Triangle Loop – Week 15 (The Rideau Canal Part 2- WEDGED IN A LOCK!!!)

August 3rd to August 9th, 2025

Day 98 – Sunday, August 3rd, 2025 – In: Smiths Falls, ON

Sunday morning, Brenda got in line for the washer and dryer. She had tried to get a load in yesterday, but they were fully booked. I worked on an article for The Clever Boater and did a few boat tasks. While one of the loads was drying, we took the bikes up to the local Canadian Tire store. Canadian Tire is a unique chain in Canada. It is a combination of a Tractor Supply, a sporting goods store, an appliance store, an auto parts store, a hardware store, and a garden center. Oh, and they sell tires too! There is no tangible equivalent in the US that I’ve come across. It’s one of those stores that guys like to go to and browse around.

When we got back to the boat, we had new neighbors. A boat from New Hampshire had pulled into the slip next to us. When we saw the registration, we went over to say HI. The family is from the same town, Bedford, NH, that I grew up in! Small world! They were part of a group of 4 boats, all family, and a kayak that were traveling the Rideau. Rebecca, the daughter of the boaters from New Hampshire, is paddling her kayak the 125-mile length of the canal. The four boats are following along to support her on the trip. One of the boats is Rebecca’s grandparents, who are the Harbor Hosts in Clayton, NY, the home of the Wooden Boat Museum.

Once the laundry was done, we rode to the Lower Reach Park where the Old Home Week health fair was being held. On the way, we stopped and found another Geocache, #533. We have been seeing promotions for the 40-foot Giant Walkthrough Colon as part of the Old Home Week Health Fair. We couldn’t miss seeing something like that! The health fair was being held at the Curling Club facility in the park. It was a lovely facility, with a large ice rink (currently dry), an observation deck with bar and restaurant, and meeting rooms. Curling (sliding round stones on the ice and controlling the speed and direction by sweeping the ice with brooms) is a big sport in Canada. You’ve probably seen it in the Winter Olympics.

In the summer, they remove the ice and use it for events and playing squash. We walked in, and indeed, as advertised, there was a Giant 40-foot Walkthrough Colon, complete with hemorrhoids and polyps! The local hospital was using it to raise awareness, so we took a walk through. You become sort of a human endoscope! Okay, so maybe it’s a bit bizarre, but we’ve been stuck on a boat for 4 months, you have to get your entertainment where you can!

After our “colonoscopy”, we rode back to the boat for dinner. The other Old Home Week event that had been advertised was a nighttime drone show with 200 synchronized drones. The show was advertised as being held from 8 to 10 pm. At 8:00, we rode back down to the park and found a place to sit to wait for the show. We were a little confused, as it doesn’t get dark until 9:00 here. When we got there, there was quite a crowd waiting. They had a Beer Garden set up, along with other food vendors and a DJ playing music. What they didn’t advertise very well was that the DJ and food vendors started at 8:00, the drone show didn’t begin until 9:45, and it was only going to last about 15 minutes. 9:45 is way past my bedtime, and we needed to be up and moving by 8:00 am, so we decided not to wait and went back to the boat. I overheard a couple of people discussing the show in the morning while we waited for the lock, and they said it was just okay. Some of the configurations were recognizable, but most of it was just flashing lights in the sky.

Day 99 – Monday, August 4th, 2025 – To: Merrickville, ON
Merrickville Dam Docks

Our stop for the day is Merrickville, just 14 miles and five locks. Merrickville is another popular stop with limited docking space, so we wanted to get going early so that we could be in the first lock group. Fortunately, last night, there was no one docked at the Blue Line waiting area. The lock opens at 9:00, so at 8:00 we moved from our slip to the Blue Line and were first in line. As soon as we moved, the four boats traveling with Rebecca the Kayaker also moved in behind us, and that started a whole flurry of movement. Boats that were on the wall without power moved to grab our slips, and other boats started to move closer to the Blue Line so that they could be in the next group.

