July 15
We spent the day exploring more of the downtown, as well as a trip to Canadian Tire where we bought a Dyson heater-cooler that was on sale. In the afternoon we had several showers go through the area, so we stayed indoors and read. I took a picture of this ornate tower which is on a building across the river from us.
I was quite perplexed as to what it was for. Brian V, told me what it was when he was here the other day. Does anyone want to guess what it’s used for? I would never have got it.
July 16
We left the marina shortly after 7, and went down about ½ mile to the Esso gas station, tied up on their wall and filled up our tanks with diesel. We then went to Lock 13, and waited for the 9 am opening. I saw this purple flower- likely purple loosestrife.
We then moved on to Crowe Bay, Lock 14, and were through it by 10:25. Two miles farther along the canal and we went through the first Healey Falls lock 15.
This was followed by the Healey Falls combo lock 16/17.
We had planned to stop after the lock, and take pictures of the falls, however today there was no water going over the falls, as it was being diverted into the generator plant. So we continued on down the Trent River and went about 15 miles, there wasn’t much traffic in the locks, and we locked by ourselves, until we reached Lock 18 in Hastings, where we shared the lock with two pontoon boats.
We were tied up on the wall in Hastings by 2:30. We did a bit of a walk around town.
The closest store is the LCBO, it probably only about 100 steps away – make me feel just like home where the MLCC is one of the closest stores to our house.
We met Terry and Cindy from Master Card III, who are tied up a couple of boats ahead of us, their boat is aluminum and reminds us a little of Thunderbird from Boundary Creek.
We later met up with them in the Legion, it is located next to the LCBO, so very close as well. For dinner we went out for Chinese food.
July 17
We left the wall at 8:40 and continued up the Trent River, there was hardly a ripple in the water.
We passed through the opening of this old railway bridge shortly after leaving Hastings.
We entered Rice Lake at about 9:30 and stayed within the channel, Terry had told us yesterday that many years ago they had built a railway across the lake and that a lot of the infrastructure was still just below the surface. The railway only lasted a year or two before it was washed out. Since it was nice day and weekend, there was lots of pleasure boat traffic and people fishing.
We passed MasterCard III they were headed for the sandbar by Spook Island.
We turned off into the Otonabee River at 11:00 and followed it as it snaked along for about 20 miles leading us towards Peterborough. There was lots of boat traffic, and fields of gold
We reached lock 19 Scott Mills at 1:50 and locked right through as they were taking in boats as we approached.
We tied up on the Lock wall by 2:20.
We went to a nearby store and the captain found that they sold fudge—so he replenished the supply. He claims it’s not as good as the Merrickville fudge.
July 18
Before 9:00 this morning, I saw this boat approaching the bridge, interesting how they were able to fold up the bow to get into the lock and lower the radar arch in order to get under the bridge.
Here they are in the lock—not a lot of room to spare.
We left at 11:00. Today was a very short travel day, as we only had to go about ½ mile to the Peterborough Marina, located in Little lake.
The wind seems to be getting stronger as the day progresses, thankfully we had two dock hands help us tie up. We plan to stay here for tonight and then move on to Lock 20, and the famous lift-lock at Lock 21 tomorrow, if weather permits.
I’ve completed my first colouring book assignment- it takes a long time to do one picture. Thanks again Margaret!
We tied up on the upper wall at 1:25. It’s been a hot day in the mid 30’s, lucky for us there is a convenience store nearby that sells double scoops of ice cream for $2.50. The owners of the store are originally from Transcona- small world.
this pub was next door, which we thought Dave, our neighbor would like.
We next went to the Suspension Bridge which is over the river. Here’s the view from the boat yesterday, and here we are on it today.
Margaret gave me a colouring book of flowers- I’ve already started colouring and it is calming! 
We were in about 8 feet of water and near a weed bed. Andy was able to find several Bass and Pickerel hiding in the weeds on Sunday night and he fished a little more on Monday morning before we left.
It was a great day
we passed by Belleville ended up stopping at 2:30 at Trent Port Marina for the night. 
The downtown is only a few blocks away I can see the Metro grocery store from the boat. We had fresh fish and asparagus cooked on the BBQ for supper tonight cooked by the Captain.
and were replaced by Brian and Muriel.
here’s the view from the 4th floor,
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.
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.
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. 
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.
We left the wall around 9 am and continued down the canal towards Merrickville, we arrived there at about 10 and tied up on the blue wall. Andy talked to the lock master and told him that we wanted to walk around town
So once again we did 7 locks and traveled a total of 14.1 miles. We are now just 39.8 miles from Ottawa.
We arrived at the Hartwell lock, and stayed near the top, until about 4:00, as we wanted to stay on the blue dock at the bottom for the night, and this was only possible if we were there last. Across the canal was this weed wacker.
So a day with 7 locks and 26 miles. We are now only 4.2 miles from downtown Ottawa.
Saw this sign and had to add it to the blog. My husband wants to move to Ottawa now, because of the boating opportunities here.
