Ottawa

This morning we are sitting at the coffee shop in the Westin Hotel near the boat sucking up some free WiFi. Getting decent WiFi has been an issue on this trip. Daily I get a text saying I’ve used up my high speed WiFi by around 10am. After that I’m on SLOW speed. It is another drippy day in Canada, so that means it is perfect for blogging.

We ended up leaving Merrickville Tuesday a little after noon. The wind was a bit less than predicted and we were excited to continue with our adventure. I think Tim was also anxious to see how much vibration our little rock encounter added to our prop. He was due a good night’s sleep. Our boat neighbor Steve recommended Burritts Rapids as a great place to stop on our way north and it was just a short ride up the river. As we headed out, all 6 ears were focused on the sounds coming from the stern of the boat. Nothing unusual and no excess vibration at the helm. So far, so good. While we were in the lock, Tim went below to check things out. Water was not pouring into the bilge from a loose shaft or some unknown source. All was good. We managed to escape our grounding without spending any boat bucks.

We were going to dock behind Steve on the wall above the lock in Burritts, but we wanted to get an early start in the morning. The lock doesn’t open until 10am Monday through Thursday so we decided to lock through and dock below the lock. Below the lock, the Rideau River sends a strong current along the wall we would be locking on and Steve, having much experience at Burritts volunteered to climb aboard and supervise. Once again the crew of Subject to Change did a wonderful job of sliding gently onto the dock and getting tied up. Being along the river and in a more open area, we hoped the mosquitoes would be discouraged about sucking our blood. Unfortunately the extra effort only seemed to make them more voracious. The girls decided to brave the bugs and took a hike along the Tip To Tip trail. The sign promised it was just 1 1/2 hr walk , so off we went. By the time we got back, Lisa looked like she had developed a bad case of measles around her neck and head. Nothing a a good swabbing of rubbing alcohol couldn’t solve.

It was an early departure on Wednesday and a short trip to Long Island Locks 16-14. The guys at this flight of 3 were very helpful and gave us great advise. We also met Chris the Harbor Host for this area. He had seen us at Burritts and decided to meet up with us at Long Island.

We made a quick pit stop at Hurst Marina outside Manotick for a pumpout and to take on fresh water. The water was free, but the pumpout was $35 CA. We are continually surprised at how few and far between pumpout stations are. For a country that is insistent (and rightly so) that boaters prove that they are not releasing waste into the water, they make it very difficult to find stations for pumping out.

We had thought we might make it to Ottawa on Wednesday, but we forgot to calculate in that there would be several no wake areas and we still had locks to go through. Lock masters and the AGLCA Harbor Host, Chris, recommended that we stay on the wall at Black Rapids Lock 13. 30 amps power is available there. Hogs Back Locks 12-11 can be pretty noisy and isn’t in the best area. Even the lock masters there didn’t recommend overnighting. Hartwells Locks 10-9 we’re very pretty, but again it is very close to the big city and can have a lot of nighttime activity. We were glad we chose Black Rapids for the night. They have a new concrete wall to tie to. The only issue we had was depth. It was so shallow, Tim couldn’t even get the boat next to the wall. Luckily we only hit mud. Since it was late and we planned to leave first thing in the morning, the lock master let us tie up on the blue line.

We were ready and waiting when the lock at Black Rapids opened Thursday morning. Hogs Back was only 4 miles up the canal and then Hartwells was just 1 mile past that. The closer we got to the city, the more expansive and impressive the homes along the canal became. We had to slow down as we came to some shallow areas and there were many no wake zones to transit through. Our focus was also on the clock. We knew we had to make it to the Pretoria Ave. Lift Bridge before 12:30. The Pretoria has only a 10 ‘ clearance when closed and it will not open between 8:30 -9:30, 12:30 – 1:15, and 3:30 – 5:30 on weekdays to allow for traffic. I ran a route from our position to the bridge. It indicated that we would reach the Pretoria by 12:18. That’s a bit close for comfort. When we finally got within eyesight I radioed the bridge to request an opening. We were told he would do his best to open if the bridge cleared by 12:22. We could see the line of cars crossing and held our breaths. Just in time, there was a break in the cars and we heard the warning siren that the bridge was going to open.

What a beautiful site as we rounded the corner and old town Ottawa appeared.

Rain was again in the forecast so we scurried out to explore before it came. Lunch was called for so we headed for ByWard Market. After a yummy Indian food lunch we took in some sites.

Friday, June 15. Even though I don’t have this post caught up, I want to get it posted today when I get some free internet. More to come.