Day #93: Winter Quarters in Belleville, Ontario

2018's 1800 mile loop.

We're back in Belleville so that's a wrap for 2018! In all 1,813 miles this year and 8,232 miles since leaving Naples in 2016.

24 miles from Napanee to Belleville, Ontario

It's a beautiful summer afternoon and we've started doing the myriad chores necessary to prepare Nellie for her winter hibernation. I can almost hear Nellie saying, "Wait, it's too soon to quit cruising." This echos every child's lament captured so well by this stanza:

And does it not seem strange to you,
when all the sky is clear and blue,
and I would like so much to play
to have to go to bed by day.

-- Robert Louis Stevenson, Bed in Summer

Until next 2019. DBH

Day #92: All the Way to Napanee, Ontario

With ships this size Nellie is clearly no longer in the shallow, narrow Rideau Canal.  

Our two day stay in Kingston was a day longer than planned as yesterday's 20 knot plus southwest winds pinned us down. However, the extra day was used to great effect. We found the Pan Chancho Bakery on Princess St. Their baguettes and cinnamon rolls are wonderful. In fact, to escape their siren call Bicki had to tie me to the mast.

Our very first port of call this cruising year was the village of Napanee. We thought it appropriate then that it be our last port of call too. Pictured above is the view heading up the Napanee River.

Electronic chatting is wonderful to have but you can't always trust it. In the photo above we're clearly in the Napanee River but the plotter shows us going over the land.

50 miles from Kingston to Napanee, Ontario.

Inspecting the engine's raw water strainer for grasses and other detritus is part of the  getting underway ritual.  It's not a fun job but neither is it usually an unpleasant one. Today was a definite exception. Lodged in the bottom of the strainer's basket were five unlucky and now two-day dead minnows. How five little fish can put off such an egregious odor is beyond understanding. Normally I empty the strainer's contents into the sink and then scoop up the goop with my hand and throw it overboard. This procedure started years ago when I realized that the stainless steel strainer basket costs $150 and accidentally dropping it overboard would be...unpleasant. Today, however, with eau de minnow wafting about, I couldn't get the strainer over the rail fast enough. And, although mightly tempted, I didn't drop it overboard--did I mention strainers cost $150?  Discouragingly, even properly disposed of the minnows "presence" remained aboard.

Update: after arriving in Napanee a passerby on the dock said, "What a beautiful tug but what's that horrible smell?" Seems there's still some clean up left to do.

Safely tied to Napanee's wall where we're driving the village's houseflies crazy. DBH

Day 90: The Rideau Ends in Kingston, Ontario

This morning while exiting Morton's Bay.

Working hard at Washburn Lock #5.

The winds hit 30 mph while going down the River Styx.

 In Greek mythology the River Styx divided the worlds of the living and the dead.  A ferryman transported the newly departed, for a fee, across the river.  In pre-canal times (1832) it was called the Cataraqui River, so it's probably a safe bet that using the name Styx was stygian humor by the Rideau's builders.  

23 miles from Morton's Bay to Kingston, Ontario.

Making it to Kingston is a milestone as here we cross our wake after completing an 1800 mile loop through New York, Vermont, Quebec, and Ontario.  

Tonight we're safely tied to the docks and celebrating in downtown Kingston, Ontario.  DBH

Day #89: At Anchor in Morton's Bay, Ontario

It's a good thing we have electronic charts as I wouldn't believe this constricted channel is the right way to go.

Nellie joins the crowd going through the Jones Falls Locks.

Interesting the things you don't know. In the picture above we're side-by-side with a beamy, 52' Californian. Still, there's plenty of room in the 35' wide lock as our combined beam (with fenders) is 27'-8". So, here's where the learning bit comes in. While descending we notice the lock's walls aren't straight up and down but rathered angled and pushing us towards our neighbor. In fact, the bottom of the lock is 4' narrower than the top. Now there's only 3'-4" between us. Again, close but doable.

Looking down the set of three locks at Jones Falls.

Notice the 1'-4" protrusion into the lock, just to the right of the bollard, on the left side of the picture above? Now, while departing, the space between us and the Californian is 2'. You get the picture, it's a tight fit. What seemed ample at the top was paultry at the bottom. Flash forward, we lived and no insurance companies were called.

A tight chicane into Morton's Bay.

9 miles from the Opinicon Resort to Morton's Bay, Ontario.

Tonight we're on the hook in Morton's Bay. It's a beautiful fjord with a very narrow entrance. We're all alone. Does it get any better? DBH

Day #88: What's the Opinicon, Ontario?

Narrow waterways abound.

Kayaks are nice as they don't crowd the narrow waterway.  However, just coming around the corner, and unseen in this picture, were three beamy 40' boats.

