Kilmarnock Lock - 31 July 2010

Good morning all!    Got out for a paddle yesterday and what a wonderful day for it.  Bright sunshine with white puffy clouds and for the most part completely dead calm.  Temps were only around 24C which made for a very comfortable day.

Kilmarnock is located just west of Merickville and west of Smith Falls.  A little known lock and not one that gains much attention.   Only raises and lowers the water 2 feet so for some it's rather boring.  But the interesting part is that it has a swing bridge right in the middle.  Given that the water only lowers 2 feet, the bridge needs to be moved for almost every boat that goes through.    The bridge is extremely heavy (I wanna say 40 ton, but that just doesn't seem right, so will have to ask the lockmaster next time I'm down) and it's moved completely by hand.   As with the rest of the Rideau there is no power, it's completely run the way it was build in the early 1800's.    So the bridge has a weighted center point, that is obviously off center and 1 or 2 people can give it a twirl and it swings out of the way.  Thus closing the road and letting the boats raise and pass through.   There are a few other locks like this as well, always interesting to watch.

Things not to do in a car ;-)   But I thought it looked cool!

The lock with boats going through.  Notice the bridge rotated out of the way.  When I arrived at the lock the smell of weed was overwhelming!  One of the boats down below had some people having a good time, rather early in the morning - lol.

The lock.  To the left is the lockmasters house and straight ahead is the lock with the bridge set for road traffic.

Lockmasters house

Boats coming thru the lock.

Navigating the Pea Soup!

Reflection day!  Dead calm so the clouds were reflecting nicely.

Water was clear enough to see the fishies!

Damselfly's mating.  Had over 12 "couples" at one point on the kayak.

Note the heart shape when they assume the proper "position" ;-)

Hey!  Get a room you two!

My spirit came a long and we had a rather long chat about things.  I stated my case, we'll see if she listens :-)

I always go where no power boats go!

and go where no man has gone before :-)  Tough paddling in this stuff tho.

I think this is the biggest boat on the system.  She can just fit into the lock when the bow is raised.

On the way back in.  :-(

Note the 2 ladies pushing the bridge.

A final look before ending the day.

No paddling today, going to take the day and get some chores down and watch some races.   But still have tomorrow off and looking to maybe get the canoe out tomorrow for a run.  Looking at the maps and deciding where to go :-)  Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!