August 14:
We got to Kingston, Ontario on Saturday night after a much longer drive than expected and discovering that I had left my credit card behind at the Ontario Welcome Center. They had called Citibank when they found it and that had also canceled Heather’s as well. So after a stressful go around with the bank’s Canadian 800 number representative in India I was told that they were Fedexing me a temporary card to the address I was able to give them here at the bed and breakfast in Kingston. This would mean we would have to come back here to pick it up on Monday the 15th. Well it is lucky we have Elaine Freedman with us as our chauffer/logistics manager/shuttle driver. She has volunteered to go and pick it up!
We set out from the boat ramp in the beautiful MacDonald Memorial Park on the shore of Lake Ontario after numerous send off pictures. The weather was calm and warm. Perfect for rowing! We make it the first mile to the swing bridge at the mouth of the Cataraqui River at about 12:15. It was a slow start but we were feeling good and the water could not have been better. No wind, no current and very few boats making wakes! A long string of red and green buoys marked the channel as far as we could see. Keeping the reds on my starboard side was fairly easy since they were not far apart. After about four miles we approached the first of four successive locks at Kingston Mills taking us from the Cataraqui River into Colonel By Lake. Elaine had found that Colonel By had been in charge of the building of the Rideau Canal. I am sure we will learn more about its history as we get closer to the canal part of our trip. For the next several days we will be traveling along the lengths of a series of lakes connected by locks allowing large boats to move along this waterway.
The fear I have been trying to hide about my right shoulder acting up has so far been for naught. The rowing motion does not use the muscles and connections that have been a problem since I had this shoulder operated on at the end of June. I am greatly relieved but still a bit protective of my right arm.
After leaving the Kingston Mills Locks we headed out on Colonel By Lake for a short ways looking for the launch ramp at Rideau Lakes campground. The campground was easily located as we could smell the grills cooking the dinners of what seemed to be thousands of campers. There we found Elaine sitting in her chair reading and we turned sideways to the ramp so that stepping out into the green water was not too bad. All of the water we have seen is very cloudy and filled with a green suspension that looks like it would cause the ninety year itch. Fortunately it does not but that first time I committed my foot to entering it gave me some second thoughts. We were heading up the road to Seeley’s Bay where Elaine had already scouted out a place to stay.
Rita (she says RRRRRitta) and Walter are a middle aged Swiss couple who run the Sunny Acres Marina and cottages who had been recommended by a very nice lady we hope to meet back in Plymouth when we return. I had spoken with Georgette for an hour on the phone about her sculling trip on the Rideau Water Way. The one recommendation she had given me was about Rita and Walter’s Sunny Acres Marina. So we had to check them out and we ended up here in their new apartment big enough for three of us with kitchen with a view of the harbor. It is far enough along so we can spend two or three nights here and be shuttled to our put-ins and picked up at our take outs by our chauffer.
