Leg 1- Rideau Canal to Lake Ontario

8/7-8/10/23

34 locks

95 Miles

The Rideau Canal took us from Ottawa to Lake Ontario. A majestic waterway with historic military significance and an engineering marvel in design. The Rideau is known as the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Canal is North America's best-preserved slackwater canal, and the only canal from the 19th-century canal-building era that still operates along its original route and with most of its original structures intact. The slackwater design took full advantage of the natural landscape by creating dams and reservoirs to make the canals, this preserved much of the natural environment and today we all get to enjoy this waterway.

When you travel the Rideau you often lock the entire day with the same boats. We made great friends with Charlie and Carolyn after hours locking through side by side. Charlie is a friend to everyone and extremely knowlegeable about the Rideau. We learned a lot from them and Charlie was a fun character to spend the day with. His favored line being "I'm here for a good time, not a long time" - that says it all!

Again and again the Canadian Park lock attendants are the stars! They are so happy to help with the boat, support through the lock and travel advice. The lock attendants keep in close contact with each lock, sharing the plans of the boats traveling and their intended destination. Bruce was our stand up comedian on the water. He loved COAST and had strong opinions on what makes a pretty boat (thankfully COAST passed the test) bad boat behavior on the Rideau as well as how he felt about politics - we got all that in about 20 minutes!

Merrickville, Ontario - We enjoyed our one night at Merrickville, "The Jewel of the Rideau" because of its many well preserved 19th century buildings. A very cool and we think unique feature to traveling the Canadian canal system is the public dockage most towns offer, usually in partnership with the local Chamber of Commerce. Coming through the last lock for the day the lock attendants informed us there was one more spot "on the wall" but no power. With bad weather coming we decided to take it. With a generator we have our own power when we need it. The towns along the canal are proud of the services they can offer boaters on their travels even if they are modest like what we had at Merrickville. We did have bad weather later that evening, we were happy to be on a secure dockage. Our dockage was next to the Merrickville Falls, a historic site with many walking trails, perfect for Milo. Any Schitt's Creek fans out there? I am CONVINCED this was the location they used to film the Netflix hit, it was filmed in Canada so it's possible? Just check out the Wick Witch Apothecary, a sure location site for the Schitt's Creek Apothecary, although my crack journalism skills could not confirm or deny?! This adorable village has some great shops and food! We ate our way through it! Chips (we know them as fries in the US) were exceptional at Bob's Fresh Cut Fries and I had to try Stella Luna gelato, they claim to be The Best Gelato in Canada. On recommendation from the teenager at the shop I chose the Madagascar vanilla, it was delicious!

Saying goodbye to our dockmates.

Merrickville Falls Historic Trails

Perfect example of the gorgeous 19th century architecture of the village.

Hand cut delicious chips all salty and vinegary and yes we ate them ALL!

A cute kitchen and specialty food store we picked up some new additions for our galley.

Westport, Ontario - An easy ride from Merrickville to Westport. Along the way we saw many Le Boat charters and later at our port for the night there was quite a large flotilla. We have friends who chartered with Le Boat in France and loved their experience. All day the weather threatened rain and we held out most of the way, just until we caught site of the Westport harbor. And then boy did it rain! For the first time on the trip I pulled out the foul weather gear! Once we are tied up I usually take Milo for a walk while Walt gets the boat settled from traveling. Since it was on/off rain we did most of our exploring the next morning. When Walt and I went out for a walk later, to get out of a particularly drenching rain surge we popped in to the Westport Brewing Company. We were happy to hang out with the two ladies running the brewery that night, they shared some suggestions for upcoming towns we would be visiting. Westport is a small village, the brewery definitely felt like the village gathering spot. The next day, thankfully with the rain stopping we had a beautiful morning to take a longer walk before we left Westport. There is a large church with a spire you can see miles from the water, we decided to check that out and on the way we passed a few village shops and many residences with West Porch signs, designating an upcoming festival. The village is very excited for the West Porch event, the night before at the brewery we heard all about the festival where people visit porch to porch and vote on their favorite. In addition to the cuteness of this town, they also have what we were told the best butter tarts on the Rideau at Tasty Goodness Bakery, of course we had to check them out. Butter tarts are a beloved pastry in this area. Think individual sized, super sweet, gooey pecan pie like treats, some plain and some with raisins. By no means are we butter tart experts for all that we agree - yes Westport you do have the best butter tarts! From here we head to Kingston, Ontario and the end of the Rideau.

