Travels to Ottawa!

We left St. Anne De Bellevue on Saturday morning in a crowd.  There were 10 boats in the lock with us, rafted 3 deep!  A mighty tight fit.

It was a beautiful day!  Blue Heron left the day before so it was just Jackets II and the 20BUCK$ heading further on the Ottawa River.  We both had to stop for gas/fuel, water and a pump out before ending for the night at a free dock in Hawkesbury, ON. 

Before we could relax we had one more lock after the St. Anne lock and that was the Carillon lock.  All the guidebooks said it was a busy lock and try not to hit this lock on the weekend.  Well....it was Saturday of a 3 day holiday weekend.  When we arrived at the lock, these boats were waiting for passage.  We rafted next to a couple from Canada on a SeaRay that was tied up for the night.  We didn’t make the first lock so had to wait for the next!  The wait was delightful because of the Canadian couple.  He had been a mechanic so you can imagine the conversation between he and the Captain.  Ken was in heaven visiting with him.  We also figure he saved us some money.  The day before we couldn’t get the dinghy motor started.  Ken tore apart what he could while it was in the water and diagnosed it as a carburetor problem, figuring he would have to take it to a shop to have it worked on.  Dana suggested it was a stuck float and to wrap on it and then try and start it.  It worked!!!!  Thank you Dana!  

 It was finally our turn and the big door opened and we entered.  Again it was a very crowded lock.  The door of this one was the amazing thing.  Talk about the biggest garage door we had ever seen!  It is also the highest lift in Canada locks, raising you 65 feet!

 

It was a long day but we made it safely to our stop for the night!

The next day we traveled 60 miles to Ottawa!  On the way we passed the Chateau Montebello, reported to be the largest log structure in the world!  We had tried to stay there but there was no room at the marina!

Approaching Ottawa we saw the Rideau Falls!  As you can see the clouds were rolling in and the rain was threatening.  Once you reach Ottawa you have a series of 8 step locks that lift you a total of 79 feet, a process that takes 1 1/2 hours.  These locks are very historic having been completed in 1831.  Today they are still operated by hand.  The rains came and we entered the first lock!  Seven more to go!

It was a very interesting and sometimes wet ride up the locks!  The last lock exits under a bridge.  Here you can see Jackets II leaving the lock.  We were the only two in the flight of locks so that was nice.  We have locked through many locks together now and are comfortable with how we fit in a lock.

At the top of the locks is a free wall right in downtown Ottawa, a beautiful city and Canada’s capital!  We were fortunate to get two spots on the wall thanks to another boat that moved back on the wall to make room for us.  $9.80/night and we now have electricity!  What a deal!  We will spend the next few days here seeing the sights before we head down the Rideau Canal that will take us to Kingston on Lake Ontario!  We are inching our way back to good ole MN!  Stay tuned for the sights and sounds of Ottawa!

That’s all for now!  Pat