It was another lovely day as we continued our cruise on the Ottawa River. Our second lock of the day was the Corillon Lock, an impressive structure. It was essentially a huge 200 ton guillotine gate unique in North America. It has a vertical clearance of 137.8 feet. The vertical drop of 65 feet takes 45 minutes!
We almost didn’t make the opening which would have resulted in a very long wait but fortunately the lock keeper waited for us and a smaller vessel that rafted next to us. They were a friendly couple who were heading to the same town as us. This time as we waited for the lock to fill, an official came aboard to check our paperwork and safety provisions. We passed easily though our fire extinguishers will be expiring soon. He then climbed across our boat to check the one rafted up to us. They passed as well! We chatted with the nice university student who was working her summer job at the locks. They have all been most gracious and engaging.
In Lynn’s research, she found a reference that the the village of Hudson was worth a visit so we decided to stop there for lunch. There was a public wharf with a 100 foot cement wall but when we got closer to it we we didn’t see a way to tie up and climb off. Next door was a yacht club with a lot of sailboats so we hailed some dock staff to see if we could tie up there for a couple of hours. That worked perfectly after we shared with them our membership in the Lodge CreekYacht Club as well as the fact that we were from so far away. The yacht club was busy with an active youth sailing program and lots of construction going on. Apparently last year they had a 100 year flood that caused a lot of damage to their building so they were in the midst of a construction project.
We walked into the small village and at the recommendation of the yacht club staff had a very delicious lunch at a cute restaurant called Cozy Cafe’.
Then we were back on Zendo to resume our cruise to Hawkesbury where we could stay for free at their town dock. When we arrived we docked behind the couple who had rafted next to us in the Corillon Lock and who kindly helped us tie up. Jonny made a healthy dinner for us and we enjoyed it on the aft deck. Afterwards, we trekked across the park where we were docked (which was on a little island) and crossed the bridge into the town.
Hawkesbury is one of the bigger towns along our route (12,000) but not that interesting except for a few picturesque features.
Of course there was the ubiquitous and impressively spired church and Tim Horton’s - this time right next to each other.
The prettier walk was on the way back as the sun was setting over the water creating a lovely photo op.
Earlier in the day Jonny had found some small fuel leaks near the engine which is causing concern. So as we watched the sunset from the aft deck we decided that the next day we’ll stop at a nearby recommended marina to have it looked at and then proceed on to Montebello.
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