Day 55- Smiths Falls lock 31 to Burritts lock 17


Ah, Smith's Falls!  The confusion!   The rain!  The cold!  I'm sure it's a nice town, but we didn't get to see much of it, hunkered down as we were.  Worse yet, we were moored under a tree which simultaneously blocked our Starlink internet and dropped a gazillion little green things on us.

Surely, I protest too much.  With a lessening of the drizzle, we were able to hoof it to Walmart and back, gathering up the few essentials that we needed.  This could be done in the morning because the Parks Canada (that's "Parcs Canada" for the kweebeckers who can't figure out English) - anyway, the Parks Canada locks keep banker's hours, not starting until 1000.  They expand those hours in a week to open at 0900.  In our case the 1000 locking didn't really start until 1045.  I was ready for lunch!  We had a fair distance we wanted to travel and a late start didn't help.  Couple this with the fact that they fold up their tent at 1600, which translates to a 1530 mandatory show time to lock through at a destination,  it makes for a complicated day.  Oh, yes, many of the areas are either "No Wake" zones or have a posted speed limit of the blistering 10KpH. (6.6 mph)

I keep reminding myself that we are not in a hurry.  We can't be.  The system won't allow it.

The dreaded "LeBoat" rental boats.  You can rent one of these things with absolutely zero boating experience after a 15 minute indoctrination by somebody.

Narrow channels and the two rentals boats.

Here are two "Le Boat" things performing some sort of mating ritual.  These things have a diesel engine, but all it really does is drive a hydraulic pump.  The bow and stern thrusters as well as the main propellor, are all hydraulic.  Reaching a blistering speed of 7.4knots, they are ponderous. They are festooned with bolted on fenders, with more hanging on to boot.  I've seen tug boats with less bumper protection.  Good for them, since the boats won't be damaged by the collisions.  You can't say as much for folks like us, should these things decide to attack us.

Another rental, a small houseboat. Believe it or not, this outfit requires you to have some boating experience.  Specifically, operating a boat with a steering wheel and a shifter.

It was a ways away, but appeared to be an osprey.

The water was high and the rental boat is close behind.

Brrrrrrrrr, look at all the layers. It was only 53 degrees this morning.

I noticed white bird poo on the line I was handling and realized that what I thought was a rain drop on my headset... was NOT!!

This canoe appeared to be ready do a portage.

A man, about 75ish, stopped fishing and pulled the canoe and 
back pack by while carrying a full pack.

First horses we have seen on this canal system.

Moo.


Cute little bridge. We had to wait for it to open. 
Check out the next video of the man-power required t open it.
 

This Rideau Canal never ceases to amaze us.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheryl comments in this font
Paul comments in this font





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Year End Summary

Image
  Wow! Amazing! Incredible! Life changing, maybe not. Life changing is a comment that several people have made about this trip. But, we have learned that they had never lived on a boat before. They had hardly ever planned a route, anchored, docked, slept at anchor, handled lines, encountered weather and done all the things that Paul and I took for granted because we had both done many times in the past.  For this we are both thankful for the history we brought into this trip.  Paul's knowledge and past experience and research made the trip safe, fun and easy. Was it a once in a lifetime trip, YES! We met a lot of very friendly folks. Ate a lot of really good food. Laughed our way around the miles.  Saw so many sights we have to look back on this blog to remember them all. Any way about it we are part of a very small group of people to do this trip. I will be eternally grateful to Paul for inviting me to join him on the Loop. It was a simple question.  "Do you wa...
Read more

Almost READY

Thanks for stopping by to check on our progress on the Great Loop. This is Cheryl writing today. Grady, the gray house/boat cat is now on board and getting adjusted to the new sites, smells and sounds. The plan is to depart the dock on Wednesday morning! Seems like we have been planning for a while and are almost ready to go. Tonight will be the first night sleeping on board. So far the boat is very well equipped and comfortable. Paul has done an excellent job of seeing that it is ready. For those who want more information on the Great Loop click on this to go to the FAQ section of the official site AGCLA. Check back for the next blog after we are underway. Let the fun begin!!
Read more

Days 184-186- October 17, 18, & 19 Iuka, MS to Midway Marina, Fulton, MS to Columbus, MS

Image
Tennessee River, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Tombigbee River A 525-mile long river that flows through the states of Mississippi and Alabama. The name Tombigbee, comes from the Choctaw word for "coffin makers," referring to tribesmen who prepared the dead.  Welcome to fall on the rivers!  Chilly nights and relatively warm water means fog, fog fog.  The treetops could be in sunshine, but that first 40 feet above the water reminds me of Maine. Tippy toe slow, radar on, autopilot driving on a route.   As the first hour or so passes, the sun does the job. That bird ever so kindly flew across the sun as I took the photo. Yay, it is burning off. Well, maybe not quite yet! Ok, now it's gone for the day. ...and then, one more patch of it. These structures show you where a river or a creek  enters the waterway from a higher elevation.  The 'teeth' break up the flow of water so it doesn't cause a problem in the channel.  All the ones we saw were dry, but spring ...
Read more