Fenlon Falls to Sparrow lake

This morning we left Sturgeon Lake Marina at 8:45 am, took one last peek at our cottage and our friends on the dock fishing, and headed to Fenlon Falls to start our trek to Midland. This town is a busy place whether you come by car or boat. The bridge is always a good sight with the flowers rich in colour, but thirsty for nutrients. This year, with all the rain, they are thriving on both sides of the bridge that spans the dam. When we arrived in the small winding canal leading to the town center, the waterway was flowing fast and full of foam. It was a clear indication of the water flowing quickly over the dam and sure enough, that was true. In all our years at Fenlon we had never seen that much flow.

Upon our arrival we had to tie up to the wall, as the lock staff were busy taking care of some issues on the dam. We had to wait for them to complete their task before allowing us to enter the lock. We learned on this trip that the Parks Canada staff manage the dam settings for water flow and balance the water usage as well.

The day was clear but overcast. They had predicted rain in the morning and when we did our weather check, we calculated that if it did rain, we would likely just get a small amount because we were on the edge of the radar. The good news was - it never rained today.

Fast water over the Falls

The Kawartha Lakes area is a beautiful winding network of lakes and connected rivers that are well decorated by the residents. In Rosedale a dock was guarded by an overgrown dog. Just don't try to pull any stunts on this guy as he watches the boats go by.

One of the intriguing things about all the locks we have passed through is the amount of physical manual labour necessary to open and close the lock doors as well as open the gates to get the water to flow in, or out of, each lock. Most of the locks are still manual and this work is all done by hand. To open the gates requires a staff employee to walk in circles turning a large turnstile, which in turn activates the gate movement. So here is a quiz for our Blog Readers.

HOW MANY TIMES MUST A LOCK EMPLOYEE GO AROUND TO OPEN A GATE?

(You have to read the entire blog to get the answer below)

Turning the gate handle to open the lock gate

Along the way we saw a host of interesting items along the waterway and sometimes wonder where the people get the creative ideas for their decorating ideas.

Getting across Canal Lake and through the Kirkfield Lock was a long and tedious cruise today. The water was higher that our first trip five weeks ago but the weeds were still abundant, although the Captain didn't have to dive under the boat this time to clear the props of weeds. It just seemed like it would take forever at five knots per hour speed.

Our ride down the Kirkfield Lock

At noon the Captain was hungry so his new Co-Captain (Swabbie) made him a special sandwich complete with a cherry tomato, a variety of chips and a chocolate. Thanks Swabbie. You have graduated.

We left the canal system and entered Lake Simcoe to find blue skies and calm water and then "booted' north towards Orillia and the Narrows at full speed. We made it to the entrance of the Couchiching Lock in about 1 1/2 hours. The train swing bridge opened right away and the locks were waiting for us to enter so we made good time. We arrived at the Lauderdale Marina (located at the bottom of Sparrow Lake) at 6 pm. We were pretty worn out and tired so the decision to have dinner at their patio was an easy choice. Captain and Swabbie had burgers and Jan had chicken fingers.

Docked at the Lauderdale Marina in Sparrow Lake

After dinner our friends Sandy and Chester, Wendy and Bruce dropped over for a social evening and even though Bruce wanted to leave early, we made a full night of chatting and catching up on all kinds of news. At 11 pm Bruce kicked everyone out of our boat and Swabbie headed off to bed. The Captain had to write the blog and then it was his turn to hit the sack. A late night today but hopefully tomorrow will be an easy run.

Tomorrow we have the Swift Rapids lock, The Big Chute ride and the Port Severn lock to do, then we must safely travel through Potato Channel before arriving at Wye Heritage where we will likely spend another several hours unloading and getting ready to head home to London. One more day of adventure seeking and then we can drive home on Monday. Swabbie will be sad, but Out to See III is tired and needs a rest to recover for the next venture.

Todays Quiz Answer - The staff worker in the picture walked around the gate handle 14 times to get the gate to fully close. Send me a response and tell me what you thought and if you were correct in your guess.

The Hallman Experience: Is it possible to go a day without an issue?

Solution: Yes it is possible and we made it one day trouble free - YAHOO !

Hey, tomorrow we get another ride on the Big Chute