July 26 – MacKinnon Reunion
Hartwell Locks – 45°22′60″ N 75°42′3″ W

I left Long Island Locks around 8:00am & headed towards Hartwell Locks – with a short stop at Black Rapids.

My cousins Heather (& husband Evan) and Brian (& wife Patsy) from Maxville were coming to spend some time with me today – so we were having a mini family reunion!

The last time we were all together on my boat was in 2010 on Ananda on the St. Lawrence River near Upper Canada Village.

We met up at Black Rapids Lock, went for lunch at a nearby restaurant & then returned to Santosha for a little cruise on the Rideau River towards downtown Ottawa.

Photo below: the gang at the end of our mini cruise – tied up at Hartwell

It was nice to have some sun & blue sky after all the rain we had over the previous 3 days.

Our mini cruise took us through the locks at Black Rapids, Hog’s Back & Hartwell. Evan & Brian were quick studies & handled the lines in the locks like they had been doing it for years!

Photo below: Brian on the bow line while locking up at Hartwell

We went through Dow’s Lake & headed towards downtown.

Photo below: approaching a new pedestrian bridge under construction across the canal

Unfortunately we ran out of time & had to turn around at the Pretoria Bridge because it stops swinging between 3:30 & 5:30 each day to avoid delays for car commuters crossing the bridge during rush hour.

Photo below: Brian & Patsy exchange waves with a tourist barge on the canal

We had a great time catching up with each other but we really have to make a point of getting together more often than once every 8 years.

Photo below: Heather & Evan relaxing on the flybridge

Cheers!