At 9:00, they filled up the lock and opened the doors so that we could go in. In the first lock-through, it was us, the four boats with the Kayaker, and Rebecca in her Kayak. Once we were all in and settled, it was a relatively quick 26-foot drop. The next lock, Old Slys, was just a mile away, and it’s all a slow zone. When we got to the lock, they opened the bridge to let us into the first lock of the two-lock flight. By the time we had all five boats settled, Rebecca had caught up with us and slipped in behind.

After a quick drop, we moved from the first into the second lock, went under the railroad bridge, and then out into the canal toward Edmunds Lock, 1.7 miles away. Because we were part of a group, we had to take it slow to keep together. Even if we got to the lock early, we would have to wait. We chatted with Rebecca’s parents and agreed that we would keep a speed of around 4 miles an hour to ensure Rebecca could keep up. We were first heading toward the locks, so we didn’t need to hurry. She paddles around three miles an hour, which is pretty impressive, especially for long distances!

When we got to Edmund’s Lock, she was only about 5 minutes behind us, and by the time we all got settled in the lock, we only had to wait a minute or two. The Lockkeepers know about her trip and are happy to wait to accommodate her. They even give her a round of applause when she arrives at the lock.

After Edmunds, the next lock is Kilmarnock, 3.7 miles away. Again, we kept our speed at around 4 mph. The channel in this section is pretty twisty. Rebecca could cut many of the corners, so she was able to keep up with us. When we got to Edmund’s lock, we had about a 10-minute wait for Rebecca, and were able to all lock down together.

Kilmarnock was our last lock of the day before reaching Merrickville. The lockkeeper mentioned that there was only one boat on the dock at Merrickville, but noted that several boats were on their way up (in the opposite direction), so they might take the spots. The docking space at Merrickville is above the lock, so after clearing the Kilmarnock lock, we sped up and ran at 16 mph for most of the 8 miles to see if we could get a spot. The other thing we were trying to avoid was meeting the Kawartha Voyageur, the cruise ship that runs along the canal. It was in Merrickville and scheduled to leave at noon. With our depth requirement and their size, the passing opportunities are somewhat limited.

We arrived in Merrickville just before noon. We turned off the canal into the basin where the mooring docks are, and we saw one open space on the dock just large enough for us. As we pulled in, the Parks Canada staff walked over to assist. I don’t think they thought we would fit. We pulled in, spun around, and slid into the slip just fine. As we were tying up, we heard the horn for the Kawartha Voyager warning boats to clear the channel as they pulled out, and we just missed them. We were finishing up, settling in, and wrangling power (we were able to get two plugs without denying anyone else), when the four Rebecca support boats pulled in. They fell behind as one of the boats lost engine power due to weeds in its strainers. We helped them get docked and hooked up, then took a walk into town.

We are staying an extra day in Merrickville, so we skipped most of the shops, just looking to see what had changed since our last visit in 2019. Some of the stores had changed, but there were many that we recognized and very few empty retail locations. Merrickville is a tourist stop. Either people on the canal, or people coming to see the canal. With its three lock flights, there are plenty of opportunities. We walked up the main street to Gather Glassworks, a glass-blowing studio that we visited on our 2019 trip. Since then, they have added a brewery to the glassworks. What a perfect destination! Glass for Brenda, Beer for me! I had my docking beer while Brenda looked around at the hand-blown glass items. Brenda picked up a few glasses, and I got some of their canned beer.

We walked back to the boat and relaxed until 5:00, when we walked across the lock to Harry MacLean’s Pub at The Baldachin Inn for dinner. We had another stunning sunset due to the haze from the wildfire smoke.

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Day 100 – Tuesday, August 5th, 2025 – In: Merrickville, ON

Tuesday was the 100th day of our trip, and we spent the day in Merrickville. In the morning, we walked across the lock to a breakfast place, then took a wander up toward the town fairgrounds and park, where we saw that there was a Geocache. On the way, we passed Violet’s Bakery, one of our favorite butter tart stops from our first trip. Unfortunately, they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so no butter tarts until tomorrow.

