August 31 – Merrickville Haul Out
44°55′7″ N 75°50′5″ W

All good things must come to an end – and so it is for my adventures on Santosha this summer.

I was up early this morning to finish my pre-haul out chores. I wanted to get certain things done before the boat was out of the water & sitting on jackstands – simply because it is way easier getting stuff off the boat when it is on the dock compared to going up & down a ladder 10 or 20 times.

Photo below: cool mist on the water this morning – fall is in the air

All the remaining groceries are off the boat as well as my clothing, etc. Whatever is left on board can stay there for the winter.

Santosha was hauled out at 10:00am, the bottom power-washed & she was sitting on blocks & jackstands by noon.

Once that was done I went on back on board to shut off the batteries, seal up all the windows on the inside & put the winter window covers on the outside. All that remains to be done is to winterize the engine & the plumbing. I will be coming back this way around the end of September & will do those final tasks then.

I have also arranged for a mechanic to come & look at the bow thruster. Once the boat was out of the water I was able to get a better look at the unit & it appears that the motor needs to be rebuilt. I will have that work done over the winter & it will be ready to be reinstalled early next spring in lots of time before launching in June.

This summer has been amazing. Traveling the Rideau System has been on my “bucket list” for over 10 years & it was well worth the wait. Tons of fun with family & friends & I’m looking forward to traveling the Trent-Severn Waterway next summer.

Photo below: Aylings Boatyard office – a beautiful stone building.

My nephew Wayne came to pick me up in Merrickville & took me back to his place in Ottawa for an overnight stay in a “real” bed. I’ll take the train home to London tomorrow.

Cheers Everyone!

August 30 – Aylings Marina Merrickville
44°55′7″ N 75°50′5″ W

Wednesday night before I went to bed I had a number of visitors on the dock with me at Kilmarnock. About 20 people in 2 large canoes were portaging around the lock & they were paddling 150 kilometers non-stop from near Kingston to Ottawa as a fund raising event to send kids to camp.

The group hoped to be in Ottawa by 4:00 Thursday afternoon. You can find out more about their cause & to make a donation at this website: www.sth.gouldlake.ca

After all of that excitement I had a good night’s sleep & was up at 6:00am. I was underway by 7:30am & arrived at the upper lock in Merrickville just before 9:00.

The boatyard where I was going to have Santosha hauled out & stored for the winter was just a few hundred meters away from the 3rd & lowest lock in Merrickville.

I tied Santosha up at the waiting area & walked down to the boatyard. The owners told me that they could not haul me out today but they could look after me first thing Friday morning. They also had dock space available for me to tie up right away so I went down through the locks & over to the boatyard.

Photo below: Santosha going through the last set of locks for this season 🙁

Aylings Boatyard has been in business for over 20 years. The current owners used to live in London. They specialize in restoring wooden boats & have some beauties on their docks.

After admiring the boats moored I spent the rest of the day preparing Santosha for the haul out. I took the cover off the bimini & folded up the frame for winter storage. After that was done I cleaned the heads & drained all of the plumbing.

Photo below: Santosha with the bimini down for the winter.

That was a fair bit of work so I thought I would switch to disposing of the cold beer in the fridge. A great way to end the day!

Cheers!