Ottawa River History Canoe Trip 2023
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- Created: Wednesday, 20 September 2023 12:02
Ottawa River History Trip
September 2023
The day began … and started with jokes.
We started from the RA Centre at 9 a.m. and drove to the Blair Road boat ramp.
The Ottawa River was calm as we headed to Upper Duck Island. We could see the base of the Green Shoal Lighthouse near Lower Duck Island. It was in service from the 1860 to 1970s.
As we paddled along Kettle Island we met an enthusiastic group of Riverkeepers gathering glass, garbage, fencing and tires as they worked their way along the shore. Thank you, River Keepers!
The next history stop was the wreck of the Jean Richard a 100-foot boat built in 1959 at a shipyard east of Quebec City. It was sometimes a cottage and sometimes a boat. At one point it was renamed the Ville de Vanier and plied the Quebec/Ontario border as a party boat.
Lunch was our next stop on the shore parkland on the Quebec side opposite Rideau Falls.
We paddled upstream to Victoria Island. Click here and here and here for more information. We saw a beautiful view of Chaudiere Falls before we crossed to land on the Ottawa side. Mark told us the history, starting with the Wilson Carbide building. The chute seemed a perfect place for dumping industrial waste! It is still being cleaned up. The company that was hired to do so is an Indigenous company from Maniwaki.
The Royal Canadian Navy Monument is near Victoria Island. It lists all the Canadian Naval vessels and deployments since the 1900s.
Mark also told us about the Fleet Street pumping station with the beautiful architecture hidden in the basement. We continued downstream and passed the workers’ memorial, the locks, the art gallery and the mint. From the water, all are nice views.
Our next stop was the NCC River House. Click here and here for more information. This is a fabulous rebuild of the Ottawa New Edinburgh Canoe Club celebrating 100 years. Emily and Helen enjoyed a river swim in a unique-to-Ottawa venue. Of special interest to the kayakers is a plastic platform for kayak docking that lets you exit dry!
We paddled about 24 km. We had a little headwind around Parliament Hill, but basically it was a calm day. What a beautiful day!
Thank you, Mark.
Written by trip participants
