Otawa River to Ottowa

Daisy posing in the modern art park

Entering the St Lawrence Lock

We had to wait for this guy

Another freighter waiting for his turn.

When we  departed Montreal, we had to go two miles down the St Lawrence River through the 5-6 knot rapids.  That was a fun ride, throttle at the mid point, and going 11-12 knots.  At the end of the two miles, we had to make a hard turn to starboard and enter the canal.  Nice calm waters with no significant current.  This canal is operated by the St Lawrence River System, and thus we had to pay for lockage (it is not maintained by either the U.S. Army Corp [free], or Canada Parks [which we have an annual pass]).  We had to tie up and wait for a freighter to pass.

Dinner in St Anne

Boardwalk at St Anne

Nighttime in St Annes

We made our way to St Anne de Bellevue. Which is still on the Montreal Island. What a charming village.  We walked around had dinner and spent the night on the lock wall.  In the middle of the night, we had a drunk kid board our boat…. we heard in french: ‘……Captain Blue Willow…..’  He was trying to get his friends to take a picture of him at the flybridge helm.  I chased them away.  We knew, at times, kids untie boats (which I prepared for), but this was different.

Iside the St Anne Lock

The lock at St Anne was a very nice lock.  It is located at the mouth of the Ottawa River, and is between Lac St-Louis and Lac des Deux-Montagnes.  It is the most visited lock in Ottawa.  

Carillon Lock

Chek out the counter weight 

Poker Run.... Fun?

Next, we made our way to the Carillon (Carry on) Lock.  Wow.  This is something else.  It is a guillotine gate on the down river side (very rare).  It is lifted by a counter weight 

Stickers, Inspection, Key West, BoatUS, Michigan,
Lock mooring Pass for Parks Canada

Amazing technology

This guy was impressive, with his flips etc

Our next stop was at Hawksburry.  There was a fair going on, and several other events.  we were at the free wall with 20 other boats.  We saw an amazing new recreational activity while sitting on the aft deck.  Imagine a guy floating in the air, on a wake board,  attached to a Sea Doo via a large hose.  That was what I saw.  It was awesome.  He could do flips, porpoise, and lift at will.  At $269 Cdn per hour I did not try it, (but wanted to).  We were told to move our boats by an event coordinator of a Poker run.  

Dinner on the Dock at Andre

That was not in our plans, so we departed.  We went to a great remote place ip a small river, and had a very quiet, uneventful day at Andre.

View from Hull towards Ottawa
Parliament to right
Eight steps locks center/left

Parliament 

Beautiful buildings

Changing of the guard at
Parliament Building

Canadian war museum.
That is Morse Code on the roof

USA Embassy in Ottawa

Here we go up the eight steps
to the Rideau Cannel 

Ottawa was our next stop.  Simply stated, clean, amazing old (mostly) and modern architecture, beautifully landscaped (everything) everywhere, nice people, and many things to see and do.  We took the tour bus, so that we could see the out lying attractions easily.  Parliament (and surrounding buildings) were spectacular.  You simply have to stop walking and stare at the details of the buildings.  I enjoyed that area very much.  We walked everywhere in the downtown area, fun to see the different culture, food, stores, outdoor market, parks, signs et et.

Blue Willow there bottom right

View down on the Lock gates

Looking down the eight step locks

The gate mechanism.
Yup, wood and chain, and capstan.

Mechanism for water gates.
These are at different locations
depending on where
the water is diverted.

Mechanism for door water gates.

People can cross the gate doors if they
are closed.

The area on the Ottawa River at the Parliament is where the eight flights (or steps) locks are to take you to the Rideau Cannal/River.  This is an amazing engineering feat.  As we transited the step locks (it was difficult and hard work to maintain the vessel in position in the lock), there were many people taking pictures, and asking questions.  The locks are totally open for visitors to get as close as they dare to see the operations of the gate lift mechanisms, and gate doors in operation.  The doors are actually pulled/pushed by and wooden beam, which is moved by a chain on a capstan.  Simplicity.  The workers (students)  were very friendly, and informative.  I have read about this for a long time, it has been a real treat to see it up close.

The Rideau is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization) designated  historical site (like Versailles in France).  The Rideau canal (1832) is about 120 miles long with 45 locks.  From Ottawa, 31 locks take you up to the level of the Upper Rideau Lake, the highest point on the Rideau.  Then, 14 locks take you down to the level of Lake Ontario.  Each lock is manually operated.  Depths are about 5 ft, and the sped limit is 10 Km/hr (about 6 MPH).

The Rideau is North Americas oldest continuously running Lock system.

After transiting the eight steps, we stayed at the wall for a couple of nights, with several other boats, some heading down others heading up the Rideau.  

View of clock from right beneath
(inside tower

Parliament hallway

The wood carvings were very impressive

Parliament Library
100% awesome beauty 

Queen in the Library

A close-up view of the Library

The beauty of the artwork was everywhere 

Ceiling view
Each hexagon has a different meaning

Each Providence has their own identity.
Can be wood carvings, stained glass, marble etc

Senate

We visited several locations.  Our tour of Parliament and related areas was superb.  We took the Peace Tower Tour, which is the bell tower.  The views were very nice.  Especially impressive was the library for the MP's (members of Parliament). 

More to come,  Internet is a hassle.

Thanks for peeking in on this blog.  Life is good today!