CoVID Cruise

It was the fall of 2020.  My husband and I were working hard but not having much fun.  Our biggest and most exciting decision every week was what kind of take-out we were going to order on Friday night.  There was very little socializing going on because of the pandemic.  Keith was desperate for a vacation but there weren’t many viable options for travel. 

Then he discovered a cruise that disembarked out of Smiths Falls!  No air travel required and a short drive from our home.  And we would be the only passengers on the ship so no worry about pre and post travel testing or isolation or personal protective gear.  We decided it was a go and booked four nights just before the Thanksgiving weekend.

On the drive up, we decided not to take the boat damage insurance for an extra $75 per day.  This is an important plot point.  We arrived and loaded our stuff onto the boat in a full-blown thunderstorm.  The boat rental guy took us through the first set of locks and then said we were ready to go!  We certainly didn’t share his confidence in our ability to drive this 33-foot houseboat all through the Rideau Canal.  This watercraft was incredibly unresponsive.  The waves were high, and the wind was fierce, and the stupid boat wouldn’t go where we were trying to steer it.  Then there were those red and green buoys!  Why, oh why, had we both cheated on our boater’s exam instead of learning which side of them you were supposed to stay on?  The boat would only go 10 km per hour, and we weren’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.  We were going nowhere fast but managed to get through the following set of locks without incident.  Next, I made the fatal error of handing Keith a piece of pizza to help warm him up while driving.  Yes, I know perfectly well that men cannot multitask.  We were heading into a very narrow part of the canal.  It seemed we were going to hit the shore on the starboard side so he steered toward the port and over-corrected and couldn’t get the thrusters going and long story short, we ran aground!  We bounced off and I could see that the rocks had some white and blue paint on them.  Keith, however, felt there was no proof that those marks came from our boat!  

We came out on the Lower Rideau Lake.  It was so bitterly cold that I had to change into long underwear to go with my toque and mitts.  Suddenly the boat stopped and started to spin around.  Good Lord, what was happening now?

The weather started getting rough,

The tiny ship was tossed,

If not for the courage of the clueless crew

Horizon II boat #41 would be lost!

The spray (more like sleet) was coming up at least 12 feet into our eyes and we couldn’t see a thing up top!  We switched the steering to the inside wheel and eventually made it to our first port of call – Rideau Ferry.  We took a walk to the LCBO because we knew at this point that we had not packed enough booze.  We celebrated our first day and both agreed that we hadn’t had this much fun in ages! 

The next day was beautiful, and we covered the Big Rideau Lake and the Upper Rideau Lake and made it to Westport.  We were improving on our boat driving.  There were good maps on board, and we also used the Navionics App to help with navigation.  By now we had the green and red buoys figured out and everything was tickety-boo.  

We spent the following gorgeous day on two self-directed excursions.  We hiked up Foley Mountain to the conservation area and looked out over Westport at the wonderful autumn colours.  Then we walked to a local winery (Scheuermann Vineyard).  We saw the entire operation – workers picking grapes, hauling them in and squeezing the juices out.  We enjoyed delicious pizza and wine - it was a perfect day!

After staying overnight in Westport again, we sailed to Newboro.  I wanted to do some shopping at Kilborn’s on the Rideau.  This was going like on any other vacation I take with my husband.  Me trying to buy some nice souvenirs and Keith tapping his toes trying to hurry me along and talk me out of it.  The weather had turned bad again.  When we got to Narrow’s Locks the staff made a herculean effort to help us dock and turn us around even though they were not supposed to touch our boat due to CoVID.  The locks had been closed because of high water, so we limped back to Westport for our last night instead of our planned destination of Rideau Ferry.

We had a long trip back to Smiths Falls the next day.  Thankfully the boat was bullet proof, and we were not charged for any damage.  And we were pleased that the cost of the gas was only $80.  The boat was like a luxurious RV on water.  It had all the amenities you could ask for and was quite cozy.  We have been on many cruises, and this will always be one of our most memorable ones.  You must provide your own entertainment and cook your own meals, but it was a wonderful staycation.  We liked it so much that we took another one in June of 2022 with our six-year-old granddaughter – but that’s another story!

Submitted by Laurel Crosbie-Michaud