CRUISING THE CHARMING RIDEAU* CANAL

*(Pronounced REEdoe, rhymes with Speedo!)

6 AUGUST 2022 – Kingston, Ontario, Canada (NE corner of Lake Ontario)

The route the Rideau Canal follows has been in use since the beginning of recorded history. Native Americans used this route to get from the Ottawa River (current city of Ottawa) to Lake Ontario (city of Kingston), before Champlain traced the route in 1615. Opened in 1832, the Canal was “one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19^th century.” It was a major artery for regional commerce for a long time until the completion of the St. Lawrence canal system and the introduction of railways and steamboats. Now its 125-mile waterway “is a boater’s paradise” (100,000 pleasure boats a year), made up of a series of beautiful lakes and rivers connected by canals and locks. It is the oldest continuously operating canal in North America. Its other claim to fame is that, in the winter, it is the longest skating rink in the world!

                       

Almost all of the locks are still operated manually, just as they were 190 years ago, and most of its original technology is still intact. Parks Canada hires mostly college students to operate the valves and gates (and sometimes the swing bridges), and it’s fascinating to watch them crank the handles that move the chains through various gears. Through all 45 locks, we enjoyed their friendly and helpful assistance

                     

There are often tourists and locals watching the boats go through the locks (and sometimes you don’t realize they are there until the water rises enough to see over the top!). Some of them are very chatty and very curious about where we’re from (California?!?), where we’ve been and where we’re going. Most have never heard of America’s Great Loop. And, if they are local, we love how they light up when we tell them how fortunate they are to live in such a beautiful place. It’s very true!

Locks vary in height, with waters rising or falling from 4 to 50 feet. The average is about 22’. Sometimes it takes more than 30 minutes to go through each lock, depending on how short or tall it is (obviously it takes longer to fill and empty the tall ones) and how many boats are in the lock at one time. We didn’t realize this when we left Ottawa the first day (above)—it took us 9 hours to go 23 miles because there were 16 locks (often with 4-5 other boats) and a 6 mph speed limit the whole way in between! (S.L.O. Dancer certainly lived up to her name!) We did fine, but were pretty weary, so we stayed 2 nights at the next marina. We’ve really learned to pace ourselves and know to rest a bit after long/strenuous days. And now we also know not go through more than 6-7-8 locks per day! Here are a few pictures from the locks, etc.

SIDE NOTE: Lots of women wear tank tops & shorts while boating. After decades of California sun exposure and several skin cancers, you can see above that I choose to wear a hat, long pants and long-sleeved shirts. And, our rule is that whenever we’re on the decks and underway, we wear a life jacket. It’s all part of our self-care!  🙂 P.S. Can you find Gary? He’s in the yellow shirt over my shoulder, tending the aft line!

Most of the Rideau winds its way through farmlands, swamplands and lovely vacation areas, with an abundance of trees. The weeping willows are quite lovely. We now know that many Canadians (and Americans) vacation here. In Canada they call it “cottaging.” We also found out that a “cottage” here describes a home “larger than a cabin” that is on or very near the water. We’d never heard of this before, have you? When not cruising through narrow channels or skirting islands, we saw lots of large lawns, parks, beaches and other play areas along the water’s edge, as well as lots of kayakers, fishermen and small power boats. We even saw a few seaplanes! We’ve also noticed that on ALL the rivers we’ve been on in both Quebec and Ontario, red Adirondack chairs are quite prevalent.

           

During the first few days of our week of traveling down the Rideau we didn’t see much wildlife beyond ducks and seagulls. Oh wait, of course! We’ve seen several flocks of Canada (!!!) Geese! A huge flock flew over us midway through the Canal. Sometimes they hang out on the lawns around the locks, and we especially enjoyed a large group that paddled by us at one of the marinas.

We’re very pleased to report that during the last two days on the Rideau we saw lots of loons! It was hard to photograph them because they are very skittish and, once our boat got close, they quickly disappeared under water. We also came upon a heron on one of our docks and later a mama and papa swan and their two teenage signets who came quite close to our boat. Very fun! There are also several elegant white swans here at the marina at Kingston.

          

We’ve now gone through a total of 110 locks and are getting quite good at entering, securing our lines to the lock wall then casting off to exit. All part of the adventure and no longer out of our/my comfort zone! Yippee!!! 

All in all, I think we both agree that the Rideau Canal has been one of our favorite parts of this Great Loop Adventure…beautiful, peaceful, soothing…with lots of happy and friendly people—Park Canada employees, boaters and locals. It’s a very stress-free and a wonderful way to travel from Ottawa to Lake Ontario.

Our next big adventure is the Trent-Severn Waterway, which goes from nearby Trenton all away across the top of Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay—another “one of the most beautiful places” on the Loop. It will probably take us about two weeks or so…there are 44 locks along this 240-mile waterway. We continue to be so grateful that we’re on the perfect boat for us and are doing so well. S.L.O Dancer is just the right size for this trip and just keeps purring along…and so do we! Stay tuned for our next report from Georgian Bay.’