When we got to the park, we quickly found the Geocache, which was next to a Submerged Cable Sign. #534 in the bag! From there, we walked back into town and up St. Lawrence St, the main street in town. We popped into the little shops along the way. There was another geocache in a parking lot just off the main street. We had to do a bit of searching since it was hidden in a row of shrubs, and the GPS signal wasn’t great, but we found it in the end, #535! When we got to the end of the business district, we crossed the street and wandered back down the other side. One of our stops was Mrs. McGarrigle’s Fine Mustard Shop. People come from all around for her mustards. The shop also has a large selection of gourmet foods and cooking utensils. It’s one of the must-stops on the Rideau. We stocked up on a selection of mustards!

From there, we went back to the boat to drop off our shopping, then relaxed for a while. In the late afternoon, we walked back up to the Gather Glassworks and Brewery for an afternoon drink. They were not too busy, so we were able to get a tour of the brewery and the glass studio. Unfortunately, they were not making glass that day, but we learned that all of the glasses used in the brewery tap room, as well as the tap handles and light fixtures, had all been hand-blown on-site. Very cool!

By the time we finished at Gather, it was getting on toward 5:00, so we stopped at The Goose & Gridiron for dinner before returning to the boat.

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Day 101 – Wednesday, August 6th, 2025 – To: Manotick, ON
Hurst Marina

When we went past the lock on the way back to the boat last night, there were already five boats on the Blue Line, so we knew that we wouldn’t be the first group to lock down. At 8:00, we walked up the street to Violet’s Bakery to stock up on Butter Tarts and a few other pastries, then went back to the boat. The first group went down through the locks at 9:00, and another group moved to the Blue Line to wait. There was also a group coming up through the locks. The Locks at Merrickville are a group of three with large pounds between them. These pounds widen out to allow boats going in opposite directions to pass. So they usually bring one group up, and one group down, and they pass in the middle.

When we got back from Violet’s, we checked, and the group coming up was just getting into the second lock. Four smaller boats had moved into position for the second lockdown, so we got the boat ready, and as they started moving into the lock, we headed out of the basin to take their place on the waiting line.

There is a narrow channel from the lock to the entrance to the mooring basin, and we had seen that one of the upbound boats was good-sized, so we just hung out at the entrance so that we wouldn’t have to pass them in the narrow channel. As soon as they cleared, we moved down the channel to the Blue Line to wait for our turn to lock down. When our turn came, we were the only boat in line to go down.

In the middle pound, we passed a boat and two kayaks heading upbound, then dropped in the third and final lock for Merrickville. As they were cranking open the doors, one of the lockkeepers came over and warned us that there was a floating cattail island in the middle of the channel. They were trying to snag it with a boat hook to get it out of the way. We exited the lock very slowly, and when we got to the island, I pushed the boat toward shore with the bow. As it came past me, I reached out hoping to grab onto some of the cat tails and pull it out of the lock approach channel into the open water. I did get a handful of cat tails, but they just pulled out of the bunch. A small fishing boat was approaching the lock, and hopefully, he could assist in getting it out of the channel.

Three Locks down! Our fourth lock was Clowes Lock, just over two miles ahead. When we arrived, the lock was ready for us, and it was a quick 8-foot drop. As we exited Clowes, we could see the next lock, Upper Nicholsons, a 1/2 mile ahead. At Upper Nicholsons, there is a swing bridge; however, it’s only used for maintenance and is usually open. There was a boat coming up in the Lower Nicholsons lock, so we had to wait for about 15 minutes before it was our turn to go down.

Once we got in, it was a quick drop and then a half-mile-long channel to Lower Nicholsons. The lock doors were open, and again it was a quick drop and out into the river. The next lock of the day was Burritt’s Rapids, 3.5 miles away. About three-quarters of a mile before reaching Burritt’s Rapids, a hand-cranked swing bridge is located—one of the lockkeepers from Burritt’s drives up to the bridge to open it. The approach to the bridge is in another narrow, curved channel. There is a sign to sound your horn before entering the channel, warning other boats and notifying the bridge tender that you are coming, so they can open the bridge. As we rounded the corner and the bridge came into view, the bridge tender was walking in circles, pushing the lever that swings the bridge open. As we passed the bridge, Brenda tried to throw him a goodie bag, but he said he would see us at the lock and get it then.

