Ottawa River June 28 - 29

From Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue we continued on the Ottawa River.


Along the River there were several potential anchorages although many were in shallow areas. I wanted to get out of the current and into a protected area. We found this spot in the South Nation River on the Ontario Side of the Ottawa River. The picture was taken the next morning in peaceful conditions.




The Rideau Canal is named for the Rideau River. Supposedly, when Champlain reached this area in 1613 he saw this falls of the Rideau and described it a "curtain" of water. The French word for curtain is Rideau. Thus the river got its' name.


We knew that Canada Day was coming in a couple days and we had been told that lots of boaters would show up in Ottawa for the celebration. We also knew there would fireworks shot from the Ottawa River on Canada Day. We had thought about anchoring somewhere in the river nearby and wait for Canada Day. We also thought we could tie up at mooring wall at the first lock of the Rideau Canal. Wrong! As we approached the canal wall (to the right of the boats tied up in this picture) a lock attendant came down waving his arms and told us that spot was reserved for tour boats but that we could enter the lock in about 5 minutes as soon as they opened the doors. So on the spur of the moment we took his offer and motored into the lock with four other smaller boats behind us. (The protocol in the historical locks is that the largest boat goes in first.) So with no lunch and no plan we entered the locks about 1230. The picture is not a perfect view of the flight of eight locks (I thought I would have another chance), but there are eight locks that raise boats a total of 79 feet. It is a dramatic entry into the town. A beautiful imposing national Parliament Building sits on the hill on the right above the lock but is not visible in this view. It took about 2 1/2 hours to do all eight locks.


While we were waiting to lock through we struck up conversations with many spectators. I got one to take a picture of us in a lock. Spectators get really close on all the Rideau Canal locks but particularly on these in Ottawa. People stood on the side of the lock and asked questions. On the Rideau Canal locks there are plastic covered cables about every 20 feet. To secure the boat we had to pass a line underneath the cable and back to the boat to hold it in place. The other part of the job was raising and lowering the fenders to match to location of the lock wall in relation to our boat.









The last lock was at the Bridge carrying the Wellington/Rideau Street which runs in front of the National Parliament Building. You can see more spectators on top of the bridge.












We finally reached the Rideau Canal and were lucky to get the last available spot along the canal. The boat behind us was a Ranger Tug from New Jersey. We were right downtown and with Canada Day coming boats were lining up early for the festivities. We were right in front of a Department of Defense building which we thought meant we were in a safe area. Later we found out that was not totally true.