July 1st – Midway On the Rideau, Canada

·      Current Location – Westport Ontario, Canada on the Rideau Canal

·      Latitude 44° 40.7’ N Longitude – 76° 23.6’ W 

·      Total Miles – 759

·      Total locks – Hmm?  About 50

Looking back at the previous blog posting to see where this one starts I’m struck by how long ago that seems. After leaving Montreal, we went up the Saint Lawrence Seaway, up the Ottawa River, into the Rideau Canal and South on the Rideau for about 90 miles

Here are the highlights of the last two weeks:

Huge Pike Eh?

Linda Pondering the Entrance to the St. Lamber Lock on the St Lawrence Seaway

June 14th, 2015  - Saint Ann d’Bellevue – We departed Montreal after a week of sight seeing and having people laugh when I said “bonjour”.  We headed up the Saint Lawrence River and into the “Seaway.  While we were waiting to go into the first lock, St Lambert, I was fishing a bit and caught a three pound Northern Pike.  To the locals it was a small one but to me it’s a real memory! Of course going into the HUGE LOCKS on the Saint Lawrence Seaway was pretty amazing too.  We went through St.  Lamberts and another identical lock (St. Catharines) with one other iddy biddy boat like us and no one else.  It was embarrassing to use all that water but I guess otherwise it just goes around the lock and down the river!  A few miles past the locks we took a right turn (North) up the Ottawa River and ended up in the small village of St Ann d’Bellevue where stayed at the top of the lock on “the wall”.  It was really crowded when we arrived so we went out and anchored for a couple of hours until a spot opened up and then came in and had a great dinner in town along the waterfront.  This area is still very French!

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Mo the Firefighter

Lobby at Fairmont Montebello

June 15^th and 16th, 2015  - Montebello (Quebec Province, Canada)– We only went through one lock today but it was a monster.  It is called the “Carillon” lock and it raises you up 65 feet.  It is the second highest lock in North America.  It wasn’t as long as the locks on the St Lawrence but it was very impressive.  We spent the rest of the day running up-river at speeds from 6 mph when around boats, towns and houses and up to 27 mph for a little while when we were all alone.  We filled up with diesel at the tiny town of Lefaire for $3.74 per gallon.  That is CHEAP in this part of Canada. While we were getting fuel a kayak pulled up and we met the paddler.  Mo is a firefighter from Kingston and he was about half way into a trip from Kingston, to Montreal, to Ottawa and back to Kingston.  From our viewpoint he had almost nothing in terms of equipment or supplies.  I let him look at my charts, and gave him a bottle of water and a half can of Pringles. 



We went to a marina that is part of a Fairmont resort so it was quite luxurious.  Built during the depression, it is the biggest log structure in North America.  The three story lobby and huge fireplace reminded us of Old Faithful Lodge.  We had use of their pool and grounds and went to the restaurant.  On the 16^th it really poured for a while during a very impressive thunderstorm.

View from inside the boat during a Gully Wash

Wednesday June 17^th-19th, Ottawa (Ontario Province, Canada)–

Ottawa's Stair Step Locks

Ottawa is fantastic for a boating visit.  The first thing you see when you approach are the famous eight “Stair Step” locks that take you up to the downtown area right in the middle of Canada’s parliament and other national buildings (museum of art etc.)   

Canada's Original Parliament Building

This is the northern end of the Rideau Canal and we were able to stay on the “wall” right at the top.  We did three days of sightseeing including a tour of parliament and lots of walking around the area.  We really lucked out because they were having a Rib Fest there too.  I kid you not.  There was a street blocked off and at night there were many thousands of people chowing down on BBQ from Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Alabama.  Linda had to explain the difference between pork ribs and beef ribs to a fellow who really liked the smell of those pork ribs, but his religious training told him to play it safe and buy chicken.

The Rideau goes right through the middle of Ottawa and there are restaurants, biking and walking trails.  There were lots of Canadians enjoying their capital along with us Southern invaders.
 

The Billy Ray on the Wall in Ottawa

June 20^th through the 24th, 2015  Cruising South on the Skinny part of the Rideau Canal (Ontario Province, Canada)–

Park Canada Folks Cranking the Lock Doors Open

The short history of the Rideau is that it was built around 1830 by a British Army Colonel (with a bit of help) to provide a military supply route in case those rotten Americans blocked the Saint Lawrence River and cut Montreal off from the Great Lakes.  Of course it was never used for that but it does provide a nice place to cruise around on our boat.  The northern half feels like a canal and the southern half winds through a bunch of lakes.  There are a total of 45 locks and it is 125 miles long from Ottawa to Kingston on Lake Ontario.

The locks are all original stone and hand operated equipment as built by Col. By’s guys in the 1830s.  They are now operated by Parks Canada for pleasure boaters from June to September. In the winter the canals become a giant skating rink complete with speed skating competitions. It is a fantastic resource for boaters and all of the lock operators are helpful and friendly.  I mean really helpful and really friendly!  We have a seasonal pass so we were able to stay “on the wall” at all of the Parks Canada locks.  Some even have “hydro” for $9.80 and sell ice too.

Lock master's house at Poonamalie lock

During this time period we spent four of the five nights “on the wall”, at some truly tranquil spots.  Ever since we got to Ottawa our travel speed is 6 mph and the canal is generally only 100 feet wide so we did a lot of shore watching.  There are starting to be loons around  and I am catching lots of small bass and pan fish but nothing big enough to eat.  I didn’t get a picture but I got “tailed” three times by a beaver when I got too close to him while fishing in the dingy.  Pretty funny! (not for him I guess).

June 25^th through June 29, 2015 - Mid way down the Rideau Canal –

We broke out of the narrow, northern portion of the Rideau and into the lake portion when we entered Big Rideau Lake.  There are lots of fancy cottages and even a big canoe club where they have Dragon Boats.

·      Nobles Bay off Big Rideau – Anchored in the NW corner and were visited by Bruce the local who gave me fishing advice.  I caught a nice smallmouth bass that we ate.

Monster Smallmouth Bass with Handsome Fisherman

·      Colonel By’s Island – Took a mooring ball at a Parks Canada site.  Fishing and swimming and some walking ashore.  We were glad to be on a mooring when the locals started partying.  Another perfect night

·      Portland at Len’s Cove Marina – We tied up and did some provisioning in this small town.  The first fireworks of the holiday were shot off of Cow island and we had a good view from the boat.  Unfortunately, it was raining a bit and it rained and blew for all the next day.

Canada Day - July 1^st in Westport Ontario

We came into this little town on Tuesday to hang out for Canada Day.  It’s a bit like our 4^th of July in that it celebrates independence from England although they parted ways on a friendly basis.  They are planning a bike parade (wish I had one) and will have fireworks tonight.

Last night we went to dinner with our new boat buddies Ted and Joan.  They have been travelling on their big “Egg Harbor” sport fisherman for many years on the West Coast, the Carribean and now they are doing the Great Loop.  The band was great and the beer and wine flowed.

Selfie of Ted, Joan, Linda and Tod at 10:30 pm in the Pub

Personal thoughts –

• We still miss you all but memory of you is fading.

• Best memory – The perfect night on a mooring at Colonel By’s Island.

• Worst memory – Saying hello to a weimaraner puppy who nipped me and drew blood.  Dang!

From here we head south to Lake Ontario and hope to meet with friends Wayne and Sue in the notable “Thousand Islands”.