After getting hooked on cruising rivers, canals and locks last year in the Trent Severn, this year we bit off a bigger trip - trailered our 2005 Sundowner 205 from Toronto to Kingston, and cruised the Rideau Waterway to Ottawa, then down the Ottawa River to Montreal, then back "up" the St. Lawrence ending up back Kingston. A great adventure with tons to see and do, extraordinary scenery and experiences. Thankfully this year the weather cooperated (mostly), and it took us about 10 days to do the whole thing. I gotta admit though, at 6'3" and the admiral at 5'10", that cuddy on the 205 was getting VERY small by the end! I think I'm seeing a 248 or 258 in our future!
So, here goes - a few pics
Here we are the first morning before setting out. That's Kingston Penitentiary behind us - one of Canada's most notorious maximum security prisons. Weird sleeping a few hundred yards from the worst of the worst...
First lock-through at Kingston Mills. Anticipation hanging in the air.
The Rideau is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - lots of history, heritage buildings, and most locks are operated the old-fashioned way: by hand
Coming into downtown Ottawa - that's our famous Chateau Laurier Hotel rising in the distance
One of the highlights of the trip - locking down the 8-flight locks where the Rideau and the Ottawa Rivers meet - right next to Canada's Parliament Building
...and looking back on it when we got down
Only one lock on the Ottawa River - but its a doozy! Carrilon Lock is an almost 70 ft drop
And it has a 150 ton "guillotine" style door that rises over your head!
Took a short-cut through the Lachine Canal that takes you right to the heart of old Montreal. Not everyone can use it though - restricted to boats with a maximum 8 ft clearance!
Ahhh... Montreal. North America's Paris. Ce magnifique!! This is where we stayed for the night - we're the little guy.
Heading back up the St. Lawrence. Here's our first Seaway lock. Man, they're big!
Like a cork in a bathtub...
Lot's of these all over the place
There's something humbling about cruising under huge bridges. This is the Massena-Cornwall International Bridge
And finally under the Ivy Lea International Bridge in the Thousand Islands. One more stop at Gananoque for lunch, then a two-hour cruise back "home" to Kingston
But by the weather in those pictures I am guessing he was there sometime between July 7th and August 25. The weather was crap before and after those dates.