The Rideau and onto the Start of the Trent Severn Waterway
June 25, 2025
Left the town dock in Merrickville about 7:30 and headed towards our first of several locks of the day; 9 to be exact along with a couple of swing bridges. When we approached our first lock, Conrad and Amy of Solitude were tied up at the dock wall waiting to go through. They had spent the night on the dock wall. Solitude kept us company through all 9 locks. We crossed several large lakes, but very shallow water. The channels were really well marked, though coming out one lock, Lauren almost missed our channel; too busy swatting dear flies – we were inundated with them. About 3:30 we dropped anchor behind Loon Island in Upper Rideau Lake. First thing we did after dropping anchor was to take a dip in the lake; so refreshing! While Lauren was preparing dinner, we heard a loon; love the loons! There are numerous camps on shore opposite of Loon Island, but overall, it’s pretty quiet and peaceful.
Tomorrow we will again be transiting several locks on our way down to Kingston; the locks are getting a bit old. Brian just read that we have 45 locks to contend with in the Trent-Severn Waterway; can’t wait!
June 26, 2025
Last night after one last dip, we sat out on the after deck to dry off and watched two loons. We heard them cry out a few times; love that sound. Even though our anchorage was quiet and calm, Lauren did not sleep well and was a bit tired this morning.
This morning after a hearty fruit-filled oatmeal breakfast, we pulled anchor at 8 am and headed out. Entering our very first lock of the day, we saw the boat, Le Balladier. We had previously transited a few locks with them. They are French-Canadian and do not speak English or very, very little; between Brian’s limited French and the owner of Le Balladier’s limited English, we still managed to have some communication with them. The day was overcast and cool which was a welcome relief after that run of hot, humid weather. Today we had ten locks to contend with. With all of these locks, we started at the top of the lock and rode down; so much easier, smoother and quicker that all other locks that we’ve transited. Along the way, we saw a young beaver cross our bow, several herons and swans and we finally saw our first turtles here in Canada. About 3:30 we passed through our last lock of the day and tied up to the dock wall just outside the lock. Conrad and Amy of Solitude were already here tied up to the dock; we said hello. So, for the 7 ½ hours of travel time, we only went 21 miles because of all the locks. Today we or should we say, the boat received quite a few compliments. We think the color scheme plays a large part of that, plus it is a nice-looking trawler. Tomorrow, we are finishing the Rideau Waterway and will be in Kingston for a few days in a marina – yeah! The weather is predicted to be rainy, but it won’t stop us from exploring the town. Last night after dinner, Lauren made her peanut sauce for tonight’s dinner. She partially cooked minced veggies and added them to rice noodles mixed with the peanut sauce – delicious!
Brian reading: Cross Fire by James Patterson
Lauren: still stuck on People’s History of the US – though, she’s making progress; only 152 pages left
June 27, 2025
After a quiet night on the lock wall and a light breakfast, Lauren vacuumed and Lysol wiped down quite a bit of the inside of the boat; it’s just amazing how dirty it gets. Finally, we headed out on our last leg of the Rideau Canal. Along the way, we saw hundreds of swans; the most we’ve ever seen. Back home, we rarely see them.
In another area, we passed a rock outcrop covered in Cormorants and seagulls; it reminded us of a place we use to sail pass in Salem Harbor – we called that rock, Poop Rock for obvious reasons; the smell even from afar if the wind was coming at you was rather potent – fond memories – lol.
It was about 10 miles to our 4-step lock (4 locks back-to-back). We were surprised to see Le Baladier tied up to the dock wall. They started out quite a bit earlier than us and we assumed they would have already been through the locks. A little under two miles later, we parted ways with Le Baladier here in Kingston; they are heading to the Thousand Islands. We arrived at Kingston Marina and had to back into our slip. All was going fairly well, until Lauren gave the backup throttle a bit too much power and hit (thankfully, not at all hard) the dinghy on the dock. It certainly sounded way worse than it was. The edge of the dock had an aluminum flashing that rattled. Of course, it freaked Lauren out and she was rather upset, thinking she may have caused damage to either our boat or the dock. Thankfully, neither was the case, though it took a few minutes for Lauren to calm herself. On the upside, there were no lookie-loos – lol. We took a walk into town (no more than a ½ mile) and found a place for lunch; Lauren ordered an Irish Coffee that hit the spot along with a Blue Burger (had blue cheese on it); she said it was really tasty. When we left the restaurant, it was raining, so we ducked into a grocery store and bought fresh produce. Brian tried using his debit card and yet again it was denied. He’s already called our bank four times to let them know we are in Canada through about September 1. We had high hopes with the last representative that he talked to said we were okay to use the card; apparently not. Brian also said that it was declined at the marina; at least we have backups, but, geesh, how many times do we have to call regarding this issue.