As we approached, they cranked open the lock doors, and we went right in, and after a quick 8-foot drop, out the other side. As we exited the lock, there was a Canal Work Boat and barge coming through a narrow channel. I radioed them and said that I would hang back until they passed. They seemed confused at the courtesy and told us to come right through. We had a nice, long 18-mile run to Hurst Marina, our stop for the night. We passed several large farms along the way, and some very interesting (and large) vacation homes. We’re told that most of the larger homes are owned by Americans who use them in the summer as “cottages”.

We got to Hurst Marina just after 3:00. We stopped at the fuel dock first to empty our poo tanks before swinging inside to our slip. After settling in, we walked across the parking lot to the Swan on the Rideau, a British-style pub for dinner. Part of the Kayaker Rebecca’s support boats were docked on either side of us, and we had a quick catch-up. Rebecca had made it to Ottawa that day, and they were going to be heading back toward us.

When we were planning our trip, I ordered a flag that has the US Maritime Flag, the Canadian Flag, and the flags of Ottawa and Quebec Provinces. Normally, you fly your country of registration flag on the back of your boat, and a smaller courtesy flag for the country you are visiting. On our last two trips to Quebec Province, people commented that we were flying the Canadian Flag, not the Quebec flag, much like flying the American flag instead of the Florida or Texas flags. Quebec is part of Canada, but it would like to be its own country. With the current political back and forth between the US and Canada, I figured I’d try to please everyone.

We have gotten more comments on the flag. About 99.9% are positive and appreciative that we are showing respect. A few people have pointed out that we are just stirring the pot, because “Americans don’t like Canadians, Canadians don’t like Americans. Ontario doesn’t like Quebec, and Quebec doesn’t like anyone!” When we were leaving Merrickville, a man came running down the lock toward us because his wife said, “That boat has the best flag ever”, and he wanted to know where he could get one! It’s also interesting that some people, mostly (but not all) Americans, don’t recognize the Ontario and Quebec flags.

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Day 102 – Thursday, August 7th, 2025 – To: Ottawa, ON
Ottawa Steps Top Lock Wall

We had another eight lock day and several bridges with restricted opening times on our way to Ottawa. Our first set of locks, on Long Island, was 8 miles ahead. Before leaving Hurst Marina, I did my regular morning engine checks. The Air Conditioning filter was full of grass and weeds! It would have made a great seaweed salad! The generator and engine filters also had some weeds, but not as bad as the A/C.

We left Hurst just before 9:00 for the 5-mile trip to the Long Island Locks. When we got to the Locks, which are a set of three staircase locks, we had to wait for upbound boats. The first lock has a hand crank bridge that was sporting a pretty jaunty angle to it. There are many cottages on Long Island, and the bridge is the only access by vehicle. A Parks Canada engineer was crawling around under the bridge, inspecting it. It seems that one of the rollers that the bridge turns on has broken. They were taking measurements so that they could have a new one made. These bridges were originally built in the mid-1800s, and the design hasn’t changed much since then. Many of them still have much of the original timbers and hardware!

Once the upbound boats were through, we had to wait for a few minutes while they cranked the bridge closed to let a few cars across, then reopened it for us to go into the lock. We made quick work of the next two locks in the flight and were on our way to Black Rapids, just over 5 miles away.

Black Rapids was just a single lock, and it was set for us when we arrived, so it was a quick lock. We had a four-mile run to Hogs Back lock. There is a road bridge just before the lock that doesn’t open during morning, lunchtime, and evening rush hours. We got there just after the afternoon rush, and they opened as we approached. Hogs Back is a two-lock set. The lockkeeper there was very chatty and gave us a bunch of hints on places to eat in the next section of our trip. He also gave us a few hints on finding a place to stay at the top of the locks in Ottawa.

