July 21 & 22 – Merrickville to Smiths Falls

Edmonds Lock (North of Smiths Falls)

44°52′40″ N 75°59′2″ W

Sunday, July 21 was my first day traveling on the water. I left Aylings Boatyard around noon & headed for the Merrickville Locks. The new bow thruster got a small workout as I passed through the locks & it worked like a charm.

(Photo above taken the day before – Jaden helped me put up the bimini & he got a chance to see the results of all his hard labour cleaning & polishing the hull)

A few days earlier I had made arrangements to meet two prospective buyers from the Montreal area on July 23 so they could see Santosha on the water & to go for a brief ride/“sea trial”.

Edmonds Lock is just north of Smiths Falls with a couple of kilometers of water to reach the next lock. I decided it would be a good location to meet.

I arrived at Edmonds around 3:00pm & the Lockmaster gave me a very nice spot to tie up for the night.

I spent the rest of the afternoon & all evening cleaning up the inside of the boat. More dust & grime to deal with – will it ever end?

In the midst of all the chaos on board I set aside some time for a big G&T & to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

That’s much better – Cheers!