Raydiance: Rideau Canal System

The Rideau Canal follows a park setting as it leaves Ottawa.

Swing bridge on edge of Ottawa.

We left Ottawa on July 5th heading out on the Rideau Canal System for Pirate's Cove Marina near Kempville. We were very low on water and I needed to do laundry, so we chose a marina that was advertised to have both. Unfortunately the water was not potable and the washer broke after the first load. All in all, not a great choice for a stop.

The blue line before a lock

The next day we went through eight locks ending at Merrickville. We had intended to go on, but the lockmaster said we could stay at the blue line early, so we opted to check out the town. We were glad we did as the town proved to be interesting. There was a Lions' Club campground next door to the dock and a sign in the park told that the first Boy Scout troop in North America was founded through the Methodist Church in Merrickville.

1st boy scout troop in North America

Lions' Club Campground

On Saturday, July 7th, we stopped at Smith's Falls for a short hardware store/fishing license run. This message on the local Dairy Queen sign assured me we were in Canada, eh? We spent the night on the wall at Poonamalie. On a short walk around the docks, we saw two full grown St. Bernards that apparently were passengers on the 25 foot cruiser behind them. I cannot imagine!

Large dogs on small boat

Very tight channel

Sunday after several more locks, we decided to stay in Upper Rideau Lake behind Loon Island. We were the only boat anchored, but we were surrounded by cottages. Tom tried his luck fishing both from the platform and the dinghy and did catch a few bass which he released. I am still waiting for the walleye sandwich--white bread, walleye fillet, raspberry jelly, and vidalia onion. We heard loons that night which was very cool and a bit eerie.

leaving Loon Island

trying out the new fishing license

These lakes are dotted with islands.

Mama loon and baby

Monday we met up with Ralph and Celeste aboard Say Good Bye. There were some very tight turns on the run to Jones' Falls where we stayed the night on the upper lock wall. A blacksmith shop with a working blacksmith and a lockmaster/blockhouse with an interpretive guide were at this site. We watched the blacksmith create a napkin ring which then led to the purchase of a set of four.

Raydiance on upper lock wall at Jones' Falls

Say Good-Bye coming through a narrow turn.

Blacksmith working on napkin ring.

Tuesday we decided to stay above Kingston Falls locks so we would have a short run into Kingston the next day. The sunset that night was gorgeous.

The next day we had to wait for upcoming traffic, so we got a late start around 10 a.m. down the last flight of locks on the Rideau. After that, the river flattens out for four miles before coming into Kingston where it empties into Lake Ontario.