Saturday, July 18
It rained overnight but by morning it had quit. It was still overcast but was showing signs of
breaking up. Since it had drizzled much of yesterday afternoon after we tied up Diana had not been out to look around the lock station. This morning she got this nice picture of the lock mechanisms.
The crank on the right is attached with chains going both ways to the long bar. When cranked it pulls the bar in either direction, pulling the gate open or pushing it closed. The crank on
the left is attached to a chain that runs down the lock wall to open and close the water valve.
These pictures are of the boats at the dock. The sun came out long enough to get the nice reflection of the boats in the water.
Soon we were off headed through more 10 kph canal with spectacular scenery. This rock outcropping is known as The Duke. Most of today’s travel is through a series of lakes connected
by narrow channels. For the most part they
are deep enough that there is only the occasional buoy. The geographic is lots of granite.
We have been seeing lots of loons, but none closer than this family of two adults and t
wo young. We went between the three and the adult on the other side.
We decided that lowering the bimini was not
going to help us get under this bridge, but the bridge tender saw us coming and we waited only a couple of minutes while he swung it.
Soon we were approaching the locks at Jones Falls. This is a major set of locks on the Rideau, there is a flight of three followed by a single 100 yards farther on. Originally this was a 60 foot vertical, set of rapids over about a mile.
We had planned to lock up then tie up and see the sites from the top. When we arrived there
were five cruisers in front of us and the lock was working boats down in the upper chamber. I talked to the very busy lock master and he said he thought he could get the six of us in the next locking if we waited for a second locking it would be two to three hours. We waited while they 
completed the down bound, the lock master then had time to look closer at the five cruisers. He had thought a couple were 26 – 28 feet and he could put them three deep on one wall. They were all 30 feet and with both agreed I would be better off waiting for another lock cycle.
We walked up to the top of the fourth chamber and across to the other side. They have a 1840
s blacksmith shop restored to functioning condition. They give demonstrations, make items for sale and also make parts to keep the original lock mechanisms working. 
We then walked back across the lock and to the top of the hill to the Sweeney House. Mr.
Sweeney was the original lock master and his home has been restored to how it was in the mid 1800s. Notice the window slits in the pictures. This, as many of the lockmaster houses, was built
as a defensible house in case of attack. The slits are gun ports and there are wood inserts to plug them that will stop a musket ball.
From there we walked to the observation platform viewing the Jones Falls Dam. When it was built in 1830 it was the largest dam in North America and third largest in the world. It is
sandstone block standing on end in an arch, the water behind pushes the blocks together giving it strength. It is 61 feet high and 350 feet long.
On the way back there was a swallowtail butterfly sunning its self. We walked back down to t
he boat and had a leisurely lunch as we watch the activity and chatted with other boaters waiting. Finally it was our turn and we headed into the first chamber. This picture is leaving the flight of three and heading to the fourt
h chamber across 
the turning basin.
We followed Mike and Jeanette on Best of Times out of the lock past the traffic waiting to go down. We first meet Mike and Jeanette on the Trent-Severn and have seeing them ever couple of
days, and have stayed at the same place three or four nights.
As we continued there was a lot more beautifu
l scenery, plus an occasional nicely landscaped yard.
They really want you to go for the trees and stay away from that rock at this narrow pass
.
We did a few more miles through Davis Lock and on to Chaffeys Lock where we tied to the wall
for the night. The totals for the day, 17 miles and 5 locks. The last picture is of the water flowing just beside the approach wall we were tied to. It was a quiet evening with just the sound of the running water. There were several other boats above the lock but none below the lock.
It rained overnight but by morning it had quit. It was still overcast but was showing signs of
breaking up. Since it had drizzled much of yesterday afternoon after we tied up Diana had not been out to look around the lock station. This morning she got this nice picture of the lock mechanisms.The crank on the right is attached with chains going both ways to the long bar. When cranked it pulls the bar in either direction, pulling the gate open or pushing it closed. The crank on
the left is attached to a chain that runs down the lock wall to open and close the water valve.
These pictures are of the boats at the dock. The sun came out long enough to get the nice reflection of the boats in the water.
Soon we were off headed through more 10 kph canal with spectacular scenery. This rock outcropping is known as The Duke. Most of today’s travel is through a series of lakes connected
by narrow channels. For the most part they
are deep enough that there is only the occasional buoy. The geographic is lots of granite.
We have been seeing lots of loons, but none closer than this family of two adults and t
wo young. We went between the three and the adult on the other side.We decided that lowering the bimini was not
going to help us get under this bridge, but the bridge tender saw us coming and we waited only a couple of minutes while he swung it.Soon we were approaching the locks at Jones Falls. This is a major set of locks on the Rideau, there is a flight of three followed by a single 100 yards farther on. Originally this was a 60 foot vertical, set of rapids over about a mile.
We had planned to lock up then tie up and see the sites from the top. When we arrived there
were five cruisers in front of us and the lock was working boats down in the upper chamber. I talked to the very busy lock master and he said he thought he could get the six of us in the next locking if we waited for a second locking it would be two to three hours. We waited while they 
completed the down bound, the lock master then had time to look closer at the five cruisers. He had thought a couple were 26 – 28 feet and he could put them three deep on one wall. They were all 30 feet and with both agreed I would be better off waiting for another lock cycle.
We walked up to the top of the fourth chamber and across to the other side. They have a 1840
s blacksmith shop restored to functioning condition. They give demonstrations, make items for sale and also make parts to keep the original lock mechanisms working. 
We then walked back across the lock and to the top of the hill to the Sweeney House. Mr.
Sweeney was the original lock master and his home has been restored to how it was in the mid 1800s. Notice the window slits in the pictures. This, as many of the lockmaster houses, was built
as a defensible house in case of attack. The slits are gun ports and there are wood inserts to plug them that will stop a musket ball.From there we walked to the observation platform viewing the Jones Falls Dam. When it was built in 1830 it was the largest dam in North America and third largest in the world. It is
sandstone block standing on end in an arch, the water behind pushes the blocks together giving it strength. It is 61 feet high and 350 feet long.
On the way back there was a swallowtail butterfly sunning its self. We walked back down to t
he boat and had a leisurely lunch as we watch the activity and chatted with other boaters waiting. Finally it was our turn and we headed into the first chamber. This picture is leaving the flight of three and heading to the fourt
h chamber across 
the turning basin.We followed Mike and Jeanette on Best of Times out of the lock past the traffic waiting to go down. We first meet Mike and Jeanette on the Trent-Severn and have seeing them ever couple of
days, and have stayed at the same place three or four nights.As we continued there was a lot more beautifu
l scenery, plus an occasional nicely landscaped yard.They really want you to go for the trees and stay away from that rock at this narrow pass
.We did a few more miles through Davis Lock and on to Chaffeys Lock where we tied to the wall
for the night. The totals for the day, 17 miles and 5 locks. The last picture is of the water flowing just beside the approach wall we were tied to. It was a quiet evening with just the sound of the running water. There were several other boats above the lock but none below the lock. 
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