Ottawa
River way-points
As
we worked our way down the Ottawa River, we made a stop at Hawkesbury on the
Ontario side where the city maintains a free dock on Confederation Island. This
island was created in the 1960s by the construction of the Carillon dam about
12 miles further downstream. Most of the old town of Hawkesbury was flooded by
this dam. Earlier we met several fellow loopers who stopped here on a busy
weekend and being unable to find a space on the dock anchored in the bay where
they “encountered” rocks. They were still undergoing repairs to their props
when we met them, but fortunately our visit held no unpleasant granite
objects. Instead we met friendly people
in the main street shops and enjoyed a quiet night on the dock.
From
Hawkesbury we moved on to Carillon and the 65 foot lock with a guillotine gate.
On the Erie Canal Lock 17 there is a 25 foot guillotine gate, but the Carillon
is massive in comparison. However, the transit is made easier by the expert
attendants who assist the boaters tying off our boats to a floating dock
anchored inside the lock. This dock and
the attendants float up or, as in our case, down. Nevertheless, it was
impressive to fall into this deep cavern with the guillotine hanging over our
heads. To exit we passed beneath the hanging gate to dock for the night on the
lock gray line. Next to the lock is a park with the Toll Collector’s Cottage –
from the days of the earliest canal here built in the 1830s. Two of the old
canal locks are also preserved. They were part of three canals with multiple
locks that were all replaced by the new Carillon lock and dam. A short walk into the village of Carillon
brought us to the Regional Museum in the barracks built for the fortification
of this strategic area. One of the most interesting displays was titled “Monday
Blues” – a tribute to the evolution of the humble laundry day. Clearly some
progress has been made in the technology of wash day. Although the building was
military in its birth, it evolved into a hotel and other commercial uses before
being preserved as a museum of the region in the late 1930s – a tribute to the
quality of construction in the 19th century.
The
only bridge across the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Montreal is at
Hawkesbury. As a result, we met ferries regularly and as luck would have it – waited for them
to cross in front of us.
Views
from the river:
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