Tuesday June 27: Burretts Rapids

We left Ottawa under beautiful blue skies with a look backwards toward the downtown area. Many of the attractions that we had had the opportunity to see last time around in July 2011– changing of the guard in particular – didn't begin until mid-July of this year. The light show on the Parliament Buildings was phenomenal but doesn't start until mid-July also.

It was still a great stop but it was time to move on. Canada Day (July 1 with it's expected 2 million visitors) was coming!

The bike/walkway along the canal is crazy! So many people taking advantage of the opportunity for biking/walking. And such a beautiful venue.

Rahn de Vous can be seen with the Greek Orthodox Church in the background.

On the way out of town we passed the beach area where the Dragon Boat races were being held. Sadly we were just a bit too early for the start of one of the races.

After a relatively short day of 9 miles and 4 locks we ended up staying at Black Rapids lock. The rain arrived just as we pulled up to the locks...... seems to be the way :-)

After a pleasant night, we were up early and off again. Rain was due later in the day and our destination of Hurst Marina was only 14 miles away. The marina had a laundry and a hot tub! I'm not sure which we needed most :-)

Finally – I can ride my bike again! Steve pumped up the tires and I took a spin around the parking lot. First time I was able to ride since we stopped at Cayo Costa last November :-)

Work for the day: string a new wire from the dashboard back to the engine compartment to replace the broken one on the engine outdrive motor (to raise or lower the outdrive). Not a terribly hard thing to do but it requires removing everything in the cupboards along the starboard side of the boat.

A nice soak in the hot tub and by then it was happy hour time :-)

Tuesday was not a nice day – but it wasn't raining at least :-) Quite cool though – what the heck – it's almost July! So I'm in fleece and jacket with gloves – seems a bit extreme but it was 17 miles to the next lock. The fun thing? I could actually put my fingers in the gloves :-)

I definitely have a renewed appreciation for what a hand with 4 working finger can do …...

And we almost made it before the rain started! Again the timing is just a bit off as there was docking in the rain.

This is Burritts Rapids lock. There isn't much of the town left but Steve and Craig made the mile and a half trail hike to the bridge and what remains of the town.

The history of the bridge is interesting. It was probably built in Peterborough – one of our favorite cities on the Trent. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

We'll stay another night before moving on toward Merrickville.

Monday June 26: Hands Down! It's a Great Day :-)

And I literally mean 'hands down' :-)

Today marks the 11th week post surgery on my left hand and almost 6 months post on my right hand.

All 8 knuckle replacements turned out GREAT!!

Today's celebration marks the first time since Jan 18th (date of the right hand surgery) that one hand or the other hasn't had a cast, splint or dynamic splint on during the day. (Nighttime splints will continue for a number of months ....)

Which of course means I can now start doing the dishes again :-)

So I thought about to whom I am most thankful for in this 6 month endeavor. Certainly to Dr. David Friedman and his surgical team. Definitely to his support staff as well. And of course to my certified hand therapist Rosie. Also to all of the folks at Banana Bay for their support.

But really? I have to say I am most thankful for the most supportive person in all of this: Steve! He had no idea when he uttered those fateful words "in sickness and in health" almost 46 years ago what he was in for :-)

So for now it's two hands on the wheel again - what a great feeling!

I kept trying to convince Steve that I really thought it would be ok to ditch the current splint but he would have no part of it .... good thing he was there to keep me on the straight and narrow :-)

Saturday June 24: Last Day in Ottawa

Yesterday was rainy and overcast so it was a day to catch up on boat stuff. Steve was working on why raising and lowering of the outdrive isn't working correctly. Goes up but not down.

Finally tracked it to a broken wire – somewhere from the control panel to the back of the motor in the engine compartment. Time to run a new wire another day ….. but he still made a couple of trips to various stores.

It's been a nice opportunity for people watching sitting along the canal here.

Graduations happening at the University of Ottawa – I suspect Guppy is in the background of a number of graduates pictures!

Even a bride and groom across the canal.

Guppy is even closer than ever to the bridge over the canal. Makes it closer to go to the hop on bus, breakfast or the market in Bytown.

And a plus? An open wifi from the cafe across the canal!

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is on the way to the hop on bus. The guards there stand a one hour watch over the tomb. Very similar to the US tomb of the Unknown Soldier in DC.

We did not see the change of guard there though.

We were again on the top level – nice and sunny as it's still somewhat cooler than usual. Karen and I are sitting in the front two seats while Steve and Craig are taking pictures!

First stop for the day was the War Museum. We stayed about an hour – I read in the lobby while Steve checked out some of the exhibits. He thought I would like the tank :-)

And an interesting exhibit about a distraction intended to free Ireland from British rule but which helped create Canada instead!

The Vikings landed in what would be Canada but had some difficulties with the First Peoples living in the area :-)

Next stop was the Museum of History. 

Remember to click on a picture that you want to see larger.

One of the main galleries contained the largest indoor collection of totem poles along with the coolest plaster cast sculpture.

And so we are officially museumed out :-) Way more stuff with tons of reading that was sort of skimmed over - otherwise we would have needed another 3 days here!

One last look from the bridge toward the 8 remaining locks (flight locks) on the Rideau Canal. This would lead to the Ottawa River and eventually to Lake Champlain.