After Black Rapids, you leave the Rideau River and enter a dug canal that runs along the Colonel By Drive. Colonel By was the engineer who built the Rideau Canal, and the highway, bike path, and park that run along the canal from Black Rapids to Ottawa are named after him. This section of the canal is a bit narrow, as it has walls on both sides for most of the way. In the winter, when the canal freezes over, they plow and condition the surface, turning it into a 6-mile-long skating rink.

Our final lock before Ottawa was Hartwells Lock. This is a two-lock set, but when the water is at normal levels, they just run one of the locks, so we got through it very quickly and entered the Ottawa Metro area. We had just over 4 miles to go to the mooring area above the Ottawa Locks. Our only barrier was one lift bridge, again with opening time restrictions. When we arrived, there were already four boats waiting. The bridge tender said that he was waiting to see how many other boats showed up before opening. We let him know that there was no one behind us. Still, we had to hover for about 20 minutes before he finally opened the bridge and let us through.

We arrived at the top of the locks in Ottawa just after 2:00. There was one boat in front of us, and they were going down the flight. Most of the mooring spots were full. We saw Plane Relief, a boat we’d met earlier, moored on a floating dock toward the front of the row. There are areas painted red that are reserved for the tour boats, and you can’t moor there. Just in front of Plane Relief, there was a 40-foot section of dock available, and it had a 50-amp power adapter! On the entire Rideau Canal, there are only three 50-amp power points, all of them here in Ottawa, and we got one! We docked and got as close to Plane Relief as we could; still, we were about 4 feet into the red zone. Brenda and I were trying to figure out how to move the boat back some more, when one of the tour boat crew overheard us and said that we were fine where we were! Phew! We got lucky!

Once we had settled in, we walked into town to the UPS Store to pick up some packages and get some photos of the boat from the bridges over the canal. When we got back to the boat from our package run, we were putting stuff away when some guy jumped on the boat and tried to get in. Brenda called out, and I went outside and agressively explained that you NEVER get on a boat without permission. I think I scared him, as he jumped off and ran down the sidewalk. The folks on Plane Relief came out and said that the guy was just on their boat trying the doors. We had heard that there was an issue with transients in the area. Fortunately, the tour boats that parked directly in front of us have full-time overnight security, and they deter nighttime visits. For dinner, we walked toward the Fairmont Hotel, which is beside the 8 Ottawa Step Locks, and to Milestones Grill for dinner. The restaurant is a Canadian chain. The food was excellent. Brenda had the Ahi Tuna Sushi Stack, and I had the Marsala Pork Chop. After dinner, we went back to the boat and had a quiet night.

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Day 103 – Friday, August 8th, 2025 – To: Gatineau (Hull), Quebec
Marina de Hull

The Locks in Ottawa are called the Steps. They are a series of 8 locks that take you from the top of the hill in Ottawa down to the level of the Ottawa River. You are lowered 80 feet over 1/4 mile.

It’s one of the most exciting locking experiences on The Great Loop. The Steps are situated between two castles. On one side is the Fairmont Château Laurier hotel. On the other side is the Parliament building of Canada. It’s very beautiful! On our first Loop in 2019, we came UP the steps. Today we will go DOWN the steps. Coming up, takes between 90 minutes and two hours, going down, they estimate about 60 – 90 minutes. A lot of it depends on how many boats there are in the lock, as you have to move from lock to lock eight times. Some groups move quickly, others take a bit of time, especially if there are larger boats or inexperienced captains.

Like the rest of the locks on the Rideau, the Steps open at 9:00. Given the end of the Quebec Construction Holiday, we expected a high volume of boats heading in both directions. The lock staff ask that you be lined up on the “Blue Line” by 9:00 so that they can gauge which direction to take first, up or down.

At 6:30 am, the first few boats moved to the Blue Line. By 8:00, there were six boats in line, and the Blue Line was full. Six boats are about all they can take at once. There is an extended waiting area, so at 8:00, we moved over. We got onto the wall. We were watching a jut out on the wall, and not paying too much attention to the tree overhanging the canal, until we saw leaves start raining down on the boat. We pushed back a bit, and aside from snapping a small branch off the tree, there was no damage.

