Linda was up until 11:00 or so, trying to catch up on the blog. Man, that thing is work! We still managed to get up in time to catch the 9:00 lock opening at St. Anne de Bellevue and then headed for the Carillon Lock. We had about 20 miles of 25 knot wind right on the nose. It was very cloudy and cold. We didn’t take our fleece jackets off until we got to the lock about 1:00.
We had to wait for a little over 30 minutes and it took about the same time to get through the lock. It has a 65 foot lift and it is HUGE. Takes a lot of water to fill that puppy.
We had a full lock with 11 boats in the lock, rafted together about 3 deep. The lock itself was very interesting in how it operated. Hopefully some of the pictures below can help you visualize it.
We arrived in Hawkesbury about 3:30 and tied up to the town dock with the help of a camper on the dock (it is also kind of a campground). There was a strong current messing with us, so he was a big help. As we sat here, we discovered that we were the local attraction for the evening. More than 20 people stopped by to chat and ask about the boat, where we were from, and why did we consider stopping here (it was free). While Gerry was barbequing our chicken dinner, several asked about that process, how long did it take, what seasonings did he use, was it the only way to cook on board, etc….. Several took hard looks inside the boat as they walked by. Most were very friendly and we tried to answer all of their questions. It was a bit strange that none of the children spoke any English - even though we were told that it is taught in all grades here.
We walked into town to see if the local marina had a pump out. About a block from the place we are tied up, we passed the sign welcoming us to Ontario. The boat hasn’t made it there yet, but we did. The marina does have a pump out and they told us how to approach their breakwater and enter to get to the service dock. That will be our first stop in the morning as we haven’t been able to find a pump out since we left Rouses Point in NY. Yup, it is getting a bit full.
We plan to visit Montebello tomorrow and then anchor somewhere near Ottawa before hitting the locks that take us up to the Rideau Canal on Tuesday. A friend of Gerry’s from the Canadian counterpart for the Agency is going to meet us and help us find our way around town (Stephanie Dion). There is a lot to see and do there. Lots more to come on that later.
On the road again -- the Ottawa River
Farmland along the way .... notice all the cows .... many different colors
The wind was strong and there were a bunch of kite surfers out .... they were really going fast and high
Boats exiting the Carillon Lock. We are tied to the "blue line" waiting to go in.
Monk's Vineyard entering the lock. We were first because we happened to be the biggest boat. The lockmaster tells each boat exactly where to go.
Eleven boats locked through with us. We were 3 deep (except for one row) and there were 4 rows.
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