Cuising the last 37 miles of the Rideau was some of the most beautiful. Lots of skinny, shallow water with the reward of the feeling we were all alone in a stream or pond that we had no business on with our Trawler. The stops were equally tranquil, simple tie up along lock walls in park like settings.
At Jones’ Falls locks, there are a series of 3 locks that open in succession. When we arrived they were completing a lock thru for some downbound boats, with a 55′ Kady Krogen waiting to lock upbound. That meant a 45 minute to one hour wait for us, so we went for a walk to see the falls and the bottom of the lock. At the bottom, we found a small hotel and restaurant, but also a small store with fresh ice cream. A perfect treat for our short delay.
Next stop was the Upper Brewer’s Locks where we decided to call it quits for the day. This stop had a long dock for an overnight stop with Power included so that we could run our AC for a while and cool off. We also had the good fortune to run into 2 other boats with local folks just starting their vacation down the Rideau to the St. Lawrence. Camelot and us enjoyed many laughs with them as we sat on a picnic table that we pulled between our boats on the dock. It was great to share stories and exchange some differences between out two neighboring countries.
Our last day on the Rideau was short, but still had 7 locks. Two right away as we left upper Brewers, then a short ride to lower Brewers. Again, lots of shallow water even in what appeared to be a giant lake. It was really an old river bed with the shallow land around it flooded with the complex damn and lock systems to keep the Rideau navigable. The Kingston Mills Locks were the last of the Rideau and certainly not the easiest, even after all the practice we’ve had. The series of 4 locks dropped us a total of 45 feet, and combined with a stiff breeze, and a full lock with 5 boats each time, we had little room for error and needed to tie up in a tight spot at the front of the lock and quickly exit and re-tie into the next one. With a shallow clearance for the cement wall under water, we spoke to the lock mast regarding our 4.5′ draft and he added extra water to the locks for us. Of course, this meant we were about an inch from the top of the side lock wall. Also, it almost makes an infinity pool out of the lock since the water falls over the edges of the lock gates. It is quite the illusion that we may float over the edge. Alas, we made it thru the last one and the short ride into Kingston where we tied up at the Confederation Basin Municipal Marina for a three night stay to enjoy the city and rest up for our next journey into the Trent Severn Canal.
