THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2012
Dick and Gary decided to lock through
together at the first opening (8:30 a.m.). Dick prefers the left side of the lock so we went on the right
side. We locked through with a
kayaker from Germany. He had
rented his kayak in Kingston. The
people who rented it to him didn’t even show him how to get in it or how to
paddle it. He didn’t even know
there are some fairly wide rivers before Ottawa. It took us about 45 minutes to lock through.
We followed LOLLIPOP for a while through
Cranberry Lake until we came to a wide enough place to pass them. We found someone who travels slower than
we do. There is a rock formation
that is called the Duke of Wellington.
It is a man’s profile. We
read about where to find it in one of our books, or brochures or
pamphlets. If I had Internet, I
would research it for you.
The scenery is wonderful. The cliffs and islands make for
gorgeous views. The islands that
Barbara and Dick are going between are Big Island and Tiny Island.
Next is the Brass Point Bridge. It is a swing bridge that Dave (the
Lockmaster from Upper Brewers) is manning today. It was nice to be able to tell him Goodbye and thank him for
his hospitality. The marker says
it all. NO WAKE approaching the
bridge.
We traveled through Whitefish Lake until
we reached our next stop, Jones Falls (Locks 42,41,40 up 45 feet) and the
single Lock 39 (14 feet). When we
got there and tied up on the blue line, we found out we’re going to have about
an hour wait until the boats at the top locked down. We decided to take this time to look around at the Visitor’s
Center. It is an orientation
center, which contains an audio/visual presentation about the Rideau
Canal. There is also a sign about Colonel By.
We locked up with a sailboat and a small
powerboat. It was so hot in the
locks until we made it to the top of each one. Then we had a nice breeze. After we made it to the very top at about 1:30 p.m., we tied to
the wall to spend the night.
We
had traveled 11 miles in 2 hours and 9 minutes not counting the locking times
and waiting. We have traveled 1752
miles total.
There were several things to see at Jones
Falls. Gary walked to see the
Stone Arch Dam. This keystone arch
dam, constructed of interlocking tapered vertical stones, is one of the first
of its type in the world. It
extends 350 feet across the gorge and was one of the highest in North America
when it was built.
After Gary got back from his hike, we went
up the hill to the Sweeney house.
It is one of 12 remaining defensible lockmaster’s houses. The Jones Falls house is one of the
more luxurious ones. It has thick
stone walls, a metal roof and gun-slits all around the perimeter. It also has casement windows that were
rare at the time. Dick said that
he worked on the restoration during 1979-80. He really gets around.
It is now an interpretive museum with staff in period costume. Katie and
Rosemary told us about the house and Sweeney family that lived there.
Our next stop was the Blacksmith
shop. The defensible building with
two-foot thick walls and metal roof was originally built in 1843 to repair and
maintain canal structures. The
blacksmith said that it is unusual because of the large bellows, windows and
forge in the center of the shop.
It was also restored in 1979.
I picked out a napkin ring for the blacksmith to make for us. We bought it after he finished. Gary can hang it somewhere and we can
use it for something.
We walked to the bottom of the locks and
talked to Barbara and Dick one last time.
By that time it was time for me to cook
and us to go to bed. Jones Lock
was a very interesting place.
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