The People and Their Boats of the Rideau River System

The Admiral has completed a video of some of the wonderful family, friends, acquaintances and their boats on the Rideau System.

One of the most rewarding aspects of boating is the comradery of people with a like minded passion for the water. Spending quality time with people at anchorages, raft-ups, locks, and small town destinations. Also meeting and making new friends at each and every place.

The song is "Boats" by Kenny Chesney, and though we are not big country music fans, this song really captures the essence of why people boat.

This video is a tribute to those people and the wonderful boating memories you have all helped create. We wish we had video of everyone we have met on the water, and we know there are some key people missing from this video, but we will catch you next season.

Replacing Boat Carpet with Synthetic Decking

When we purchased the C-Shel back in 2008, we knew there would be many items in need of updating, and upon first look we knew that the carpet in the staterooms and the head would be right at the top of the that list.

The previous owners did a fantastic job picking modern neutral boat carpet for the salon when they replaced the original carpet. However their new installation stopped at the bottom of the companionway stairs. The master and guest staterooms along with the head (that's a washroom for you landlubbers) was still covered in Grey 20 year old carpet. Why a boat builder would put carpet in a head area I will never know. Our goal was to find a replacement and have it installed before the beginning of the next season, spring 2009.

We of course wanted Teak and Holly for the upscale traditional boat look. However, I wasn't keen on the maintenance of real Teak and Holly, I really wanted a synthetic solution that didn't look fake like most laminate and vinyl flooring I have seen.

During the winter we attended the Montreal Boat Show with some good friends. We were hoping to see some floor samples but didn't have high expectations. During our exploration of the show we ran across the NuTeak display. We seen samples of exterior and interior synthetic flooring. We noticed Teak and Holly flooring in the display and asked if it was real. It wasn't. This floor looked so good, so durable, we were sold on the spot. The floor in the NuTeak line is called Seafloor I believe, and I later found out that this product is probably the exact same product as the Amtico interior synthetic decking they use on some cruise ships and high end motor yachts like Hatteras.

In the spring we ordered enough product to cover the square footage of the lower floors of the C-Shel, along with the adhesive, and the adhesive gun. We started to pull the old carpet up at the beginning of March. That's right, I attempted to install this stuff plank by plank with my Father-In-Law. I like to think I'm handy, but those who really know me will tell you that I'm somewhat green. However, I was determined to do this ourselves and save a load of cash in the process, so with the confidence builder my Father-In-Law is, we started.

 Head removed, and the old carpet quickly thrown in the dumpster, the next thing we hit was the unforeseen need to level the floor. For added strength, the plywood floor was tabbed with fiberglass to the hull sides. Any texture in the floor, or uneven surfaces would be felt under foot with this 1/8” thick seafloor. We spent one and a half weekends alone, troweling epoxy filler and sanding to make the floor even around the areas of tabbing.

Next stop was to pre-cut all the pieces to fit to the floor before any adhesive could be laid. We nailed a piece of strapping to the plywood floor to mark the center and to use as a straight edge to butt the pieces to, working from the center out. Once one side was fitted with pieces, we moved the center strapping board to the other side of the center line and continued to work from center out on the other side. Though this flooring is fairly easy to work with, it was tedious and long work. It took us many many weekends to complete the cuts.

This stuff comes in strips like hardwood flooring about 3 inches wide and 3 feet long, including the thin holly strips. Straight edges would be cut with a mitre saw, curves and shapes would have to be done with a pair of tin snips, which took a bit of getting use to.

The adhesive part of the installation was the easiest. Lifting big sections of the flooring product off the floor and spreading adhesive then relaying it. All in all it took from the beginning of March to the beginning of May to complete the work, working on the weekends only. I would venture to say I saved thousands of dollars in labor doing this work ourselves, and I have the satisfaction of saying that this unhandy fellow got a little bit handier.

