Captain Mark and Sidekick Sue pulled up their anchor and returned to the Ottawa River. It was cold and windy; Captain Mark wore his insulated suit. There were big waves on the river, making for a very bumpy ride. Sidekick Sue joined Captain Mark on the fly-bridge with the binoculars as they passed the Chateau Montebello, a famous resort in Quebec. A few different boaters had recommended it as a place to stay (it has a marina), but the timing did not work out well this trip, so the Explorers viewed it from the water. Maybe next time. It did look impressive. Sidekick Sue decided it was too cold and windy to read or sew, so she went below deck. There really wasn’t much more to see during this leg of the trip. Captain Mark had an encounter with a cable ferry that was running 3 ferries on 3 separate cables. He was trying to time his crossing so that he could cross all three of their paths without crossing in front of any of them. It reminded Sidekick Sue of a game of Frogger from the old Atari game. Luckily Captain Mark made it through without getting squashed.
The weather warmed up in afternoon and Sidekick Sue joined Captain Mark outside. Near the completion of their 50 miles for the day, they passed the Rideau Falls, which they knew was near the entrance to the Rideau Canal, which begins with a series of locks to lift boats up the height of the waterfalls. The original plan was to dock on the Ottawa (Ontario) side, but like at Saint Annes, the cement dock was underwater (the Explorers later heard from a local that there had been some unusual flooding this year). The Explorers parked temporarily at a water taxi dock to figure out what to do, but had to abort quickly when the sighted both a water taxi and a tour boat headed their way.
Using the Navionics app, Sidekick Sue found a public dock back on the Gatineau (Quebec) side of the Ottawa River. The Explorers motored over to investigate and found more concrete docks underwater, but also some wooden floating docks, so they tied up, and Captain Mark went to try to find some information about the docks. He learned that there was no room at the marina next door and that the dock the Explorers were on was indeed public, however, no one was sure if overnight stays were allowed. The Explorers could find no signs forbidding a stay, and there didn’t seem to be anyone monitoring the dock, so they decided to “give it a go” and hoped that they’d be out in the morning before anyone noticed them.
After securing the boat, they walked across a bridge to the Ottawa side to see if they could get any information about the lockage the next morning. Even though it was before “closing time”, the locktenders appeared to be gone for the day, so there was little information to be found. Fortunately, they were at least able to confirm that there was available dock space after the locks, which is where they intended to spend the next day so they could explore Ottawa a little. After walking back to the boat, they decide to check off a chore or two, so they gathered up their laundry and lugged it to a laundromat that was less than a mile away. While the clothes were washing, they snuck to a small restaurant for hot dogs and fries (again). Sidekick Sue is unimpressed by the French fries (frites) in Canada. This is their third time ordering fries since the trip began and they are mushy, greasy and not nearly salty enough. She has vowed not to order them again until she is safely back home. After laundry, the Explorers returned to their boat, which did not seem to have drawn any unwanted attention. Tune in tomorrow to see if they were kicked off the public dock before the end of the night……
