July 17, 2026, Written July 18-22, 2026
Yesterday was an eventful day. Our last lock on the Trent Severn Waterway and before that, The Big Chute, a rather amazing marine railway that carries your boat over a highway from Little Lake, the last lake on the Trent Severn to Georgian Bay.
Anchoring Again!
The night before The Big Chute we anchored perhaps a quarte mile away in a pretty bay called… Pretty Channel. It was pretty. Only a few cottages on one side and we had it to ourselves otherwise. After all the walls, congestion of channels and marinas, we were ready for some solitude. And, for the evening and next morning, the smoke lifted and it was lovely and clear.
We were in no hurry the next morning to get to the Chute, we did not need to be first. We only had a couple hour run after getting over “the hump.” It is a good thing we were OK with being slow as there was LOTS of plant matter on the anchor. This may have been the longest anchor pull ever.
To top it off, we developed a problem where the MFD (our electronic chart from which we determine our routes and navigate) kept turning itself off. Very disconcerting. We do have two other devices we can use and could use, but it is not our preference. What is going on?
Definitely related to power (or lack there of) from our new lithium batteries and using our windlass to bring up the anchor. But, we’ve anchored 3 other times since installing the batters with no issues.
We got the anchor up, the MFD restarted and decided to address this once we got to Midland, our destination for the night.
The Big Chute
The Big Chute railway was originally planned to be a temporary solution to allow the Trent Severn Waterway to function the entire length during World War I. After the War, supply and personnel shortages kept the railway alive with modifications. Byt the 1970’s when a traditional lock was planned, it was scrapped to keep invasive sea lampray eels out of the inland lakes. Thus, the Big Chute lives to this day.
It is the only marine railway of this type left in North America. Poland has a similar railway that moves takes boats out of the water and moves them to another body. There are also several railways in Europe and Russia that keep the boat in a tub of water while moving them.
There were several other marine railways such as The Big Chute in North America, the Swift Rapid Lock at one point was a marine railway but was converted to a lock in 1965. Nova Scotia at one time had a railway and there were two in the US. In New Jersey, the Morris Canal ran 102 miles and had 23 railways to move heavy cargo loads over hills between wet canal sections, stopping operation in 1924. And in the late 1870’s, there was a tub like rail that moved canal boats from the C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio) into the Potamic. It was short lived, being heavily damaged in flooding and abandoned.
Given all that, here is our trip on The Big Chute. It turns out to be a rather unique form of boat transportation.
The Big Chute was exciting and gladly not as nerve-racking as one might think it would be. The people working the Chute are very professional.
Other Crazy Things of the Day
We did have several other moments that were a bit … challenging.
As we were waiting for our very last lock at Port Severn, a small runabout started circling us as we were trying to hold station waiting for the lock. They were quite close to us, and behind us where I could not see them as I needed to back up. They were locals who were just admiring our beautiful Rincon. I’m glad they liked her, but it did not help. We had already had enough stress from pulling anchor, the MFD and the railway.
The last lock is 24 feet wide, much narrower than the others. We are nearly 18 feet wide, so I need to hit the entrance to the lock. Luckily I do with no problem.
We exit the lock and, the channel markers change sides, what was green or right now becomes red on right. We can handle that. However, the channel here is very narrow, shallow and has current leading up to the narrow, low bridge, not a quarter mile from the lock. What do we meet coming under the bridge but a medium sized boat. Definitely not sufficient space for us to pass. I have to back up for him. Yikes, Rincon does not back terribly well and we were carrying too much speed for a quick reverse. But, we made it!
Our last encounter of the day was a pontoon boat who decided to cross our bow not more than 50 ft in front of us. He never slowed down, nor altered his course one bit. We were in a somewhat narrow channel where I could not exit the route where it would have been simple for him to go0 behind us. I was off the power completely when he passed us. He clearly did not know the rules of the water (he was the give way boat) and basically cussed us out. A very atypical Canadian. We wre glad to get to our dock in Midland and have our day done!