I have no reservations in recommending the NuTeak Seafloor interior synthetic Teak and Holly. It is a wonderful, real looking, durable product, that I am sure I will be pleased with for many years to come. In my opinion, the floors of the C-Shel look much better than even when she first rolled off the assembly line 20+ years ago, and maybe even adds a little value to our Tollycraft 34 Sport Sedan.

An Autumn Cruise on the Rideau

It's the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada. A time when some have already pulled their boats for winter, some are gone to take part in family activities, and for others it is a chance to take to the waters where there is very few people and the Fall colors can be really appreciated. We fall into the latter category.

Cyndi and I took Thursday and Friday off to make it a five day weekend, and what a beautiful five days it was.

I'll let Cyndi's video speak to the extent of the Fall colors and the peacefulness of this short trip from Rideau Ferry to as far as Davis Lock. Hope you enjoy.

Innovation Awards at the International Boat Exhibition IBEX

Every year I follow the IBEX show, wondering what new and innovative products I may be interested in and to become familiar with the technologies we are going to be seeing on the next generation of boats.

One product in particular caught my eye, and it won the innovation award in the safety category. The product is Azure by PlasDECK. It is a synthetic teak exterior decking solution where the caulk lines will glow in the dark because of a phosphorescent blend. Not only will this make things safer walking around the deck in low light conditions, it has a major cool factor as well.

Check it out on PlasDECK

 Will this product find its way onto the decks of the C-Shel? Well I can certainly see the safety and cosmetic value of the product.  I can see it now, taking a late evening cruise, or overnighting at anchor, a set of underwater LED lights turned on and the soft blue glow of the flooring strips. Very nice.

Interested in the other awarded products at IBEX? See BoatingBusiness.ca.

Montreal to Rideau Lakes Videos

The final parts 3 and 4 of the Golden Triangle cruise videos have been uploaded. These videos are directly related to the Montreal to Rideau Lakes via the St. Lawrence River post.  Hope you also enjoyed part 1 and part 2 of this series.

Montreal to Rideau Lakes via St. Lawrence River

After 3 days we had our fill of the somewhat crowded busyness and decided it was time to head for the quite islands of the St. Lawrence River.  Leaving the Old Port, we headed back around the La Ronde Amusement park and into the 2 commercial locks we came through 3 days ago to get here. It's a good thing we left when we did, because the next morning the lower lock was closed and remained closed for quite some time because of a tanker spill in the system. If we had of decided to spend one more day in Old Montreal there is no telling how long we would have been held up there, possibly ruining the plans for the remainder of our vacation.

Our cruise up the St Lawrence were at cooler temperatures than our trip down the Ottawa River. On the way to the Islands which pretty much start at Brockville, we had stopovers at Craig Quay, Chrysler Park  Marina near Upper Canada Village, passing through the Beauharnois, Snell, Eisenhower, and Iroquois commercial locks.   There is one thing in the commercial locks that caught us by surprise here, we are familiar with the lock staff throwing down lines from the top of the lock for us to cleat and feed through as the water rises; At Eisenhower lock, we entered and the lock staff said number 2. We had no idea what he meant, until we got in and noticed these numbered floating hooks inside the lock wall, it was weird however that we would only get one of these hooks, we had to feed the bow line around it at midships, and the same for the stern line. It was a little difficult to keep the stern in to the wall, and the lines were rubbing up the concrete wall the whole way making our lines very dirty and their lock walls very clean. Iroquois was another anomaly, we entered the lock, they closed the doors behind us, we pulled to the lock wall, paid our fee, then they just opened the door in front of us and we left. It was no noticeable lift to this lock at all.

The current can be 3-4 knots in these areas, you can see some of the navigation buoys healing over to the force of the current, so heading upstream will have an effect on your speed and fuel economy, though not enough to warrant not going up the St. Lawrence. We lost a little time, and burned a little more fuel than usual, but nothing drastic. We will however go downstream on the St. Lawrence the next time we do this triangle just for a change.

We were in need of provisions, so before we went out for the night on one of the Brockville group islands we had to stop into the Brockville Marina to find a grocery store. This marina allows you to tie up for free, if slips are available, for up to 3 hours. This gave us plenty of time to do a little shopping on Main Street, and stock up on food and water.

