The Thousand Islands are over-rated. Nice islands but too many boats and too many big boats pulling huge wakes. We had good weather but the wind is almost constant as testified by the many huge windmills on Wolfe Island at the upwind entrance to the St. Lawrence River Valley and the Thousand Islands. This makes for great sailing for rag boaters in Lake Ontario. One nice feature of this border is that the area is covered by US charts that are downloaded FREE and usable by my FREE navigation program that is able to read my $40 GPS and we get a moving map, constant position right on the chart screen. Contrarily, my expen$ive Canadian charts are the same type Electronic Navigation Chart as the US charts except that they have been tinkered with so that they are usable only with the expen$ive navigtion program which does NOT recognise my $40 GPS so no automatic presentation of position. Not a problem for the expert navigator (me) but an irritating inconvenience and financial rip-off. Obviously, not many bureaucrats are boaters. From TI to the start of the Rideau Canal at Kingston the route cross Lake Ontario is simple and generously buoyed. No US chart is available and I opted not to buy the Canadian charts for this short trip. We followed a large yacht heading in our direction that simply had to have an autopilot coupled to a GPS and he took us almost all the way to Kingston. He didn't run aground so we didn't run aground. The Rideau Canal is different from the Trent-Severn in many ways. The Trent is in limestone laid down during the millions of years when upper US and lower Canada was an inland sea. The topography is low and covered in vegetation. The Rideau is in the granite "Canadian Shield" with a more rocky character of greater vertical relief. As a result, the Rideau locks tend to bunch up in "flights". A flight is where the top gate of a lock is the bottom gate of the lock above. The operating technique is more complex and takes planning and close supervision. Being late and just missing a flight can mean a long delay as the locking sequence moves away from you and then finally back. A flight of only three locks can take 3 hours. The longest flight is eight locks in Ottawa. The Rideau is a national monument in Canada. Victorian engineering is preserved. The lock equipment is original and kept in excellent condition. The design obviously draws on previous British experience in the extensive 18th century canals throughout Britain but the Canadian locks are huge by comparison and that calls for huskier hardware. In Britain we had to work our own lock gates and valves without help or supervision but here in Canada they do everything while we only handle our lines. The large gates are moved by chain windlass and the valves are operated similar to their British ancestors. The justification for the canal was British nervousness after the war of 1812 when they thought the Americans might attack their vulnerability in Ontario. The Crown wanted to move troops quickly to the south and they made the locks big enough for a troop carrying steamship of that era. The Americans didn't attack but there was another crisis possible a few years later called the Upper Ontario Uprising. That also fizzled and the waterway was turned to commercial use which gradually gave way to today's tourism. Most locks have a blockhouse with gun ports for defense. For almost 200 years the canals have been in uninterrupted service. Something that most people don't realize is that all that water movement is done by gravity feed. There are no pumps. Rain-powered just like the Panama Canal. The Trent was beautiful but the Rideau is better. Are the Canadians keeping this secret place to themselves so as not to be overrun by others? Like the Trent, each lock is a very nice park. Unlike the Trent, the locks are busy and moorage is sometimes not available to late-comers. There seems to be a surprising abundance of frogs. I wonder if there are any boats left in Montreal. Rivet! Except for the Rideau Canal terminus cities of Kingston and Ottawa, Smiths Falls is the largest town on the waterway. That may not be thought a big deal but I assure you it is. There is a Wal-Mart, a Canadian Tire where we bought toilet paper (You can get anything at CA Tire. It is well known for cookies on sale), propane refills - not just tank exchange, which are everywhere but a real and rare refill facility, WiFi, grocers, many fast food joints - all within short walking distance. Asking directions to the propane refill place got us a ride there and back. Our cup runneth over. The weather has not been top notch except for a few days now and again. Some natives have even cancelled or postponed their immediate cruising plans. Wonderful scenery though, even in the rain. We may remain here in Smiths Falls for another day so as not to arrive in Ottawa on the weekend and have to find moorage on a busy day. I hope to find a WiFi spot here that allows outgoing email. Most have that feature disabled probably to prevent spammers from using their server. No telling when this exciting narrative can actually be sent. Patience will be rewarded. The sky is clearing, the boat is running well, the crew's cough is disappearing, and the captain remains well fed.
