Smith Falls - July 23, 2011

July 14, 2011 (Thursday)

We were underway from the park at the dam at Upper Jones Falls about 1010 and by 1110 we had explored a couple of possible anchorages in Sand Lake and had the anchor down in West Bay. At the far end in about 15 feet of water with heavy grass for great holding. We have learned that lots of grass is our friend when anchoring, even if it does mean more work the next day. Several nice bays we've checked for anchoring have a flat stone bottom with no grass or gravel for holding. I was told by a local boater that grass doesn't grow in over 20 feet of water; it won't grow in any bottom without silt/sand/gravel, either. So now we look for bays less than 15 feet deep where we can see grass reaching toward the surface! We spent a quiet day here watching loons (and hearing their calls) and fishing boats of all sorts plying the shores.

July 15, 2011 (Friday) we moved 3.5 SM to upper Davis Lock. John the lockmaster seems to be a legend on the Rideau for his friendliness and helpfulness. He will let boats stay on the blue line, with hydro (Canadian speak for electricity) at $10 per night on the upper docks. He obliged us by putting us on the blue line (normally reserved for boats that want to lock through) immediately above the lock door on the starboard side, so we had a nice view of the lock and the boats going through it. There are a number of shorter docks in the little pond behind the lock which John created with his own initiative, so the first night there were a total of 17 boats of various sizes at the lock. The Canadian couple in the beautiful 1933 wooden boat (Dave and Liz) were on one of the docks at the back side of the pond and we had a nice reunion with them over the next several days. Most of the boaters there seem to know each other, and many have cottages on the nearby lakes and come to the lock on weekends. By the time we left on Sunday at noon many boats had departed.

We anchored on Sunday night (July 17) in Stouts Bay on Newboro Lake. Again, we confirmed the advantage of anchoring in grass. When we first entered the small bay there were several other boats anchored in various places at the winward end of the lake, so we anchored in an open area between them. The bottom looked rather desolate on the depth sounder, and later in the afternoon when we watched the other boats depart we saw that their anchors came up completely free of any grass; the bottom was a granite shelf. We then decided it would be best to find some grass or at least a better holding bottom, so moved to a shallower area between an island and shore where the depth sounder seemed to show some grass. We anchored there, putting out over 100 feet of chain in 15 feet of water, and later, after two storms passed through during the late evening and about 0130 in the morning, realized that we had, in fact, anchored in a good bed of lake grass; the anchor held through the storms without a problem.

From Stouts Bay we cruised 9.0 SM to the public docks at Westport, also on Newboro Lake. All docks are part of town marina operation and the price was quite reasonable with hydro. The little town had a good grocery store, three ice cream stores, bakeries, and several restaurants. We ate ashore both nights we were
there, shopped, ate ice cream, and Bob had freshly baked cinnamon buns both mornings for breakfast! We departed Westport on Wednesday, July 20 heading for Big Rideau Lake where we hoped to get a spot at the park docks on Colonel By Island (Colonel By is the man who supervised and was instrumental in the construction of the Rideau Waterway/Canal which was completed in 1832). When we approached Colonel By Island it was apparent that the dock was full, so we explored three other anchorages only to discover that one had very poor holding, one was narrow and over 25 feet deep even close to shore, and the third had little to no swinging room with a number of electrical lines laid on the bottom reaching the various small islands. So we cruised past Colonel By Island again (nothing had changed and there was nothing available on the dock), and ended up on the southern side of the lake not too far from Portland in a very nice little Bay - Sheldons Bay. The bottom was only 10 feet in depth with plenty of grass. We laid out 75 feet and never budged, even though the wind during the next day got up to 20 mph at times. The lake had several nice homes (not cottages) overlooking the water with small boats of various kinds at the docks. It looked like a nice place to live (or at least spend the summer months).

