Day and I recently went to Smith Falls, Ontario with our friends K&J, to try our hands at canal boating, no experience required. Yes, you can rent a boat from LeBoat in Smith Falls, and go boating on the Rideau Canal with zero experience. And, it’s a blast!

Day and I drove to Montreal, picked up K&J at the airport, and spent the night. The following morning, we headed out to Smith Falls, Ontario where LeBoat has their office on the Rideau Canal.

Leboat has offices throughout Europe, with opportunities to to go boating on dozens and dozens of different canals. We thought we’d try kicking the fenders, so to speak, a little closer to home. Our expectations were exceeded.

We arrived in Smith Falls, and at Leboat. The staff was friendly and helpful. Check-in was quick and easy, and, after a 15 minute boat briefing with a staff member, the boat was ours. We have some boating experience, and I made sure to use words like port and starboard, bow and stern. It must have work, because the guy didn’t even take us out on a test run. Seriously, no experience required.

The boat was new, clean and everything worked. It wasn’t luxury, but I was expecting crappy rental boats, so I was happy. We rented the Horizon 2, the Horizon model with 2 cabins. Cabins were a little small, and had minimal storage. Next time I’d rent the Horizon 3. The cabins were a little bigger and I’d use the extra cabin as storage space for luggage and clothes.

We decided to spend the night in Smith Falls before before heading out. We used the day to unpack, provision the boat and explore the town. Smith Falls is a cute town. Everything we needed was in walking distance of our boat, including: provisioning, dinner, and our Covid-19 test we needed to get back home. We had dinner and it was off to bed. We were here to go boating, and the morning couldn’t come soon enough for me.

The Rideau Canal is 126 miles long and connects the capital city, Ottawa, to Kingston and the St. Lawrence River. Smith Falls is right in the middle. We opted to go south, and up the Tay Canal to Perth. After Perth we continued south on the Rideau to Big Rideau Lake and Colonel By Island. After that, it was back home to Smith Falls. It was a short stay for us, so we couldn’t go too far.

Going south from Smith falls, you first go through a swing bridge. The dock master stops traffic, the bridge swings open for you to motor through and pull up to your first lock.

The lock system is an ingenious way to move boats up and down the river. You pull into the lock and the lock doors close behind you. They either fill the lock with water or drain the lock to the level of the water forward of your boat, depending on the direction you are going. Once the lock is filled or emptied, the forward lock doors are opened, and you’re on your way.

From Smith Falls (Victoria Park) to Perth we went through: Bridge 19 – Abbot Street – Swing, Smith Falls Detached Lock #31, under Bridge – C.N.R. – Bascule, through Poonamalie – Lock #32, Lower Beveridges Lock #33, and Upper Beveridges Lock #34.

We docked at Last Duel Park – Wharf – Perth and spent the night. There is ample dockage here, ship to shore power, and public restrooms, all of which are included in the price of the boat rental. From Last Duel Park there’s a nice walking trail into Perth, where we had dinner and spent the following morning exploring. Perth is a cute little town, and worth a trip. However, Tay Canal is off limits depending on the time of year, size of boat and the experience of the boater, so be sure to ask questions before planning a trip up the Tay and to Perth.

After Perth we went back out the Tay and to the Rideau Canal. We picked the right week to go boating, the weather was perfect and the fall leaves were at their peak and spectacular. The scenery in the Tay Canal was absolutely stunning!

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Once we were back out on the Rideau, we continued south to Big Rideau Lake and Colonel By Island.

Colonel By Island is a small island and designated a national park. Again, there is ample dockage, ship to shore power, and public restrooms, all included in the cost of the boat rental. There’s a nature trail, grills for barbecuing, picnic tables, horseshoes and much more. Colonel By Island is definitely worth a stop! We spent the night there, built a fire in the fire pit, stared up at the night sky looking for comets and satellites, and listened to the loons. It was a good day.

In the morning we headed back to Victoria Park and Smith Falls, where LeBoat’s dockage is. We got back early enough to go through Smith Falls Combined Lock #29a, which is the first lock you’d go through if you decided to head north on your adventure.

We went through the lock, turned around and came back. Typically the lock masters would not appreciate this because most docks are operated manually, and it’s a lot of work. But, lock #29a is one of the only two locks on Rideau that’s operated by hydraulics, so they were happy to oblige. Lock #29a has 26 foot change in elevation, so it’s quite impressive to go through.

I stole the photo above from Google Images, but it really shows just how big this lock is.

We spent the night in Smith Falls, and checked out in the morning. Check-out was as easy as check-in was, 5 minutes to check the engine hours and pay for the fuel that was used. All in all, this was a great boating experience. So if you’re looking for something a little different, try canal boat, even if you have no boating experience (no experience required).

Things to consider:

Where: There is the Rideau in Canada, the Erie Canal in the United States, and tons of places throughout Europe.

There are a number of companies to rent boats from, as well as different boats to rent, ranging from budget to luxury.

When: During peak season the boats are pretty pricey, the canals are busy, and you could be waiting in line at the locks for awhile. Also, dockage might be hard to come by. However, it’s peak season for a reason, the weather is perfect for boating, and outdoor activities.

We went on the shoulder season. The boat was affordable, and we pretty much had the canal to ourselves. We got incredibly lucky with the weather. I was told it rained the entire week prior to us arriving, the weather was perfect while we were there, and it started to rain the day we left.

Pack light, you’re on a boat, even the nicest of boats have limited space.

Day and I are incredibly fortunate, we get to travel quite a bit, and boating is one of our favorite activities. If you do your research, pick a boat and a time of year that works for you, it can be affordable. Try canal boating and: Explore.Dream.Discover.Travel!

Luv ya,
Curly