AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog

Thursday, 13 July 2017

Merrickville Ontario to Brewers Mills Ontario – July 13, 2017

Jul 10^th – It was a warm day with a mix of sun and clouds with a brief shower and moderate winds. We left Merrickville this morning and headed 13 miles through 5 locks to Smiths Falls Ontario and stayed on the overnight wall at lock 29a. We were travelling with 4 boats including us through the 5 locks and it was a tight fit, however it was nice once it was over. We walked into Smiths Falls and found that this is a great town to get provisions in and we saw our first Canadian Tire store since we left Canada last year! We shopped in both Canadian Tire and Walmart and picked up a number of things including replacement life jackets since ours have seen a tremendous amount of use during the last year. After a BBQ dinner we walked into the downtown core which looks like it needs some TLC. We expect to stay here one more day since it’s our 30^th Wedding Anniversary tomorrow and we plan to go out to dinner before we start anchoring on the lakes just south of here.

Jul 11^th – Happy 30^th Wedding Anniversary to us! It was a warm mostly sunny day with late day showers and moderate winds. We stayed in Smiths Falls today and plan to continue exploring the Rideau Canal tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married for 30 years … Time flies by quickly when you’re having fun! The last few days we’ve been talking to a number of marinas where we’ll ultimately keep the boat after we complete the Loop. The finalists were Starport Marina in Lake Simcoe and Hindson’s Marina in Penetang and the winner is Hindson’s marina … it was an extremely close race and difficult decision. Then we walked into town with our rolling cooler bag to grab more provisions and returned to the boat with our supplies and had cocktails to celebrate our 30 years together while we enjoyed broken periods of sunshine. Later we went to a restaurant called “My Place” for dinner and watched the rain clouds migrate towards the area. After dinner we dashed back to the boat just before the heavy rain hit.

Jul 12^th – It was a cool cloudy day with intermittent showers and moderate winds. We left Smiths Falls today and headed 34 miles along the Rideau Canal through 5 locks to Davis Lock #38. We were planning on anchoring on one of the lakes we passed through, however the weather is crappy and I have no desire to snorkel or swim in the chilly water when the weather is also chilly. We stopped in at a marina today to take on some water and get a pump out and we were surprised with a $40 bill for the pump-out … Ouch … We were getting used to the cheap pump out prices in the US of $5 or less. The Davis Lock has a great overnight dock layout with plenty of 30amp power plugs for all that want to stay. The only issue is that the cell signal is terrible thus I guess I won’t be able to post our blog entry tonight.

Jul 13^th – It was a cool mostly cloudy day with a short shower and moderate winds. We left the Davis Lock this morning and travelled 17 miles along the Rideau Canal through 8 locks to Lower Brewers Lock in Brewers Mills Ontario. A number of the boats stopped at the same location as us including “Total Eclipse”. Our plan is to pull off the dock early tomorrow to travel to Kingston for a couple of days so we can explore the area. The cell signal isn’t very good here however I’m going to try to post the blog … I was successful if you are reading this … LOL!

The first Canadian Tire store we've seen in a long time!

A storm is coming ... can we make it back before it hits?

A beautiful lake but it's too cold to swim ... Darn!

The canals are tight in a number of areas

Swans ... the Father Swan looks pissed while he protects the kids

We found Tiger Tail Ice cream in the store ... Yea!

Sunday, 9 July 2017

Burritts Rapids Ontario to Merrickville Ontario – July 9, 2017

Jul 7^th – It was a hot muggy mostly cloudy day with low winds and a late day thunderstorm. We left the Burritts Rapids lock and headed 6 miles through 6 locks and parked at the Merrickville Ontario town dock which is operated by Parks Canada. We’ve decided to stay 2 nights to avoid the weekend boating traffic plus it looks like tomorrow has a high chance of thunderstorms. When we arrived we walked through town and stopped for treats … I had a Tiger Tail Ice Cream cone while Maria had a Pecan Butter Tart. Later in the afternoon we were hit by a thunderstorm with high winds and a heavy downpour. Afterwards the sun came out for a bit and overnight we were hit by a thunderstorm as well as a couple heavy downpours.

