South on the Rideau.

July 21, 2009: Today could best be described as a slow day, partly because of all the locks we were forced to pass through and partly due to the weather. It started out as a fairly nice day, with few clouds and a baby blue sky, but turned overcast and remained slightly edgy during the remainder of the day. We departed Burrit's Rapids at 9:00 and sailed throughout the whole day with some friends who are all going South at their own paces. The majority of the boats traveling with us are power boats, but we have encountered a couple of sailboats with enjoyable crew members. Most of the day, Sara, Mom, and I were playing Canasta, Rat-a-tat-cat, and Uno, listening to music, and reading. When arriving at our destination, we had delicious dinner made by mom and then ate brownies. Since we decided that we needed to burn a few calories, we went biking to Smiths Falls, the small neighboring town, population 9000. There wasn't much there, but we all agreed that it was a good workout of about ten miles. Swimming was the most relaxing part of our day, and the water was glacial.
Steffie


July 22, 2009: Chaffey's Lock, Ontario, Canada. 9:30 departure from Poonamalie Lock near Smith's Falls. The swimming was good here. Last night Marc, Sara & Steffie jumped in the water to bathe. It was too cold for me, so just my head went in. Sara went in for an early morning swim. Brave girl. This was the first time we ran into any significant mosquitoes. By the time we went to sleep we had killed them all and no more could get in through the well sealed Wendy room and the netting over the hatches. We had a sunny day. Big rainstorm last night and it started out as a thunderstorm. Most of us slept throughout the storm.

From Poonamalie we went across the Lower Rideau Lake to the Big Rideau Lake. We stopped to refuel at Rideau Ferry Marina, to refill on water, and to empty the infamous holding tank. We then went through the Big Rideau Lake to the Newboro Lock to the Upper Rideau Lake. We went shopping while at Newboro and found a great ice cream shop. The local general store was great: Kilborn's on the Rideau. They had everthing from groceries to very nice furniture on two floors. The place was so nice you would want to move in. We next crossed various small lakes until we reached Chaffey's Lock. These lakes are connected by very tight passages. It must be difficult for the overnight cruise boat that is 30 feet by 120 feet to fit. We enjoyed a nice swim with the fish at Chaffey's. The water is very clean in this area. Sue and I went over to the Opticon Inn nearby and made reservations for breakfast to surprise the girls. Overall this was just a wonderful day.
Sue