In the morning a group of the Canadian Rangers left in a boat, going the opposite direction the Wayward Explorers were going. Since the lock wasn’t opening until 9:00, Captain Mark decided to take his dinghy (his coveted Fatty Knees dinghy that he looked for on the internet for months) out for a row. Last summer, Captain had the dinghy mounted on the swim platform in the marina in Plattsburgh. One day, after being away, he went to lower it in the water….. and it started filling with water! He pulled it up and examined it and there were two puncture holes. The Explorers suspect someone backed accidently rammed their boat in the marina and puncture the dinghy. Captain Mark was devastated, but decided to practice his fiber-glassing skills to repair his beloved dinghy. This morning was the first test of his patches and the Explorers are happy to report success. The dinghy floated. He rowed for a mile out and back and returned to wait for the locks to open.
While they were in the lock, the Explorers asked the locktenders how they would get through the wooden swing bridge they had seen the previous night (which was far enough ahead to be out of view of the lock). The locktenders said they would get in a vehicle and go down to open it. Sure enough, as the Explorers approached the bridge, they saw the locktenders opening the bridge. It was an amazing sight as it was all done manually. One guy had a HUGE crank handle that he had inserted in a hole in the middle of the bridge and he was running around in a circle cranking the bridge open. The Explorers wished they had captured that on video. Captain Mark commented on how simple and reliable old technology is compared to new technology.
Most of the day was spent going through what looked like swampy flooded areas. Navigation was done strictly by following the red and green buoys through what the Explorers assumed was the deepest parts of the plain. The surroundings were very rural with no services or towns in sight. The Explorers encountered 8 more locks, many without any docking areas. Three of the locks where in immediate succession like the locks from a few days before. After the Merrickville Lock and swing bridge, the Explorers stopped to get some exercise and look around because there was finally a cute little town to visit. Merrickville has lots of cute restaurants and cool artsy shops. The Explorers enjoyed a lunch out with great food, a great waitress and GREAT French fries with vinegar (maybe the soggy refried fries are only a thing in Quebec?). Sidekick Sue bought her traditional Christmas ornament souvenir to remind her of the trip. Captain Mark finally found ice, but could not find a single place to buy beer, so he decided to wait because the Yeti wasn’t cold anymore anyway.
After Merrickville, the Explorers returned to more flooded riverbank and swamps. There was lots of seaweed growth, and hundreds of buoys to mark the canal. As the Explorers moved along, huge rain storms seemed to be gathering on both sides of them, but miraculously the canal kept turning at just the right spots to keep the blue skies above them. They passed through 4 more locks and under 4 more bridges (some of them swinging bridges at the locks) until they reached Smith Falls, their destination for the night.
First, they walked through town. It was cute, but undergoing some major construction down the main thoroughfare which made the walk a little challenging. On the other side of the canal, they found a Walmart and stopped in for a few groceries. Captain Mark figured it was a sign from God when they walked by a place called “The Beer Store” which was next door to a gas station with ice. So while Sidekick Sue busied herself with putting groceries away, Captain Mark walked back to The Beer Store and the gas station to pick up some beer. It was still sunny at 7:30 PM when the Explorers settled in for a few drinks on the fly bridge. They noticed that there is a boat rental place on the other side of the canal renting huge boats (40’ or more) with built-in bumpers along the side rails and where the fenders would normally be. They have made a note to stay away from these boats as they are probably being operated by folks that don’t know how to operate a boat and don’t care what happens to their boat.
Swing bridge opening to let the Explorers through.
