Hull to Hawkesbury

We left Hull Marina--just across the river from Ottawa on the Quebec side, at 8:05am with cloudy but fairly warm 18 deg C conditions. Had rain overnight. Moving along at 7 knots we powered downstream the Ottawa river. By 1:36pm we pulled in the Chateau Montebello. This is the world's largest log building, and now a Fairmont resort. They allowed us to tie up in their marina for a visit however if we want to stay over night it would have been CAD$93 plus taxes (weekends even more expensive). That's around CAD$4.00 per foot per night; we've been paying from CAD$0.90 per foot to CAD$1.75 per foot for overnight dockage (with power hookup, water and use of hot water showers ashore). At any rate, Montebello is extraordinary and we're glad we stopped. Also used this opportunity to get fuel at the dock as well.
Continuing on, we made Hawkesbury at 4:59pm. 1 minute to spare as they were just locking up for the night--guess I better call ahead on the VHF radio now when we approach marinas near the 5 o'clock hour.
Hawkesbury, on the Ontario or south side of the Ottawa river, is clearly inhabited by a lot of French-speaking folks. We walked the town looking for the library to get internet access for our laptop but couldn't find where the library was. A good ol' Tim Hortons we did find so we couldn't resist a stop for a sandwich and our homemade mocha. Our 'secret' was to purchase a small CAD$1.17 coffee and a small CAD$1.17 hot chocolate and carefully mix them together. It's always good to find a bargain even if you make one yourself!


Pecan in the a.m. at Hull marina.


Rideau Falls on the Ottawa side of the river.


Chateau Montebello. You can stay there now; Fairmont has special packages that'll get you a weekend for CAD$250 per night per person (double occupancy).



Because of all the dark wooden logs and beams, flash photography doesn't work too well inside the Montebello Chateau central lobby. And our little point and shoot Canon digital camera didn't allow for adjusting the exposure (no tripod either).


We spied a Rosborough tied up behind a house along the river in the town of L'Original on the Ontario side. And Bill of Sea Queen Too saw us as well. He waved and we motored over to say hi and have a chat.

Black Rapids to Ottawa

We left the Black Rapids lock at 8:31am with 5 deg C temperature, sunny and winds east at 8 km per hour. We made ran at 6.5 knots for the final 9 miles or so north to Ottawa, arriving at 10:40am. Only one other boat was there (a local gentlemen handling the lock-thru singlehandedly). Parks Canada recommends arriving at this series of 8 sequential locks at least 3.5 hours before closing time. Our descent took only 62 minutes, and by 12:15 we were out on the Ottawa River tying up to the blue line seawall dock where we could leave the boat for several hours while we toured the city.


Typical urban canal scenery as pilot thru Ottawa.




Multi-use bike/jogging paths have been along the canal bank for miles as we cruise thru downtown Ottawa.


Final 1/2 mile reach of Rideau cana ahead.



Tamara tending the lines during the descent of the final Rideau locks. The Chateau, now a Fairmont hotel, in the background.


View eastward from the top of the Parliament clock tower. Ottawa River in background.




Rideau sequential or stairstep locks, viewing from a street level bridge overhead.


We hiked to the point across from the Rideau locks to look back at Parliament hill and, of course, Pecan.


Motoring away now; Bye bye Rideau and Ottawa.

Merrickville to Black Rapids

Pecan left Merrickville's Ayling boatyard/marina at 8:28am with clear but a misty/foggy conditions and calm 35 deg F wind. Arrived at Black Rapids locksite, upper reach, at 2:50pm. 63 deg F water temp and 72 deg F air.
First day we've actually used the Wallas diesel stove/heater--made boiling water for this morning's tea.
At the Black Rapids locksite we took a walk looking for a wifi signal. We came across a Tim Horton's shop. Though we thought it was only a coffeehouse like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts we were mistaken. They have a range of prepared to order sandwiches as well and we tried their chicken salad sandwich. Very good and only $2.99 each.









Nice Italian Riva speedboat.

Poonamalie to Merrickville

Pecan left the Poonamalie lock at 8:50am with a chilly 38 deg F air temperature and clear conditions. Water temperature fell to 60 deg F.
So far we had not been successful with getting the Wallas diesel stove/heater to operate. After a conversation with Georgs of the C-Dory At Last (they have an indentical one installed on their boat) and having him help troubleshoot to no avail, he suggested I check out the c-brats.com website. With thousands of C-Dory members there's bound to be a discussion or two on the use and operation of this factory installed item. And lucky for me, there was! Turns out the stove had lost its prime in the months of storage/non-use. So turned it on and waited; after 5 minutes the stove top got hot and all was well. Thanks to Georgs and the c-brats for the tip.
Today also is notable because we've put 100 hours on the Yamaha 150 outboard since leaving Traverse Bay, Michigan on August 31st. Engine hours total now 274.

Jones Falls to Poonamalie

Pecan entered the series of 4 Jones Falls locks at 8:45am with rain and 55 deg F weather. After a stop at Sand Lake marina for a fuel fill up, we continued along the waterway to the upper reach (we are going 'uphill') of the Poonamalie locksite by 4:18pm. The weather cleared during the day with brisk north winds and cool 60 deg F temperatures. Today is the first day on our trip that felt anything remotely like fall was approaching.








Pecan