July 26 & 27 – Thursday & Friday
Thursday began with Libby and I (RCB) motoring the dinghy in the canal with Libby at the helm. She was surprised by the number of people “who knew us” and waved as they walked along the path. She had no idea of what those people were seeing – a little girl in a multi-colored life jacket holding the tiller of a small boat heading to downtown Ottawa (with a grandpa just an arm’s reach away). Matt & Kate showed up by car and we all did the tourist stuff beginning with the changing of the “gardener” (as Libby called it) ceremony, museums etc. then later in the day the big event was peddle boat rides at the marina on Dows Lake. We BBQed some shrimp aboard that evening, and just relaxed.
Polly and I rode our bikes to the hotel Friday AM and we all walked to the Byward Market. The market is a daily thing that is situated on several streets and has many vendors and shops selling fresh produce, cheeses, meats as well as art work and clothing items. There are also a number of restaurants and we all had breakfast before resuming our touring and visiting.
I (RCB) returned to the boat to clean inlet water strainers, sort out new charts and do a few other captain things in preparation for our departure Saturday morning. As I was finishing up, a boat was sliding into the slip next to us – when I looked up, it was “Renaissance” and our friends, the Dohrers. We hadn’t seen them since the morning we left Oswego where they headed for the Thousand Islands and we pointed FLIGHT at Kingston. When Polly returned she was surprised to see our friends and catch up – she and Kathy took a walk together to have a gal type visit and I expect, to have some time away from their respective captains. The rest of the family came to the boat later and after meeting the Dohrers, did some kayaking and duck feeding before we had a bite to eat at the marina restaurant. Libby spent the night aboard (as per her planned schedule) and would be sailing with us in the AM as far as the wall in downtown Ottawa. Another warm and sunny Canadian day came to an end.