 |
| Rob Roy's Pup |
|
 |
| Narrow Canal |
We left Ayling’s Boat yard around 7:55am to be at the Merrickville ‘blue line’ lock dock before it became crowded with other boats wanting to lock through at 9:00am. We were the second boat on the line. Three other boats arrived before the locks opened. Our group was the first to go through. This meant we didn’t have to wait another hour as the group of downstream waiting boats locked through. The canal on this portion of the journey was narrow. The red and green buoy markers in the water marking the channel did not match what was on the chart plotter, but
 |
| Lock 29a looking aft |
|
 |
| Lock 29a looking forward |
Brian followed the buoys in the water. Both Linda and Chris could look down to see the channel walls a few feet below the water only 8-10 feet away on either side in some spots. Other areas were much wider and much more relaxing to navigate through. At each of the locks before Smiths Falls, Chris got to talk to a lady in a pontoon boat that was just behind us in the lock. She gave him suggestions on where to have lunch in Smiths Falls, and (in French) worked the coordination with the lock master. We decided on eating the recommended pub: Rob Roy’s, which we
 |
| Rain Train heading our way |
initially learned about during our trip to Scotland (he is their version of Robinhood). All we had to do is tell the Smiths Falls lock master we wanted to have lunch and we could tie up at the lock’s ‘gray line’ dock for free. Smiths Falls locks (28, 29, 30) used to be a set of three locks. However, they were replaced by a hydraulic lock system (29a). This lifted us over 60 feet. Before exiting the Smiths Falls lock we said our goodbye’s to the other four boat buddies. We tied Splash Down at the dock and walked the short distance (just behind the Friends of the Rideau Canal museum to the pub. From the outdoor deck we could see Splash Down at the lock. Walking back we stopped at the museum. We didn’t tour the museum. Instead we took an elevator to the fourth floor, then went up stairs to an observatory where we could see more of the Rideau Canal at Smiths Falls. From Smiths Falls we
 |
| Another Tollycraft |
proceeded on to Len’s Cove Marina through rain showers. There were a few narrow channels to navigate then the path opened up in the Lower Rideau River. This was an opportunity to ‘blow out’ the engines. Brian trotted up to 24,000 RPM. We left a large puff of smoke hanging over the water, then it was clear. The engines purred happily as we zipped across the water at 19 knots for about 10 minutes. We dropped back down to 6 knots when we passed into a no wake zone between a peninsula and an island. Then we were in the middle the Big Rideau River and heading to Len’s Cove. The rain had passed, too. Arriving at 5:50pm, Brian checked us in and we headed to their on-site restaurant called The Galley. As we were sitting waiting for the wait staff, Brian noticed another 44-foot Tollycraft Cockpit Motor Yacht. Unfortunately, we didn’t meet the owner, but Brian got some great pics for comparing the two boats later.
