Three Sons left Montebello, Canada and set out for the capital of Canada. Frist, we stopped at a marina for one night to stage for our trip up the ‘flight of 8’ into the center of Ottawa. While at Kitchissipi Marina we biked into Ottawa to explore. On the second day, we moved Three Sons to the center of Ottawa and tackled the “flight of 8 locks.” We did not know what to expect in the capital but boy were we blown away! We just loved Ottawa, with beautiful weather and so much to do and see, we stayed longer than we had planned. The joy of this trip is not having a schedule!
Day 1 – Tuesday, July 2
A nice 32 Nautical Mile cruise to the outskirts of Ottawa. Great marina and wonderful locations to bike into the city but UGH – the 6 knot current did not make docking fun. After settling into the marina, we got out the bikes. The 18 mile round trip bike ride into the center of the city was completely on a beautiful, well paved bike path. Ottawa was such a bike friendly place that we were able to bike around and get the lay of the land. We easily scoped out the locks, the wall we wanted to dock at next, parks, markets and of course a brewery all while on bikes in a congested city. Ottawa is so bike friendly, dedicated lanes and lights for bikes!
Day 2 – Wednesday, July 3
On our second day in Ottawa, we moved Three Sons to the center of city. First, we needed to climb the magnificent flight of 8 locks that is framed by Canada’s Parliament buildings on one side and the impressive Chateau Laurier hotel on the other. This is the largest single set of locks on the entire Rideau system, providing a lift of 79 ft. over 8 locks. The locks are like a staircase and each lock door is the the front of one lock and the back of the next lock. It took us roughly 90 minutes to move the half mile and it was an exhausting but amazing experience! The impressive part is that these locks still operate as designed in 1830. All manual controls done by young Parks Canada employees. They carefully crank open the valves or gates from the upper chamber to flood the lower one until they are even, then they crank open the gates, we untie and move into the next chamber, retie the boat, then they move up the steps and repeat the procedure for the next lock. On the day we were there they actually had two teams and locked our buddy boat Camelot thru in the chambers behind us at the same time. We had three boats in our chamber, so it was a little harrowing to tie up in the swirling wind and water while other boats are moving in alongside and behind us. As soon as the gates opened we needed to quickly move to the next chamber while trying to evade the concrete walls at the narrow openings. As this is one of Ottawa’s prized tourist attractions, we get to do all this with hundreds of spectators along the lock walls and on the bridge overlooking the flight. We tried to look as happy and confident as we could!
The 90+ minute journey compressed to one minuteA fellow Looper saw us entering the locks and snapped our picture. Here we go! Up, Up, Up! All the locks are hand cranked. Lock masters have two sets of cranks on to open/close the doors and another to control the valves. Here the Lockmasters are turning the valves to close the doors behind us.Each of the 8 locks are identical and about 100 feet long. We locked through with Sweet Equity and a Pontoon boat. Here is Three Sons moving up the ‘stairs’ at the lock of 8 from the perspective of Sweet Equity! Thanks KimThe flight of 8, along with all of the locks on the Rideau Canal, are a tourist attraction. Folks stop and ask questions and chat. We decided to start giving out our boat stickers to the kids. So much fun chatting with al folks from all over and all ages. The top few locks of the flight of 8 had to be overfilled with water to allow the deep draft boats to make it. Three Sons was about an inch form the top of the wall. UGH!Three Sons docked in the middle of Ottawa!After settling in on ‘the wall,” we enjoyed a celebration lunch with Camelot at the Heart and Crown pub and took a tour on the Hop On Hop Off BusInteresting story how Canada had to struggle with women’s suffrage similarly as the US, with even their own Supreme Court declaring women as non-persons, until their constitution was changed.US Embassy; remarkably only completed in 1999 after having various posts since 1833.Our day ended with another walk through ByWard and dinner at El Camino, the absolutely best Tacos ever!
Day 3 – Thursday, July 4
Since we really have no schedule and we were loving Ottawa, we deciding to stay another day. We set out early to take in as much as possible. The day started with a long walk to breakfast with Camelot, then a few tours and ended with dinner on Three Sons and very tried feet after over 24,000 steps.
It was not our typical July 4th, we certainly missed family and traditions back home, but we had a great day!
We enjoyed the Changing the Guard on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, it was a colorful spectacle of pomp, pageantry and music. Seen here is Canada’s Tomb of the unknown soldier.We toured the Ottawa mint where a tour guide explained all the different stages in the coin making process, pointing out the various machines from the walkway above and used a few props and screens. Interesting since it so similar to the mint tour in Washington DC. The only picture we could take was outside since they are pretty hot on security and keeping their edge as one of the World’s top mints.The Rideau Falls are two 36 foot waterfalls located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa River.A relaxing drink at Tavern on the Falls!We toured the House of Senate and learned about the role and history of Canada’s Upper Chamber. We walked around the Senate Chambers and committee rooms. A delicious treat at Le Moulin de Provence in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.
