July 17 – Kemptville
45°4′8″ N 75°38′9″ W

What a difference a day makes…..

As the song goes, 24 little hours can significantly change your perspective….

Yesterday did not end well. I was really disappointed that we could not get an overnight dock with electricity & we ended up in a very pretty but bug infested space. And, on top of everything else, it was stinking hot & humid. Probably the worst heat day I had had on the entire trip so far. Somebody could have bought Santosha for a bargain price last night!

This morning was a new day. The sunrise was beautiful & there was a gentle cool breeze over the water.

While we were headed down the river towards Ottawa I called the Home Hardware store in Kemptville & managed to get them to reserve for me the last 20 inch box fan they had. We immediately altered our day’s objective destination to be Pirate Cove Marina, which is just on the outskirts of the town.

I was a happy guy, looking forward to hours of enjoyment in front of that fan! The fact that we ran aground for a minute while trying to enter the marina’s exceptionally narrow & shallow channel didn’t even phase me that much. Santosha’s propeller in full reverse made short work of that muddy bottom. Nothing was going to keep me from getting the last available box fan in Eastern Ontario!

Photo above: the channel to Pirate Cove Marina.

After getting diesel, a pump out & fresh water we moved Santosha over to a docking slip for the night & had a taxi take us into town to pick up the fan. While we were there we stopped at a local pub & had a great lunch with a big, cold draft beer. Then back to the marina to try out the new fan.

Ironically, the heat wave seems to have subsided a bit. There is a nice breeze coming off the river into the marina – dramatically different from last night.

I also managed to get the air conditioning working on the boat. It runs well on shore power but unfortunately it demands just a bit too much power for the Honda generator. Oh well, that box fan will do the job nicely, thank you very much. 🙂

With things going so well I decided that it would be a good time to defrost the fridge. It’s ability to make a sufficient supply of ice cubes each day was diminishing & that simply would not do! It was a hard job watching the fridge defrost but sitting in front of my new fan with a G&T in hand helped a lot.

After defrosting the fridge Catherine & I had a great supper & we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. If you are interested in buying Santosha, call me back in about 10 years!

What a difference a day makes: http://youtu.be/OmBxVfQTuvI

Cheers!

July 16 – Smiths Falls to Merrickville
55′5″ N 75°49′57″ W

After spending a relaxing night at Kenny Hotel in Jones Falls we headed back to the boat in Smiths Falls. En route we took a slight side trip to Chaffeys Lock & had breakfast at the Opinicon Lodge. Very nice! For sure we will come back there sometime to stay for a night or two.

Upon arriving back in Smiths Falls we stopped at the local grocery store for a few provisions & then boarded Santosha & resumed our boating adventure to Ottawa.

Photo above: the shoreline landscape along this part of the Rideau River is predominantly wetlands.

Photo above: entrance to a narrow channel cut before one on the locks en route to Merrickville.

Photo above: preparing to exit a lock after we have been lowered. Wait for both doors to open!

We were aiming for the Parks Canada overnight docks in Merrickville but unfortunately they were all full when we got there at 3:00pm.

The lockmaster kindly offered to let us stay on the “blue line”* wall for the night but we chose to continue on through the next 3 locks in the town & then tie up for the night at the overnight section of the dock.

(The “blue line”* is the area in front of each lock where boats are normally allowed to only tie up for very short periods of time while they are waiting their turn to go through the locks.)

We found a very nice spot at the foot of the 3rd lock & tied up there for the night. Unfortunately there was no wind at all & it was extremely hot & muggy. I set up the Honda generator so we could at least run some electric fans. They helped a little bit but they were too small & we couldn’t leave the generator running all night.

I looked on line to try to find a store in the area with a 20 inch box fan but everyone in the Ottawa-Smith Falls area was sold out! Heat waves create big demands for electric fans & air conditioners & winter snowstorms create a demand for snowblowers!

Tomorrow I would be on a mission to find a store with a box fan. I want that particular type of fan because we can place it in the forward hatch & use it to draw cool air in or to push out the hot air inside the boat.

Cheers!

July 15 – Kenny Hotel
44°32′41″ N 76°14′9″ W

Today is Catherine’s birthday! Happy Birthday, my dear.

We started the day tied up on the lower lock wall at Poonamalie. We were just a few miles from Smiths Falls so we decided to only have coffee on board & then head towards the next lock & tie up there because our docking spot was just a few steps away from the Roosteraunt We could have a nice breakfast there. Plus, our cars were parked nearby.

Valerie & David had a little surprise waiting for Catherine when she got up.

Breakfast at the Roosteraunt was great & the place was full by the time we left to go back to the boat.

Today was also the day that Valerie & David had to return home to London. We had quite a few adventures & saw a lot of interesting places in the short time they were with us. We look forward to them booking another cruise with “Mis-Adventure” cruise lines next season!

Since today was Catherine’s birthday I told her that she could do anything she wanted for the first part of the day. There was a quilt show on at the community arena so we decided to head over there & check it out. We expected to find about 10-15 quilts on display made by 4-5 ladies….. not so!

As soon as we saw the first quilt on display we realized that these people were super serious about their work.

