 |
| Brass Point Swing Bridge |
|
 |
| Splash Down at the top of
Kingston Mills Locks |
|
 |
| The 52-foot houseboat in lock 47 |
Today we conclude our trip on the Rideau River. Our timing was great as we locked through our first three locks; Upper Brewers (locks 43 & 44) and Lower Brewers (lock 45). We even passed through a small swing bridge with a narrow channel without incident. Unfortunately, we locked through with a 52-foot houseboat. This meant it was a part of our group of three for the rest of our trip. They could only do six knots. Being the largest boat meant it was first in and first out of the locks. Brian could use only one engine for propulsion at a time while behind the boat until he could pass. Eventually, there was an opportunity for Brian and the other faster boat to ‘slow-pass’ the houseboat and proceeded on to Kingston Mills locks to wait. The houseboat had five guys from the United States who served together for 40 years in the Syracuse National Guard. They live in different parts of the country now, but get together every year for a week or so as a reunion. This year it was a ten day trip up and down the Rideau River in a rented houseboat. They were having a good time except the outboard motor began to act up on their way back down to Kingston. The engine would stop if throttled back to idle for shifting. This caused them to loose control of the houseboat in the locks several times. We had to fend their boat off from hitting Splash Down twice as they exited the locks. Having to wait on the houseboat at the Kingston Mill locks caused us to miss an opportunity to go through the final four locks (46-49) for over an hour. Linda and Brian grumbled about having to wait and about their engine problems. We changed our tune when in lock 48 our port engine didn’t start. Linda and Chris had pushed Splash Down away from the lock wall, so Brian had to work hard to negotiate carefully past the lock gates onto the next lock wall. Linda and Brian were humbled for complaining about the houseboat’s engine problems! All the engine issues in the locks, meant it was too late to make the 3:00pm opening of the Lasalle Causeway Bridge that separates the Cataraqui River and the Rideau Canal to the north. The bridge opens on the hour except during rush hour. The bridge’s last opening before the afternoon rush hour is 3:00pm and stay’s closed until 6:00pm. So, we pulled into the Kingston Marina for fuel and a pump-out. They were kind enough to allow us to tie up and wait at
Metal Craft Marine, Inc. dock. They make various high speed watercraft for police, fire, and rescue. Work was active on several boats; two of which were for the cities of Seattle, WA, and Providence,
 |
| Metal Craft Marine building fireboats |
|
 |
| Lasalle Causeway Bridge |
RI. At 5:30pm we left the dock to wait by the bridge. We finally arrive at the
Flora MacDonald Confederated Basin Marina (a city managed marina) at 6:15pm. There was confusion regarding our reservation (which we learned we didn’t really have one) and we trolled in the basin to work it out. Apparently they only make reservations through
 |
| Kingston's City Hall |
the web site, but we weren’t told that when we called. Luckily, there was enough space for us tonight and we docked in a strong wind with the dock hands assistance. We will stay one night and move to the Kingston Yacht Club for Thursday through Sunday nights. After dinner, we took a stroll into the downtown area to get our bearings. We found the sights and stores to visit and made it back to the boat in the dark easily since both Brian and Chris had the foresight to bring flashlights.
