Ottawa

We moved a mile from Hull Marina across the Ottawa River to the blue line to enter the locks at Ottawa.  The first lockage is at 8:30 AM. since there are 8 locks to traverse and a lot of things to see in Ottawa we wanted to be tied up early.  Unfortunately the eclusier chose to begin the downbound folks first so we did not enter the lock until 10 AM.  It took 1 1/2 hours to traverse the 8 locks.

This picture was taken at the top looking down to the Ottawa River.  Note lockmaster house on left.

 The gates opened and we pulled in.  One other boat joined us.

The building on the left is the Fairmount Hotel.










We are entering the Rideau Canal, a 128 mile system to connect Ottawa and Kingston, on Lake Ontario.  Built in the 1830s to allow shipping to bypass the St Lawrence River to avoid aggessions by the Americans.  Link to Rideau Canal

Debbie had a lot of gawkers watching as we locked up.  Debbie handled the bow line which she wrapped around the cable and Kurt handled the stern line.  We went up about 80 feet in all 8 locks.  

After the locks we tied up to the wall in downtown Ottawa. We spent two nights there so we could take in the sights. Great City.  No power on the lock wall so we ran the generator every day to charge the batteries, cool the cabin and heat water for showers.