The Rideau Canal (Heading to Ottawa)

Leaving Kingston, we embarked upon the Cataraqui River which is where the Rideau Canal begins. The LaSalle Causeway (noted before) requires a barge to lift a section of the roadway and move it to the side of the river so that tall boat traffic (higher than 16 feet) can pass through. As this is only done on Sunday's, travelling the canal requires some planning for entry and exit for boats of our size (16 feet and higher). Below are photos of the opening in the roadway and the barge holding the section of road that was lifted out.

Almost as soon as we passed through the bridge, we encountered our first flight of locks - four in succession at Kingston Mills.

I must give Parks Canada full marks for their operation of these locks - what a helpful group of people. Given our experiences in the Erie and Oswego canals, I was not expecting much from the locks personnel. What a pleasant surprise to have lock attendants take lines, answer questions, and offer helpful suggestions about where to dock for the night along the canal. Many of the attendants are university students, some attending Dalhousie University. They certainly have to be fit to work at the lock stations - opening and closing lock doors, and raising and lowering sluice gates is not for the faint of heart. Most of the locks along the Rideau Canal are manually operated - only three were electronically controlled hydraulic operations.

After locking through seven locks, we spent our first night in Seeley's Bay at the Rideau Breeze Marina. Having only a total of eight slips, and really iffy depth to their water, it was still a treat to be there after a long day of travel.

The owners were welcoming and hospitable - really happy to have us stay at their marina. We spent a very pleasant night and then were on our way early the next day.

We passed through Jones Falls locks - another flight of four locks - then Davis, Chaffey's, and Newboro - all singles.

Travelling through locks provides an opportunity to talk with other boaters who are locking through at the same time. At Jones Falls, we met a couple who live in Seeley's Bay who were setting out on a 'campooning' adventure. They were travelling in a pontoon boat and tenting riverside at various lock stations at night. They were headed out for five days - they left us at Chaffey's lock to set up their campsite for the night.

After the Newboro lock, we left the Cataraqui River, and joined the Rideau River system. As well, we had to be cognizant of the change in navigation signals as we were now travelling downstream to Ottawa, so red and green markers are switched.

Once past the Newboro lock, we stayed at Westport for two nights - again a lovely spot on the Rideau River. We spent time cycling around the town and found some charming sites. One was The Cove restaurant - good food, good live musica - we made acquaintances with some folks sitting next to us who unknowingly attracted a butterfly almost the whole time they were eating. It turned out they were owners of the boat next to us at the marina; we spent the evening sipping whiskey and sharing boating adventures. We located a local winery - nothing on wineries in the valley but still a nice place to sit and enjoy a glass in the shade. We visited the Rideau District Museum (https://villageofwestport.ca/rideau-district-museum/); an item of note were the doors from the hearse transporting our first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald. Who knew someone had kept them? We enjoyed our time in Westport - the ice cream shop and the Westport Brewing Company (great beer!) (https://www.westportbrewingcompany.ca) were especially appreciated on a very hot and humid day.

The next stop was Smith Fall's - we docked, we sweated (my goodness it was hot!!), we slept, and we left the next day. Unfortunately, we were on a timeline as a quickly arranged vacation interlude had been arranged for Mac to join us for two weeks so being in Ottawa to meet he and Kristin was of the utmost importance. Our next stop for one night was in Manotick, then we were off to Ottawa, where we stayed at Dow's Lake.

Impressions of the Rideau are that of a bucolic setting in small town Ontario. Lots of birds - so many swans - and weeping willow trees! Year round homes, large cottages and smaller fishing camps lined the entire canal. We passed an airplane parked in a backyard, many boathouses that ignited my own memories of my grandfather's boathouse near Cardinal, and great swimming venues.

Kristin and Mac flew from Halifax on Saturday morning, and met us at Dow's Lake. We moved from there to downtown Ottawa and stayed on the 'wall' close to the Parliament Buildings. Greg and Mac went off to rent a bike for him to ride during his time with us; Kristin and I went for a walk in the Byward Market. Kristin returned home the next day and we (Greg, Mac and I) set off for Montreal.

Until next time...