Portland had a marina with diesel fuel, the first we have found since departing Kingston. Our next destination was Smith Falls where we hoped to get a spot in the basin between the two locks. We got to the marina shortly after it opened at 0830 and took on 102 gallons of fuel (the first fuel we've taken on since Oswego, New York) in our starboard tank (we've been using the starboard tank only since we discovered a slight leak about 2/3rds of the way up on the port tank earlier in the trip), pumped out the forward holding tank, and by 0945 on the 22nd of July we were heading to Smith Falls where we were able to get the last dock with hydro available! During the day more boats arrived looking for space, and somehow managed to fill up the park walls and still find hydro in some of the places. This is the beginning of the "Construction Holiday" when the construction trades in Quebec take two weeks off so the workers can go on vacation. Everyone seems to have a boat, and every boat takes to the waterways. Many keep their boats in Montreal, so they come through the Rideau Waterway from both directions (from the north and Ottowa, and from the south and Kingston) making a circular route that includes the St. Lawrence River. The lock walls and parks are filled, and it is going to be difficult to find a place to stay for the next couple of weeks without going into a marina. We're a little concerned about whether we will be able to stay on the wall in Ottawa - we won't know until we get there.

We're staying here at least into Sunday (July 24th) and with the hot weather we're experiencing we may stay longer in order to have air conditioning on the boat at night. Smith Falls is a great location with much to do. Yesterday we toured the Rideau Canal Museum and today we went to the Canadian Railway Museum (learned what a "dental car" was) and the Heritage House Museum. This morning Bob got a hair cut (after three months he was looking a bit shaggy) and Judy says he looks better now! The "downtown" area is less than a block away with an ice cream shop, a number of restaurants, Rexall Drug store, and even a movie theater. The basin, the area between the locks, is surrounded by a nice park with lots of boats and RVs - people swimming in the relatively warm water, and just sitting out under the trees talking or reading. We've had several nice discussions with a Canadian couple who come here every summer for a few days from a town near Ottawa; we've gotten some good advice from them about places to stop as we approach Ottawa.

Bob is getting more concerned about the loss of coolant in the engine which he's been unable to resolve, so he's going to talk with a boat yard in Merrickville about checking the engine to determine the source of the leak and making a repair. If that occurs, we will stay in the yard/marina for at least several days while repairs are made. We're hoping it is something less serious than a head or exhaust gasket!

For those of you who may be interested in learning a little about the Rideau Waterway/Canal, the best source of info is at Rideau-info.com. The area certainly has an interesting history, and the whole thing started with the War of 1812!

The weather is really hot - 94 degrees each day for the past 3 days and there hasn't been much rain for a number of weeks. Today for the first time we turned on the air conditioning late in the afternoon so we, and Julie and Khepera, could get away from the heat. The forecast is for more of the same for the next 3-4 days.

We should be in Ottawa within a week, if all goes well with the engine repairs.

Totals to date: 368H45M - 2374.5SM

Jones Falls - Rideau Waterway

Judy returned from her quick trip to Syracuse where she dropped Andrew, Rebecca, Alyssa and Avery at the Amtrak station, did some shopping for items we wanted but cannot find in Canada (diet red mountain dew, for example), and returned, then we did the laundry (three loads). The next day (Saturday, July 9) we shopped for groceries in the morning while we still had a rental car, then toured the Maritime Museum and Pump House Museum in the afternoon.

July 10, 2011 found us departing the marina in Kingston for the Rideau Waterway and Ottawa. We cleared through the causeway bridge at 1100 and then proceeded north along the lower swampy area of the Rideau. When we encountered our first set of locks there were already some boats locking through so we tied up at the "blue line" along with two smaller boats who had followed us through the causeway. The crews of the smaller boats became our cruising friends through the next sets of locks and we had a good time together as we waited to lock through and then spent time in the locks themselves while we were lifted to higher levels. After the Upper Brewers lock they took off ahead of us at their much faster speed to make it to Jones Falls where they were going to spend the night.

We, on the other hand, stopped just short of Jones Falls in a spectacularly beautiful and small bay, Morton Bay, where we navigated through a very narrow opening to enter the bay, and then were presented with an incredible view of high granite cliffs surrounding the water. We anchored in about 15 feet of water near the western end of the bay about 1920, had leftovers for dinner, and turned in early after a long day. Just after anchoring we heard the loons calling, and one loon actually moved past Sanderling at about 25 yards while preening and calling. We also saw a wild turkey on shore, as well as a number of black squirrels. The night was quiet, as the high granite walls blocked any breeze that might have been blowing past.

