August 1 – Hartwells Locks
45°23′0″ N 75°41′58″ W

This morning our friends Barb & Bruce joined us on board Santosha. We had their cabin all ready for them – including a very special “Welcome Aboard” package.

After stowing their luggage we all headed off to the Byward Market fir some provisions. Bruce & I were in charge of procuring meat & bagels & Catherine & Barb had the fruit & veggie portfolio.

We will be eating very well over the next week for sure.

Time to cast off & start our adventure by heading up the Rideau Canal & River. But wait, there’s the Pretoria Lift Bridge ahead of us & it has stopped opening for 90 minutes to accommodate the noon hour traffic. So we took up positions on the flybridge & watched the world go by us on the streets above. I offered to serve up some Spamderves but everyone wanted to save enjoining that delight with a fine bottle of wine later in the week.

We finally cast off at 1:30 pm & headed towards our first lock. The tourist boat on the canal did not have to wait for the Pretoria bridge to lift. With only 10 feet of clearance under the bridge & our height of 17 feet we had to wait for the operator to raise it a few more feet before we could pass under.

Not too sure how far we were going to get today. It was now starting to cloud over pretty heavily & other boaters would be stopping soon to avoid traveling in the rain.

While we were passing through the Hartwells Locks I asked the lock master if he knew if any overnight dock spaces were available at Black Rapids. Unfortunately they were full up so we decided that Hartwells would be our resting place for tonight.

Time to secure Santosha to the dock & open the bar! We just got nicely set up with our drinks & the rain started, so our timing was right on. We enjoyed our beverages under the flybridge bimini cover & planned our evening.

Barb set up a relay system to get everything to our dining tables on the flybridge.

After a great meal we all pitched in for the cleanup & then enjoyed a couple of card games for the evening’s entertainment.

All in all, a great start to our adventure. Tomorrow we head towards Kemptville.

Cheers!