Rideau Canal cruisin'

The Kawartha Voyageur seen here at Hartwell Locks, near Carleton U.

If you think it looks too big to fit through the canal locks, you are right. It is too long. However, they roll up the awning at the front and the entire bow section swings up on a hinge, revealling the boat to be the square barge that lies beneath.

The Unfinished Deck

I first noticed this steel girder structure in early Spring. There is a similar one on the other side of the concrete pier that extends out to the Dow's Lake Pavillion (surely one of the better NCC projects, it adds needed life to the Lake).

It looks like the steel should be topped with thick wood planks or concrete pavers, to widen the pier and improve the alignment to the new entrance to Mexicali Rosa's and Malone's Restuarant.

Anyone know why the project has not yet been finished?

Naval Flotilla on the Rideau

I got rather excited to see Navy uniforms on Saturday cruising up the Canal. Mind you its not as fast as the Bras d'Or (hydrofoil)* or big as the Magnificent or Bonaventure (aircraft carriers), all now noticeably absent from our navy fleet.

My dad was in the Navy forever, and being a navy brat, moved every year or two. I attended 9 schools before I graduated from high school. Maybe that's why I haven't moved from my Dalhousie neighborhood in the last 30 years.

*I recall this story, I don't know if it is true. Trudeau was PM. To make a dashing impression, he had the Bras d'Or taken down to Baltimore and then rode it, fastest warship in the world, skimming 2m above the waves, up the Potomac to the tidal basin, to see the US President on his (much larger) ship. If you can't swing a bigger d...k, go for style.

Hartwell Drydocks

The Paula D gets her bottom polished while in Harwell's Drydock.