GL: Ottawa river trip

[Frederick Flinn]

Several people have asked what made our trip on the Qttawa river rough. It was
primarily the weather. The night before we left Ottawa, it rained so hard that
the Rideau canal overflowed the locks. It took 6 hours to drain the canal
enough for us to pass through, then once in the river we had 2-3 waves right
on our nose. There are few mainas on the river and most are private. We stayed
in Montebello, stopping after going 45 miles in driving rain and wind in
excess of 25 mph. The marina had no protection from the waves and the boat
next to us, which I admit had been tied up poorly, actually had its swimstep
go under the docks as we pitched and rolled during the night.Next day brought
less rain and less wind and we made it to St Anne de Bellevue. Another huge
thunderstorm shut the town down during dinner hour. Our luck change when we
got to the locks on the St Lawrence. Both locks had big ships in them which
allowed us to go down with minimal delay. The
 locals we met that sometimes it take 12 hours to go through these locks.
Except forthe locks, we went 90 miles into 2-3 foot chop, which in a 27 foot
boat , is what I call a rough trip. Fred   Regal 2765