August 5--8, 2024 Going Nowhere Fast

Monday August 5, 2024 - Thursday August 8, 2024 Ottawa to Hurst Marina 4 days and 23 miles

Leaving Ottawa behind

This narrow section of the canal through Ottawa was made using
pick axes, shovels and manual labor. Lovely, scenic area.

The weather has turned more seasonal with highs in the 70's. No need to search for 50amp power for AC, so staying on the lock walls works fine. Figure we'll make the most of the seasonal mooring pass we purchased. All the locks on the Rideau Canal are run by Parks Canada and each lock station has a park area and dockage for overnight stays. Some lock stations are just bigger and nicer than others. The canal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with most of the locks dating back to the original construction of the canal in 1832. The locking mechanisms are manually operated to both open and close the gate doors and also to open and close the flood gates. The engineering is fairly crude but also effective. The gates are prime examples. A long 4x4 pole attaches to the door. A steel drum on shore has two chains attached to it with one at each end of the pole. Turn the drum via handles one way and the chain pulls the door back - turn the handles the opposite direction and the other chain starts wrapping around the drum and pushes it closed. It's a lot of manual labor for the college kids working the locks - especially at flight locks where they move steady from one chamber to the next constantly working boats up or down. Every time I see them working the drum it reminds me of Wesley on the rack of the torture machine in our favorite movie "The Princess Bride".

Hartwell Lock is well within the city limits.
Note the manual controls for the lock

Better view of the manual chain and drum system used for the gates

Monday we traveled all of 4 miles. Had to wait on a swing bridge to open on the way out of Ottawa then up a flight of 2 locks at Hartwell Lock. Of course we had to overnight here with our connection to Lake Hartwell. Lockmaster was a hoot. Talk to him about any topic and he had a handful of interesting facts for you. Busy place with bikers in the morning crossing over the top of the gates on their way to Carleton University.

Heading into the flight of 2 locks at Hartwell.
Seems we always have a crowd of spectators.
Carleton University in the background.

On the wall at Hartwell Lock Station

Journey for August 5, 2024

Tuesday we hit 2 lock stations and upped our travel distance to 5 miles. Hogs Back Lock is listed as locks 11 and 12 but 12 is actually just a flood gate. A swing bridge here won't operate during "rush hour" but not an issue given our timing. Martha has to do a mad scramble changing fenders from our normal starboard tie to a port tie since another boat ahead of us enters the lock first and takes starboard. Technically we should both fit on one side, but they tie well back from the gates not leaving enough room for us. No harm - no foul - they are loopers we'll meet later. All of these sections of the canal are limited to 10kph (6mph) which we visiting Americans are adhering to - not so much the locals who seem to be in a much bigger hurry. Got to Black Rapids Lock and the gates are open waiting for us. Easy lift and we arrive at nice new concrete docks with power pedestals. Smaller park area but a great greenway trail for hiking. The loopers on Halfling stop here too. They are biking to a nearby Costco a couple miles away. Where they find storage space for anything bought at Costco on a 27' Cape Dory confounded me.

Canoers came out of the lock then the Cape Dory headed in

Kept seeing these signs while hiking the greenway but no explanation

This is what wild parsnips look like, Googled it after the walk and found out the sap on your skin reacts to sunlight generating a nasty irritating burn and rash.

Greenway trail had a nice combination of treed areas,
open farmland and picturesque natural fields and wetlands.

Journey for August 6, 2024

Wednesday wound up being a longer day than expected to go just 5.5 miles. Bad timing for us - just part of the fun. When we arrived at the flight of 3 locks making up Long Island Locks, they were just starting the process of taking boats down. Lockmaster told us it will be a while. Canal workboat he needs to bring down before we can go up. We waited with 2 other 35' cruiser style boats. Thankfully we all fit when it was our turn. This is a popular lock station due to the large park area so plenty of places to tie up. They suggest a long floating dock which we have to ourselves in nice deep water. Plenty of folks enjoying the park during the day but all is quiet and peaceful at night.

One of the newer bridges we passed under. Ottawa's suburbs are expanding

Waiting our turn on the blue line at the flight of 3 at Long Island locks

Had this dock all to ourselves - except for a few folks fishing during the day

Journey for August 7, 2024

Thursday we decided to head for Hurst Marina for 2 nights. A whopping 8 miles away and no locks to deal with. Speed limits still make it an hour and a half trip, but we're secured in a slip just after noon. Remnants of Hurrican Debby are coming through. Forecast is a little wind but like everywhere this storm has touched - lots of rain. Haven't had internet for a few days hence the backlog of postings. Friendly competent dock hands, nearby restaurant, courtesy car for provisions, and a pool and hot tub. Maybe we'll get a chance to use the amenities.