The Rideau Canal is on lock down…well, part of it is.

Parks Canada shut down 13 lockstations between Ottawa and Smiths Falls, Monday afternoon, due to safety concerns over high water levels.

That’s left Tom Beaver stuck in Merrickville where he rushed to have his boat put in the water for a trip to Ottawa.

“If you're ready to boat, you're ready to go. You paid your money, you expect to go,” says Beaver.

Now Beaver says he’ll likely be out of docking fees which he paid in advance. He says Parks Canada needs to have better communication with boaters.

“They give you 24 hours from the time they say they're going to close...It would be better if we had some idea that there might have been a problem

In a statement Parks Canada writes:

This year, water along the Rideau Canal is being aggressively controlled and monitored in order to move large amounts of water through the system that have built up due to heavy rains and late snow melt.       

The stations that have been closed are:

Hogs Back, Black Rapids, Long Island, Burritts Rapids, Lower Nicholsons, Upper Nicholsons, Clowes, Merrickville, Kilmarnock, Edmonds, Old Slys, Smiths Falls Combined and Smiths Falls Detached.       

Employees at Ayling’s Marina in Merrickville say they’re worried this might push people to boat elsewhere. The closure adding to frustrations over already shortened lock hours by Parks Canada.

Aaron Pope who was fishing along the canal says he’s never seen the water levels this high. Still, he says the long winter and heavy rain shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

“It just seems the control wasn't there. I know it was a hard winter with lots of snow, but I think they should've been on top of it frankly,” says Pope.                                      

Parks Canada says it will notify the public as soon as the water levels will allow for the reopening of the lockstations. Boaters say they are being told this could happen on Friday.

In the meantime, Tom Beaver will just have to spend the rest of the week tied to a dock.

“Shine up the boat a little bit more, so when we get to Ottawa it'll look better,” Beaver says.

With a report from CTV’s John Hua.