Rideau Canal closures put boaters' travel plans on hold

The unprecedented closure on Tuesday of a majority of the locks along the Rideau Canal due to high water levels is causing boaters to re-evaluate their travel plans as they wait for the locks to reopen.

More than a dozen boaters hoping to travel south are stuck between the Ottawa Locks at the Ottawa River, and Hartwells Locks near Carleton University. 

"I guess there's not much to do," said Julie Letendre, who is on vacation from Sorel, Que.

Letendre has been waiting at the Hartwells Locks for more than 40 hours.

'We have to plan other activities'

"We've been enjoying for two days, Ottawa. But it was not planned to stay four days. So we have to plan other activities."

Letendre worries the delay will mean she won't get to spend as much time in the Thousand Islands as she would have liked. 

Betty Carlisle from Syracuse, N.Y., who travelled up the Rideau Canal and is now on her way back, said this has been an unusually long delay.

"I've had delays on locks on rivers," said Carlisle. "But I think this is going to be the biggest delay that I've had. Usually it's hours."

Even though it has changed her schedule slightly, Carlisle is making the most of her extended stay in Ottawa.

"I'm going to take care of a few chores. And I think [my friends] are going to go and explore some more museums."

Denis Gregoire has a similar strategy for waiting it out. He and his wife are doing a loop from Montreal to Kingston and back.

"Sometimes it does happen. So we always prepare a plan B or C," he said. "We went this morning to see the Experimental Farm. And we're going to see the falls at Hog's Back."

Gregoire said that with a month-long vacation, he's not too worried about being delayed a few days, but he feels sorry for the travellers who might only have a week or two to complete their voyage.

Parks Canada hoping to reopen all locks by Friday

John Festarini, associate director of Ontario Waterways with Parks Canada, said the closures are unfortunate and highly unusual.

"This time of year, it's unprecedented that we close the canal," he said. "We certainly recognize that. It's not something that we do."

Festarini said the decision to close the locks was not easy, especially during the busiest season, but the rain and high water levels forced their hand.

"On Monday when we woke up, we had been experiencing some already-unprecedented rain overnight. And that rain continued across the system for about a 24-hour period," he said.

"So it hit in different sections of the canal in different ways, but it was very intense, and it was a lot of rain in a very short period of time," said Festarini.

Festarini had a message for boaters who are stuck along the Rideau Canal.

"I really appreciate their patience. Please understand that we're doing everything we can to open this canal up as quickly as possible."

Twenty of canal's 27 lock stations are currently closed, but they should all be open by Friday.

For updates on the closures, visit @RideauBoatInfo on Twitter.