We woke up to clouds, but no rain. It was a welcome change. We had a quick breakfast and filled the tank with water. Even though it wasn’t potable water, we have bottled water on board, so we figured we would be okay. We are full of fuel and water and the batteries are fully charged and we are empty in the “head” department …… so it was a great day and we were ready to go.
As we cruised along the weather improved to partly cloudy. The scenery was great. We could see it in what seemed like brilliant sunshine for us “mole people”. We passed several parks and conservation areas. One of the parks had 186 campsites including 6 group camping areas that would accommodate 75 to 125 people. Seemed like a great place for a family reunion. A lot of the shoreline was rural, but there were several good sized homes with nicely landscaped yards. Also along the way we passed what appeared to be combination campgrounds and boat docks. People bring their campers/motor homes along with a boat and park it at a dock right beside their campers.
We went through 8 locks today …. The same number as the Ottawa Locks, but these seemed much easier as they were spread out over 30 miles. We had the same locking partners for much of the way. As we were going through the Merrickville locks, we had several people ask us about the Monk 36 and the Great Loop. These were folks who were genuinely interested in the boat and the adventure. It was hard to concentrate on our lock duties as we were deluged with questions from so many people.
We had planned to go to Smith Falls today, but the area around Kilmarnock looked very peaceful and inviting, so we tied up after going through the lock. We are the only ones on this side of the lock.
Gerry prepared grilled steaks that were cooked to perfection which we had with rice and beans … a true gourmet meal. After that we took a little walk to check out the lock area. The temperature was in the mid-70’s with a nice breeze. It had been a good day.
While on our walk, we chatted with some folks from the boat “Brigus Gail”. The boat is a refurbished steel boat with wood cabin built in 1946. The boat has always been a “Brigus” , but Michael inherited the boat from his aunt Gail and so the current name. His wife Kathleen and son (we didn’t catch his name) and chocolate lab “Riley” gave us the grand tour. He has done an incredible job refurbishing this boat and is now working on another similar project. His dream boat is a Monk 36, so we gave them the grand tour of our boat.
This is another one of those circumstances that highlights the real enjoyment of the Great Loop trip – the people that you meet. We feel like we have known these folks for ever and really enjoyed each other’s company.
Yes and tomorrow will be another such day – hopefully with some more sunshine. We plan to get to Smith Falls early and spend a couple of days exploring this city.
Monk's Vineyard at the marina. To the left is a boat from Kingston. They were on their 2-week vacation trying to get to Ottawa, but had some boat problems so didn't quite make it. They were really friendly and funny. Gave us some recommendations for Orilla on the Trent-Severn
Look ..... some blue sky
Rideau River Provincial Park
Another view of the park .... seemed to go on forever.
These two small homes both had planes parked in the yard. The planes were bigger than the homes.
Mama and her calf grazing at water's edge
Very serene setting
Cute landscaping along the way
More homes along the way. Everything was neat and tidy.
Burritts Rapids Lock
Lockmaster cleaning "gunk" of the lock gate
Boaters, bridge and fisherman
Waterfront property
Ain't It Pretty ! ! ! !
Merrickville Lock
Monk's Vineyard at the dock ...... very, very peaceful
The Brigis Gail
The helmstation on the Brigis Gail
Some of the refinished woodwork. The boat was beautiful.
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