July 28, 2011 - Kingston, Ontario to Jones Falls, Ontario (Kenny Hotel dock)

The day before we spent walking around Kingston and taking a very interesting tour of Kingston City Hall. This whole area started as a fortress against the evil agressors the Americans in the mid 1800s. Last night we went to Fort Henry to see their sunset ceremonies, which was much more impressive than the ones we saw at Ticonderoga in 2009.

Kingston City Hall

Fort Henry, Kingston, Ontari 

I'm the tallest so I lead the parade

Fort Henry mascot, a freakin' goat

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Up early to get the first opening of the railroad bridge to get to the first lock (#46-49) on the Rideau Canal. We arrive at the railroad bridge just after 9:00 am to find it closing and that it is on an hourly opening schedule. We then saw there was a low bridge opening to get under the railroad which had an 18' clearance according to the nautical charts and 14; according to a flyer about the Rideau. I think (still not really sure) the antenna is between 12-13' so we give it a shot. Marge is watching as we crawl under it and they clear by less than a foot. Saves us an hour waiting.

"Grumpy" waiting patiently

The channel leaving the bridge is VERY narrow. The charts say there is 2 feet of water on either side of a channel marked about 150' between red and green bouys. This continues for long stretches until we reach the first Rideau canal locks. The Rideau Locks are very different than the NY State Erie canal locks in that they are shorter, only 100' long and probably 40' wide, whereas the NY locks are 300' by 45'.

Biggest difference is they use manual labor to let the water in and out of the locks, and to open the doors. They hire college kids who work like slaves running the locks at the direction of the lockmaster. They open and close the doors and other mechanism by devices that look like grinders on Americas Cup boats. Bottom line, you quickly get to appreciate the speed we entered and left the Erie Locks which have all been modernized along the way, whereas the Rideau is basically the way it was when completed in 1832.

We are coming out of one of the last locks we traveled today into the canal that is no more than 100' wide and into a sharp right turn, when a 52' Powerboat comes around the corner in the middle of the channel. Disaster avoided we were able to back off to a slightly wider spot where we could pass each other safely.

The trip though the Rideau so far is literally a series of small lakes connected by canals to join them. People tell us that before we get to Ottawa there is a stretch they call the ditch where it is extremely narrow for miles before getting to the city.

Tomorrow up early hopefully to get early entry into a series of four locks right in front of our dockage in front of the Kenny Hotel.  They start operating at 8:30 so we are hoping they start with the going up side.

Set of four locks for tomorrow

Full set of pictures are at: https://picasaweb.google.com/golphinut/201107BlueBelle02?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Click on any of the photos above to enlarge them.