“I can’t believe they’re going to let us just take this thing,” says my older brother, captaining Le Boat’s 13.5 metre-long Horizon 4 vessel out of the docks in Smith Falls, Ont. Le Boat, a European-based company with the world’s largest rental fleet of canal boats, does not require guests to have boating experience or a special license. You will, however, need to watch a safety video, sign prerequisite waivers, put down damage deposits and pay attention at the orientation. With four ensuite cabins and a fully equipped kitchen, the Horizon 4 easily accommodates our family of seven, spanning a 70-year age range (Le Boat also offers boats of various sizes for different groups). Simple steering and helpful thrusters allow even the most nervous newbie to operate the houseboat with uncanny precision.

Our plan is to head south along the Rideau from Le Boat’s headquarters in the eastern Ontario town of Smith Falls, and return a week later. Stocked up with groceries, gas, water, propane and bicycles, the houseboats offer fantastic flexibility, allowing us to point our bow wherever curiosity might take us. Travelling south along the Rideau River provides a landscape of scenic islands, colourful communities, warm-water lakes, wetlands, and numerous locks to keep us on our toes. 

Successfully navigating our first lock outside of Smith Falls, the Rideau River flattens into a sprawling wetland that reminds me of the Okavango Delta. Great blue herons fly overhead, and an osprey gracefully dives into the water to snatch an unsuspecting fish. Broods of Canada geese usher goslings across the channel, red-winged blackbirds dart between tall grasses, loons dip beneath the water and common map turtles swim by the shallow edges. Even at full throttle, our houseboat seldom exceeds 10 km/hr, a relaxing pace that invites wildlife viewing, meditation and conversation, along with tanning, reading and picnicking on the upper deck.

Once we cross the Poonamalie Lockstation, the channel opens up into the Lower and Big Rideau lakes, inviting the kids to swim in clear, silky freshwater. We’d timed our visit in late June, before summer holidays attract thousands of eager boaters and cottagers. As a result, we rarely saw any traffic, and at times it felt like we had the waterways of eastern Ontario all to ourselves. Each lock has a different character, but as we tangled with our ropes and thrusters, the smiles, helpful tips, and enthusiasm of Parks Canada’s strapping lockmasters remained reliably consistent. In Newboro (a small community about 90 minutes southwest of Ottawa), we rode our bikes to Kilborn’s, an eclectic country store with something for everyone. 

Mooring for the night in the town of Westport, we restocked our fridge with fresh groceries and refreshed at an excellent, award-winning brewery overlooking the bay. “This is the good life,” says my father, enjoying his scotch and a cuddle from his granddaughter.

Back in Smith Falls, there’s time to visit the interactive Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario, for the kids to swim with locals at a floating jetty off Murphy Park, and the ladies to buy gifts from a pop-up craft market. We spend the final day heading east across the Smith Falls Combined Lock, at 7.9 metres, the tallest lock in the system. We will also cross the system’s smallest lock (0.6m at Kilmarnock) on our way to Merrickville, which deserves the accolades as one of the most charming villages in the country. It’s another great day of slow travel on the canal, tinged with a bittersweet tang that it will be our last.

Much like houseboating on B.C.’s Shuswap Lake, Le Boat allows extended families to travel in comfort with the kitchen sink. Yet, the Rideau Canal offers a more diverse landscape, rural communities, and a hands-on adventure steeped in Canadian history. Despite challenges during construction, the waterway officially opened in May 1832, just as the tides were shifting.