Going over Big Chute

Sunday morning July 22nd we headed over the Big Chute Railway Lock.  Unfortunately the weather was rainy and windy, but you cannot control the weather.  Captain Keith took Southern Style onto the carriage while I walked along side to get some pictures.

Here comes Southern Style

Entering the Carriage in the Rain

Slings being tightened

Here she is up in the air and going over the hill

Going down the hill

These are the falls that Big Chute bypasses, they are just to the left of the boat

Southern Style refloated at the bottom

Coming out of the carriage

It was quite a site to see.  Southern Style did just fine on her "portage" and Captain Keith picked me up at the bottom.  We then proceeded on toward Gloucester Pool.  There is a short but narrow channel just after the Big Chute called "Little Chute" just before the Pool.  We called a "Securite" again and this time we also laid on the horn as we entered the channel.

Channel into Gloucester Pool

Thank goodness nobody was coming the other way this time

It was only about an hour until we pulled into the Rawley Resort docks where we had a reservation for overnight.   The weather was rainy all day and I did some quilting while Captain Keith fished and watched golf.  It finally stopped raining just as we went for dinner at the resort.  I was able to take a picture of the main building where the restaurant is located and one of the out buildings with suites.  

Main Building with suites and the restaurant

Additional units with pool to the right

Monday, July 23rd we left The Rawley Resort and passed through our last lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway.  This put us out onto Georgian Bay.  We will be spending August exploring Georgian Bay and The North Channel.  Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron located entirely within Ontario, Canada.  It is sometimes called the sixth Great Lake.  Its landscapes are unique and breathtaking.  There are thousands of islands composed of Precambian granite.  This granite was formed between 2-4 billion years ago and was the base of enormous mountains.  These ancient mountains were likely the largest ever to exist on earth, higher than Mount Everest .  Over millions of years they were worn down and eroded to the granite bases that are visible today.  The lakes, bays and channels were formed around the remaining granite during the last ice age.

Here is a big overall picture of where we have been and are still going.  We came up the east coast from Florida and into New York City.  Then north up the Hudson River to The Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal and then across Lake Ontario.  You can see Lake Ontario which we crossed at the end of June.  We then cruised through the Trent-Severn Waterway from the northwestern part of Lake Ontario to get to Midland Ontario.  Midland is on Georgian Bay which you can see as the body of water just east of Lake Huron.

Here is a closer look at our trip from the Hudson River at the far right bottom corner across the Erie Canal and Oswego Canal, and across Lake Ontario to Trenton, Ontario.  This is where we picked up the Trent-Severn Waterway that eventually put us out onto Georgian Bay at Port Severn.  Port Severn is close to Midland where we are currently staying for a few days.

Midland, Ontario is a fairly good sized town.  Coming into the downtown marina there is a large mural on grain elevators depicting a Huron Native and Jesuit Priest at Sainte-Marie.

This mural is 80 feet high and 250 feet long.  It is the largest outdoor historic mural in North America.  It pays tribute to the missionary Jesuit priests that lived, worked and died while serving the Indigenous people of Canada some 350 years ago.  They were captured and tortured by a war party in the area in 1649.  They were canonized in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.

This mural is just one of 33 murals throughout the town of Midland.  The murals were created by local artist Fred Lenz.  The Midland mural program began in 1990 by the merchants of the Downtown Business Improvement Association.  Here are just a few of the other murals that can be seen in Midland.

Brebeuf Lighthouse built in 1900 to guide ships from Giant's Tomb to the channel serving Midland

Winter at Midland Harbour depicting the 1930s workhorses to break ice in the harbour so ships could get closer to shore

Midland Harbour and Pier

Midland Railway Corporation Station opened in 1879

James Playfair a successful lumberman and shipbuilder.  His Midland shipbuilding company was started in 1915 and built freighters like those in the mural

Monday Captain Keith and I also biked to the Huronia Museum in Midland.  The museum has displays and artifacts from the Georgian Bay region and the town of Midland.  They have an outdoor Huron Village that represents life between 1500-1600 AD before the arrival of Europeans.  I found this the most interesting.

Masks were common among the Indigenous people and represented "Spiritual Beings"

Small temporary hut used for housing guests to the village

A Longhouse was for approx. 30 people, housing extended families (similar to dorm life).  The longhouse was also used for cooking, sleeping, ceremonies and meetings and storage of crops and animal hides.

We are planning to stay in Midland another two days as the weather may be less than ideal.  We will see what else we can find around the town Tuesday and Wednesday.