July 2-8

We left the wall in Ottawa on Saturday morning at 10:50, after watching the changing on the guard on parliament hill. We then returned to the boat, Canada Day is one of the few times when Parks allow boats to tie up on both sides of the canal- the wall was full.

We left at 10:50 and made it to Hartwell locks by 12:00 and locked through.  We then tied up, as this was the crew change-off point.  After having Pizza, Brian and Helen left us and were replaced by Brian and Muriel.We continued down the canal and went through 2 more sets of locks, there were some kayak races taking place, so we had to go very slow for a mile or two.We ended up tying up at t-pier at the top of the Long Island flight. Both Brian and Andy did some fishing, Brian caught a bass.  We played cribbage, here’s the sunset.On Sunday we stopped in Burritts Rapids for an Anniversary lunch at the Lock 17 Bistro. Hard to believe we’ve been married 6 years.  Andy had bought me a set of coffee mugs with Tom Thomson pictures on them that  I had admired in Ottawa.We continued on and made it as far as  the bottom of the Merrickville flight, we got there about 3:00, so Muriel and I had a little time to go in and do some shopping.  Andy and Brian also went into town for ice cream and to County Bumpkins, and replenished the fudge box. Here’s the view of the lock  early in the morning- not a ripple.  We went through the Merrickville locks first thing in the morning (9:00) and continuedthrough 3 more before reaching Smith Falls.  I saw this cannon in someone’s yard just before we reached the combined lock with a  25 foot rise.

     Once we were tied up,  Andy, Brian and I went to the Rideau Canal centre,here’s the view from the 4^th floor,and Muriel went to check out the nearby stores.  At 2:45, we got back on the boat and went through the Smith Falls detached lock (#31) and tied up under a tree on the wall.  Muriel and I went to a nearby grocery store, whereas Brian and Andy went to the liquor stores (Beer and Wine are not sold in the same store).  Andy, Brian and Muriel played a ring s game, while I read a book.  We had BBQ steak and salad for supper, with fudge for dessert.Here’s a view of the train bridge at dusk, and again in the morning

On Tuesday, we had planned to go to Westport in Upper Rideau Lake, however they did not have space available.  It was another really hot day, so we anchored in a bay and 3 of us went for a swim.  The swim was quite refreshing, however when I climbed back up onto the boat, my left knee was “clicking” and I could hardly put weight on it.  Not good.  I kept it up and put on a knee brace to stabilize it.  We continued on to Newboro and went through the lock and tied up on the dock.  Brian and Muriel trekked to town to see Kilborne’s country store, I wasn’t up for a walk. That night we had another great BBQ’d ribs supper, and played cards in the evening. I didn’t sleep that well as I couldn’t get comfortable because of my knee.

On Wednesday we went through Chaffey’s, Davis, and the 4 Jones Falls locks,  We stopped at Jones Falls and Brian, Muriel and Andy walked up to the  keystone arch designed dam, my knee wasn’t up for it.

we then went on  to Upper Brewers  and made it there by 3:15.  We were lucky enough to get a docking spot with power- which was a good thing as the temperature had climbed to 32 with humidity in upper 80’s.   We turned on the AC to cool us down.  This is the only lock with showers, and it was nice to feel clean again.  My knee is still painful, but seems to be improving a little.  Thank goodness for Brian and Muriel, they took over some of my duties, as I’m moving a little slow!  In the evening we played cards.On Thursday morning , Muriel noticed this luna moth. I had never seen one-Amazing! We locked through Upper Brewers flight with 4 other boats- a houseboat and 3 smaller power boats and were through by 9:45.   We continued on to Lower Brewers and were through by 10:30. Enroute to the Kingston Mills flight, 2 of the smaller boats that we had locked with passed us and the houseboat at full speed creating a huge wake which almost swamped  us.  Not very respectful of the safety of fellow boaters!!  We made it through the flight by 1:30, there was some military exercises going on by the locks.We made the 2:00 opening of the Kingston Lasalle Causeway and continued on to the Trident Yacht club.  After tying up at 3:30 we had a goodbye drink with our crew mates Brian and Muriel, as they were leaving to go back to Bancroft. Margaret Vermeersch and Mike Ross, came to the marina around 6:00, and brought supper, this was the first time that I had met Brian’s sister.   I learned the difference between Pink and Blue roles from her, while Mike BBQ’d.  We had a great evening up in the clubhouse and Brenda and Rob, who we had previously met at Trident joined us for dessert.

Today, I’m going to catch up on laundry and cleaning, Margaret is going to take us shopping for groceries late this afternoon.  We will leave here in the next day or two and make our way to Trenton for the final phase of our journey- the Trent Severn Waterway.