There must have been about 200 quilts on display & the people & the exhibition filled the arena.

There were quilts with patterns of all kinds

I liked the one the photo below in particular.

We spent several hours at the quilt show & then headed back to the boat to pack some belongings for our overnight stay at Kenny Hotel at Jones Falls. We were both looking forward to a nice shower or bath & to sleeping in a “real” bed.

It took us about 7 hours to travel by boat from Smiths Falls to Jones Falls. Today we covered the same distance in about 30 minutes in our car.

Hotel Kenny was built in 1877’s & has lots of character.

We especially love the main lounge area & the enclosed front porch.

Both spaces seem to invite you to sit down & relax for a few hours.

We ordered a couple of glasses of chilled white wine & each took a comfy spot to enjoy the space.

Catherine found a recent newspaper & worked on the Sudoko. I read an interesting photo history book about the Rideau Canal.

After an hour we found the pace was a bit too slow (even for us) so we engaged each other in couple of games of Scrabble until it was time for dinner. For some reason I found myself wondering if venison was on the menu tonight.

We had a great dinner (salmon & steak) followed by a “surprise” piece of birthday cake with candles presented to Catherine by 3 singing staff members from the dining room.

All in all we had a great day. Tomorrow we return to the boat & resume our journey to Ottawa.

Cheers!

July 14 – Jones Falls to Poonamalie
44°52′36″ N 76°4′57″ W

We woke up this morning around 6:00am to rain showers. It rained lightly for about an hour & then poured for 10-15 minutes. After that the clouds broke up & the rain stopped. We took advantage of the situation & had a leisurely breakfast with extra coffee.

We left the dock at 9:15 & headed towards our next destination. The route was familiar now as this was the 3rd time in less than 10 days that we had traveled through these particular waters.

After the rain the water was perfectly still & produced beautiful reflections on the water in front of us as we motored through the channels.

Once we got into open waters I convinced Valerie & David to each take a brief turn at the wheel.

They both looked like they belonged there!

After passing through the lock at Newboro we stopped for lunch & then got back underway. The clouds had really spread out & it was getting pretty hot. We were passing through Lower Rideau Lake, about an hour from the lock at Poonamalie. There were lots of boats on the water & many people were swimming in the lake to cool down so we decided to do the same thing.

I moved the boat well outside the navigation channel, shut down the engine & we all jumped in. There was no wind so the boat was hardly drifting. But, just in case, I tied a life ring to the back of the boat, tossed it in the water & we all stayed within a few strokes of the floating line.

Fully refreshed we climbed back on board & resumed our journey to Poonamalie. When we arrived at the lock there were no spaces on the overnight wall on the upper side so we locked down & tied up for the night on the lower wall.

After a long day on the water & a swim we were now all looking forward to supper. David cooked two big pork tenderloins on the BBQ & Catherine & Valerie prepared the side dishes.

We have been eating very well on this cruise. Nobody is going to go hungry!

Tomorrow we will only have a few miles to go to reach Smith Falls.

Cheers!

July 13 – Return to Jones Falls
44°32′49″ N 76°14′20″ W

We spent Thursday night tied to the Parks Canada Wall. The crew was up for coffee & breakfast at 7:00am.

The first lock opening was at 9:00am so we moved closer to the lock entrance & tied up temporarily on the blue line behind another boat that was waiting to go in the lock as well. By the time the lock gates were opening there were two more boats wanting to enter the lock.

This was Valerie & David’s first time in the locks so Catherine & I showed them “the ropes” – or how to handle the lines.

After we exited the lock we were on our way. Our guests only had 3 days to spend with us so decided to try to get as far as the upper lock at Jones Falls. This is a really nice trip with lots of variety in the landscape & the waters we were traveling.

Considering it was Friday the 13th everything was going smoothly until we entered one of the winding narrow channels & Valerie’s “Tilly” hat blew off. There were no other boats in sight so I decided to have a “man-overboard” drill. I stopped the boat at made a 180 degree turn while Catherine & Valerie prepared to try & scoop the hat out of the water & David kept watch for other approaching boats. We were lucky enough to retrieve the hat on the first pass. Another 180 degree turn & we were back on our way! I would have like to have taken some photos of the crew in action but maneuvering the boat in such tight quarters demanded all of my attention.

We arrived at Jones Falls just before 5:00pm & were lucky enough to be able to tie up at the very same spot where Catherine & Emily & I were just a few days earlier.

After a refreshing swim & a few Radlers we were all looking forward to dinner. David was in charge of the BBQ again while Catherine & Valerie prepared the veggies.

After another great meal we walked down past the 3 step locks & on to the Hotel Kenny. I reserved a room for Catherine & I for Sunday night (Catherine’s birthday) & made sure that the room had a bathtub in it – explaining to the front desk clerk that we have been on a boat for the past two weeks & were looking forward to a luxurious long soaking!

On our way back to the dock we were pestered by black flies so we had to retreat inside the boat.

I set Valerie up with our Bluetooth speaker & we listened to her music playlist while we were gamming by candlelight.

Finally it was time for bed.

All in all, Friday the 13th turned out to be a great day!

Cheers!