Foul Weather Gear Fashion

Milo was ready for the rain!

Le Boat fleet

Le Boat has to have a dozen plus boat formats.

Le Boat flotilla at Westport Marina

The back patio would have been fun but not in the rain.

Walt getting the details on beer options.

Ladies in charge of the brewery!

After a raining day, a pretty sunset.

Morning walk before we head to our next port.

Some shopping for Milo.

St. Edward's Catholic Church. With its high spire is an impressive backdrop to this little village.

Town sponsored walking tour of community porches that open their homes up to visitors and a music festival in the fall.

The amazing bakers at Tasty Goodness Bakeshop.

Butter Tarts and more at Tasty Goodness Bakeshop.

Walt gives the Butter Tarts a try.

Newboro to Kingston Mills, Ontario - Leaving Westport, our plan was to make it to Kingston, Ontario. The first image in this section is typical of what we saw on this part of the Rideau. A mostly rural ride with colorful boathouses doting the shoreline. Newboro our first lock and the highest part of the Rideau, at this point changed from locking up to now locking down. Locking up, the boat enters the lock with the water at its lowest, the boat ties up to the cable on the lock wall and when the water enters the lock the boat rises. The lock attendants can't assist much when you are locking up because they are usually 20-40 ft above you looking down, as you rise you meet their level. Locking down is much easier for the boater because you enter the lock at level with the lock attendants, they take your line, attach it to the cable on the wall and as the water is drained from the lock, the boat lowers. From Newboro to the end of the Rideau we will finish the canal locking down. Our favorite lock was by far the Jones Falls lock. Jones Falls is the highest lock on the Rideau at 58 feet. It is a succession lock with 3 locks in quick succession and an additional one at the large basin at the end. All succession locks take awhile, that particular day it was very busy so we ended up having to wait. At the time we were happy to wait, it gave us plenty of time to let Milo off the boat, however it did back us up which meant we didn't make it through the last set of locks we planned for the day. We did get the last spot on the wall at Kingston Mills, a festive dockage for the night as there was a large group of canoe campers also staying the night. I wish I got a picture of all the canoes lined up amongst the big boats. Next up Kingston Ontario.

Tranquil passage on the Rideau just before Newboro, Ontario

Newboro is the highest point of the Rideau, now we lock down.

Outfit change and a sun hat - it got very hot very fast!

Jones Falls Dam - on these waters where there's a dam there's a lock. When finished in 1831, at the time this dam was the highest in North America.

Departing Jones Falls lock over looking Hotel Kenney, a historic waterside resort

built in the late 1800s.

Port for the night, on the wall just before the Kingston Mills Lock. We swam off the back, the water was 78 degrees!

Kingston Mills to Kingston, Ontario - Today was 4 locks and 5.5 miles. Once through the Kingston Mills locks we were very close to Kingston, Ontario where the Rideau Canal ends at Lake Ontario. This lock is a locking series. There is a large basin after the first lock if you are locking down or after the third lock if you are locking up. With its close proximity to Lake Ontario and a heavy timber industry the basin was built into the lock design to allow for a dry dock for steamships to be repaired when they were in heavy use on the Rideau. It makes for a very pretty visual. After a short passage we arrived in Kingston, Ontario. A charming city with a vibrant waterfront, Confederation Basin Marina was a perfect location to recharge, provision and explore Kingston. At one time Kingston was the capital of Canada and played an important military role with its close proximity to the Rideau. Being on Lake Ontario, Kingston is a bustling tourist destination with many day and dinner cruise companies in the harbor. Kingston is also home to Queen's College and its 28,000 students who bring a vibrant spirit to the town. With a long walking promenade and delicious food we were happy to have spent a few days in Kingston.