Lock after Lock after Lock

Here's to Parks Canada whose locks and lock crew make boating enjoyable and fun!

Somewhat against my better judgment, Tuesday morning, about 8:00, we left the Ottawa River to "climb" into the Rideau Canal. Against my better judgment because the morning brought a burning sun, high humidity, and a heat index well above the 100 degree Fahrenheit range. And, holding lines in a lock requires attention, a bit of fortitude, and not a small amount of strength.

We crossed the river from Gatineau and found the locks' entry dock blue line full with three early bird cruisers, one who had gotten there the night before to be first in line. We stood off while the tour boat Paula D loaded her 8:30 Ottawa River Cruise, then took her reserved space at the dock--fourth in line.

To leave the Ottawa River and climb to the Rideau Canal, you pass through 8 locks one right after the other; that is, out of one and directly into the next--up and up and up. If things go well, it takes an hour and a half to complete the Ottawa Flight. Lucky for us, the lockmistress decided that she wanted us to go in the first lift with our friends on the vessel, Mirimar. We were the two longest and beamiest boats and she wanted to hold open space in her second lift for late comers who could fit with the two smaller boats.

But, sure enough as I had feared, at about lock three, the Admiral, suffering a respiratory virus to begin with, became the one of us who showed signs of heat stress--sweating and feeling like fainting. Fortunately, we were running the boats generator and AC. She slipped inside for a few minutes and soon felt a bit better.

We realized that I was getting a short break from the heat after every lock as I went inside to motor the boat into the next one. It's essential to have two people outside during lock maneuvers, one holding the line on the bow and the other the one on the stern. I couldn't do it alone--especially squeezed so tightly beside Mirimar. So, we rolled the cockpit awning out over the stern which provided a good bit of shade. We then swapped places with me holding the line at the bow and the Admiral the line at the back. That worked well for both of us and, right on schedule, we transited through lock 8 and into the Rideau Canal.

The Rideau meanders right through downtown Ottawa and eventually out into the countryside. As all of the other boats who locked through the Ottawa Flight were mooring for the day on the wall at the flight's top, we had the canal completely to ourselves but for the occasional kayaker or fisherman. The scenery in both the urban and rural areas truly delights.

We moved along at the canal's 6 knot speed limit through the Pretoria Avenue Bascule Bridge and locks nine and ten but arrived at lock eleven, twelve, and the Hogs Back Swing Bridge just after the bridge tender's scheduled 45 minute lunch break started. As you have to transit these two locks and the bridge all at once, we moored to the dock at lock eleven to wait out his break. The Admiral made chicken salad sandwiches for our lunch. After a long morning, they truly hit the spot.

After lunch, we proceeded on passing through lock 13 at Black Rapids without any undue incident. It's always interesting to be sitting in a lock before it starts to fill. You not only wonder how the current and wind will bounce you around and whether you have enough fenders positioned at the right heights, you also ponder what you'll see when the water rises to the top level and you can see out over the gates. By the way, it is

impossible to open those gates if there's even a few millimeters of difference in the height of the water above and in the lock. But once it is level, the lock doors literally sigh and can then be cranked by hulking 20 somethings to their open position.

All was going well and we arrived at our last flight of locks for the day--the three step flight through locks 14, 15, and 16. As we entered lock 14, we could see some "weather" coming in and by the time we entered 15, we could hear thunder. As 15 started to fill, lightning struck several time closer than a quarter of a mile and by the time lock 15 was half full, the lockmaster told us that we would have to wait in 15 once it had filled until the storm passed. I had no interest in sitting in a full lock in a thunderstorm. These locks fill to within six inches of the top of their granite walls. A couple of fenders in the water mostly keep you off the walls in calm weather; but, in a thunderstorm??? Also, who wants to be even a localized high point when lightning strikes if you don't absolutely have to? I asked if they could stop the fill right where we were (maybe half way up) and they kindly obliged.

As they always do, the storm eventually passed. We finished our last locks for the day and traveled on to Hurst Marina in Manotick--a rather plain spot but with a very kind and helpful staff. By 18:00 hours (6:00 pm), we were safely docked and connected to shore power and water. For us, ten hours, sixteen locks, and 22.5 miles is a long day. We were weary and it led to a very healthy conversation about what the Admiral had scheduled for today (Wednesday).

Based on our first day on the Rideau, pleasant in almost all ways but also long and tiring, we decided to play Wednesday by ear. It turns out that not having a destination frees the mind to contemplate other things. The Rideau is shallow--sometimes our depth sounder showed as low as 3.7 feet (about what we draw) and it often read in the four and five foot range. You have to pay attention; but, we did have time to enjoy the farmland and undeveloped places that we passed as well as observed the many different types of homes on the river ranging from little more than shacks to spacious mansions. Perhaps most of all (Lopez pay attention), we had a chance to see some wonderful bird life up close. We watched an osprey hovering and hunting, undoubtedly looking to feed its young, until a smaller bird struck it several times and sent it brooding to a branch on the edge of the woods. We saw two sets of loons, each swimming with a chick. In one case, the male tried to attract us while the chick scurried onto it mother's back and she swam away. We saw numerous sets of mama ducks and Canadian geese swimming with their young--in some cases trying to herd the little ones out of Katahdin's path and in other cases seeming to be not so bothered. We saw a great blue heron fly across and then along the canal--an ecosystem not well suited for a wader because its banks tend to be quite steep with no wading depth water. We saw a king bird, a flicker, robins, grackles and heard a yellow warbler--all and all a pretty good birding day from a boat.

By the time we were approaching the three flight locks 21, 22, and 23 (what would be our fifth, sixth, and seventh locks for the day), we realized that we were nearing our end. Fortunately, right after lock 23, Parks Canada has a terrific floating dock right on the edge of the town of Merrickville. And, they had a space!

We called it a day and tied up only to realize that they had only single, 30 amp connections. (We need 50 amps or two 30s that we can combine with a splitter). The Parks Canada guys graciously agreed that we could run our generator (against the rules) which supplies our air conditioning among other things. With temps in the mid eighties and still some humidity, I did not want to be on a boat with the Admiral without that amenity.

Merrickville is a lovely village with quite a history. William Merrick, a British loyalist in the American Revolution from Springfield, MA, founded the village in 1794. He deployed the river's hydrology to establish a variety of mills--grist, carding, and saw mills. A small village grew up around these activities and it had grown to 300+ when engineers arrived three decades later (1821) to construct the Rideau Canal. When the construction of the canal was complete, the mills returned to operation and, unlike a number of communities that were displaced by the canal, Merrickville thrived as a commercial and industrial hub. Unfortunately, with the arrival of rail transport, Smiths Falls displaced it as the region's industrial center.

Right on the grounds of the Merrickville lock station, you find the Merrickville Block House, the largest of four built along the Rideau Canal and the second largest surviving in Canada. Constructed with thick masonry and heavy timber, the British intended the block house to be a mustering point and defensive position for the locks in the event of

war. Perhaps it will help Canada avoid becoming America's 51st state!

I close with these pics to tell more of Merrickville's story.