Wednesday, July 22
It rained hard overnight, but by morning it had quite and it was just very wet out. We were up
and ready to lock thru when the lock opened at 8:30. Cher was there also and we locked thru with them all day.
This is one of the busiest weeks of the year for the Rideau system. Montreal follows the European custom of businesses closing and everybody taking holiday (vacation) at the same time. This is the first week and many people with boats have come up the Ottawa River into the Rideau. They are all going the other way, but it means that at the most popular locks overnight tie ups are full early. It also means hearing as much French as English spoken.
After locking down the new combined lock Diana got a picture looking back up the old flight of three.
A mile later we were at the Old Sly lock. It has a large swing bridge just above the lock. They were locking thru three boats going the other way, so we went to the blue line. Soon they swung
the bridge to let the three out and we proceeded in. This is a flight of two, but with just two boats it went quickly. There is another old lock office here.
As we exited there were six boats heading the other way. We were soon out of the narrow
channel into the river and some very nicely landscaped properties. 
This area is all low land and a mix of nice properties, farm land and marsh. Although the water i
s wide in places except for the channel it is very shallow. In this picture, although it may look like we are going around to the right by the far end we actual leave the picture to the left.
We pasted this tour boat headed the other way, with a full load of tourists enjoying the scenery.
We continue to see many loons, it appears the young are nearing adult size and trying to learn to fly. We also saw several osprey and lots of turns, Diana has not decide which of the tern family
We were soon approaching the Edmonds Lock, a remote lock with no population nearby. This lovely boat was parked on the approach wall.
The lock has a manual swing bridge. The attendant is just visible at the left end of the bridge pushing it open.
We were on thru one more lock after Edmonds and into Merrickville, our destination for the day
. Here the tie up space is on the other side of the peninsula that leads to the lock. As predicted even though it was just before noon, things were pretty full. In the corner there appeared to be room on the shore end of a floating dock. We went in slowly rotated the boat between the sailboat and the weeds on the shore. With the help of a couple of line handlers we wedged the boat in, notice there is a fender between the dingy and the wall. Later a 30 foot cruiser came in and tied to the wall in the foreground of the picture.
On one side of the canal are the ruins of the old milling complex. They had lumber, flour, and woolen mills here; it was the original reason to settle the town in the 1790s. They have a small museum in one restored building.
On the other side is downtown with an old church near the river and one of the old blockhouses across the street. The blockhouse has been restored and is now a museum. We toured both the
mill ruins and the blockhouse this afternoon.
Merrickville is a set of three locks, but not a flight. Each is a separate lock with a small basin between. The picture is from the swing bridge a
t the first chamber looking down the two turning basins and lock chambers.
Best of Times, Mike and Jeanette, came through late this afternoon. There was no space to tie up above where we are, so they locked on down and got the only small tie up area below the locks. They went into town for dinner and stopped by afterwards. They came aboard and visited for awhile. After they left the couple in the sailboat just in front of us came aboard and we had a nice visit.
Another fine day.
It rained hard overnight, but by morning it had quite and it was just very wet out. We were up
and ready to lock thru when the lock opened at 8:30. Cher was there also and we locked thru with them all day.This is one of the busiest weeks of the year for the Rideau system. Montreal follows the European custom of businesses closing and everybody taking holiday (vacation) at the same time. This is the first week and many people with boats have come up the Ottawa River into the Rideau. They are all going the other way, but it means that at the most popular locks overnight tie ups are full early. It also means hearing as much French as English spoken.
After locking down the new combined lock Diana got a picture looking back up the old flight of three.
A mile later we were at the Old Sly lock. It has a large swing bridge just above the lock. They were locking thru three boats going the other way, so we went to the blue line. Soon they swung
the bridge to let the three out and we proceeded in. This is a flight of two, but with just two boats it went quickly. There is another old lock office here.As we exited there were six boats heading the other way. We were soon out of the narrow
channel into the river and some very nicely landscaped properties. 
This area is all low land and a mix of nice properties, farm land and marsh. Although the water i
s wide in places except for the channel it is very shallow. In this picture, although it may look like we are going around to the right by the far end we actual leave the picture to the left.
We pasted this tour boat headed the other way, with a full load of tourists enjoying the scenery.
We continue to see many loons, it appears the young are nearing adult size and trying to learn to fly. We also saw several osprey and lots of turns, Diana has not decide which of the tern family
We were soon approaching the Edmonds Lock, a remote lock with no population nearby. This lovely boat was parked on the approach wall.
The lock has a manual swing bridge. The attendant is just visible at the left end of the bridge pushing it open.
We were on thru one more lock after Edmonds and into Merrickville, our destination for the day
. Here the tie up space is on the other side of the peninsula that leads to the lock. As predicted even though it was just before noon, things were pretty full. In the corner there appeared to be room on the shore end of a floating dock. We went in slowly rotated the boat between the sailboat and the weeds on the shore. With the help of a couple of line handlers we wedged the boat in, notice there is a fender between the dingy and the wall. Later a 30 foot cruiser came in and tied to the wall in the foreground of the picture.
On one side of the canal are the ruins of the old milling complex. They had lumber, flour, and woolen mills here; it was the original reason to settle the town in the 1790s. They have a small museum in one restored building.
On the other side is downtown with an old church near the river and one of the old blockhouses across the street. The blockhouse has been restored and is now a museum. We toured both the
mill ruins and the blockhouse this afternoon.Merrickville is a set of three locks, but not a flight. Each is a separate lock with a small basin between. The picture is from the swing bridge a
t the first chamber looking down the two turning basins and lock chambers.Best of Times, Mike and Jeanette, came through late this afternoon. There was no space to tie up above where we are, so they locked on down and got the only small tie up area below the locks. They went into town for dinner and stopped by afterwards. They came aboard and visited for awhile. After they left the couple in the sailboat just in front of us came aboard and we had a nice visit.
Another fine day.
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