Narrow waterways are one thing.  Crowded, narrow, shallow waterways whose banks and bottoms are solid rock are quite another.  It's time to talk about the Canadian Shield.  According to Wikipedia it's "a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks." The key term here is rocks and I can attest to the fact that they're everywhere.  It's said that a captains only job is to keep the water out of the boat and the boat off the rocks.  Today that was a challenge.

After running the Shield's gauntlet we stumble across a little bit of heaven in the Opinicon Resort.  It has a dock, pool, hot tub, beautiful grounds, and great ice cream!

10 miles from Westport to Chaffey's Locks, Ontario.

The Opinicon Resort comes highly recommended. So, while cruising by we decided to stop in and check it out.  The dock hands welcomed us like long lost friends, until, that is, they heard we didn't have reservations.  "We're fully booked", is not something you want to hear, but they were.  After a moment's silence, and after their appreciative looks at Nellie, we heard "But I think we can fit you in."  Grateful to be on the very full Opinicon docks.  DBH

Day #87: Retired in Westport, Ontario

The Narrows Lock 35 is the busiest on the Rideau Canal. This lock, like almost all the others, operates soley with hand powered cranks. Even the Route 14 bridge is swung open by hand.

Westport Harbour is situated in a pretty little park. The marina is very busy. Most of the traffic is from Big Rideau Lake's cabin dwellers who are making ice cream or grocery runs.

10 miles from Colonel By Island to Westport, Ontario.

Westport is the kind of town that big city folks retire to. In fact, a grey haired  dockhand told me he once owned delicatessens in Ottawa but was very happy with the slower pace of the village. Assisting him was a 19 year old dynamo. She seemed to be everywhere at once: on the VHF; giving instructions over the bullhorn; registering new arrivals; and running down the docks to take lines. On one instance when she went bounding by me I noticed the delicatessen owner following at a more reasonable pace. "Having trouble keeping up", I asked with a grin. "I've got 55 years on her", he said while rolling his eyes. DBH

Day #86: Colonel By Island, Ontario

Waiting on the blue line at the Southside of Smith Falls.

Big Rideau Lake is just that, big.

A walk in the woods on Colonel By Island.

20 miles from Smith Falls, Ontario to Colonel By Island, Ontario.

Tonight we find ourselves on a mooring ball off Colonel By Island.  It's spoiling during weekdays as we have the waterways to ourselves.  Weekends are quite another matter.  Still, it's nice to see everyone out enjoying themselves.  DBH

Day #85: Smiths Falls, Ontario

In it's 120 mile length the Rideau only has 12 miles of hand dug canal. This narrow and straight section is clearly part of the 12.

Bligh-Wood is a $1,200 boat--well, $2,400 according to the builders, if you include the beer consumed while building her.

Note the wood steering wheel and wood flag. This is their forth Bligh-Wood. Each iteration has gotten successively bigger and more sophisticated. This trip down the Rideau is their maiden voyage. The guys are sneaky good boat builders and are having way too much fun.

Just like in Europe Le Boat has set up a rental fleet of purpose built boats to do the Rideau Canal. Unlike Europe these boats are ultra modern. The boats are homeported in Smith Falls, Ontario.

20 miles from Burritts Rapids, Ontario to Smiths Falls, Ontario.

Locks, locks, locks! We went through 11 in 20 miles. They say practice makes perfect. We're certainly getting lots of practice, perfection however is eluding us. DBH

Day #84: Moving South to Burritts Rapids

Waiting on the blue line at Hartwells (Lock 9).

Ottawa, formerly Bytown, was named for Lt. Colonel John By, of the Royal Engineeres, who led the building of the Rideau Canal.  Statues and plaques in his honor adorn the canal.  It was with surprise then that I learned he was recalled to England and retired without honors for the canal's cost overrun.  He was subsequently acquitted but too late to save his career.  

36 miles from Ottawa, Ontario to Burritts Rapids, Ontario.

Tonight, after some seven hours of traveling time, we find ourselves on the upper wall of Lock 17 at Burritts Rapids.  The traveling is slow because much of the canal has a posted speed limit of 6 mph.  Also, there were nine locks to contend with.  Truth be told, there's no rush.  The relaxed pace gives us time to soak in the beautiful surroundings. DBH

Day #83: All the way to Dow's Lake, Ottawa, Ontario

Parks abound along the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa.

Nellie's 22.5'-high mast is down on its gallows. Good thing as many of the bridges we went under today are 22' high.

Captain Dave told us that he and his boat have aspirations to take on the NW Passage. The plan is to go down the Atlantic Coast, though the Panama Canal, then up the Pacific Coast to Nome, Alaska. There they'll follow a Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker through the Passage. All told, about a 14,000 mile, open ocean journey in a 1960s boat designed for lake cruising...