We got tied up and walked down to the lock to see what was going on. Boats were waiting at the bottom, but we couldn’t tell quite how many. At 9:00, the lock staff arrived and started taking information from the first seven boats on the Blue Line. By 9:30, we learned that they were going to bring two groups up the flight first. With eight locks, once a group has entered their third lock in the flight, they can start the next group in the same direction. This is because they use the water from the lock above to fill the lower lock; however, they do have by-passes so that they can refill if needed.

Since two groups were coming up, we didn’t expect the first down group to go before noon. When we got back to the boat, Fern, a ranger tug we met in Merrickville, had moved into the spot we vacated and was waiting to come down. The tour boats that run on the canal through Ottawa also dock in this area, so there are red zones for them, with just a few other waiting spots until you get a distance back up the canal. We pretty much sat on the boat, chatting with Fern and waiting for our turn. While we were waiting, more boats arrived, and there was a lot of “I was here first”, “you can’t dock there”, and watching boats try to move up to cut the line, only to have to back up, as with boats on both sides, there was little room to turn around.

When the first upbound group came out of the locks, a canal work boat went into the lock, and two workers spent 30 minutes scooping grass, trash, and a dead fish out of the lock. They came back under the bridge, and their engine died right next to us. It was just a small skiff with an outboard, but watching them try to get it started provided some entertainment while we waited. By the time 1:00 rolled around and the second upbound group came out of the lock, at least 18 boats were waiting in line to go down.

The Lock Flight is a major tourist attraction in Ottawa. Hundreds of people line the lock walls, the bridge above the locks, and the railings of the hotel, watching the boats go through. When locking, you truly ARE the show. People can cross the lock gates and walk right up to the edges of the locks to chat with boaters, and many do!

The first group of 6, mostly 30-foot cruiser-style boats, was loaded into the first lock, and we moved up to the Blue Line. One of the original seven boats wouldn’t fit, so they were first in line, with us behind, followed by Fern, and a bunch of cruisers from Quebec. Once the first group was in the second lock, the lock staff came by and asked about the length and width of the boats to play their game of Tetris and fit in as many as they could.

They came back around and gave us our positions. We would be in the front of the lock, on the starboard wall (right side), a boat from Quebec would be on the port wall (left side), and Fern would be in between and would tie off to us. Then, behind us, there would be another group of three boats in a similar arrangement.

When the lock doors opened, around 2:30, we were first in, then the boat from Quebec, and then Fern. The first lock, which involved getting everyone arranged, took about 15 minutes to load. Everyone was excited about finally getting into the lock and taking pictures of the stunning views. They closed the lock doors, and we started to drop.

An interesting side note about the lock design. The top of the lock is about 38 feet wide, the walls slope inward, and the lock is 33 feet wide at the bottom. On the sides of the lock, there are rubber-coated cables that extend from the top to the bottom. When you are in position, you pass a line from a cleat on your boat, around the cable, and back to your boat, where you hang onto the other end (never tie it off as you have to adjust as you go down).

Because everyone was taking photos, chatting, and enjoying the view, no one, including the lock staff, noticed that things with the first group of boats were getting a bit tight as we went down in the locks. The doors started to open for us to go to the second lock, but one of the doors got stuck. Someone had lost a boat pole, and it was wedged under the lock door. The lock staff was focused on fixing the door, fishing for it with a long pole. What they failed to notice was that water was still draining from the lock.

Our first indication that something was wrong was a loud BANG on the side of our boat. We thought that perhaps a fender had popped, and when we looked, we saw that all of our fenders on both sides of the boat were squished tight. Our usually 12″ fenders were less than a 1/2″! The bang wasn’t a fender, but the large steel eye that the cable attaches to, which had caught on our lower fiberglass rub rail, tearing a chunk out of the fiberglass and ripping off the stainless steel protection strip. Panic mode ensued!

Our three boats were wedged so tight that both of the outside boats were wedged tight against the wall, and Fern, the middle boat, was pretty much hanging off of us, partially out of the water. Someone has miscalculated widths (probably converting between meters and feet), and we were too wide for the three locks. I called over one of the lock keepers and pointed out the issue. I couldn’t see below the rub rail, as it was pressed against the wall, so we didn’t know if the metal eye had put a hole in the hull or not. They called the senior Lockmaster, who was down the flight with the first group of boats.

