The good weather we had been waiting to savor greeted us the following morning. We began the lengthy process of working our way through the forty-seven locks that transport a boater from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario where Lake Ontario flows into the St Lawrence River. The Rideau Canal system is a popular cruising destination through a stretch of Canadian wilderness that exhibits incredible landscapes and amazing ingenuity.
Following the War of 1812, the British were seeking a way to connect Upper and Lower Canada without the risk of encountering American forces on the St Lawrence River. The Duke of Wellington, who gained permanent fame defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, advocated building what was to become the Rideau Canal Waterway. Between 1826 -1832 a construction force led by Colonel John By built a series of forty-seven locks and fifty-two dams in addition to digging channels to connect rivers and lakes. The end product was a 125-mile artery of water that connects Kingston, Lower Canada, to Ottawa, Upper Canada. The Rideau Canal Waterway passes through a series of scenic lakes, channels and locks along its route. The canal system is a marvel of engineering and ingenuity.
Much of the work was accomplished with pick, shovel and wheel barrow. Stones for the locks often had to be quarried miles away and then transported during winter by farmers utilizing sleds and oxen. Gates for the locks were constructed at the lock sites by blacksmiths and carpenters. Simple mechanical tools like lifting cranes assisted by horses or oxen were used to move stones and gates into place. A single gate might weigh as much as five tons.
Most all of the locks are operated by hand even today. A boat enters the enclosure that is 134-feet long and 33-fe...
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...were sailboats. Kingston was to become the venue for the sailing facet of the 1976 Olympics.
I guided our return through the quiet passages between shoals and islands fronting several waterfront restaurants, four or five marinas and numerous cottages that constitute Ivy Lea. After dodging lightening bolts on the way to Isle Raymond and “deadheads” on the Ottawa River, I yawned as the Consuelo motored serenely through an area that the uninitiated regard as treacherous.
On our approach to the Comfort Island dock, I noticed several members of Mom’s afternoon “discussion group” that had seen us coming and were waiting to help celebrate our return. Our landing was like it was following a script. The clock was striking five, and while Topper went to check for any new smells, the rest of us stayed on board to recount the adventure in the company of a refreshing libation.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. "the seaway." Seaway System. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.
Dad, Deb and I hiked up the steep hill to the venerable old hotel, Chateau Laurier, to be sure it was okay to dock for the night where we had tied up. We also made dinner reservations at Madame Burger’s across the Ottawa River in the town named Hull that has since been renamed Gatineau. A cab drove down to the Consuelo and took us to dinner. We stopped into the Chateau Laurier for a nightcap before retiring to the boat for some much needed sleep.
Zaslow, Morris. The Defended Border, Upper Canada and the War of 1812. Toronto: MacMillian of Canada, 1983
The development of canal, steam boats and railroads provided a transportation network that linked different regions of the nation together. When farmers began migrating westward and acquiring land for crops, cheaper forms of transportation provided the means to transfer their goods to other regions for s...
When the day came to leave I was woken at the crack of dawn. I was keen to get to Blackpool as swiftly as possible, not only for the football that was ahead of us but also for the famous Pleasure Beach. The coach picked us up at around 8 am and in we crammed into an already full coach. The journey down was full of laughter and friendly joking from the parents. That day, it was particularly hot and inside the coach a number of people were becoming uncomfortable. I was unaffected by the warmth inside the coach, with my earphones in I relaxed and paid more attention to the vast countryside we were passing through. The vivid scenery blew me away, with colossal hills to calm rivers that we met on the journey.
Throughout Jack’s entire life, his mother was never really there for him or his family, she was always in Europe to buy the latest fashions. On the other hand Jack’s father was there all time. When Jack was twelve, his father bought a large summerhouse in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. Ja...
Madison’s generals William Harrison and Andrew Jackson won some major victories in the West against the Native Americans. In the Battle of the Thames, the leader of the Shawnee, Tecumseh was killed and his army defeated. The winning of the battles against the British allowed the American military and its generals to focus the war effort to the British in the East. The United States’s naval expansion was also going well as American Harbors created twelve warships to fight the british in the Atlantic and in the Great Lakes. The U.S. Navy managed to capture or destroy every British ship in Lake erie. Madison’s decision to convert the U.S. merchant ships to naval ships payed off as well, as over 1,800 British ships were captured during the course of the war.
