Ottawa was a magical city.  As we approached the eight locks that ascend to the city, we were mesmerized by the architecture of the city.  We spent two days in Ottawa replenishing supplies and sight seeing.

 Looking down on the eight step locks

  we tied up on this side wall

  These are of the Parliament building

We continued on the Rideau River and stopped at the Hurst Marina for maintenance.

Tom was shocked to find the hourly labor rate at $110 per hour.  We installed a new fresh water pump and serviced the main engine.  We continued on the Rideau staying at the towns of Burritts Rapids and Smith Falls.

 They welcomed us to the Rideau Canal.  That was very nice of them

  This was an ice cream shop on the water.  How fun is that.  You just drive your boat up to it and get your ice cream fix

 love is in the air!!

  Dad, Mango and Scottie resting in the shade at one of the locks.

 The housed were built on ridges, so they landscaped in tiers.  They were all so beautiful.

 another beautiful house with a Christmas tree out front.

As we approached the Narrows Lock winds were in access of 40 kts.  The lock was closed due to high winds and was filled with other boats.  We had to anchor in about 10 feet of water.  The wind continued to rise and Tom turned the engine back on in case our anchor started to drag.  All of a sudden, off the starboard bow, we saw a wall of white.  Tom turned the wheel to starboard and put the boat in gear as we were slammed.  The boat went sideways to the wind.  As fast as we were hit, the intense wind subsided but continued at about 40 kts.  Journey drug anchor a little bit.  Tom decided he wanted to get under a lee, so we attempted to pull anchor.  Seaweed covered our chain all the way to the anchor.  I spent over an hour, laying on my stomach, in rain and wind, with a boat hook, trying to remove a 4×6 foot ball of slimy seaweed and mud.  Tom continued to move the boat about a half mile while I cleaned the anchor.  We anchored behind a spit of land in a small bay in about 20 ft of water for the night.  The next day, boats started leaving thru the lock, so we came to the lock and tied up to wait our turn.  That’s when we found out the wall of white was actually a water spout.  One of the boats took a photo just after we were hit and sent it to us.

 Can you see our little speck of a boat a second after being hit

We sailed on and decided to anchor for the night in Morton’s Bay.  One of the most scenic anchorages we’ve been in.  In the morning we had seaweed on our anchor again and after a half hour of trying to clean it, I made Tom do it.  It was good for him.  About 30 mins. motoring the high temp alarm went off.  Tom shut down the engine and coasted to a stop where we anchored.

 These pics can’t do justice to the amount of crap in the water.

We are at least 150 miles from civilization.  The sea strainer was clean which meant our blockage was between the bottom of the boat and the sea strainer.  Using the wash down hose Tom blew out the crap that was plugging us up.  We started the engine and were back to normal.  Whew…..we dodged a bullet on that one!

  Mr Mango at one of the locks.  He is so happy to be on the boat.