Mon Sept 12: to Kingston!!

Rick here:

Our last day on the Rideau Canal... Our night was relatively peaceful but as we were just below the dam at the Lower Brewer’s lock we awoke to a large amount of scummy foam surrounding the boat. Great! Another thing we have to wash off.   The weather continued gray and overcast, and the forecast shows we are in for rain, cold and clouds for the next few days.  The overnight temperature is even forecast to drop down to 45 degrees in a few days (that will make Mel happy)!

After the last locks (#’s 46 followed by 47-48-49 in flight) we entered the last section of the canal, that is actually a river at this point: River Styx!  We kept an eye out for the devil but never saw them. 

Locks 47-49.  Quite a large drop! Mel got vertigo.

Goodbye, last lock...

There was a lot of bird life on this lower stretch of the river.   We saw swans, herons and or course the ubiquitous geese and ducks.   There were also turtles all along the banks.  As we passed slowly by many of the turtles fell into the water. 

Mom & Dad with baby swans

Great Blue Heron

Slowly the banks of the river began sprouting buildings and a more industrial feeling as we rounded a large bend to enter the Kingston inner harbor aiming for Kingston Marina.  There were a couple of stranded sailboats on the large, shallow flats so we were careful to follow the channel markers.   We will spend the next two days here exploring Kingston and waiting for the delivery of our repaired propeller on Wednesday. 

Kingston Marina is definitely a “working person’s” marina - with few comforts designed to bring in the transient boater.  The docks are old and the bathrooms basic.  The marina is home to the MetalCraft Marine.  This company manufactures industrial boats for Fire departments, Police and Wildlife patrol.  Business is clearly going well as there were multiple boats being built and finished for delivery.  Check out their website if you’re interested in what they build -  http://metalcraftmarine.com/index.html

 

 

We explored the downtown area on foot, scouting out dinner possibilities.  Kingston is home to Queen's University, so much is devoted to eateries and dollar stores - but in a cute way.  We ended up with excellent sushi and Trinidadian roti, that reminded me of my time spent in Trinidad. Yum!

 

 

I remember ‘limin’ with my friend, Alfred, in Trinidad.  You can even say ‘let’s have a lime’!