Jul 8^th – It was a warm day with a sun/cloud mix and moderate winds. The Merrickville town dock is full with weekend boaters and others are trying to get on the dock. I’m glad we arrived yesterday before the major weekend boating traffic began. Another Looper, “Total Eclipse” arrived yesterday afternoon when the rain was about to hit us. We went exploring for a bit and checked out the Merrickville ruins which were interesting to walk thru. Apparently we’ve been told that Merrickville was in the running to be the Capital City of Canada and the choice of Ottawa surprised everyone. During the day I also decided to check my sea strainers and luckily I did since I found a large pile of weeds, most likely from the Burritts Rapids dock which was in a weedy area.

Jul 9^th – It started as a warm sunny day with lots of rain in the afternoon. We decided to spend one more day in Merrickville so we could check out the large Car Show that was hosted by the town. We were amazed at the size of the show as well as the large crowd that showed up to view the vintage vehicles. Just as we finished the last section of the show it looked like it was going to start raining thus we headed quickly back to the boat. Just as we arrived in the boat it started to pour. The rest of the day was off and on rain thus we decided to watch some Netflix series to pass the rest of the afternoon.

Merrickville ruins

Merrickville had a wide variety of industries in the area

A Cobra ... I wonder if it would fit on our davits?

Is it a boat or a car??

A Red neck tow truck

A beautiful Thunderbird

This reminded me of my 67 Firebird I owned in High School / University

I've never seen a Mercedes like this before

I'm feeling a little short

Someone from the crowd must have lost their bra!

Maria says that this will be my next Motorcycle ... LOL

These guys played some great older tunes to match the vintage car scene

Thursday, 6 July 2017

Ottawa Ontario to Burritts Rapids Ontario – July 6, 2017

Jul 4^th – Happy 4^th of July to all of our American friends! It was a hot and sunny day with low winds … Exxxcellent! We are still at the top of Lock 8 in Ottawa and we’re finding that it’s a perfect place to continue our Ottawa explorations. This morning we walked to ServiceOntario to renew our OHIP to ensure we have continued health care in Ontario. Once that was done we walked to the LCBO to buy some booze and almost had a heart attack after looking at the price as compared to that of the same stuff in the US … Ouch! We then stopped at Metro to get some provisions and brought everything back to the boat. After lunch we went for another walk to visit the Parliament buildings and found out that we can get a free tour, however we must reserve the tour early in the morning since they are available on a first come first serve basis. Afterwards we visited the Bank of Canada Museum and had a guided tour of the Supreme Court of Canada. Then we walked back to the boat since Chris and Ruixi invited us to their place for dinner. Chris picked us up after work and we all enjoyed a great evening together. By the way … it was great to be in a land based home for dinner … the last land based home we visited was in January in Florida!

Jul 5^th – It was a hot and sunny day … two days in a row … Exxxcellent! … however the weather for the weekend isn’t looking so good … I feel bad for the weekend boaters L We are still docked in Ottawa and we are continuing to learn about Canada’s Capital City. We lined up this morning and successfully obtained guided tour tickets for both the East Block and Central Block of the Parliament Buildings. We got to see some interesting places like the first Prime Minister’s office (Sir John A. MacDonald) with a gas chandelier and a pull cord to call his secretary … both thought to be leading edge technologies at the time. We also saw the House of Commons, the Senate, the Library of Parliament, the Peace Tower and many statues/monuments. We found Robert Plunket’s name on the Canadian Police memorial … he’s an acquaintance of ours from the past that was killed in action years ago. We grabbed lunch and then continued on to the Canadian Mint where they produce the investment and collector coins as well as some specialty work such as Olympic medals. It’s changed a lot since I last visited in Grade 8! We spent a lot of time walking, waiting in lines and touring today thus it was soooo nice to get back to the boat to relax!