Here’s the view of the boat from the Laurier bridge.
On Thursday morning, we left to do more exploring we went another 12 miles through the inside channel to the Thousand Islands bridge at stopped at Georgina Island for lunch.
We visited with Brian and Anne, who were tied up there. Andy gave them some advice on places to see in the North Channel. We also saw this island for sale- call if you are interested.
We were then on the move again, we were told either Camelot of Endymion had good docks to tie up to , so we proceeded west in search of Camelot. Bur there was no room in Camelot- as one dock had a couple of house boats and the large dock was being repaired, so we went on to Endymion, which is ¼ miles from the Canada-US border. We had a choice of mooring balls or fixed docks. We decided on the fixed docks and Larry and Diane helped us tie up.
We then proceeded up 4 miles to the first set of locks at Kingston Mills, this was a flight of four locks and we were through by 16:40. Some of the equipment used at the locks used to open the gates and the doors is original, and creates Parks jobs for students.
We had to go another 10 miles to our next lock at Lower Brewers and were through it by 18:05. At times the water was around 5 feet, lots of trees and we came upon this farm with cows.
Andy made pancakes Saturday morning, and we left by 9. The locking hours are 9-7 on weekends, We went through 7 locks Friday and up about 80 feet in 15 miles. We arrived at the Swing bridge at 9:36 and the Jones Falls flight of 3 at 11:15, we were through the last Jones Fall lock by 12:20. We continued on and went through the Davis Lock and Sand Lake followed by Chaffeys Lock and Opinicon Lake. We then went through Newboro Lake and arrived at the lock. There was no space on the upper side so we stayed below the lock. For the day we went through 6 locks and rose 79 feet. We walked into town and checked out Kilborne’s Country store- amazing it had food, nice clothing, shoes, furniture, kitchen ware and furniture, It likely had other stuff too- I don’t think I went into all the rooms. We then stopped outside and had ice cream.
Our next stop was the Stirling Lodge where we had supper. Three of us had fish and chips, and Andy must have caught a bug—because all he wanted to do when he got back to the boat was fish. Here he is with one of his new friends.
On Sunday, we were awoken to the sound of boats- as there was a Bass tournament on the lake starting at 7am.
We went through the Newboro lock at 9 with 4 other boats,
we then passed through upper Rideau lake,
after crossing it we went through the narrows lock, which was our first lock on our downhill journey to Ottawa. After the lock we entered Big Rideau Lake, which is the largest lake on the canal. There were some very nice cottages/ houses on this lake,
Our last lock was Kilmarnock at mileage 53.9,
and we decided to call it quits for the day. We had a little rope mishap, that made this a requirement. I had been complaining for days that it was too hot, so once we were pulled through this lock, I got to go swimming under the boat to untangle a rope which was twisted around the prop. Quite refreshing, except that I was in swamp water rather than a lake.
We are the only ones at this lock for the night, and it’s a nice rural setting
with a couple of bull frogs providing some noise. Today’s total 9 locks and 33 .2 miles, we only have 53 miles until Ottawa.
and was entertained by the baby ducks, which were curious as to what he was doing, and kept swimming by the boat.
We also saw this boat being taken on a sea trials- they are made here at the Kingston marina by Metalcraft which is known for their fire boats, this may be for some other type of fire fight.
Saw this painted on the side of a building along the canal.
We were out of the Oswego canal and into Lake Ontario by 8:45. The water was almost like glass.
Here’s the lighthouse in the harbor and Fort Ontario from the water.
and here is the lighthouse on the tip of nine mile point.
The wind turbines were on Wolfe Island I think.
After they left we went to the Iron Duke pub for supper.
Following supper we were invited to their boat for Strawberry shortcake. We had a tour of their Great Harbour 37- amazing kitchen with a full 36 inch side by side fridge and granite counter tops. The engine room was also well designed and accessible. We met other loopers Janice and Dave from Willy Nilly who were also on the dock. Andy had brought his charts and once again shared his knowledge of Georgian Bay and the North Channel.
The lockmaster was running late, and didn’t answer our calls until about 8:10. We were Lock 5 by 8:25, the ropes at this lock were the worst yet green and slimy! We went another 3 miles to Lock 6, and was through it before 9:00. Lock 7 was only another ½ mile down the canal and we were through it by 9:20. We had opted to tie up at the free dock on the north side of the lock and were secured by 9:25.
We went in search of lunch at the Oswego Tea company, which was just up the embankment from the canal.
Here’s a view of Lake Ontario from the top of the Fort.
Locks 21 & 22 brought us down a total of 48 feet- it was nice to have a descending lock- they are much easier to manipulate. I saw a deer swim/walk across the canal just after Lock 22, but didn’t have my camera handy to get a picture. I did have the camera to capture these little ducklings that weren’t sure what to do when 2 big boats were approaching them from different directions.
this town has 4 miles of beaches as well as an amusement park with a roller coaster.
and were tied up at Winter Harbour Marina in Brewerton by 11:45.
Cruising ON BUSINESS 