Rideau Canal with a Keel?

[Mirage35]

Originally Posted by Narfi

When I was last researching, I found one or two other companies but they were house boats.... looked like a floating square trailer house, but maybe they were limited to the 1000 islands area and not the canal, pretty sure le boat limits to just the Rideau Canal.

Yes, there are a few companies renting houseboats in the Thousand Islands and there may well be on the Rideau, but I haven't found them. And a trailer on pontoons doesn't appeal to me the way a real canal boat does. Probably a lot cheaper, though.

[boatpoker]

or ... an English style narrow boat on the NY State Canal System ... https://eriecanaladventures.com/?gcl...waAkz0EALw_wcB

[GetawayMirage24]

We & 3 other couples (friends of ours) rented from Le Boat on the Rideau for a week summer of 2019 and it was terrific trip. The boats are great, well appointed in every way, and ours (49') had side thrusters bow and stern so which manouvering a boat that size a breeze, especially into and out of the locks, or holding while waiting to go in. The locks can get very busy in-season and the lockmasters sometimes pack boats in pretty tight. We highly recommend Le Boat and will probably rent from them again sometime after this Covid Chaos is over.

[Lake-Effect]

For a neat TV experience, here's a nearly 4 hour (!) trip up the Rideau Canal system. If you can set aside a few hours, this on a big screen, plus a glass of scotch, is a very pleasant experience*. And it has only whetted my appetite to actually do the Rideau for real.


(*their sound design is a bit limited though. The overdubbed bicycle sounds made me cringe)

[Wayne Bostow]

Anybody around for an update? Suppose one pushes the envelope and tries to get through with a C&C 33 footer seen in one place as having 6'6" draft. Are there times when water levels are high enough not to be a problem? Does one need to declare the draft at the entrance? ...or an intention to go the whole route? How can one guage the deepest part of the channel? (The keel, after all, is only a few inches wide at its deepest point.) Is there some kind of augmenting flotation that can raise a sailboat a foot or so, either for purchase or for rent? --WB

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by Wayne Bostow

Anybody around for an update? Suppose one pushes the envelope and tries to get through with a C&C 33 footer seen in one place as having 6'6" draft. Are there times when water levels are high enough not to be a problem? Does one need to declare the draft at the entrance? ...or an intention to go the whole route? How can one guage the deepest part of the channel? (The keel, after all, is only a few inches wide at its deepest point.) Is there some kind of augmenting flotation that can raise a sailboat a foot or so, either for purchase or for rent? --WB

I've never done the canal on a sailboat (only power) but this is just asking for trouble. The water level is controlled but only to a certain extent. Also, many areas are horrible with weeds which will greatly affect your maneuverability.



I'll let those with actual sailboats who have done the route speak to this but my two cents? Don't do it.

[rslifkin]

In some areas, the limiting factor is likely to be depth over the lock sills. Unless there's high water, if the sills are only at 6 feet under, you just won't make it.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Wayne Bostow

Anybody around for an update? Suppose one pushes the envelope and tries to get through with a C&C 33 footer seen in one place as having 6'6" draft.

The canal people say:

Normally the locks are maintained with a draught of 1.7 metres (5.5 feet). However even the 5 foot minimum is subject to water availability and all vessels with a draught of over 1.2 metres (4 feet) should contact the Rideau Canal Office prior to traversing the canal.

... so it's very likely that a 6'6" draft is too much to even try with.

You might consider renting a boat to do the canal.