The 126-mile long Rideau Canal has been the most impressive… the most visually powerful… experience of our six years of cruising. We began this leg of our journey meandering through expansive wetlands. As we cruised along, the marshes grew to be winding rivers with towering cliffs, surprising us at every turn. We fell in love with those delightful “lost chick” granite and evergreen islands dotting lake after lake. We continued on to discover pastoral scenes of farms with pasture lands reaching to the water’s edge. We ended with the high-rise skyline of Canada’s Capital City of Ottawa, Ontario coming into view. How great is that!
Led by Lieutenant Colonel John By of England’s Royal Engineers, thousands of Irish immigrants, French Canadians and Scottish stonemasons were among the laborers who helped push the canal through the rough bush, swamps and rocky wilderness what is now Eastern Ontario. The project took six years, from 1826-1832. It’s an engineering marvel that continues to work the way Colonel By envisioned it should back in the early 19th century.
Starting at 243 feet above sea level in Kingston, the first 14 locks raised us up to 408 feet above sea level. The next 30 locks lowered us back to 134 feet above sea level at Ottawa. Some of the locks were singles, some were flights of two and some were flights of three. The final 8 locks create a “Staircase” leading down to the Ottawa River. Breathtaking!
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named The Rideau Canal one of Canada’s 19 World Heritage Sites, the only one in Ontario. Wally and I feel very blessed that we traveled this pristine waterway on our 50th Anniversary Tour.
Our current traveling companions began locking through with us when we departed Kingston. Janet and Paul on New Freedom are from the Northwest. Nancy and Randy on Katy Corrine II are from Middle America. Paula and Tom on Life's TreVails are from the Southwest. Of course, Wally and I on Summertime come from the Northeast. Vicki and Mack on Confetti who come from the Southeast have a few days lead on us so we have been counting on them for updates as they proceed. Together our five boats represent the far reaches of the U.S.A. We've come to be good support and company for each other.
