With no call for rain, no streetlights to shine in, and no noise from traffic, we opened all the ports and hatches last night before going to sleep. The only sound was that of flowing water from the small waterfall we could barely see downstream. The boat cooled off to a perfect 64 degrees and I hibernated for a long restful sleep, not once complaining of being hot. When we cast off this morning, I got a great look at the little cascades that provided the gentle white noise overnight. It was another beautiful morning with little wind, making for a mirror-like surface of the water. This area of the waterway below the Kirkfield Lock is more populated that what we had seen yesterday. Still, we were out in the middle of nowhere and living did not appear to be easy.
The canal continued to be just as narrow and shallow as yesterday. Several times our depth meter hit 0.0, a few more times we got the dreaded "---" reading, but we were still floating. While the water is very shallow, the dense weed growth can oftentimes give a false reading. The still conditions were perfect to take in the full effect of the "Hole in the Wall" bridge. This bridge near Bolsover was the first in Canada to be constructed of reinforced concrete back in 1905 and when the conditions are right the reflection meets the structure to form the named hole in the wall. We had five locks to go through today before reaching the open water of Lake Simcoe. Now that we are going down, the view is much more scenic.
Finally, we reached Lake Simcoe and got a break from the shallow and confined canal. We sped up for the two hour trip across and were able to relax for a while and enjoy the ride. One of us enjoyed the breeze in their hair. The conditions on the lake were perfect today with the only ripples the result of the wakes from other boats. Almost to Orillia, we stopped for a pumpout at The Narrows. Barry did a great job parallel parking this very large boat with just a bow thruster amid tight quarters, high vessel traffic, and numerous onlookers. While stopped I discovered that we had been invaded by gnats while crossing the lake. Hundreds of them covered the exterior cockpit and the salon ceiling inside. We can't smash them as that would leave gnat guts all over our soft headliner which is almost impossible to clean. The only two ways to get rid of them are to open the door and hope they fly away (they didn't) or wait until we're docked and pull out the vacuum cleaner to suck them up (mission accomplished).
While I was on gnat detail, Barry cleaned up our dock lines. He then grabbed a nap and I went to Fiberglass Beach to read. After an hour I got a shower and we headed into town for our initial scouting expedition and to find some dinner. Along the way we learned that the Buttertarts of Trenton and Peterborough supposedly have nothing on the ones made here in Orillia. We're not likely to see if there is truth in this advertising. Placed all around town are different artistic interpretations on a common sailboat sculpture. We'll see how many we can discover tomorrow. Back on Crossroads, we enjoyed the sunset and started a load of laundry.
We will stay here tomorrow and change all of the filters and fluids on Crossroads. It is maintenance time and this marina provides a great spot to check several tasks off the list.
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