Creeping Along the Rideau Canal - Part 14.1

August 9 – 11, 2011

Part 14 – Ottawa, Parliament Hill

Before you start your tour of Ottawa, it is worth taking the time to visit the Capital Infocentre, located right across the street from Parliament Hill. You can find all kinds of literature about the museums, special events, maps, tours (walking, biking, riding), reservation assistance, and people who can answer your tourist questions.

Since Parliament Hill is right next to the Rideau Canal's flight locks, it was a logical place for us to start sightseeing. Plus, with the self-guided walking tour booklet we picked up at the Infocentre, it was easy to get orientated and understand what we were looking at.

Centre Block, front

Parliament Hill is home to Canada's democratic federal government. The Hill is composed of a Centre Block, East Block, and West Block. Plus, there are many other government buildings adjacent to these 3 main buildings.

The Centre Block houses the Senate, House of Commons, and Library of Parliament. National issues are debated and passed into law. The Peace Tower, in the middle with the clock, was added to commemorate the 65,000 Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during World War 1. The clock is visible from many places around the city and has melodic bells that chime every quarter of an hour and a 53 bell carillon to sound the hours.

Front entrance

Under the archway, the base of the Peace Tower, are the front entryway doors into Centre Block. Notice that it is just a pedestrian thoroughfare, like the whole of Parliament Hill. While no private vehicles have access to the hill, ANYONE can just walk right up to the doors, peek in and touch the buildings. There are no obviously armed guards stationed external to the buildings.

Library of Parliament

The Library is in back of Centre Block, but actually overlooks the Ottawa River directly. It functions like our Library of Congress by supplying senators and members of Parliament access to books and documents that are supposed to provide useful information to help them make intelligent decisions about running the country. The guide book also says that the Library is supposed to provide nonpartisan, reliable, and relevant information about what is happening in Parliament. We can only rely on FOX news to give Americans that kind of information!

East Block

The East Block and West Block, similar in appearance and situated on either side and slightly in front of Centre Block, were initially built to house the ministries and federal public servants. It didn't take long before they were filled up, since government always outgrows its space, and more buildings were constructed north of West Block.

Exquisite detail in stone and metal

The High Victorian Gothic architecture emphasizes pointed arches and extensive use of stone of multiple colors with intricate carvings and elaborate masonry features. You could spend most of a day trying to see how many different figures you could count that are carved into different areas of the buildings. Some of the forms you can recognize as animals, but others look like mythical creatures, called grotesques. They are all carved in Nepean sandstone, quarried locally, that naturally changes to the gray/black colors over time.

Everyone loves a unicorn

This unicorn graces the archway at the base of the Peace Tower. If you look closely at the garland to its left you can see different kinds of bird carvings. There is so much detail!

A wise owl

I would expect to see owls since they are supposed to be wise, which is what we hope for in our politicians. However, if voters were wiser we wouldn't have so many lousy politicians.

Salamander boss

Is this one or two creatures? I found the name of this thing in one of the guide books.

Modern and classic

I thought this image of the classic style reflecting in the modern style of architecture on the opposite side of Wellington Ave. interesting.

Supreme Court of Canada

This building was constructed in the Art Deco style of architecture and stands in contrast to the others in the Hill area.

From the end of June to the end of August, the Ceremonial Guard of the Canadian Forces performs a Changing of the Guard ceremony on the main lawn in from of Centre Block at around 10:00 a.m. I told you that we could see them marching through the park heading towards the Hill next to where we were docked on the canal.

Bagpipe marchers

The procession is led by a unit of bagpipe players, followed by the marching band, and then the guard units bring up the rear. People line both sides of the streets and are packed in around the main lawn.

Marching band in front of Centre Block

You can see the band in this photo. Notice all of the people sitting on the railing in front of Centre Block building. While we were watching the ceremony, one of the band members passed out flat to the ground. The ceremony continued on, with the inspection of the guard and the band kept playing. A medic team rushed out and put the horn player on the stretcher and carried him off out of sight. No one skipped a beat.

Palace guard

This shows the two groups of guards, who operate on 24 hour shifts until they change over during this ceremony. It takes about 45 minutes for the whole thing to reach completion and is worth the time to observe the ceremony.

We knew with these guys on duty we would be safe for the rest of our tour of the city!

Creeping Along the Rideau Canal - Part 14.0

August 9 – 11, 2011

Part 14 – Ottawa, the canal neighborhood

We left the Long Island lock dock at 8:00 a.m. We encountered a lot of shallow water, but didn't have any groundings. We locked through Black Rapids, Hogs Back, and Hartwells locks with ease since we had gotten such an early start and only running into a few other boats. Despite just 14 miles to go to reach Ottawa, it still took us 4 hours!

