August 8 – Gatineau/Hull
45°25′45″ N 75°42′10″ W

This morning (Wednesday) Catherine went back to London on the 7:30am train from Ottawa. Around 8:30am we moved Santosha off the overnight docks to the blue line dock for the 8-step locks down to the Ottawa River.

There were already 5 boats tied up on the blue line, they must have been there overnight. When the locks started operating we were placed in the second group of boats to start the trip down.

Angela & John & Levi did a great job handling the lines as we moved from lock to lock.

While we were waiting I contacted a few marinas a short distance down the river to see if they had any overnight docking space but they were either already full or our boat was too big for the spaces they had available. I was disappointed but later on in the day this would turn out to be a good thing for us!

It took 2 hours (to 12:00 noon) for us to work our way through the locks to the river. I contacted the Hull Marina as we were passing by – basically just across the river from the locks & managed to get a slip for the night there.

While I was paying my fees the marina manager told me that there would be a big fireworks show that evening only a few hundred meters from where we were docked. What luck! And, on top of that, there was a fantastic plant sculpture exhibition on right beside the marina. It’s as though fate was after-all working in our favour today.

These plant sculptures were really amazing. It must have been a tremendous amount of planning & effort to get these set up & then to maintain them.

Santosha was tied up on one of the outer docks – a great place to watch the fireworks from. As darkness approached Levi was ready to catch the show with his new camera.

The fireworks went on for almost an hour. Very impressive!

It will be hard to top that for an evening’s after dinner entertainment.

Cheers!

August 7 – Downtown Ottawa – Westin Hotel
45°25′29″ N 75°41′35″ W

Today (Tuesday) my daughter Angela, her husband John & my grandson Levi joined us on Santosha. They flew into Ottawa from Calgary a few days ago & will travel down the Ottawa River to Montreal with me.

Shortly after they boarded my nephew Scott & his wife Janice & 2 (of their 4) sons Simon & Jack joined us for a short visit. Full house!

The afternoon heat was dissipating so we had drinks on the flybridge & enjoyed the surroundings.

Photo above: the adults minus Scott – he was tending the bar / exploring the boat with Jack & Simon?

Jack found a perfect seat his size in the v-berth.

Simon is ready for adventure at the helm.

Shortly afterwards Scott & family headed home & the rest of us went out for dinner.

After dinner we walked around the park across the canal from the Parliament Buildings.

I also spent some time thanking Lt Colonel John By for his achievements on the Rideau Waterways System.

Catherine was headed home to London the next morning so she & I splurged a bit & stayed the night at the Westin Hotel beside the canal while Angela, John & Levi had their first night on board Santosha.

Tomorrow morning the rest of us take the 8-step locks down to the Ottawa River!

Cheers!

August 6 – Downtown Ottawa
45°25′26″ N 75°41′34″ W

This morning we were up early so we could leave Black Rapids as soon as the locks started operating. Our early rising also provided some time for non-boating activities (for some of us).

Our goal was to get downtown as quickly as possible to secure a nice spot on the docks with electricity.

Barb & Catherine took the rental car & Bruce & I took Santosha. I was hoping that if we got downtown soon enough that we could get a nice spot to tie up for two days.

Photo above: the Chateau Laurier Hotel off in the distance at the “end” of the canal.

Lady Luck was on our side as we were fortunate enough to get the very same spot we had a week earlier when Bruce & Barb first joined us.

Bruce & I had just finished tying up on the dock & Angela, John & Levi appeared. They were just walking across the bridge above & spotted the boat. What perfect timing!

Shortly after Angela & family left to meet her cousin Scott & his family, Catherine & Barb & (Barb & Bruce’s daughter) Jenny arrived at the boat & we had a light lunch.

Shortly afterwards we said our goodbyes. Bruce & Barb’s cruise on Santosha has come to an end & they are now off to Kingston to visit other family members for a few days. Tomorrow Angela & John & Levi begin their cruise with me.

Today is “Civic Holiday Monday” here in Ontario & in several other provinces. Locally the holiday is referred to as “Colonel By Day” in honour of Lt. Colonel John By, the man responsible for the construction of the entire 200 kilometer long canal back in the early 1800’s.