We have opted to turn back at this point - and after a more leisurely trip back to Kingston - will head west on Lake Ontario to the Trent Canal!

Off tomorrow about 9.

Thursday June 22: Ottawa – Capitol of Canada!!!

After spending Wednesday night at Hurst Marina (nice place – we'll stop again on the way back!), we left early enough to make the 10 am opening of the flight locks 9 miles away. The closer to Ottawa we get, the larger the homes along the waterway.

Timing was great as we arrived shortly before the lock personnel. Steve had time to walk around the lock area and check everything out.

The three arch span on this bridge was pretty fun – very unique.

The first view of the metro area was what I'm thinking is a Greek Orthodox church of some type. 

It seemed to be strange that we were on a waterway that would lead us directly to within ¼ mile of the parliament buildings of the capitol! 

I'm thinking no way would this happen in Washington, DC.

Finally from around the bend, we could see the downtown government buildings. We had arrived!!

From here the Rideau Canal continues through flight locks – 8 locks in a row where you move from one lock to the next to the next – well, you get the picture!

It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine and a cool breeze. Perfect for the top level of a Hop-on Hop-off tour of Ottawa.

First breakfast – Craig led the way to where he 'remembered' there to be a place for breakfast from two years ago. He led us right to it!

The tour was a great way to see the highlights of the city and included a trip across the Ottawa River to Gatinaue – in Quebec!

Karen opted for the Art Museum, Craig did the Air Museum and Steve and I took on the Nature and Science Museum with – according to the tour guide – had an octopus or something hanging in the main entrance. Turns out it was a Jellyfish – according to Steve the biology guy :-)

A few of the sights:

US Embassy

Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

Steve's favorite meat market from 6 years ago :-)

Spider sculpture at art museum. 

For some history of the spider sculpture, click here!

Monday June 19 con't: Burritts Lock

Meanwhile, back to Sunday as we were on our way to Merrickville: after towing us a difficult 5 miles (wind was quite strong), Craig and Karen did a masterful job of swinging us into the dock. If you have ever towed a boat with no power you know how difficult it is to adjust timing and turning to get that boat under tow to a dock – without getting props fouled with the tow line – or without the towed boat ramming the tow boat! Good job guys :-)

With the engine now being quite cool, Steve first started with the raw water impeller. Remove the cover – looks ok. Next remove the thermostat housing. Definitely an issue there – except it was stuck open which really wouldn't cause the engine to overheat. Replaced the thermostat and decided that was the only other thing it could have been.

Sunday the 18^th was the actual date of Craig's birthday, so Steve had been up early and baked a birthday cake – Craig's favorite: yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Add a few candles and we were good to go :-)

They joined us for desert Sunday night so Craig could blow out his candles – he did a nice job and didn't get wax all over the cake! Add ice cream which Karen brought and we had a great celebration!

It was a wonderful sunset.

Everyone was up early for breakfast and internet at the Village Bean coffee shop. Great food and free wifi. At this point there isn't anything better :-)

Not a large town but many interesting shops along the main drag. The lock didn't open until 10 am and we had already moved to the blue line – ready to go!

Still more history with the Merrickville Blockhouse which was built in 1832.

Remember to click on the photo for a larger view.

Canada is celebrating her 150^th anniversary as a nation. Lots of signs around – and free lockage on all of the canals this year!! So far we haven't seen any indication that this had increased the number of boats traveling. In fact, it seems the opposite. Little traffic on the waterway but it may be the weather as this spring has been very rainy and many of the systems opened late due to the flooding.

This house we passed seemed like it needed a shave! Not sure all of the ivy growing is good for the building but it's interesting to see.

The plan when we left Merricksville was to travel to Hurst Marina – a decent day of 23 miles and 7 locks.

The boat was running fine – holding at a temperature of 160 degrees. Until it wasn't! The temperature started creeping up – now it's 175, now closing in on 180 degrees. Obviously we still had an issue.

Maybe the impeller just looked good but was fried?? Not sure what to try next. Inventory indicated a spare impeller but after searching everywhere, it was not to be found. We managed to limp our way to the Burritts Lock (a couple of miles) while Rahn de Vous once again stood by in case …..

Long story short, we made it to Burritts Lock and Steve was able to ride with Craig and Karen to pick up an impeller at a marina farther along the canal then return by taxi. Change the impeller. Really??? Still a problem???

Ok. This is a simple system. Water comes in the outdrive, goes to the impeller then through the thermostat and into the engine. Only option left? Water intake on the outdrive – which truthfully should be next to impossible to clog.

But it was. By a glob of very fine seaweed. Never in the 40 years we have boated up here has this ever happened! Seaweed on the prop? Sure – lots of time. But never anything that clogged the intake.

So now we are truly good to go. The sunset was wonderful – and a good ending to the ongoing engine problem. We;ll catch up to Rahn de Vous at the Hurst Marina tomorrow.

Sadly, we really should have known. It's like when the trawler engine overheats. We stop, clean out the intake filter. And good to go. No thought to 'the impeller is bad' or 'the thermostat is bad', just stop and clean out the filter.

Lesson learned – until we forget it :-)