AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: Ottawa - Ontario to Quebec to Ontario

Jul 1^st – Happy 150^th Birthday Canada! It was a rainy morning that transitioned to a warm/hot mostly cloudy day with some sun and a shower later in the day. We left the lock wall in Ottawa in the pouring rain and travelled ½ mile to Gatineau Quebec and pulled into a slip in Hull Marina. We can’t believe that we started the Great Loop exactly 1 year ago from Krates marina in Keswick … Time flies when you’re having fun! We walked all over Ottawa today amongst thousands of people … it was so crowded that we returned back to the boat for a break and a bit later we went back into the crowd for round 2 and saw the Snowbirds execute a couple fly bys. During round 2 we stopped for a beavertail … the perfect snack on Canada day. When we got back to the marina we joined Fern and Nathalie and their family for drinks (we met Fern and Nathalie on the St Lawrence Seaway and they helped us get a slip at their marina for Canada day). Of course we had the best seats in the house for Canada day fireworks … and they were absolutely Exxxcellent!

Jul 2^nd – It was a warm to hot day with a sun/cloud mix with scattered showers. We’re still at the Hull Marina in Quebec enjoying the close proximity to Ottawa. I started the day with a few boat jobs … topping up the batteries with distilled water, checking the engine fluids, etc to prepare for our next move tomorrow while Maria did some laundry. We walked into Ottawa to do some more exploring and met Maria’s nephew Chris as well as his wife Ruixi and their daughter for lunch. Afterwards the group of us returned to the boat for a cocktail and then walked over to visit the Mosaicanada 150 Gardens which is the largest horticultural event in Canada. Their display was absolutely amazing! When we returned to the boat we talked with a few of the boaters at the dock and then went to relax on the boat after a couple of very busy days.

Jul 3^rd – It was a warm windy sunny day with NO RAIN … WOW … it was the first day with no rain in a while! We walked from the marina over to the first lock on the Rideau Canal to get an update on the next lockage through the initial 8 locks that look like stairs going up into Ottawa. They told us the water was really high thus they had to let some water through the locks before they could start and estimated their first lockage up would be at Noon. The Blue line at the bottom of the lock was under water and there was no place to tie up thus we timed our departure from the marina so we would arrive at Noon. We left the Hull Marina and travelled ½ mile and had to wait an additional hour before we got into the lock. Once we were in the lock we were committed to all 8 locks with the others that were in the lock with us. It was about a 1 ½ hour journey up the stairs with lots of people watching the boats move from lock to lock. We finally made it to the top and tied up on the overnight lock wall with power and had to have a cold one after all of our effort to get through the locks. After dinner we walked into town and I finally got my “Tiger Tail” ice cream … yum … and we ate it while watching a outdoor band playing some good tunes during a sunny evening. Then back to the boat we go since it’s blog day.