My cousin Evan sent me a link to a fantastic article about Colonel By that was published in today’s edition of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. Here’s the link:
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/as-time-goes-by-on-this-colonel-by-day-a-small-gift-to-the-man-behind-the-rideau-canal

(Photo above copied from Wikipedia)

Well worth the read! I am going to have a very special G&T tonight in honour of the Colonel.

Cheers!

August 5 – Long Island to Black Rapids
45°19′17″ N 75°41′56″ W

The temperature this morning was very pleasant – compared to the day before – but there was a severe heat warning in the weather forecast for Ottawa. I was keen to secure a dock space with electricity so I could run the air conditioner. We got lucky & scooped up the last open spot at Black Rapids Lockstation. A few minutes later the Kawartha Voyager came into the lock on her way back to Kingston.

Our journey to Black Rapids took less than an hour so we were tied up at the dock by 9:30am. We were wondering what to do for the rest of the day to avoid the heat that was building up. Barb & Bruce decided to rent a car & go into the city to visit with their daughter. Catherine & I decided to take in the exhibits at the National Art Gallery. It would be a great place to spend the day away from the heat.

Photo above: view of the Parliament Buildings from the art gallery.

The gallery building is very attractive modern architecture that compliments its surroundings.

Photo above: the atrium inside the gallery

I also like the art gallery it because it has lots of nice pictures of boats 🙂

Photo above: painting of Halifax Harbour.

Photo below: another painting of another boat somewhere in France (I think).

We also looked at lots of paintings of other stuff by other people. But seriously, the National Art Gallery is truly a treasure for Canada & you could easily spend 2-3 days enjoying all it has to offer. It’s absolutely a must-see stop on a visit to Ottawa.

Later in the afternoon we met up with Bruce & Barb & their daughter Jenny & went out for dinner.

By the time we got back to Santosha the worst of the heat for the day had passed & we enjoyed a comfortable sleep (thanks to the air conditioner’s hard work).

Tomorrow (Monday) we will move Santosha to the docks in downtown Ottawa & get ready for my daughter Angela, husband John & grandson Levi to join me for the trip to Montreal via the Ottawa River.

Cheers!

August 4 – Merrickville to Long Island
45°15′16″ N 75°42′10″ W

Merrickville was the turn-around point for our journey with Barb & Bruce. They needed to be back in Ottawa for Monday night for other family commitments. We set Long Island Locks as our destination for the day.

Photo above: early morning calm at Merrickville’s upper lock

As we were leaving Merrickville the “Canal Days” festival was just getting underway. The folks involved in the early settlers re-enactments were putting the finishing touches on their displays & even their kids were in character.

The little guy in the photo above must have made 5 or 6 trips past us fetching water for his fellow campers.

Other activities beside the dock included a classic car display and live entertainment.

This beautifully restored car is a 1934 Singer with a 9 horsepower engine. She may not be fast but she sure looks fantastic.

My favorite was the display of radio controlled model ships.

The club members were running them around in the turning basin in-between the upper & middle locks.

These boats are accurate scale models of real ships. Maybe something like that will be the next step for me! The docking fees would certainly be a lot less & haul out would be a breeze!

It was exceptionally hot today with temperatures in the mid 30s & the humidex pushed the temperature almost 40 C.

Bruce helped me escape the heat by taking a turn at the helm for awhile.

We arrived at Long Island around 3:30pm & passed through the 3-step locks to the overnight dock below. As soon as Santosha was tied up we all jumped in the water – even before the G&Ts were served up!

While we were swimming we spotted a HUGE dock spider hanging out on the side of the wall close to where the boat was tied up. Hopefully this fella has no interest in joining us for the rest of the cruise.

Even in the late afternoon the sun was still intensely hot. We decided to eat outside but the picnic tables are chained to the dock so we couldn’t get under a nearby tree. I dug out our beach umbrella to give us more shade while we enjoyed our afternoon libations & prepared our dinner. I knew if I hung onto that thing long enough I would find a use for it!

Tomorrow (Sunday) it’s supposed to be even hotter so we will be looking for a place with shore power so we can run the air conditioning.

Cheers, stay cool & remember these days next January!