The aquatic weed eater

We had first heard about this machine when we were at the Narrows because the guy who invented it lives near there and frequently shows up at that lock to hang out with all the boaters. We could see that the mechanical harvester had recently been in operation in the canal going into Ottawa because the water looked like it was pureed vegetables. We thought for sure we would have our water intake clogged in that goo, but we made it to the wall without incident and then could clean out the strainer.

The city is in sight

After Black Rapids lock, the trip ends in the Rideau River and you just travel in a canal, like a huge cement bank channel which leads all the way to the Ottawa River. Most of the land on the side of the canal is a combination of parks and/or bikeways. We had never seen so many people riding bicycles, not just for leisure fun, but to get from point A to B, just like most Americans would take a car, even if it is just 2 blocks!

I've decided to divide our Ottawa stay into multiple posts because I'm going to use pictures to take you on a tour through each post. Ottawa is the capital of Canada, a very vibrant, clean, and beautiful city and I took a lot of pictures that will let you see more of the city than I can better describe with words. I'm starting out with the Rideau Canal information since that's what this whole trip has been about.

FLUKE on the canal wall, right in downtown

At noon, we reached the wall where we could tie up, and we were relieved to find a suitable space. Within another couple of hours, the entire wall was filled up. The 4 French boats we had been trying to “beat” managed to get tied up in front of us before all the space was taken.

On our starboard side, where we are tied, is a major roadway for cars and another one for bicycles. You really have to watch out for both, since some of the bicyclists go flying by at really high speeds.

Eddie's self image

On the same side, just a hundred yards ahead is the Convention Center, with a geodesic dome shape on the side facing the canal. Eddie took advantage of its mirrored panels to take a self-portrait, wearing his Tilley hat.

Ceremonial Guard in Confederation Park

We are on the opposite side of the canal from Confederation Park. Each morning, the Ceremonial Guard of the Canadian Forces band and military drill team march through the park all the way up to Parliament Hill for the Changing The Guard ceremony. It is really neat hearing the music in the distance and then looking over and seeing them go through the park. More photos of them coming later in another section.

At the blue line

The blue line, where you wait to enter the lock, is just ahead of us, on the port side. Notice that boats begin lining up under the big tunnel. The first lock is just on the other side of the tunnel. The tunnel bridge and areas on both sides of the locks are filled with hundreds of people watching the unique staircase locks in operation throughout the day.

FLUKE in the top chamber

Eddie took this photo from the roof of the pilothouse when we entered the lock chamber. There are 8 locks to go through; once you begin the process, you must go all the way to the end since you just go from chamber to chamber. The total drop is 79'. Wayne and I are both on the bow waiting instructions from the lockmaster. I'm the one in the dull, drab, line-handling outfit. I never could buy into the Canadian “flash and glitter” program although I may have had on my purple underwear.

Repair hold up

Lock repairs have to be made right when they are needed. In this case, a chain that is used to pull the lock gates had to be repaired. The chamber had to be fully emptied; no boats will be in any of the other chambers when a lock is shut down like this. At least they don't have to drain all the other chambers, since it would take a LONG time to fill everything up again.

Looking up from the Ottawa River

The staircase flight looks beautiful when seen from the Ottawa River. It is truly a signature landmark for the city. That pretty stone building on the right side of the photo is one of the oldest buildings in Ottawa. It was the Rideau Canal Commissariat where the building supplies for construction of the canal were housed. Today it is the site for the Bytown Museum where you can learn about the canal and see all kinds of artifacts. Oh, Bytown was the name of Ottawa before it became the capital and received the name we know today. Remember Colonel By, builder of the canal?

So, here we are, right in the midst of all kinds of activity, day and night. It's the night activity that I will tell you about now. Our stay in Ottawa didn't get off to a peaceful start, despite all the relief we felt in finally having gotten through the canal.

At 2:00 a.m., we all were awakened to footsteps on the outside upper deck, after hearing the back upper hatch hinge get opened. Each of us knew that not one of the other of us would ever be there at that hour of the night. Eddie and I ran to the cockpit doors, while Wayne went up the stairs to the pilothouse. Wayne wound up face to face with an intruder, trying to pull open the port door. He yelled at him, saying “what are you doing on my boat?” The guy ran back down the hatch, through the cockpit, and jumped off the boat really quickly. He was carrying a bag, and we didn't know at that point if he had taken anything off FLUKE. Eddie jumped off the boat after him, saying that we were going to call the police, and the guy started running down the street. Eddie, wearing only his underwear, went running after him. Since the guy was in his 20s, slim, and agile, and Eddie is almost 70 (I'll just be nice right now and not make a comparison about the other two physical characteristics!), Eddie couldn't keep up with him. A security guard drove passed Eddie and turned around to find out if he was crazy or had a problem. They both came back to FLUKE, and the security guard called the police. All that we could do was give a description and file a report. We didn't have anything stolen at least.