Back on board, Lauren put away groceries and started the prep work for a potato salad (plus 2 extra potatoes for hash browns) and Brian went below deck and changed out the oil. The part of the marina we are docked in is for mostly working trawlers; doesn’t matter to us. Later in the afternoon, the winds picked up substantially. Our boat and the dive boat next to us were bumping. Thankfully, we both had fenders; the dive boat’s fenders were tires. Brian added more lines to the other side of the boat to the dock. The dock we occupy is actually too short for our boat, so quite a challenge in getting the lines just right to keep us from jockeying around. The winds were rather strong and pushing us away from the dock into the dive boat. This of course, made it difficult pulling the boat into the dock and securing the lines. Once done, we felt better and a more secure in our slip. We are happy to stop for a few days and see the sights. Even Heidi knows when we are in a place that she can get off the boat to do her business.
In this marina boats there’s a business called Metal Craft Marine. They work on and build aluminum boats for places like the U.S. Coast Guard and the Boston Fire Department. We enjoyed our brief stay in Kingston; lots of restaurants and a clean city.
Yesterday, Heidi gave us a scare. She always stays on the upholstered bench behind the captain’s chair when we travel. If it’s a long day, we will lift her down so she can do her business on her pee pad and get a drink, then she comes right back up to the nav station and she is put back up on the bench and lays on her blanket. She has never tried to get off; it is a 41” drop. Well, she jumped off and came out onto the side deck and went forward to Brian where he was tending a line for one of the locks. We can’t believe she didn’t break a leg. She gave us quite a scare, but she didn’t seem at all phased by it and sat next to Brian until we were done with the lock. Today, going through the locks, Lauren, before going out to tend her stern line, gave Heidi a stern warning to not get off and to “lay down” which she did.
June 28, 2025
Happy Birthday, Cait!! It rained a bit all night and the winds never died down. We took a walk into town for breakfast and sauntered around a bit; found a wonderful bakery and bought a nice large loaf of sour dough bread. It was a pleasant surprise to see that our debit card is finally working here in Canada; Brian had to call the bank again yesterday regarding our issue – 4th time. Back on board, Lauren took Heidi out for a walk along the river. This afternoon we spent catching up on bills and reading. Mid-afternoon we took Heidi out again for another walk along the Cataraqui River. A large tract of land along the Rideau Canal has bike paths that are beautifully maintained. We came upon a pile of gravel on the side of our path with a sign informing us that these areas are for turtles to lay their eggs. Beside the section we walked was left for wild flowers to grow; a nice change from the usual mulch and annual. We saw numerous turtles and could hear lots of birds; it was an enjoyable walk, though the winds are still pretty strong. On the way back to our boat, we met Monique and Andrew. Their sailboat was docked a few slips from us. They were towed in because even though they were anchored with several other boats, they dragged when a front came through. They ended up on the rocks against the shore at about 4 in the morning. Out of the six boats anchored in the same area, three of them dragged and had to be towed off the shore. The coast guard towed Monique and Andrew’s boat into the Kingston Marina. They will be towed to a marina that can lift them out of the water to repair damage. They were very pleasant; it would have been enjoyable to travel with them.
6/29/25
Today we left the marina at 6:45. The workboat next to us left just prior to us, so getting out of our slip was easy and there was hardly any wind. The captain wished us well on our trip. The first bridge we encountered about 5 minutes out from the slip had a clearance of 15.5 feet; the height of our boat with the bimini, radar and mast down is 14 feet. It was a squeeker, according to Lauren. It was an uneventful cloudy and mild breeze for most of the day. While Brian was manning the helm, Lauren finally finished her book; A People’s History of the U.S. About 3 hours out from our destination at Trent Port Marina, the sun came out and the winds and waves picked up. It took us 9.5 hours, a distance of 61.6 nautical miles (70.88 miles) and at 6.5 knot average speed. We almost got waked pretty hard again, but Lauren turned the bow into the wake to ease the bouncing around. The winds didn’t abate which made Lauren a bit nervous going into the marina as we have a lot of free board and the wind pushes us around a bit, especially if you are slowing down and trying to maneuver into a tight space. Fortunately, the dock hand put us on an end dock – yeah; so, docking was pretty straight-forward.
While Brian was in the marina office, Lauren took Heidi out for a much-needed break. The marina has put the effort into making the grounds inviting; nice planting beds. The laundry machines are free and rumor has it the bathrooms are well-kept and clean. Lauren served home-made potato salad with steak tips and sauteed onion and mushrooms – yum!
Brian reading: Private by James Patterson
Lauren reading: Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child
Hope all is well and stay safe out there.