August 9 – Chateau Montebello
45°38′37″ N 74°57′5″ W

Today (Thursday) we started our journey down the Ottawa River to Montreal. Our first stop along the way would be at Montebello, Quebec.

This was Angela & John & Levi’s first “real” trip on Santosha. Going down the 8-step locks & a 15 minute crossing of the Ottawa River yesterday hardly counts as a voyage. 🙂

It was a beautiful day & there was virtually no traffic on the river.

Traveling on the river was quite a change for me after spending over a month on the (much narrower) Rideau River & Canal System.

Levi had a turn at the helm for a while & he handled the boat like a pro.

His mom did a pretty good job too!

John found a comfortable chair & focused on some relaxation. His turn to steer was coming. This is the way to travel!

We arrived at Montebello about 4:00pm. Over the years I have heard lots about this famous hotel/resort but it was my first time here. All I can say is “Wow”.

Photo above & below: the boaters lounge at the marina.

The hotel was opened in 1930 & it is the largest log building in the world. The logs used to construct it came from British Columbia.

This is not an inexpensive place to stay but our cost at the resort’s marina was reasonable as we were on the “BYOB” (bring your own bed) rate plan.

Photo above: full house at the marina – Santosha is out there somewhere.

We had a great dinner in the hotel lounge (Levi was especially happy with his choice) & then we explored the rest of the main lodge area.

Photo below: Outside one of the wings of the main lodge

Photo below: the main lobby/reception area.

Photo below: I think I know these people.

Photo below: the swimming pool. Catherine would really like this 🙂

This is most definitely a place that I will have to come back to with Catherine. (Note to self: better start saving up now).

Cheers!

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!