Rideau Canal

The Rideau Canal runs from Kingston, ON, at the western end, to Ottawa, ON, on the eastern end.  Kingston was the first capital of Canada; the capital is now located in Ottawa.  The image above is downtown Kingston.  During the first foray into the Rideau, a brief history and the unique operation of the locks was documented in a post on the blog of the first Loop.  Click on the link below to read that post.

http://mvlastdance.blogspot.com/2011/08/rideau-canal.html

Locks on the Rideau have docks at either end.  If a boat moors along the blue line on the dock, that communicates to the lockmaster that the boat wishes to lock through.  If the boat ties to the brown segment of the dock, the lockmaster knows that the boat intends to stay for a while, or overnight.  Sitting along the brown segment at the first lock up the river from Kingston, was another DeFever, a 53 POC

The Rideau locks are operated by Parks Canada and every lock is a park, both in definition and in appearance and amenities.  This image is at Washburn lock, where Last Dance spent a night on the lock wall.  A great advantage at this lock is that the Park service provides hydro (Canadian term for electricity) to the boats.  Washburn is an interesting stop as there is a metal artist on one side of the canal and an apple orchard on the other.  A piece of metal art now hangs at home and the many apple goodies from the orchard enhanced the food offerings aboard.

Jones Falls is always a favorite as it has a museum with the history of the lock system, a blacksmith shop, and the always great park setting.  Another feature here is that an old hotel still functions, offering delicious meals in a fine, historical setting.

Cruisers well acquainted with the Rideau Canal, Dave and Jan Hinman, were dockmates and dinner partners at Hotel Kinney.  It was Dave who insisted that the Rideau was too amazing an experience to not squeeze into the schedule that got Last Dance cruising up the canal on Loop One.

While there are many lakes, some quite large, the canals dug in the 1830s with crude equipment resulted in some narrow canal sections connecting the lakes and rivers.

And the canal section the boat must travel, the underwater portion, is even more narrow than the width of the apparent waterway.

Davis Lock is a favorite of the cruising Canadian boaters.  The lower end does not look that much different than many of the other locks.

However, the pool created by the lock and dam on the upper side has been turned into a wonderful marina by the lock staff.  Floating docks, with water and hydro, located in another beautiful park setting.  Last Dance not only found a slip at this most popular spot, but lucked into the best slip in the pool.  The shade provided by a big tree was most welcome as a couple unusually warm days occurred.

And, a great view of the waterway.  One does not have amenities in marinas such as park setting right next to the boat, picnic tables on the dock, great views, and summer shade.

All of the Last Dance crew found the Davis Lock to be an enjoyable pause along this journey.

Some Canadian boaters spend their summer on the lock walls and Davis is a favorite.  Although the park only allows a 2-day stay at this lock, they seem to be able to stretch it out a day or two, then travel off to another lock, returning to Davis soon thereafter.  A major form of entertainment is sitting under the shade trees by the lock and watching the boats be raised or lowered.

And, of course, watching the lock staff operate the lock, all by manpower, or womanpower in this case.  The flagpole in the background is reported the only place in the park where a cell signal can be captured.  This is remote.

Chaffey Lock is another that has a road bridge crossing the lock chamber.  The swing bridge must be opened to be able to get Last Dance into the lock.

The upper side of Chaffey has walls with hydro and the always present park setting.  There is also a museum at the lock, a few houses, art studio, and a small general store.  The store, though small, has an LCBO, the largest section of merchandise by far.  LCBO is Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the state-operated alcohol distributor/retailer.  The smallest of communities always seem to have an LCBO, and where too small for a stand-alone store, they allow a local retailer to handle the goods.

Entering Upper Rideau Lake from the canal one is guided by two very large markers.  The canal is well marked with small floating buoys.  Many a boater must have missed those small markers and found shallow water for Parks Canada to have installed such large floating day marks.

