up on the stern of FF. An absolutely epic afternoon with truly special people!

Not to be outdone by our epic afternoon, we met up on the rocks at sunset for a campfire. Evening was amazing, except that some spider bit me. It hurt super bad that night and the next morning. This made me very sad.

Kent and Heather of Heartbeat were going to leave the next day, but decided to stay an extra day. Next day, we all took our dinghies to Henry’s on Frying Pan Island. Had a fantastic lunch, then schlepped to Wreck Island where we took a little hike around the island. Haley and Tobin, two of INNTW’s kids, took legs with us on these trips which was such a blast! It’s such a treat to experience these things through a kids’ eyes. The Blessing had us over to their boat after dinner for celebratory cocktails for INNTW crossing their wake. Super fun night!

So, Kent and Heather got me a present on my birthday while they were on the Jersey Shore. They were super proud of it and presented it to me amongst all our friends. I have to say, they nailed it!

The following morning, Mike gave Haley a lesson on making zucchini bread. Haley did an awesome job, and they made some fantastic loaves.

We all left that day not knowing where we’d end up, but ended up together at Wilcox Bay. So, that spider bite I got? It turned into something pretty damn spooky.

For those who know me, I HATE spiders. I mean, I irrationally and fervently hate them. I wish they would all die a quick death never to return to earth, irrespective of their place on this planet. I was so freaked out that I was bitten by a brown recluse or black widow. I, with awful internet connectivity, WebMD’d like a the crazed person I was and ascertained that a) there are pretty much no brown recluses in these areas (thank God!); b) black widows are up here, but my symptoms were not consistent with their bite; c) I was likely going to live and not lose my toe. Poor Mike. 6 days later, my toe is still red, but not purple, not bruised and not swollen.

So, Wilcox Bay was super cool. More swimming, paddle boarding and rocktails with incredible people. The next morning, Mike and I found our own little cove just south which was delightful.

We took off about mid-day Monday for Parry Bay where we nestled into a marina for pump out, laundry and provisioning. We will be here 2 nights, after which will be heading north for more beautiful anchorages in Georgian Bay which has been as stunning as we have heard.

Shout out to my dad who turned 81 on August 4. I love and miss you daddy! Also, to my girl Rhonda who turned 50 on August 4. Muah!

M&M