Sunday, July 26
We were up and away by 8:00 this morning. We had five miles to the next lock and the forecast had a greater chance of showers later in the day. As we started down river from Long Island Locks there was a trailer park just beyond the lock.
This area still has some undeveloped river bank but is more and more developed.
The next lock is Black Rapids; they have a nicely landscaped lock station.
As we exited the lock looking back we could see a lot of water coming over and thru the dam. We have not seen real heavy rain just frequent showers, especially at night, for several days. There has been heavy rain nearby. Normally this time of year the dams are all closed trying to hold as much water as possible. This year they are dumping water like they do in the spring.
Friday night Ottawa had enough rain to cause significant flash flooding. The flight of eight locks downtown that connect the Rideau to the Ottawa River were over four hours late opening Saturday while they dealt with the high water.
I knew the Kawartha Voyageur had turned around the last night in Ottawa and we would be meeting here somewhere. I called heard on the radio to make sure we didn’t meet in a narrow channel and before she could answer I saw her coming around the corner. We had lots of water to pass, we exchange greetings and she headed into the lock we had just left.
Being a weekend there were many people out enjoying the water. These three young women went by in their kayaks at a rather rapid pace.
We are now well into the greater Ottawa area and there are nice homes all along the river bank
. We are soon at the next lock, Hogs Back, and through it we have left the Rideau River for good as it flows through a series of rapids down to the Ottawa River. We are now in an all manmade channel.
A mile further we are at the Hartwell locks, a flight of two. All along this stretch there is park with a bike/hiking trail. It runs all the way through downtown and out along the Ottawa River. Note in this picture; it has started to rain slightly and the high water is slightly above the gate of the lock.
From here it is only another mile to the Dow’s Lake Pavilion where we have a reservation to dock for the next four nights. As we leave the lock it starts to rain harder. By the time we are docking it is back to a light drizzle. We get tied up and relax, it is lunch time and we are in no hurry to do anything.
This is the halfway point of our trip. From here we will turn around and basically go back the
way we came. There are a few places the route will be different.
We will be here until Thursday; tomorrow we will sightsee in Ottawa, Tuesday a diesel mechanic is coming to service the engines and Wednesday we will rent a car to grocery shop and pick Jan and Loren, my sister and brother-in-law, up in Kingston so they can cruise back to Kingston with us.
Life continues to be great.
We were up and away by 8:00 this morning. We had five miles to the next lock and the forecast had a greater chance of showers later in the day. As we started down river from Long Island Locks there was a trailer park just beyond the lock.
This area still has some undeveloped river bank but is more and more developed.
The next lock is Black Rapids; they have a nicely landscaped lock station.
As we exited the lock looking back we could see a lot of water coming over and thru the dam. We have not seen real heavy rain just frequent showers, especially at night, for several days. There has been heavy rain nearby. Normally this time of year the dams are all closed trying to hold as much water as possible. This year they are dumping water like they do in the spring.
Friday night Ottawa had enough rain to cause significant flash flooding. The flight of eight locks downtown that connect the Rideau to the Ottawa River were over four hours late opening Saturday while they dealt with the high water.
I knew the Kawartha Voyageur had turned around the last night in Ottawa and we would be meeting here somewhere. I called heard on the radio to make sure we didn’t meet in a narrow channel and before she could answer I saw her coming around the corner. We had lots of water to pass, we exchange greetings and she headed into the lock we had just left.
Being a weekend there were many people out enjoying the water. These three young women went by in their kayaks at a rather rapid pace.
We are now well into the greater Ottawa area and there are nice homes all along the river bank
. We are soon at the next lock, Hogs Back, and through it we have left the Rideau River for good as it flows through a series of rapids down to the Ottawa River. We are now in an all manmade channel.A mile further we are at the Hartwell locks, a flight of two. All along this stretch there is park with a bike/hiking trail. It runs all the way through downtown and out along the Ottawa River. Note in this picture; it has started to rain slightly and the high water is slightly above the gate of the lock.
From here it is only another mile to the Dow’s Lake Pavilion where we have a reservation to dock for the next four nights. As we leave the lock it starts to rain harder. By the time we are docking it is back to a light drizzle. We get tied up and relax, it is lunch time and we are in no hurry to do anything.
This is the halfway point of our trip. From here we will turn around and basically go back the
way we came. There are a few places the route will be different.We will be here until Thursday; tomorrow we will sightsee in Ottawa, Tuesday a diesel mechanic is coming to service the engines and Wednesday we will rent a car to grocery shop and pick Jan and Loren, my sister and brother-in-law, up in Kingston so they can cruise back to Kingston with us.
Life continues to be great.
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