Up the Ottawa River to Ottawa

 July 15 – July 20, 2011

 

From Quebec’s St. Anne de Bellevue, we took 3 days to travel up the Ottawa River to Ottawa.  The Ottawa River has been the major waterway route from Montreal to Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario since the fur traders of the 1700’s used it.  We went through the Carillon Lock, which is the largest lock in Canada and has replaced the 11 locks that originally brought boats down the rapids in this section of the Ottawa River.  The Carillon Lock has a guillotine gate that rises and lowers for boaters locking up or down 65 feet.  Boats are tied to a wooden floating dock and if there are several boats in the lock at the same time, they are rafted together.  After a stream of boats came out of the lock, we got the green light to enter.  I handed our dock lines to the lock operators and they secured the boat for us.  Then I took the lines of the big boat that rafted up next to us and tied their lines on our boat.  We got on and off our boat and visited with the other boaters and the lock operators as our boats were lifted 65 feet higher to reach the higher water of the Ottawa River on the other side of the guillotine gate.  I didn’t even have to hold onto a line -- I like this kind of locking!

 

Many of the lock operators are college students working there for the summer.  They are the friendliest and most helpful people you will meet here.  When the main lock operator gives you your docking instructions (where to tie up), he announces it over a microphone that echoes in the lock and speaks in both French and English.  From the photos, you can see where spectators stand on the catwalk and the sides of the wall above the lock and watch the boaters get a lift.     

 

Our overnight stops were at Hawkesbury and then Montebello.  We tried to get into Le Chateau Montebello marina for Saturday night, but it was booked up, so we stayed at a much humbler marina instead and just walked to Le Chateau.  Le Chateau Montebello is a beautiful resort that offers every amenity you could possibly want.  It looks very much like the Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood, OR, and it is famous for being the largest log structure in the world.

 

The Ottawa Staircase Locks

 

The next morning we left Montebello and continued up the Ottawa River.  We arrived at the edge of the city about 2:00 p.m., but had to wait a half hour to enter the locks at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal.  The locks are known as the Ottawa Staircase Locks because, going from the Ottawa River, your boat has to go through a series of 8 locks, one immediately after the other, to lift you up 79 feet.  You had better BE READY --  there is no time for potty breaks, no “I’ll just go inside & see if there’s any cold water in the frig” breaks, no breaks, period.  It takes about 2 hours to go up the eight locks and we had to stop and start the engine for each lock.  There are cables to tie up to and no more than 4 boats our size can fit in there at a time.  As usual, you have to be alert in these locks.  

 

Before we even enter, I make sure that everything is set up for us.  The fenders are down low, touching the water, the lines are free and ready to grab, the boat hooks are set out on the bow and the stern.  Roger pulls up close to the lock wall and I’m on the stern of the boat trying to judge when he’ll stop so that I can grab onto the right cable.  I then loop my line around the cable and tie it down quickly, so that I can run up to the bow and help Roger up forward.  By the time I get up there, Roger has the boat hook on a cable and I hand him the line so we can get the bow set.  Then I shut off the engine and go back down the stairs to the stern and retie my line.  Once we lift up and the gate opens, Roger starts the engine, releases the bow line and I release the stern line and we move up to the next lock, which is right there, only to repeat this scenario 7 more times!  Oh, did I mention that it was 98 degrees while we were locking for 2 hours?!  

 

About 4:30, we finished locking and about a quarter mile up the canal, we found a spot on the wall.  Roger “parallel-parked” the boat  (that’s what I compare this type of docking to!) in between 2 other boats that were nice enough to pull forward so that we could squeeze in.  We stayed here for 3 nights and had very easy access to the city.    We took a bus tour and got our bearings in the capital of Canada.  We were able to get on and off the bus at any of the stops that they made.  One thing we noticed as we listened to the different tour guides was the frequent reference to the United States invading Canada in the War of 1812.  One night we went to a laser light show at the Parliament and it was fantastic!  The weather was clear and cool and we enjoyed listening to the documentary as well as the visual effects of the light show.  They even mentioned the U.S. attack on Canada’s soil there too – it was a long, long time ago – time to get over it now, Canada, eh?!

 

Karen & Louie fall into the Rideau Canal

 

On Tuesday morning, I was getting off the boat to take Louie ashore and didn’t realize that the dock was not only wet from the rain the night before, but very slippery.  I had my Sperry boat shoes on and put one foot on the dock and had one foot in the air when my foot on the dock slipped out from under me and I fell into the water with Louie in my arms!  Fortunately, I went between the dock and the boat, déjà vu of Roger falling in on New Year’s Day of 2010 back in Clearwater!   We’re not sure how I ended up between the dock and the boat because there wasn’t much room! 

 

Roger had been sitting in the cockpit drinking his morning coffee and reading emails when he heard me scream and heard the splash.  He was on the dock immediately and I handed him Louie and he grabbed me by the back of my shorts with his free hand.  I told him to “let go—I’m ok” as I choked on the disgusting canal water.  I let go of the dock and grabbed onto the dock line.  There was nothing to climb onto from the water to the boat, and I didn’t want Roger to hurt his shoulders trying to lift me out of the water with my clothes and shoes on.  So I lifted my feet out of the water and wrapped my ankles around the dock line and suspended myself in the air, so Roger just had to pull the boat closer to the dock and roll me over onto the dock (like a whale!).  I stood up and Louie was looking at us like, “What’s with you two?  Why do you always have to pull me in the water with you?!”  I was lucky – I bruised my shin and my arms and have some more black and blue marks that I didn’t discover until the next day.  While all this was going on, the Ottawans were riding bikes and jogging along the sidewalk next to the dock and didn’t notice a thing!

 

We had a nice stay in Ottawa and especially enjoyed running into 2 more Krogen owners, Al & Susan on Twocan and Don & Cheryl on Dawn Treader.  Now we are continuing on the Rideau to Kingston, Ontario, 125 miles from Ottawa and only 39 more locks (47 in total) to go on this waterway!