Clearly Nellie's ambitions are not as great as Dave's (see caption above). We went a whole 3-1/2 miles today from downtown Ottawa to Dow's Lake, Ottawa, Ontario. Heck, the journey wasn't even long enough to get us out of town.

The pronunciation of Rideau--which means "curtain" in French--has driven me nuts. Reed-oh, for some reason just doesn't slip naturally off this anglophile's tongue. Anyway, here we are starting down the canal's 120 mile length. Our current one mile per day average seems about right considering how much there is to see and do. But, come November, we might be in trouble as this section of the canal is turned into one, long ice skating rink.

Tonight Nellie's safely tied to the docks on Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Ontario. DBH

Day #80: Hello Ottawa, Ontario

Lac-Leamy is a flooded quarry.  Getting in and out is a rather tight affair.

Nellie possess in front of Canada's Parliment building.

Looking NW down the flight of eight locks which lifted Nellie up from the Ottawa River to the Rideau River.  

Nellie struts her stuff while being cheered on by her adoring fans ;-)

We made it to the Rideau Canal's blue line by 8:15 am.  But, there we sat until 11 am as we apparently lost the coin flip to the downward bound boats.  It turns out that that was fortuitous as we got to watch and learn.  Bicki noticed that several locks filled right to the brim so we lowered Nellie's fenders into the water.  One thing we weren't expecting was the crowds.  Nellie loved it.  Her crew, however, was a bit intimidated.  

Five miles from Lac-Leamy, Quebec to Ottawa, Ontario.

Tonight we're tied to the wall in the heart of Ottawa.  So little time, so much to see.  DBH

Day #79: Gambling on Gatineau, Quebec

Looking west through the Ottawa River's Baie de L'Orignal.  This is seriously big water.

With Ottawa visible in the distance we're sidetracked by the siren call of a casino. Their floating sign said go right. So we did.

In the cruising world there are deals just too good to pass up. For example, back in the 1990s the Green Turtle Club in the Abacos (Bahamas) rebated slip fees with script useable in their restaurant. Friends who partook described the torture of stuffing themselves night after night... I'd gotten wind of a similar deal being offered by Casino du Lac-Leamy. An added benefit is the marina is perfectly positioned so the next day we can easily be on the Rideau Canal's blue line by 9 am. Unfortunately, last week when I called for reservations they had no room. With the hopes that today's inclement weather had deterred some fellow boaters I called the reservations desk again and violà, a slip was ours.

The $50 food coupon and our order spreadsheet to make sure we spent it all.

The slips at Casino du Lac-Leamy are $50. And, sure enough, they gave us a $50 voucher valid for food and shows. The only catch, the whole $50 had to be used at once as no change would be given. That sounds like a challenge. We love challenges. With the menu in hand and a spreadsheet on the phone we managed to spend all but $0.75. If this had been an exam we would have scored a 98.5!

Dinner--and breakfast, and snacks for later.

What does $50 buy in the Casino's cafe? Well, as the picture above shows, a lot!

61 miles from Hawksbury, Ontario to Gatineau, Quebec.

Today's blustery weather didn't slow us down much and even the Ottawa River's purported 1/2 knot current seemed sedate. The views from the wheel house were mostly pastoral and bucolic. On the approach to Ottawa large homes started appearing on the river's banks. Tonight Nellie is safely tied to the dock in Lac-Leamy and her crew can't eat another bite. DBH

Day #78: Not Far to Hawkesbury, Ontario

The 60' Carillion Lock and the adjoining 750 megawatt hydro power station.

It's hard to leave the Province of Quebec as there's so much to do here.  Today's excuse for not traveling very far was the opportunity to tour the Carillion power station.  For three years now Nellie's been locking through dams with power stations but this was our first opportunity to see one up close and personal.

Underway Nellie's alternator produces 1,680 Watts.   Compare that to one of Carillion's alternators which produces 53,000,000 Watts!  Walking around, and indeed into one of the Carillion behemoths, made me feel Lilliputian.  

There's a symbiotic relationship between hydro power generation and river transportation.  A dam raises the upstream water level.  This both drowns rapids, making boat travel possible, and provides the pressure head necessary for power generation. I must admit, cruising upstream from the Carillion dam was a pleasure as the Ottawa river is wide, deep and slow moving.

About halfway up the lock we can finally see the top of the sill plate. 

19 whole miles from Baie-de-Brazeau, Quebec to Hawkesbury, Ontario.

Tonight we find ourselves tied to the free wall in Hawksbury, Ontario. Quebec is just a stone's throw away as the line dividing the two provinces runs down the middle of the Ottawa River. DBH