After a lovely sunrise and our morning routine, we got back on the canal on a perfect Saturday morning. We left the mooring wall shortly after a large Meridian cabin cruiser departed, but quickly passed her at a 10.5-foot swing bridge that we slipped right under, and they had to wait until the bridge opened for business at 9:00 AM. We never saw them the rest of the day. Sometimes smaller is better.
The canal follows the Rideau River now, except where locks bypass dams, falls and rapids, with some large marshy areas where it’s wild and scenic—otherwise the shores are lined with homes, cottages and farms. There is plenty of other boating traffic, but nothing like the Ottawa or Richelieu Rivers. The Rideau is less popular with the go-fast crowd, mainly because it is shallow, winding, speed-limited and very narrow in places, sometimes only two boat widths between the red and green channel markers.
We covered 20 miles and 11 locks today—a new lockage record—with a flight of three at Merrickville and a flight of two at Old Slys. Merrickville was hosting an art fair, and we almost stopped, but remembered that we have no place to store art aboard. We are docked for the night at the town marina in Smiths Falls, ON, which is busy with boaters and other weekend visitors, and is also the charter base for Le Boat canal boat rentals. We walked to the grocery store and to Canadian Tire, Canada’s version of Walmart, for provisions and some maintenance and repair supplies. The sun was shining with temperatures in the mid-80s, and we couldn’t resist the Dairy Queen that drew us in as we passed. Curiously, DQs here have so far not offered Butterfinger nor Heath Bar Blizzards, our favorites. Dinner tonight was at the Taco To Me food truck in the park adjacent to the marina, and is so close to our boat that we’re plugged into the same power pedestal. Kathleen played music while I got caught up on blogging, then we relaxed until bedtime. Map link: Smiths Falls, ON
Photo Journal:
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| Part of the Le Boat charter fleet |
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| Merrickville, ON, art fair |
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