August 15 – Long Island Locks
45°15′1″ N 75°42′9″ W

We were up at 7:30 this morning & had breakfast over by 9:00 – in case the lock master decided to bring us up first. Unfortunately, we had to wait for boats to come down, so we didn’t get underway until 10:30. This was a slow start to our day.

Once we were in the locks Ed had his “baptism by fire” – 8 locks in a row.

Ed had his hands full, because we were the only boat in the locks & by the time we were traveling up they were lined with tourists & everyone was asking him questions about the boat & our trip.

Everyone had a few chuckles when we took pictures of people taking pictures of us.

By the time we got through the final lock it was past noon so we tied up on the wall downtown across from the National Arts Center, had lunch & then walked over to the Farm Boy store in the Rideau Centre for a few more provisions.

Then we were off again. I wanted to get as far as possible to make up for some lost time and we managed to get through the locks at Hartwell (double), Hogs Back (single), Black Rapids (single) & Long Island (triple). In total we managed to get through 15 locks today. That was enough for anyone. Well done, Ed. Time for a G&T!

We finished the afternoon with a refreshing swim off Santosha’s swim platform. The water was beautiful – 81 degrees F.

Thursday we have an early start & head for Merrickville.

Cheers!