The Erie Canal was a man made water way that stretched to be three hundred sixty three miles long. The canal started construction in1817, and took nine years to completely finish the building process. People during this time had many positive, and negative opinions about the fact that this expensive canal was being built. The idea of the Erie Canal originates with Jesse Hawley, the idea was to connect the great lakes to the Atlantic ocean making an easy path to the west from the east without having to pass Niagara Falls. The canal was mostly built by Irish immigrants who were hated, or disliked, by most people. People had ideas and predictions about what would come of this canal. Let's just see which of the predictions were more accurate to
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs 363 miles from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks which allows a boat to go from one level of a water to another level lower by raising the water level in one section which lets the boat move from one lock to the next. By doing this, the Erie Canal makes a once non-accessible waterway a common mean of transportation for both goods and people.
Submerged in water, it was the fourth of July on Grayling Island, the Senator's rented Toyota whistling tunes of the Beatles, topics of debate: the Vietnam War, Dukakis, skidded off the road. Lizzie, "Kelly" they are not the same, she can't die like this, no not now. She was someone's little girl, not a bad girl, she wasn't a bad girl, she told her mother she wasn't don't mention G____, was she ready? Her white anklet socks flew into the air as massive male hands, Grandpa's hands, swept her off her feet saving her from the black waters rushing in, they didn't have to know, they wouldn't have to tell Grandma, Grandpa was spared, he died several years before. Kelly wrote a paper on the senator, her senior thesis, she grabbed on to his leg, his shoe, "oh how Buffy would laugh, his shoe, his empty shoe?", she wasn't pretty, but it was her time, she didn't believe in the stars, but today she listened to her horoscope: go for what you really want, or something to that effect, black water rushed in and she died; she's here, she's here, SHE'S HERE!, "caution: ultra-violet rays, saltwater swimming, and overheated blow dryers are serious dangers to Beautiful Hair," Pluto was not originally a man but a woman, black water rushed in and she died.
Archeologists suggest that the large stones used in building the pyramids were transported by rolling them over logs or a wet, slippery, clay surface. These methods may have been effective in moving the blocks close to the building site, but do not explain how the massive bricks, weighing as much as a Ford F250 truck, were lifted on top of each other.
In June of 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain for several reasons, the primary of which was the impressment of U.S. Sailors on the high seas for use in the British Navy. Once declared, the United States, under President John Madison, took the initiative and conducted a series of attacks into Canada resulting in the burning of government buildings. The British eventually repelled the attacks and took to the offensive striking at America and setting Washington D.C. ablaze in the summer of 1814. By the time the battle of New Orleans takes place in January of 1815, the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed signaling the official end to the war, however, the speed of trans-Atlantic communication proved too slow to prevent this last battle in the War of 1812. The battle of New Orleans has Major General Andrew Jackson lead U.S. Army regulars, New Orleans citizens, and militiamen from various surrounding states to repel the attacks of British General Edward Pakenham and the infantry troops he commanded (War of 1812, 2012). A series of poor decisions by the British coupled with terrain obstacles, technology and the ability to seize the initiative contributed to their defeat on 8 January 1815. This paper will examine the battle preparations and maneuvers that led to the British defeat and highlight some of the key factors in deciding the outcome of the battle.
The Love Canal is located near Niagara Falls in upstate New York. The Canal was constructed as a waterway during the nineteenth century, but was abandoned shortly afterwards.
As we pulled out of my parents driveway, the circumstances seemed very surreal. My entire way of life had been turned upside down with only a few hours consideration. I was very much “at sea” in the ...
We got into our lines, behind groups of excited families and happy little old men and women. As the line ascended up the ramp onto this enormous water vessel, pictures were taken of every group of passengers. Smile, laugh and look happy! Riiight. As a matter of fact, I was pretty anxious. I'd never been on a boat like this, and especially not for a whole week.