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	Rideau Canal Houseboat Adventure (Canada 2007)

Maps:

Summary:

When: Summer 2007 (July 28 - August 4)

Where: The Rideau Canal, Ontario, Canada

How: We rented houseboat 'S.M.R.Opinicon' from the company Waterway Getaway in Smiths Falls, Ontario (middle of the Rideau Canal) and went to the city of Kingston on Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River and back (about 100 km - one way).

Why: Rideau Canal celebrates it's 175th Anniversary now and is included into UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007. You can get a lot of interesting information about Rideau Canal past and present from here.

Who is who:
Valentina, Natasha, Anton, Eugene, George

Crew Members:

George captain New York, NY
Valentina cook, camerawoman New York, NY
Natasha intern, interpreter Fort Lee, NJ
Eugene first mate Fort Lee, NJ
Anton second mate Marlboro, NJ

Abstracts from the Ship’s Journal.
Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Day 1 – July 28, Saturday
	Our crew woke up at eight o’clock in Rotterdam, NY where George and Valentina live. Everyone was packing for the trip. We ate oatmeal with eggs. At around 10AM we left the house. While we drove to Smith Falls we made three stops: one in Syracuse, another along Route 81, and the third in the Duty Free shop on the USA-Canada border. We arrived in Smith Falls at around five o’clock. While we unpacked our luggage and set it by the only houseboat left docked by the Marina, Valentina found a note left for us on the trailer, made as an office. It gave us a number to call an employee named Bob. At first, George called the wrong number because he thought the 8 looked like a 7. After about 30 minutes, we realized we called the wrong number. Anton and Eugene saw that George had called the wrong number. We called Bob and he came. He gave us the key to the boat and he gave us a tour of the boat. He also explained to us how we should maneuver the boat. Finally we set of at around 6:00PM to Poonamalie lock. We slept there overnight. For dinner we had chicken with potatoes. After dinner Anton and Eugene discovered a great plan to catch many fish using little bait. At around 9:00PM, we all went to sleep.
Day 2 – July 29, Sunday
	We woke up at 8:30 AM. For breakfast we had oatmeal and eggs. At around 9:30 AM, we left the Poonamalie lock. We made a stop at Lower Rideau Lake, where we swam. Then we reached Rideau Falls where we are to refill our gas on the way back for $1.19 a liter. We also are supposed to drain out our sewage for $25. We rode on to Big Rideau Lake. At around 2:00, we got lost. In about 30 minutes we finally figured out where we were. We steered off course (too far east) to Fox Island in Nobles Bay. Natasha and Valentina started to cook lunch. We reached Narrows lock. Anton and Eugene caught two 7-inched Sunnies using their plan. They lured the fish with the bread and swept up the net when a fish tried to eat the bread. Then our crew went on to Upper Rideau Lake and we swam there. At around 7:00, we reached Newbourough lock, where we docked for the night. George and Valentina went to the store while Anton and Eugene tried to catch fish. The remaining three met a boy named Ryan. He showed us how to catch frogs and use them as bait. It actually worked! By the time George and Valentina came back with ice cream and orange juice, our crew had caught about 6 fish for dinner. We cleaned and grilled the fish and we ate them with chips. On the way to the washroom we catch two frogs that were to be used the next day. At around 9:00 PM we went to sleep.
Day 3 – July 30, Monday
	Everybody woke up at 7:30am except for Anton (he woke up at 8:00am). We had pancakes and eggs for breakfast. Docked in front of us was the boat “Blue Skye”. They had an emergency. The captain’s wife needed to go to a dentist. At 9:30am we left the dock and passed the lock. At 10:30am we stopped and let our boat drift in Clear Lake where we swam. At 11:15am we rode on to Chaffey’s lock, which we arrived at 12:15pm. At 3:00pm we drifted in Ell’s Bay. We swam and after that Anton, Natasha and Eugene rowed to get lily pads. We also ate there: chicken noodle soup with broccoli, cauliflower and peas in it, chicken with spaghetti and ice cream for dessert. We left Ell’s Bay at around 5:00pm. We rode on to Jones Fall lock. They told us to wait there for 45 minutes because it was a quadruple lock and we had to wait for the other boat to get out. There, we swam by the waterfall and we visited the lockmaster’s house. At around 7:00pm we passed Jones Fall and we needed a place to stay. Nobody wanted to pay to stay in a marina so we decided to stay in Morton Bay. We arrived at 7:30pm and we “docked” in a small inlet that we found. Our “neighbors” played on the bagpipe. Everybody was scared but at the end we made it. We ate there and we went to sleep.
