Overnight at Poonamalie

44°53′34″ N 76°3′20″ W

I left Newboro shortly after 8:00am. It was a beautiful sunny morning & a good time to be passing through the narrow downstream cut before a lot of boating traffic got started. This first few kilometers through the cut is spectacular but I wouldn’t want to meet anyone who was going too fast coming the other way.

Here’s a link to a short video that I took towards the end of the cut: https://youtu.be/6YSmhf27auQ

The Rideau System from Newboro to Ottawa is all “downhill” – meaning that every lock from this point on takes you down to a slightly lower elevation. Locking down is much easier than locking up, especially if you are by yourself.

Rain was once again forecast for later in the afternoon so I was hoping to make it to Poonamalie Lockstation before the weather turned bad.

After passing through The Narrows Lock there is a long passage through the chain of Rideau lakes: Upper Rideau Lake, Big Rideau Lake & Lower Rideau Lake.

I really like this part of the passage & because the water is wide, deep & weed free there are lots of great places to simply stop the boat & jump in to cool off on a hot day. There are also lots of cottages plus some pretty substantial homes to admire.

This place (below) has two float planes & a huge motorhome. Talk about having all the toys! But think about all the work that has to be done to look after all of it. I think I will remain content with Santosha.

I arrived at Poonamalie shortly after 12 noon & the rain started around 2:00 & continued on & off until about 8:00pm. I was glad to not have to travel through the soggy weather but was a bit surprised as to how many other boaters did not stop.

Cheers!

2nd night at Newboro

44°38′45″ N 76°19′16″ W

The weather forecast for today was mostly rain with possible thunderstorms so I decided to stay put in Newboro.

The Kawartha Voyager came into the lock shortly after 9:00am, headed towards Kingston. There is lots of room on board the KV & the top deck is well covered so a little bit of rain didn’t seem to be bothering the passengers too much.

I was confined to the inside of Santosha so my options for things to do were considerably limited. With a little spurt of ambition I organized the pantry & the pots ‘n pans drawers & then I cleaned the bathrooms.

My sister Jane had told me that Curt Miller, a friend from public school days in St. Andrews had dropped in to see her & to ask how he could get in touch with me. He lives in BC now & was in New Brunswick visiting family. I haven’t seen Curt since grade 6, but I won’t bother trying to figure out how long ago that was (1963??).

I called Curt & we had a great conversation catching up with each other for about 1/2 an hour. Hopefully we will be able to connect up when he & his wife are driving back to BC in early September.

After our phone call “reunion” there was still lots of rain coming down so I spent some time studying up on the Rideau System & planning my strategy for the next couple of days.

All those activities tired me out so a nap was next on the agenda.

After my nap I called Catherine & we got caught up with all the stuff going on at home & abroad (here). She is planning to join me for a couple of weeks so I’d better start getting my act together.

Tonight I’m going to watch a classic movie on my iPad – Pulp Fiction. I’m having a bit of a Quinten Tarantino movie festival in the evenings – watching movies that Catherine is not particularly interested in seeing. Lotsa’ big name actors in it. Hopefully I can get to sleep OK after this one.

Cheers!

Overnight at Newboro

44°38′45″ N 76°19′16″ W

Tuesday was a pretty quiet day – except for the lightning strike… ⛈🙀… more on that in a minute.

Monday afternoon after Wayne & Jaden headed back to Ottawa I had some boaters join me on the dock at Jones Falls. Kent, Vicky & their dog Aspen are from the Perth area (photo below) & are traveling to Kingston & the St. Lawrence River on their pontoon boat. They have it neatly set up for both day travel & overnight stays.

Later in the evening we got together for a nightcap & a gam session, trading stories of our boating adventures over some Margaritas. I really enjoy meeting people on the water. Almost everyone is relaxed, friendly & focused on having a good time. Kent, Vicky & Aspen certainly fit into that category.

This morning I resumed my journey north. I was tempted to stop for a while in California but I didn’t have my passport with me so I continued on my way to Newboro lock, arriving there at noon.

I was a bit hungry & there was a storm in the forecast for the afternoon so I decided that this would the place to stop for the night. That turned out to be a good decision.

The sun was shining until about 2:00 & then it started to rain. Then the wind came up strong along with thunder & lightning. I was sitting inside Santosha watching the storm when all of a sudden there was a massive bang & a “fireworks” display started coming from the transformer on a hydro pole about 50 feet away from where I was tied up. Needless to say, that generated quite a bit of excitement on the dock!

Thankfully the storm didn’t last very much longer & a couple of hours later a utility crew arrived to repair the transformer.

More rain & thunderstorms are forecast for Wednesday so I think I’ll stay put for another day. Hopefully lightning won’t strike twice in the same place.

Cheers!

Back on the dock for another night at Jones Falls

44°32′49″ N 76°14′20″ W

Today was a small round trip day. My nephew Wayne & his son (my grand-nephew Jaden – aka “Master Boat Detailer”) drove down to Jones Falls from Ottawa & we took Santosha up to Chafey’s Lock.

Wayne was quick to learn the ropes in the lock!

We had lunch at the Opinicon, had a little tour around the property & then went to the local LCBO to replenish my stock of Radlers.

After that Jaden bought a round of ice cream cones & we boarded Santosha & headed back towards Jones Falls.

As the last day of the long weekend there was lots of “cottager” boat traffic on the water today. Anything & everything was on the water today. Even the swans!

You couldn’t have bought better weather for the long weekend in this part of Ontario.

Wayne & Jaden each took a turn at the helm. Unfortunately they had to be back in Ottawa by 6:00pm so they weren’t able to stay for supper. Too bad, I was going to dip into my special reserve of Spam & treat them to my special BBQ Spam Steak recipe. Oh well, I’m sure the Spam will keep ‘till the next time.

Cheers!

Overnight at Jones Falls

44°32′49″ N 76°14′20″ W

I was up at 5:30am this morning & made a hearty breakfast of bacon & eggs. Santosha was tied up close to shore on a long finger dock so all of the other boaters on the dock had to walk past my galley window on their way to the washrooms. As a result I was greeted with lots of smiles & friendly comments.

Jones Falls was almost 28 kilometers away so I wanted to get an early start. I pulled away from the dock shortly after 7:00 & was treated to a cool morning with no rain in the forecast. It was really refreshing after all the past heat & humidity. There were lots of fishermen out along the way trying their luck.

I was making good progress until I got to Brass Point shortly after 8:00. There were already a few boats hanging around the swing bridge across the channel & it took me a few minutes to realize that we were all way too early because the bridge didn’t start opening for boating traffic until 9:00 – in about 45 minutes. Oh well, that’s more time for another cup of coffee & a snack!

Just before boaters arrive at Jones Falls they are treated to a bit of a “folly”. An enterprising cottager went to a great deal of effort to position a small sailboat on the edge of a small cliff & then he put the sails up! It’s quite a sight. I will try to get a better picture the next time I go past.

I arrived at the lower lock at Jones Falls around 11:00. There were already about 10 boats in the queue to go up & there are 4 consecutive locks here so I was probably going to have to wait almost 2 hours for my turn. Oh well, time for more coffee & lunch!

Finally, around 1:30 it was my turn to go up the locks.

At last I reached the top lock & managed to tie up for the night at my favorite spot. Time to celebrate with a tall Margarita! Here’s the recipe:

Be careful – you will often find that one of these quickly leads to another! And be sure you use Sanpellegrino Grapefruit drink. It makes all the difference! Many thanks to Brent & Rachel Temmer for sharing this treat with me.

Cheers!