Jul 6^th – It was a hot and sunny day … Three days in a row … Wow! … but it still looks like we’ll have crappy weather this weekend. We left Ottawa this morning and headed 39 miles and went through 9 locks and tied up to the blue wall of Lock 17 - Burritts Rapids since all of their overnight slips were occupied. After we tied up we sat up in the sun on the front of the boat to catch a few rays.

Canada's Parliament Hill - Centre Block

Parliament Hill - East Block

The Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme court - Main Court room

Sir John A. MacDonald's office - Canada's First Prime Minister

Inside Centre Block

The Library of Parliament

The Senate

View from the Peace Tower of Centre Block

East Block as seen from the Peace Tower

You can see the Hull Marina in the background from the Peace Tower

The Centennial Flame

A Gold Bar at The Mint ... worth approx. $700,000

Heading South on the Rideau Canal

One of the Lock Masters has a Green Thumb!

Monday, 3 July 2017

Ottawa - Ontario to Quebec to Ontario – July 3, 2017

Jul 1^st – Happy 150^th Birthday Canada! It was a rainy morning that transitioned to a warm/hot mostly cloudy day with some sun and a shower later in the day. We left the lock wall in Ottawa in the pouring rain and travelled ½ mile to Gatineau Quebec and pulled into a slip in Hull Marina. We can’t believe that we started the Great Loop exactly 1 year ago from Krates marina in Keswick … Time flies when you’re having fun! We walked all over Ottawa today amongst thousands of people … it was so crowded that we returned back to the boat for a break and a bit later we went back into the crowd for round 2 and saw the Snowbirds execute a couple fly bys. During round 2 we stopped for a beavertail … the perfect snack on Canada day. When we got back to the marina we joined Fern and Nathalie and their family for drinks (we met Fern and Nathalie on the St Lawrence Seaway and they helped us get a slip at their marina for Canada day). Of course we had the best seats in the house for Canada day fireworks … and they were absolutely Exxxcellent!

Jul 2^nd – It was a warm to hot day with a sun/cloud mix with scattered showers. We’re still at the Hull Marina in Quebec enjoying the close proximity to Ottawa. I started the day with a few boat jobs … topping up the batteries with distilled water, checking the engine fluids, etc to prepare for our next move tomorrow while Maria did some laundry. We walked into Ottawa to do some more exploring and met Maria’s nephew Chris as well as his wife Ruixi and their daughter for lunch. Afterwards the group of us returned to the boat for a cocktail and then walked over to visit the Mosaicanada 150 Gardens which is the largest horticultural event in Canada. Their display was absolutely amazing! When we returned to the boat we talked with a few of the boaters at the dock and then went to relax on the boat after a couple of very busy days.

Jul 3^rd – It was a warm windy sunny day with NO RAIN … WOW … it was the first day with no rain in a while! We walked from the marina over to the first lock on the Rideau Canal to get an update on the next lockage through the initial 8 locks that look like stairs going up into Ottawa. They told us the water was really high thus they had to let some water through the locks before they could start and estimated their first lockage up would be at Noon. The Blue line at the bottom of the lock was under water and there was no place to tie up thus we timed our departure from the marina so we would arrive at Noon. We left the Hull Marina and travelled ½ mile and had to wait an additional hour before we got into the lock. Once we were in the lock we were committed to all 8 locks with the others that were in the lock with us. It was about a 1 ½ hour journey up the stairs with lots of people watching the boats move from lock to lock. We finally made it to the top and tied up on the overnight lock wall with power and had to have a cold one after all of our effort to get through the locks. After dinner we walked into town and I finally got my “Tiger Tail” ice cream … yum … and we ate it while watching a outdoor band playing some good tunes during a sunny evening. Then back to the boat we go since it’s blog day.