This was the first time in all these years we have ever had an intruder come aboard. While the experience made us feel uneasy about leaving the boat even during the day, we didn't let it keep us from getting out and seeing the rest of the city like we planned. We set an alarm in the cockpit, and we pulled in the bow line, which pulls out the stern line, making it very difficult for anyone to even be able to get in the cockpit while we are aboard.

Irene Storm News from Vergennes, VT

September 1, 2011

Since several people have indicated they want information about how we weathered the stormy weather from Hurricane Irene, I am departing from my regular blog sequence and posting this current update.

FLUKE at town dock, north wall, before storm

Here we are tied up at the town dock in Vergennes, VT, 7 miles up Otter Creek from Lake Champlain. We figured that we would have great wind protection here and not have to worry about any wave action. Both of those assumptions turned out to be good ones. We did not know that Otter Creek ran another 100 miles above the falls that we were tied up just below. Some parts of Rutland and Middlebury drain into Otter Creek. That was what brought us our problems.

Notice in the photo that we are tied up to both a floating dock and a heavy corrugated bulk head that sits about 4' higher than the floating dock. The bulk head has big cleats on top and is designed to be used by a river cruise ship that docks here.

The guys adjusting and adding lines before the storm

We originally tied up with 5 dock lines. For the “event”, we added another 5 and put fire hose on the lines where they would be subject to chafing as the water rose. You can see in this photo how high the wall is above Wayne and Eddie who are standing on the floating dock.

By the time we had FLUKE secured to the bulkhead, it was apparent that FLUKE would actually be holding in the floating dock. At least, the section that we were attached to. The dock takes a turn beyond the wall ahead of us, and had 3 sailboats and a small powerboat on it. That part of the dock was only secured to shore with some cable attached to what looked to be the metal bars used for street signs. We were worried if that broke loose or floated over the top, those boats would get pushed back into us. Since all of them were such lightweights, the danger was lessened.

The rain began on Saturday night and continued all day on Sunday and then stopped on Monday morning. The wind was never really an issue, other than driving the rain at times. Even by nightfall on Sunday, the water level was still below the bulkhead. However, we could see that the rate of rise had increased, and we knew we had to monitor what was happening to the floating dock. If it floated up high enough, we knew it would tip on its side, laying right up against our hull. Sleep was out of the question, anyway, because there was so much debris coming over the falls and hitting the hull making a real racket. We were faring well with the tree trunks and logs, but I was worried that one of them would get crosswise on our bow and just eat away at the finish. Plus, I kept imagining getting hit by a refrigerator or car.

We never dreamed that we would be getting any assistance from anyone. To our complete surprise, the city maintenance staff supervisor showed up every couple of hours during the whole of Sunday night to check the chain lengths on the floating dock. FOUR times, he added lengths of chain to keep the dock from tipping. He first started out wearing hip waders, but by the end, he had to have chest waders on and have a life line to shore.

High water, but not at crest

Even though the rain had stopped on Monday morning, Otter Creek didn't crest until 4:00 p.m. It was stressful watching the continual rise because we knew if the barrels on the floating dock rose over the top of the wall we would have some bigger problems. We were happy to see the crest happen before dark, thinking that we wouldn't have to spend as much time up at night again. At the highest water the big wall cleats were submerged. There was so much water on the land side of the dock we were confined to the boat; the current was so strong rushing by on both sides of the dock.

Our hand ferry

By Tuesday afternoon, a local from town brought a metal boat for us to use to get to land. That's us taking a ride to shore, over the submerged road. Lines were tied to the bow and stern so that anyone could use it in either direction.

Water continued to lower until Wednesday afternoon, when it began to rise again. Since then we've had it go up slowly, only about another two inches. Much less debris is coming over the falls, but some rain is in the forecast, and we are dreading what that may stir up.

Foam snot

The waterfalls are creating massive amounts of dirty foam, so we are being kept busy trying to keep it from building up on the side of the boat like you see in this early morning photo. We haven't yet wiped her nose! Right now the only known problem we have is something stuck on our starboard stabilizer since we can hear the constant rattle of “it” hitting the hull. Hopefully nothing else is stuck on any other underwater parts. Even if the current wasn't so bad, the water looks like chocolate milk, so going in the water to take a look is out of the question.

Since the Champlain Canal is closed we don't really have anywhere to go. So, it seems we will try to stay here until the town kicks us off the dock. At least we don't feel guilty taking the dock space away from other boats since only a couple have braved the running current to head up this way since the storm passed.