This morning (July 11) while raising anchor and about 100 feet of chain, we had to deal with huge clumps of grass that had become entangled in the anchor line. We'd never seen anything like it, and Bob worried that if he didn't remove the grass as it came up on the chain the weight would be too much for the windlass eventually. So he raised the anchor 25 feet at a time then used the boat hook to remove as much grass as possible, then raised the next 25 feet, etc. As the anchor came out of the water there was a huge clump of grass wadded around the chain and the anchor, to the point that the anchor itself was barely visible. As Judy drove Sanderling back out through the narrow entrance, Bob worked to remove the remaining grass and get the anchor back up to it's stowed position on the bow.

Another 2 miles brought us to Kenney Inn and Marina at the lower side of Jones Falls locks where we were meeting a friend from Toronto, Georgs, for lunch. We tied to their dock and confirmed that it was OK to tie up for lunch. After a nice lunch and chatting with our friend who has traveled this area in his own boat, Georgs departed for some business in Picton and on to his home. Judy and I decided to remain on the dock for the night, so had an afternoon working on various projects and connected to WiFi from the hotel. Bob checked out some floating docks above the next flight of locks at Jones Falls, and talked to the lockmaster about locking up tomorrow morning in the first lift.

We'll start ascending the locks at Jones Falls about 0830 on July 12th, and hopefully an hour or so later we'll emerge in the lake above the four locks and find space on the floating docks near the dam which was built in the 1840s.

The Rideau is spectacular! Here is a link to more information about it and the surrounding area: Rideau Info

Kingston, Ontario

June 24, 2011 Grenadier Island Central Park

The previous day a number of smaller power boats descended on the docks taking most of the space. As soon as the boats tied up, out came portable gasoline generators which were taken to shore along with gasoline containers, and yellow extensions cords were laid from the generators to the boats so the occupants could run their air conditioners, laptops for the kids, lights, etc. The party started mid-afternoon, and although it broke for the rain storms that occurred in the evening, it began again when the rain stopped. Everyone was having a good time, except for those of us who wanted to get to sleep early! Understand this activity is rather typical for this time of year. French Canadians living in Quebec keep their small boats in Montreal, then all head out together for one of the islands for a couple of days of partying before heading back to Montreal and work.

We departed on the 24th and stopped around noon at Gananoque in the Municipal Marina. Had a great time looking around this small town, shopping for a few necessities at a food store, and eating out. Having four people to help carry groceries means we can buy more in one trip. The English Pub had been touted as THE place to eat in town, but we found it just so-so! Had a chance to do laundry in a real washer and dryer.

Bob was able to get some good advice about anchorages between here and Trenton/Belleville from a trawler owner who was docked in front of us and had cruised by sail and power for over 30 years. We took advantage of his advice over the next week while we headed west.

On the 26th of June we left Gananoque via a very scenic route along a narrow channel through some of the small islands heading toward Kingston. Around noon we anchored for the remainder of the day at Milton Island, just a few miles east of Kingston. The next morning we headed to Kingston and wanted to tie up at either of the two park docks on Cedar Island (the entire island is a park) but when we cruised past the northern dock it was being worked on by the park service, and the western dock was occupied by several boats. We went a bit further and anchored in Navy Bay, just to the east of Canada's military academy. Andrew and Avery took the dinghy back to Cedar Island to do some swimming, and after about 10 minutes reported to us via the VHF radio that the main dock on the west side was open.

Judy and I got underway, and while Andrew and Avery held a spot for us on the island dock, we motored over and took the only spot where Sanderling would fit. A few hours later another boat came in and took the smaller dock space, and toward evening a third small boat came in and took the inner side of the dock we were on. Beautiful island. That night we were visited, twice, by a raccoon. Judy scared it away the first time as it was trying to get through the screen on our aft companionway hatch; Bob scared it away the second time when we heard it's little feet padding down the deck and past a port-hole where Bob was waiting and yelled at it!

The next day we departed Cedar Island and put into Confederation Basin Marina in Kingston where we had reservations for two nights (prior to Canada Day on July 1st). We had planned to visit Fort Henry just to the east across the river, but threatening rain kept us on the boat. Avery and Andrew went to a movie and got out just in time to see the fireworks which culminated the weekly Tatoo at the fort; Judy and I watched the fireworks from Sanderling.

