July 9 Underway on the Rideau

We departed Ottowa to head down the Rideau canal. We had a busy morning preparing to undock; Lou proceeded to get coffee(s) for the crew in town and was accosted by one of the homeless women that dwell there. We were also had to listen to a long diatribe early in the morning from a “would be” minister wanting to make us feel guilty about the status of poor people. So, as much as it was beautiful, it was time to leave Ottowa.


It was beautiful making way down the narrow canal that cuts right through the center of the city. The first pic shows the canal, the bikeways, and the parks that line the Rideau. We were making way to Burritts rapids that meant going through another 9 locks. All the locks are operated manually –even the bridges !! The pic below shows a locktender putting some muscle into opening a bridge above one of the locks.

We arrived at Burritts with enough time to take a hike. In the small hamlet of 21 homes, we met a couple that lived in an old church. They even gave us a tour of their home and showed how they converted some of the architectural elements to make living space. The last pic shows the crew of BlueSkies in front of the church.

We were lucky to get a mooring space and we actually tied up on the blue line normally reserved for boats locking through. Most of the boats here were local, but the lock here is serene and beautiful, so there are many boaters that come here for the weekend. However, we met 2 boats, one from Florida that has stopped at Bennetts Point many times to get shrimp, and another from Virginia that has stayed at the Gangplank. We had a lot to talk about.