Leaving Brockville Marina, it was only a few minutes before we hit the islands. We rounded Refugee Island, seeing a full dock free on the southern side, we took it. It was a beautiful spot, the water in this area was so green and clear. We spent the evening swimming, snorkeling, and watching water foul gracefully flying inches above the water.

The next day we left the Brockville Island group, and passed through a little bit of open water, to get to the next group of islands where we stayed at Grenadier Island. Grenadier is a big island with tons of park dockage around it. We decided to check out Grenadier Central since we have never been there before. There ended up being a lot of boats there that evening, and I can see why, it has a big grassy field, a beach, and docks enough for more than 20 boats give or take.

Having spent two nights without shorepower we were in dire need to charge the house battery, so we needed a marina. Next stop was Gananoque. Heading to Gan is a marvelous cruise through the 1000 Islands area. We took the Canadian Middle Channel until we entered the Gananoque Narrows. It was a very windy day; 25 knots with gusts to 40-50. I am not completely sure how I did this but I sterned into my assigned dock at Gan without mishap in this wind. It has to be the windiest time I have ever docked the boat. There were many other boats that came in that day that were not so fortunate, one teeing the finger dock on the port side and another was blown around between two docks, while yelling at dock hands.

One of our favorite islands is Camelot Island just south east of Gananoque. We like it on the mooring cans there, but it is a really busy island and we rarely ever get any spot at that island. I think the last time we were there was 8 or 9 years ago. The morning after Gan we set off to see if we could get a mooring can at that island. As we got closer we could see another boat on approach from the north just ahead of me, he took the south side, and I tried for the north side, as we rounded the island there it was, a free mooring, rarely seen by us at this island. We quickly tied up, and as we did we could see the other boat that was ahead of me round the island without a spot. A few moments later other boats came in close to us to ask if we were staying or leaving. We stayed the night and had a wonderful time. We even met up with a boater who was vacationing in the area whom we once shared a home marina with.

The 1000 Islands area really is a boaters paradise and has some of the best fresh water cruising in the world. There are docks, mooring cans, and anchorages a plenty and it would take years of constant cruising to fully explore the whole area. The water is clear and cool and the landscapes are phenomenal. If you want a good view of what the islands are like, it is a good idea to catch some of Ian Coristine's photography of the area.

Camelot was our last stay at the islands, and from there we headed to Kingston for a two day stopover to get Mary Browns Fried Chicken delivered to the boat; a tradition we started a few years ago, to eat out at some of the great restaurants in downtown Kingston, and also to get provisions for the last leg of the cruise up the Rideau River and back into the Rideau Lakes. 

Kingston Town Hall

As we entered the Rideau system there is a feeling of home that comes with it, staying at Lower Brewers, anchoring in Morton Bay, Chaffey's, and a night at Newboro, but it also has the feeling of completion, other areas we have never been have now passed under our hull. A fabulous trip around eastern Ontario, one that we will remember for many years, and was quite possibly the nicest cruise we have done yet.  We will do this triangle cruise again, but we have many more waters to explore that we have never been. Lets see what next seasons vacations holds.

Kingston Mills Lock

Lower Brewers Lock

Morton Bay

Big Bird at Chaffey's Lock

Rapids at Chaffey's Lock

Beautiful Trawler

I ran across this Monk 36 trawler on the internet, of which I am a huge fan. This one is for sale close by, in Toronto. She is a wonderful example of a Nova Scotia built Monk. She even has some ties to my Tollycraft 34, designed by the same family of naval architects, the Monks'. For anyone considering a sub 40 trawler, I would look no further. Her classic lines, salty look, superior construction and craftsmanship will keep this vessel looking great for many years to come. She is seakindly and economical with her single 220hp diesel engine. She would do well as a small live-aboard, great for doing the great loop, hanging out in the Bahamas, or just cruising the great lakes. If I were in the market, I'd be running to take a look at this beautiful boat.