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Our boats in Ottawa.
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Ottawa loomed before us as we cruised by Rideau Falls and approached the famous flight of eight locks, the beginning of the Rideau Canal, that would take us to downtown Ottawa. The Fairmont Hotel was to the left of the locks and the Canadian Parliament was to the right. It was a wonderful, yet exhausting, traverse of the 8 locks where we were the feature attraction to the many tourists watching the lock operation.
Finally, we tied up to a dock for our stay. Jon and Liz, Otto and Anna headed
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| Our baker! |
to the Fairmont while Molly, Tory and I would stay on Salty Paws. The next two days included food shopping, laundry, finding a bakery and a very informative walking tour of the center city.
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One can sign up online to receive a
flag that has flown on top of
Parliament, but it is a 102 year wait!
A new flag is used every day.
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Ottawa is a very livable city of roughly a million people with many parks, bike lanes, restaurants, and the beautiful Rideau Canal cutting through its middle. It has a rich history that began as a meeting place for trade and then it expanded rapidly as a lumber town in the first half of the 19th century. At that time, England, which ruled Canada, and the United States had just gone through the War of 1812 and remained adversaries for a while after.
Kingston, ON was the center of England’s military power in the region, but Kingston was largely only accessible to Montreal and other points east via the St. Lawrence where much of the border was shared with the US. The Rideau Canal was constructed in the 1820’s as a way to connect Kingston, Ottawa and Montreal if the United States were to block passage on the St. Lawrence River. Then, Ottawa’s continued growth was further ensured in 1855 when Queen Victoria named Ottawa the capital of Canada as it was well-protected and was located on the border between English and French-speaking Canada.
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| Liz and Molly and our boats at the St. Anne de Bellevue wall. |
Three days before arriving at Ottawa, our three boats exited the mighty St. Lawrence River and headed up the Ottawa River. We spent three days cruising the 100 miles to Ottawa with our first night on the lock wall in St. Anne de Bellevue. St. Anne is a quaint town on Montreal Island, but loud music from neighboring cigarette boats keep us awake much of the night. Not knowing if they might be drug dealers, we decided to just turn our fan up louder. One of these boats did entertain us before bedtime, however, with a mini-skirted babe crawling to the bow of the boat to handle the line there while the two barrel-chested men in the cockpit barked orders.
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| Getting ready to order hotdogs. |
Our second night was on wall of the Carillon, Canada’s highest at almost 70 feet. Of the 200 or so locks that Molly and I have been through, it is the only guillotine-style lock we have seen. The lock is adjacent to a large hydroelectric dam, one of 17 such facilities on the Ottawa River. Carillon is a small town with few facilities, but we did enjoy the hotdogs minus the swarming bees!
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| Carillon Lock, Canada’s tallest. |
One point of interest to me was the military barracks in Carillon that housed English soldiers during the civil disorder period of 1837-1839 when some in Ontario and Quebec
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| The 1837 barracks in Carillon. |
unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow English rule. I find this little tidbit of history an example about how virtually every place has
interesting chapters of history, if one looks for it.
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Tory photobombed my picture of the monument to Dollard and his
killed comrades. Each structure had a plaque to one of those killed.
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We found one other interesting spot in town, a large monument built to honor the 16 young Frenchmen led by Adam Dollard des Ormeaux who fought the Iroquis in 1660. All the Frenchmen were killed, but Dollard's contemporaries honored him as the savior of the colony as the Iroquois did not invade Montreal. The Catholic Church was instrumental in promoting Dollard as a heroic figure with requisite Christian virtues and maryrdom. In the 1920s, Quebec established a national holiday called the Fete de Dollard, and multiple parks feature his statute.
Like Columbus, however, revisionist history slowly began to change the public perception of Dollard. As early as the 1930's historians began to suggest that his motivation was personal gain, not patriotism. Most significantly, in the 1960's the so-called Quiet Revolution began, signifying the declining influence of the Catholic Church. Finally, in 2003 the Fete de Dollard was renamed National Patriots' Day in Quebec.
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| The Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello |
Our third night on Ottawa River was at a nice little marina in Montebello, 1/3 the cost to stay at the nearby famous Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello. We shared a wonderful meal at the local bistro and walked to Le Chateau. This very large resort is billed as having the largest wooden structure in the world. Interestingly, the main lodge reminded me of the Yellowstone National Park Visitors Center adjacent to Olde Faithful. The facility has hosted various summits of world leaders, and we saw picture with Reagan and Thatcher among others.
My plan had been to get gas at the Chateau or another gas dock near our marina. Both, however, were closed and did not respond to phone calls. We were 40 miles from the one open gas dock near Ottawa, and my instruments estimated that Salty Paws had enough gas for just 37 miles.
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Yvon was a character!
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Clearly, I had a problem, but we were fortunate to be cruising with two other boats. We took off in the morning with our fingers crossed. Finally, the marina was in sight, but with just a half mile to go, the
motor conked out. I quickly dropped anchor, and Vega came by to pick up our gas can. 15 minutes later Taku delivered the filled can, and in another 15 minutes we were at the gas dock. Yvon greeted us warmly, and with a smile disclosed that he had called all the other gas docks to make sure they stayed closed so we would have to buy gas from him! Interestingly, marina attendants by law in Quebec must handle the gas line. In our experience marine operators have always insisted that the boat captain fill the tank.
Now we have enough fuel for the remainder of our cruise!
Below are a few other shots.
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Parliament and other governmental buildings are undergoing a 10-year renovation with a budget in the
billions. |
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| This amphibious machine is used to remove debris that can accumulate in the Carillon lock. |
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My first thought was that a very large insect had landed behind
Salty Paws, but it was only Taku with their red night lights.
Arguably, the red lights doesn’t attract any insects. |
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This is Canada’s eternal flame (except when down for
Repairs!) that was first lit in 1967 celebrating Canada’s
100 years as a country. |
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| Salty Paws in the first lock of 8, |
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Seemingly every small Canadian town in Quebec and some of Ontario is dominated by a Catholic chick with a tall silver steeple.
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Once the cheers subsided it was time to return to our enjoyment of the Rideau Canal. England had wanted this canal built as a way to have a secure route of passage between Montreal, Canada's commercial hub, and Kingston, where the British navy was centered. At the time England and the United States were still bitter enemies, and the Americans could easily attack and block passage on the St. Lawrence River. 
