July 24 – Tuesday
We had talked with the lockmaster late yesterday, to let him know we would be locking through at the first bridge opening this morning. We had some fresh/frozen fruit for breakfast and then moved FLIGHT into position to enter the lock when the swing bridge opened at 09:00. We sort of had to work around some canoeists while we were waiting – there was activity at the Canoe Club as early as 06:30. I got the impression that some of the early birds were there for a before-work workout, much like some folks back home go to the gym. The bridge swung open and we moved into the lock and down we went, 14’ and on to the pair of locks at Hartwells, #10 and #9. There were now only 8 more locks remaining between us and the Ottawa River and those are all together in an 8 step flight that will lower us a total of 79’. That will happen when we are leaving Ottawa later this week. At Hartwells, we were helped through by a friendly lock attendant who I guess is in his late 50s with long grey hair. He retired from his mortuary / crematory business when he was 52 and now works summers on the Rideau for Parks Canada and goes to his house in New Orleans for the winter. His wife, who has a Phd., also retired and works at a greenhouse for $9. / hour in the summers. We have met some very interesting people and I (RCB) am amazed at how much people will tell you about themselves in 5 to 10 minutes of chatting, as strangers!
Once out of the second lock at Hartwells, I hailed Dows Creek Marina on channel 68 (I had almost forgotten how to use the VHF) and were advised to expect a port side tie in slip #22. After we got FLIGHT settled, we turned on the A/C and closed her up for a good soapy bath, then treated ourselves to lunch at the adjacent restaurant which was pretty good. We had thought we might stroll around a bit, but during lunch decided to do some boat chores we had planned for Wednesday. Polly dug out the polish to work on some of the not-so-shiny spots and I changed the engine oil and filter. I have grown very fond of that sweet Cummins 220 diesel, and will do just about anything to keep her happy.
We had been told by some people we met along the waterway that Dows Lake was situated at the gateway to Ottawa’s “Little Italy” so we strolled down Preston St. and settled on Ciccio Caffe and had a very fine dinner served to us by Giovanni, a waiter not long from Tuscany. Neither of us slept well – maybe the late food and wine but most likely because we were excited about the arrival of the kids on Wednesday.