After a stormy night we woke up to heavy winds and rain that delayed our short run to the last lock on the Trent Severn, Port Severn Lock 45. We made it into the lock about 1130 and thanked the staff for a great run on the Trent before venturing out into the Tug Channel. We were warned about the strong current while exiting the lock. It was more like small rapids pushing us towards the tight channel and the Highway 400 Bridge. We squeezed through the tight Potato Island Channel winding between the semi exposed rocks and markers. There was still a strong northern breeze so it was challenging but also exciting. On a side note we were later told that we should have taken the eastern route around Green Island. That was a little local knowledge that we were not given prior to departure.
The five mile crossing to Midland Bay was easy with strong winds pushing into the bay. We made it into the Bay Port Yachting Centre and were given a lay-along dock all the way into western end of the marina.
The town of Midland was founded when, in 1871, the Midland Railway of Canada selected the sparsely populated community of Mundy’s Bay as the new terminus of the Midland railway. At that time the Midland railway ran from Port Hope to Beaverton. The town site was surveyed in 1872–3 and the line to the town was completed by 1879. Settlers, attracted by the convenience of rail service, soon began to move into the area.[2] The company sold off lots in town (Midland City) to help finance the settlement. The village (incorporated in 1878) thrived based on Georgian Bay shipping and the lumber and grain trade. Incorporated into a town in 1890, a number of light industrial companies have established themselves in the area and tourism in the southern Georgian Bay area also contributes to the economy.
The boat got a well deserved bath and we were able to unload the bikes and run into Midland on a great bike path passing the old mills and port buildings. We stopped in town and ate at a highly recommended sandwich shop called Dino’s Fresh Food Deli where we got the biggest corn beef sandwiches that i’ve seen since my visit to Katz Deli in NYC. It was the best sandwich I’ve had in Canada. They gave you a pasta salad that could have fed four people.
We took a long bike ride to Walmart for some supplies and but the roads were super busy with very little bike paths so any future runs would be solo. I did have a battery problem on my bike but the local Canadian Tire could not help me so the hills on the sixty pound bike were fun.
On day two we road our bikes into the port area and met with Sarah and Bill on “Coconuts for lunch at the Boathouse Eatery. There was a cruise ship in port for a couple of days so there were alot of tourists crowding the streets. later in the day we a had a great docktail event at our marina. We purchased some pizza’s from a to-go self serve kiosk called Pizza Forno. You make a selection on the touch screen window make a payment and in 5 minutes your pizza comes out. It was similar to a Dominos Pizza.
It was a great 2 night stay in Midland but it was now time to plan our path through the Georgian Bay and rest up for tomorrow.