On the 30th we departed Kingston heading west along Adolphus Reach and eventually Belleville where we were meeting Rebecca and Alyssa (Andrew's wife and daughter). We stopped the first night at Prinyers Cove and took a mooring at a small "marina" there - paying more than we'd ever paid for a mooring in all of our cruising, but it was the only game in town with most of the harbor taken up with private moorings. Avery and Andrew spent the afternoon swimming off the boat and rowing the dinghy. About mid-afternoon I was on the stern taking care of something and I was hailed by a fellow on a personal water craft (jet ski) who asked if I was Bob. He had been following a couple of my posts on the Trawlers list and knew that we were going to be at Prinyers Cove that evening; he had come from his cabin on the North Reach in order to present us with mugs and pens from the town where he lived, Napanee, with greetings from the mayor and a recommendation that we visit Napanee on our way to Belleville. He explained how to get there, that the charts weren't accurate for the narrow river leading to Napanee but that the privately maintained buoys were accurate and that we wouldn't have any trouble with water depths. After talking it over with the rest of the crew, we decided to visit Napanee after Picton.

On the 1st of July we cruised to Picton (at the west end of Adolphus Reach) and took a mooring at the Prince Edward Yacht Club for the night. We dinghied to town to check out the shops, and went back for dinner that evening. Later in the evening we watched a very nice fireworks display at the head of the harbor celebrating Canada Day (Canada's equivalent of our Independence Day).

The next day (the 2nd of July) we took our new friend's recommendation and went up the uncharted river to Napanee - a nice adventure we hadn't planned on and a beautiful trip up the small river leading from Desoronto to Napanee. The river had plenty of water (the lest we saw on the depth sounder was 7 feet) and the channel was well-marked with buoys maintained by the Conservation Commission. We stayed on the wall at the town park provided by the Parks and Recreation Department. The charge, with 30 amp electricity, was only $10.00 per night - a real deal! It was a beautiful spot at a quiet park with many picnic tables and shade trees.

As we departed the next morning we decided that we would return on our way back east from Belleville when Rebecca and Alyssa were onboard so they could enjoy the pleasant surroundings of the narrow river and park. We then spent the 3rd and 4th of July in Belleville. Andrew and Avery walked to the train station where they met Rebecca and Alyssa who had flown from Salt Lake City to Toronto, then took a passenger train from Toronto to Belleville. By 1400 on the 4th of July their family was together again and we were discussing plans for the rest of their short stay on Sanderling. Before Andrew and Avery left for the train station, the four of us were interviewed and photographed by a photographer for the local paper who was doing a story about Americans in Canada for the 4th of July. One of the photos (but no story) appeared in the Belleville Intelligencer on July 7th.

When we departed Belleville on the 5th we basically retraced our earlier route back to Kingston, with the exception that we did not stop in Prinyers Cove - the other places we visited were much nicer and had more to offer. When we arrived in Napanee the first day out we were met by the Mayor and the Director of Parks & Recreation along with a couple of reporters and our friend, Kenn, who had encouraged us to visit Napanee in the first place. The Mayor was interested in our trip up the river, why we visited, and what they might be able to do to get more boaters to visit.

We had a great dinner with fresh vegetables and two different kinds of pork tenderloin in the park that evening.

The next day (the 6th of July) we returned to Picton and had a nice berth at the Picton Marina and Park a short walk to the downtown shops; the 7th we departed at 0700 (Andrew and Rebecca were awakened by the bow thruster) and had a beautiful, sunny cruise back to Kingston.

This morning, July 8th, Judy drove Andrew, Rebecca, Alyssa and Avery to Syracuse where they're catching an Amtrak train to New York City around noon, and will then be in Baltimore this evening where their vacation will continue at the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Judy and I are going to stay in Kingston thru Saturday, July 9th, to do some shopping at the well-stocked grocery store nearby and see some of the local site, and on Sunday will head into the Rideau Canal system heading for Ottawa.

Before I forget mention this - the Canadians we've met on this cruise are about the friendliest people you could ever hope to find, anywhere. They willingly share their knowledge of cruising and places to visit, and are extremely helpful in ways that are difficult to describe. We're really looking forward to the rest of our summer in Canada!

Totals to date: 344H50M - 2275.9SM