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Carillon Lock - tallest lock |
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up
your right foot with your left.”
112 Locks! That is how many locks we did beginning from
the Federal Lock at Troy NY to the Georgian Bay.
Federal Lock – Troy NY
Champlain Canal – 11
Richelieu River – Chambly Canal – 9
St Ours
St Lawrence Seaway – 2
St Anne de Bellevue
Carillon
Rideau Canal – 45
Trent-Severn Waterway 41 (includes 2 hydraulic lifts and a
marine railway)
Which side will you lock on? Port or Starboard? That was
often the question. The answer often lied in which way the wind was blowing.
Kathy preferred locking on the side the wind would push you towards which makes
it much easier to put your lines through.
The worst locking experiences were when the wind pushed
you away from the wall. Often that
leads to the stern of the boat being too far from the wall to grab the lines.
We did develop the technique of backing up a bit to bring the stern in.
The Ottawa Flight of 8 locks was perhaps the most fun. We
arrived just before the
beginning of the Quebec Construction Worker holidays. A two week holiday set by congress for the construction workers. Most of Quebec follows suit and takes vacation those weeks too. So many boaters were getting a jump on the holiday and leaving early.
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Ottawa Flight of 8 Locks |
When we arrived at 8 am for the 9 am lock there were
already about 15 boats in line. The lock holds at most 6 boats depending on the
size of the boats. We had no idea when we might get through the locks. Once you
start the locks you continue through 8 locks that rise up to the city of
Ottawa, Canada. It takes several hours to go through all 8 locks.
Fortunately, the lockmaster was expecting many boats and
they sent 3 flights of boats
up in the morning. We were the last boat to make
the morning locks.
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Ottawa locks - view from the top |
We were in the party lock! One boat had local music
blaring and dancing on their front deck. It certainly made for a fun
experience. We also were getting a good taste of the Quebec people. The people we met while waiting to get
into the lock were very helpful with local customs and such. We would meet them
multiple times through the Rideau Canal system and we would each help the
other.
Once up the locks we were in Ottawa and had difficulty
finding a place to tie up because of the Holiday. A young man riding a bicycle
saw our Looper flag and began talking to us and following us to the docks. We
found a spot that seemed too small but could hang off the edge and have the
front of the boat under a bridge. This young man handled our lines and helped
us get into the spot. We thanked him profusely and he was off. Unfortunately
there was no power at this spot. The Canadian Parks people suggested that in
the morning we might find someone leaving who had a spot with power and we
could move. Mike got up early and scoped out a terrific spot with power, not
only that, we met Randy and Eileen fellow Loopers and the Quebec couple who
helped us with the locks found a spot there too.

Because of the construction worker holiday which lasts 2
weeks we would be in the locks with many boats every time. You didn’t have to
decide port or starboard the lockmaster would tell you where to go. Lockmasters
look at the boats wanting to go into the lock and arrange them in such a way as
to fit as many in as possible. That means often there would be 3 boats across
with the middle boat attached to one of the end boats. We even met a pontoon
boat whose captain said the lockmaster had them go in the back sideways!
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Cruise ship in the lock |
There is usually docking space before and after each lock.
We would try to get as far as we could each day. It was all going well until we
caught up to the flock of boats on vacation. We had to stop sooner than we
wanted because there was no room at the lock ahead. We docked below the lock
where there was only room for 2 boats. It was nice and quiet while the 12 boats
on the top seemed to be having a party. Where we were though, we could swim.
In my mind that is what I thought a day would be like.
Travel, dock, swim repeat. Finally after all this time on the loop I got to
swim and I loved it.
We left early in the morning with the other boat to get to
the next lock by opening. There were 12 boats already there that did not get to
lock through the day before. We thought we would be there for hours. In
addition the lock was held up because they were locking the other direction
first. With our new friends that we spent the night with and a new friend we
met at the lock we had a good time waiting and we all got in the second flight
down that day.
More trouble ahead as the boats are still backlogged from
the holiday. We can’t get to the last lock on the Rideau because there are too
many boats to lock through. We stayed at the next to the last lock and the
fellow boaters were so welcoming and helpful.
It was one of Kathy’s favorite nights. We were able to
have a picnic table and set our chairs up by the table. We ate outside and had
a real “camping” night.
The next day we finished up the Rideau Canal and heading
into Kingston, Ontario to rest up a day or so before moving on to Trent and the
Trent-Severn Waterway.
We have met some incredible people and God has certainly
put the right people in our path at the right time to give us needed help,
advice and friendship!
Next up – Trent-Severn Waterway