Thurs, Fri - July 27-28 Lock 20

Thurs, Fri - July 27-28  Lock 20    
The sun is shining and the water is still flowing.  Tom, Pam and John decide to ride into town and go to the library to use the Internet.  Tom wants to post some days on the blog and there is no Internet here and nothing else to do so it would be a good use of his time - however, the library was not open until the afternoon, and even when it was open the Internet connection was very slow so unfortunately he was not as successful as he had hoped.  Colletta stayed on the boat, did some light cleaning and did her own thing in a relaxing atmosphere.  The lock activity of the day involved a crane being brought in to remove the large cedar log plank which is dangling by a chain over the dam.  The lock hands maneuver the log from one side of the dam spillway to the other by hand crank and then the crane lifted it out of the water and placed it on top of the walkway ready to be inserted when needed.  The process was very efficient and Colletta learned that they have done this before.  Also one of the log planks costs $8000 so it is very important to retrieve the plank and have it ready for use.  

Friday was the first day in which a log was replaced back into the dam in an effort to slow the water speed and still continue to lower the water level.  The lock master for the day, Allison, offered to drive us 20 miles into the town of Smith Falls.  There we did laundry, some provisioning, and walked around the harbor. Their lock is also closed as we spoke with the lock master and viewed their lock and waterfall and dam area.   We will be here soon by boat, but not today.  

The rescue and retrieval of the log begin when the

crane arrives. the lock tenders put down sheets of

wood so the grass wasn't torn up

They hook the log and get it in to position

Up it comes to be rehooked

Rehooked and ready for lift to begin

Positioning the log back in position above the dam so it can be lowered

This is the passenger vessel the "Kawartha" which had 45 passengers
on it for its trip from Kingston to Ottawa. Unfortunately with the
high water from all the rain it couldn't get under some of the
bridges on the way to Ottawa so they turned it around and sent
it back to Kingston. don't know how the passengers fared in all
this or how they got to Ottawa.
The boat is too long for the locks so the bow folds up hydraulically
so it will fit in.

They had to fill the lock all the way to the top to get the Kawartha
thru the locks. A little too full as can be seen here. Turn the water off!

I told you there was a strong current in the canal. Actually
this is right below a lock at Merrickville and the current while
strong was this bad down by our boats

But we were warned by the lock staff of the possibility of increased
current so wee doubled up on the docks lines just to be safe.