Ottawa

         On Tuesday morning we had a very peaceful cruise to Ottawa.  We’ve been really lucky with very calm seas on our passages through large bodies of water, even if it’s raining. 

We reached the base of the Rideau Canal with its incredible flight of eight locks just before noon.  These are similar to those at the end of the Chambly Canal - hand operated, and one leading directly to the next.  We were lifted a total of 80 feet for a length of less than a half mile, and it took nearly three hours to transit all eight locks.  It’s an incredible engineering feat.  We tied up at the long seawall after the locks, right in the heart of the city, and walked back to the flight to gawk at it from above. 

The flight of locks sits between the castle-like Fairmont Laurier hotel and Parliament Hill. Ottawa is the capital of Canada; Parliament Hill is where their government (House of Commons, Senate, and Prime Minister’s Cabinet) buildings are as well as their government library and Supreme Court, all enclosed in Gothic majesty in a beautiful park.  Normally people are welcome to tour much of it - both inside and outside where all the statuary and monuments are - but much of it is under reconstruction; currently tourists are limited to the perimeter of the park.  The entire Hill overlooks the Ottawa River.  

We had a light supper at one of the nearby hotel restaurants and returned to watch the summer solstice sun set from the Willie Dawes. 

Wednesday we set out to navigate the subway (the O) and the bus system to get to the marine store called The Chandlery to see about equipping our boat with a throwable life ring.  We’re not city people, so we always find mass transit a little daunting, but Ottawa makes it all pretty simple. The people we encountered volunteered their help and local knowledge too and we enjoyed making quick friends everywhere.  We took the O to the end of its line, hopped the number 57 bus toward Crystal Bay, and walked a block or two from the stop to The Chandlery.  We were on the west side of town, in a small shopping mall-ish area. 

We did find a life ring that was both Canada and US approved!  Dan was quite the character wearing that ring as we browsed the nearby thrift store and hopped back on the bus - this time the number 11.  We opted to stay on the bus instead of taking it back to the subway, in order to see more of Ottawa, and we came upon Chinatown! 

This one was much smaller than the one in Montreal, but it had a much more elaborate gate.  We decided to exit the bus and eat lunch here, finding a nice little Vietnamese place with outdoor seating.  Afterwards we walked around a bit and back to a bus stop to catch the next number 11.  The buses have a posted schedule of arriving every ten minutes or so, but this one took nearly thirty to arrive and other people began to drift over to wait with us.  One of them came up to Dan and began a very long, very involved, and very personal narrative.  Dan’s recounting is below. We’ve come to learn that Dan is not just a people person, he is a people magnet.

We went to the boat for a short rest and a lot of water - it’s been close to 90 and walking through a city just amplifies the heat.  Then we set off to find the Byward Market, a few blocks’ worth of shops featuring farm fare and artisanal everything from clothing to cheese.    We picked up some great fresh fruits and vegetables.  

Thursday morning we set out to walk Parliament Hill and we timed it to be in an adjacent park for “Ottawa’s best hot dogs” (recommended by a woman we met in the subway).  The Hill was incredible, and we learned a little about the formation of Canada, but the hot dog stand in the Major's Hill park was in the section also under reconstruction, so we headed back to the Byward Market and had deli sandwiches prepared in the Byward Cafe.  We’ll have to come back another time for those hot dogs.  We also didn’t hit any of the museums save the little stone building next the Rideau Canal entrance that gives a nice history of the canal itself.  Ottawa has a War Museum, a Natural History Museum, and a National Art Gallery among others.  Next time.  Cruisers are allowed 48 hours at the seawall downtown, and we felt it best to move on so other cruisers could enjoy the city.  

From Dan:

Wednesday afternoon while we were waiting at a bus stop, Kathy observed an older fellow, quite thin and wearing a mask, bend down to pick up a cigarette butt which he rubbed off on the steps of a nearby building and then very carefully folded up in a napkin which he pocketed.  A few minutes later he tapped me on the shoulder and asked if that was a life ring or a drone.  I was confused and he repeated the question.  I explained that we’d come from a marine store where I’d bought the life ring for our boat.  He then launched into a story about how everyone these days was talking about drones - flying them, doing all kinds of things with them - and then orated on the subject of his numerous trips to Europe to visit his many relatives, which he listed by name and country.  He spoke of his wife of 35 years, now deceased 11 years, who for years refused to travel with him due to her fear of flying and how hard he tried to get her to come with him, even sending her to a therapist.  He eventually got her onto a plane to Europe, warning her the engines would be noisy and the plane cavitating upon take off.  Well this plane was delayed in takeoff - as had a previous flight, which was why he always purchased insurance, because insurance took care of you during such delays, with meals and rooms and such - and there was icing and then de-icing and more delays and finally the plane took off.  An hour or so after departure she turned to him and asked when are we taking off? So apparently her phobia was over.  They spent many months in Europe meeting long lost relatives of his and hers, months because they wanted to see the seasons change.  Once home, they were planning another trip - she was chagrinned she had waited so long to get on a plane - and the story turned to how she had fibromyalgia and went outside to pick up a package and how it had rained and there was this water-filled hole she stepped into.  In the meantime he let us know he was a mechanic and his son-in-law was having car trouble and he told him to bring the car over, but for some reason his son-in-law asked him to come over to their house instead.  After some background information of the son-in-law’s family and how many children and grandchildren were in the entire family, some adopted, some biological, he came back around to letting us know his wife had fallen into that hole, hit her head and drowned.  He and the son-in-law found her - we're not entirely clear on when, and if it was related to the car trouble - performed CPR and waited for an ambulance, but she had died.  He sued the ambulance services for not getting there quick enough.  

About this time the bus finally came, and the story ended on that note.