After much head scratching and poking, they managed to get the boat hook out of the door and close it. They planned to slowly refill the lock to lift us and separate the boats, then rearrange, putting a smaller boat with us in the front, and try again. The worry was that the metal eye had popped over the fiberglass on our boat, and we didn’t know if it would tear back through as we went up. We didn’t have many options, so they let in a bit of water, and we watched it. As we started to rise and got more space, we were able to jam a fender between our boat and the wall, pushing us away from the fitting, and avoiding more damage. Once we were clear, they completed refilling the lock, and we were able to see the extent of the damage. We had a chunk of fiberglass missing, the stainless steel rub rail was pretty bent, and there were some scratches in the paint. Fortunately, there was no damage below the waterline, so we were not at risk of sinking.

We pulled out some tape and taped the bent metal to the side of the boat so that it wouldn’t get caught on anything. Some of the screws that hold the metal in place were pulled out of the fiberglass, and some of the heads of the screws had popped off. In all, 10 screws had been broken. While they rearranged the boats, I took pictures of the damage, and the Lockmaster came over, saying that they would get us an incident report to file.

Once we were rearranged, there was a good three feet of space between the boats at the bottom of the lock, and the rest of the flight went without incident. However, the party atmosphere had gone about as flat as the fenders! So, we got to do the top lock twice! We’re calling this the NINE Lock Flight!

As we were dropping in the locks, I filled out the incident report and handed it back to the lockkeeper as we got to the final step. The doors opened, the middle boat was out first, then us. Phew! Finally! That’s over! Then the bus cut in front of us!

Yes, a bus! A red bus cut right in front of us as we were exiting the lock. You may have seen the amphibious “Duck Boats” that give rides; well, this is an amphibious bus. It looks just like your regular city bus, but it floats. It was full of tourists, and the driver cut right across the line of boats exiting the lock, turned around, and came right back at us! So that the passengers could get a good view of the locks and the boats exiting. I guess they have the right of way!

Fortunately, we had less than a half-mile to go to the marina, which was just across the river, and we were safely docked by 5:00. Halfway across, we crossed from Ontario Province into Quebec Province. This made today our longest day time-wise at 9 hours, and our shortest distance at 2 miles.

Once docked, we shut down the boat and walked into town to the closest bar we could find!

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Day 104 – Saturday, August 10th, 2025 – In: Hull, QC & Ottawa, ON

We had a restful night’s sleep after yesterday’s excitement. After my first cup of coffee, I got out my tools and started to patch up the damage to the boat. There are no leaks, and most of the damage is cosmetic, so we won’t delay our trip to get it professionally repaired now. I’ll deal with it when we get back to Florida. For now, I used some fiberglass epoxy to fill in the screw holes that had been stripped out and to patch the chunk of fiberglass that had been damaged. Then I straightened out the rub rail as best I could, and screwed it back in using slightly larger screws. It’s not perfect, but it doesn’t stand out. Once the epoxy is fully cured, I’ll touch up the paint. Fortunately, the finger dock next to the boat was just at the right height to work on the area if I lay down on it.

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The job took about two hours, and after I got cleaned up, we decided to take the Water Taxi across the river and spend the day walking around in Ottawa. As we were walking down our dock, the “water bus” that we almost hit came barreling up the boat ramp next to the boat. It’s quite a thing! I got several pictures of it going in and out of the water. When they go in, they go pretty fast, and a wave breaks over the top of the bus! We won’t be taking a ride!

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On the Hull side, where we are docked, the “Aqua Taxi Eh!” leaves from the front of the Museum of Canada. We walked under the bridge to the pick-up spot. Hull and Ottawa are holding a summer fireworks series. Each week on Wednesday and Saturday night, a guest country does a 30-minute fireworks display on the river in front of the Museum. It’s a great location, situated between Hull and Ottawa, right in front of the Locks and the Parliament building. The area in front of the museum is the prime viewing spot and is lined with chairs for VIP guests. We weaved through the chairs and tents and got to the Water Taxi dock. We only had to wait about 10 minutes before they pulled up, and we got our ride across the river back to the Lower Lock Landing.