Day 4 – July 31, Tuesday
	We left Morton Bay at 7:15am. Anton was still sleeping until 8:00am. George, Valentina and Eugene all helped each other to undock the boat. At 8:20am we dropped anchor in front of the draw bridge that we had to pass. It was closed and we had to wait for the lockmasters to come. At 8:30am we met a cruise boat named Kawartha Island. We passed through the bridge with them, and Eugene was at the wheel. At 10:00am we passed through Upper Brewers lock. At 10:30am we sailed on to Lower Brewer lock. At 11:00am we reached Lower Brewers. At the end of the 4 locks, we ate our lunch. For a very long time we sailed on the River Styx. Natasha gave us a Spanish lesson. We reached Kingston at around 6pm. We found a small docking space, but it was very small so we had difficulties mooring. George went to check the price of an overnight stay. He came back and told us that it was $53 but we had to move our ship. After we moved our boat, we went ashore and paid $41 to stay overnight because we did not want electricity. Then we went to the city and we found a supermarket and we bought ice cream and fireworks. Anton and Eugene threw little sticky balls at George. We came back and ate cereal and we watched Troy. Then we went to sleep.
Day 5 – August 1, Wednesday
	We woke up at 8:30am. We had breakfast, than walked across the bridge to the Royal Military Academy of Canada. There we ask how to get to Fort Henry but they led us to fort Fredrick. We finally got to Fort Henry. In the fort we saw many different guns of the 19 century. There was a jail so we put curious George in it. Anton and Eugene signed up as recruits, where we were treated like slaves. Alright on the way back we bought 4 pounds of potatoes and ice cream. Than we sailed off at 12:30pm. We went reached the next lock in an hour, there was four after we pasted the four locks we ate lunch. Then we swam in the water and ate some ice cream. We sailed on the River Styx, than at the next lock we docked and stayed there for the night. Anton, Eugene and Natasha slept in the tent.
Day 6 – August 2, Thursday
	We woke up at 7:30 and ate breakfast. We left Lower Brewers Lock; we waked up in the red tent and on the mattresses. George the jungle took a picture of sleeping. We sailed at 8:30 the lock doors opened. Then we drifted and we swam in Cranberry Lake. The lake was clear and we saw red colored seaweed. Than we sailed to Whitefish Lake and Jones falls lock. We ate lunch and we swam at the falls. Than we went threw Davis Lock. There we caught a big fish. We saw people that caught a huge bass about 18” and he gave us the big bass. We ate is and it tasted good. We watched a movie and fell asleep.
Day 7 – August 3, Friday
	Our houseboat adventure is almost over. We all enjoyed it so much. We spent at Chaffey’s Lock. It was named after Samuel Chaffy who settled in the area in 1820 and build impressive mill complex. We woke up at 8:30am. Anton and Eugene slept until 9:00am. They complained about a storm that woke them at night. We had some of Natasha’s famous pancakes with black berry jam. We arrived at Newborough Lock at 9:30am. We also went fishing that morning. Anton caught a big bass and Eugene caught a big fish later on. Sniff we met some new friends at the lock, while we passed out at 11:30am. What a nice day it was. It is very hard to imagine that a big storm was suppose to make It rain later on in the day. Umm.. Eugene is reading a lot today. We are sailing threw the big Rideau lake, we drifted their and swam a little. Than we filled up the gas and took all the sewage out. Then we went to Poonamalie Lock. Then George realized that we forgot the stickers at the previous lock and slept there.
Day 8 – August 4, Saturday
	We woke at 8:00am. We ate breakfast than we swam a little. We read a book with the captain crunch and sailed off at 9:30am. This was the last and everybody was supposed to have fun the last day. Than we went through Poonamalie Lock we swam a little there. Once we sailed off, a strong wind blew and Eugene swimming trunks blew off. Natalya swam to get them. Then we sailed on to Smiths Falls. We unpacked and we drove home.