At the end of a bay off Upper Rideau Lake lies the small town of Westport Harbour, three streets two blocks long.  Although a small town, they have a large town marina, a number of interesting restaurants, and three outstanding bakeries.  Canadians love fresh baked goodies and the crew enjoys helping the Canadian economy by leaving the bakery shelves a bit empty.

Through a narrows and under a bridge is the connecting Big Rideau Lake, filled with many islands.  One of the islands, Colonel By Island, named for the British commander in charge of the construction of the Rideau Canal, is now part of Parks Canada.  Once a summer retreat for a wealthy entertainer, it is now a park reachable only by private boat.

The smallest of the crew enjoyed the large grassy areas of the island.

The trails offer a view of the wilds of the island, including reminders of a tornado that once crossed the island.

A lock and dam is in the heart of the small village of Merrickville.  Here, Last Dance moored on the upside of the lock, actually higher than the road crossing the earthen part of the dam.

A stop at this lock is a different experience than the remote locks with only the park and wilderness for surroundings.  Merrickville is an old and interesting community with restaurants, shops, and early architecture.

The shops in Merrickville were not of the tchotchke-filled, tourist-trap variety, but ones as interesting as a museum with quality, unique items.

The travel east runs along the Rideau River, through a few locks, and park-like settings.  Then, it is apparent that a populated area is being approached.  The river branches off to the right and a walled canal veers left.

The canal leads to Ottawa, the Canadian Capital and end of the Rideau Canal.  The lock station also manages the waterway running through the middle of town, providing dockage for boats.  The Parliament Buildings can be seen to the left of the canal, and an old, grand hotel on the right.  As a bit of contrast, the new glass-fronted convention center also juts into the picture.

The Parliament Building was constructed in the late 1800's.  The tower was added just after World War I.  It is called the Peace Tower to commemorate WWI as the "War to end all Wars."  If that had only proved true.  The building is an outstanding work of art.  Following are a few images from inside the building and views from atop the Peace Tower.

On the back, river side of the Parliament Building, is a large flying-buttressed room - the Library of Parliament.

As the Capital, there are many monuments in town.  One, quite whimsical, commemorated the building of the Rideau Canal.

Ottawa sits on a bluff high above the Ottawa River.  To transition from the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River, a system of locks was built combining 11 locks in a stair-stepped manner.  And, each lock is still operated by hand.  By the time a boat transitions these 11 locks, the lock staff has had a workout.

A view from the Ottawa River looking back up the stair-stepped locks.

Trent Severn Canal

A description of the Trent Severn Canal must include some extensive focus on locks and the varied types of locks used to move boats either up or down in altitude.  There are 44 locks on the canal, and since Last Dance's 2014 voyage included two transits of the canal, 88 lockings were experienced, more than enough to move the crew to expert status.

Some of the locks are most unusual.  The one known as "The Big Chute" is a travel lift type device that picks boats up and carries them across a road from one body of water to the other.  On the northerly passage, the boats are moved down a hill to a lower level lake.

This photo and the one above were taken on a phone, thus the less than normal quality for the blog.  The Big Chute is a tourist attraction and one of the visitors took these photos and emailed them to us.  It does give a different perspective for the crew, who must remain on the boat for this trip across the land.

The northbound trip through the Big Chute was taken early in the season on a weekday, with Last Dance the only boat in sight.  On the southbound voyage, on a weekend day, the traffic was intense requiring a long wait to transit the lock.  A visual example of why Last Dance often stays at anchor or in port on weekends.

The ride up the hill was with four other boats, the two runabouts on the front of the lift, and two inflatables just under Last Dance's bow.  Two guys on the starboard side can easily be seen in the photo; the crew on the port side can be seen with only one hand reaching for the money can being lowered by the lockmaster.  Boats paying passage on a per lock or daily basis can pay in cash, transferred to the staff in a can lowered on a pole.