As we walked up the dock, we noticed a group of two boats waiting to go up that we recognized from our last Loop Trip! Doctors Inn and Never Say Never. We saw them watching a group of boats lock down, and went over and chatted with them for a bit. We also saw that Michael and Kim Russo (The Great Loop Director) were coming down with the second group on their boat, The Perch, so we climbed up a couple of flights of stairs and chatted with them.

After visiting, we walked up to Parliament Hill and walked around the Canadian Parliament buildings. There is a walkway all along the cliffs that surround the Riverside of Ottawa, and you get some spectacular views. The day was hot, and by 11:00, it was already over 90°. After completing the 1/2 mile circuit, we headed into downtown Ottawa to get some water and browse in the many (air-conditioned) shops to cool down.

We enjoy browsing through many arts and crafts galleries, so we strolled from shop to shop, eventually ending up at the Byward Market, a unique combination of indoor/outdoor spaces featuring numerous small tents for vendors, as well as a variety of restaurants and bars. It was 1:30, so we stopped at an Irish Pub, “The Brig”, to cool off and have a snack.

After lunch, we walked around looking at some more of the tent vendors, then headed past the Ottawa sign and into Major’s Hill Park. This park runs along the cliff top from the Fairmont Hotel to Kiweki Point and has excellent views. We walked the length of the park to the observation platform on Kiweki Point, which is 322 feet above the Ottawa River and offers spectacular views.

We were getting hot again, and our choices for getting back to the boat were to Uber (but we didn’t want to do that). Walk back the length of the park into town and then down the hill by the locks to take the Aqua Taxi. Or walk across the Alexandra Bridge, which was right below us. The bridge has a nice walking and biking path on the side. I checked, and getting back to the Aqua Taxi would be about a mile walk, while crossing the bridge was a half mile. We opted for the bridge, which, although it lacked shade, there was a nice breeze as soon as we got on the boardwalk, cooling us down. We took our time crossing, stopping to take some pictures along the way. At the end of the bridge, we crossed the street and were back at the marina.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cooling down and visiting with Lucky Charm, a Looper who was also staying at the marina. They have been following us on the blog, and it was great to meet Bob. We found out that their catamaran is the same make and model as R-Pad, a boat we traveled with on our first Loop, and they are friends!

At 5:30, we called an Uber and rode across to Ottawa to the Mill Street Brewery, a well-known brew pub, for dinner. People were already filling up the park by the marina and the area around the Museum in preparation for the fireworks. We had a good dinner and sampled a few of their beers, then Ubered back to the boat to wait for the fireworks.

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The fireworks were scheduled to start at 9:15. At 9:00, we heard the first “warning shot”. Just a couple of rockets, to let people know the show was about to start. We went up on the flybridge to watch the show. This afternoon, a 60-foot Absolute Yacht pulled in next to us to watch the show. From the flybridge, you could see the lights from the many boats out on the river to watch the show, and the flashing blue lights of the police boats keeping them in check.

At 9:10, there was another warning shot, and at 9:15, the show started. We had a great view! The show was coordinated to music. We could faintly hear the music coming from the Museum of Canada, but it didn’t make much sense given the echoes and distance. The show lasted about 30 minutes with many long volleys. There was a nice mix of traditional fireworks and some that we’ve never seen before. In the end, we agreed it was one of the best shows we’ve seen! And much better than a drone show!

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Recap of the week

We traveled 63 miles this week, bringing our total to 1,856 miles so far. We completed the Rideau Canal reaching Ottawa, and almost didn’t make it out of the Ottawa Step Locks when we got wedged in a Lock with two other boats (not our fault)! We crossed from Ontario into Quebec Province and are sightseeing in Ottawa and Gatineau (Hull).

Next week, we will start down the Ottawa River with a stop at Montebello, reach the St. Lawrence Seaway, and finish up in Montreal for the weekend.