The Kirkfield lock includes a viaduct, where the waterway passes over a roadway.  A northbound boat passes over the road and into the large steel pan seen on the right.  The pan is lowered 50 feet down to the lower water body.

Last Dance tied to the Kirkfield Lock wall near the viaduct, the lock mechanism in the background.  This is a peaceful place to spend a night.

Northbound, the boats enter the lock pan in the up position, where the water in the pan is 50 feet above the water in the lower canal.  Looking out over the bow at the water ending a few feet forward, with a huge drop ahead, can be a bit disconcerting.

Most of the locks on the Trent Severn are the traditional pools that lift or lower boats by filling/emptying the lock chamber.  The Campbellford lock differs in that it is a step lock, lifting boats in two steps.

Last Dance leaving the last lock on the Trent at Port Severn, entering Georgian Bay.  This is the smallest lock in the system and one where all boaters let out a sigh of relief.  This is another cellphone photo shared by a tourist watching the locking process.

The canal is much more than a series of locks carrying boats over a ridge in the Canadian shield.  There are towns and lakes and anchorages and bike trails.  Peterborough is the largest city along the waterway and has many attractive aspects, including multiple restaurants featuring the Canadian national dish, poutine.  The blogger will allow the reader to research this dish on their own.

Peterborough is large enough that the land transportation has to be offloaded from the boat.

The land transport is required to make the trek to the Peterborough farmers market, the best market encountered on the Great Loop, in size and variety of food and craft items offered.  The schedule on the return trip through the canal was planned so that the crew would arrive for this Saturday event.

Campbellford is another town most worthy of a stop, as attested to by the wall full of boats at the city dock.  A small town, however, one with a number of features that attract cruisers.  Campbellford is home to the World's Finest Chocolate factory, with an outlet store, and an amazing bakery offering a wide array of baked goods.

While the photos have featured mechanical and constructed areas along the canal, there are vast areas of undeveloped countryside and farmland.  As an ending to this post, and an example of the beauty of the wildlife along the scenic segments of the Trent Severn Canal, a mother Loon and her baby.

Trent-Severn Canal - Other Loopers

One of the benefits of cruising along the waterways is the wonderful people you meet along the way, both on boats and on land.  Two other boats cruising the Great Loop, with interesting stories, were encountered while on the Trent-Severn Canal.  A few notes about the crews of these boats may help illustrate.

The photo above is of Lovely Louise under sail on Lake Michigan with captains Katie and Jessie.  This photo was taken from Katie and Jessie's blog since the camera was left on Last Dance when the crew encountered this duo in a lock.  Louise would appreciate this photo more, as she is in action.  In the Trent her mast was unstepped, lying on deck in wooden supports, so she could clear the low, non-opening bridges.  Not in her prettiest do.

Katie and Jessie, life-long friends, decided to purchase a sailboat for the challenge of cruising the Great Loop.  They left Michigan September, 2012, when they were 23 years old.  A trip of this length is usually undertaken by folks old enough to have completed a career and saved for a lifetime.  It is unique for the trip to be challenged by people so young.

Their Loop was completed September, 2014.  More can be found on their blog:

http://katieandjessieonaboat.com/

John Guider looks with a bit of concern as the much larger Last Dance pulls into a lock behind his boat, Adventure II.  John, who counts professional photographer among his careers, is rowing the Loop.  He began his trip in 2009, leaving from his hometown, Nashville, Tennessee, in a self-built 14 foot boat.  He spends two months every summer rowing.  He has rowed down the Mississippi to New Orleans, along the Gulf of Mexico and around Florida, and up the east coast to the Great Lakes.  His goal this year was to make it to Chicago and then finish the Loop next year.  As with everyone cruising the Great Lakes this year, windy weather slowed his progress.  He ended his 2 months rowing in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, 40 pounds lighter than when he started in Trenton, Ontario.  For a view of John's photography and to learn more about his adventure, his blog is at:

http://www.johnguider.com/riverinside