Day 65, 7.31.18: Last Day in Ottawa

Today is our last day in Ottawa and although we are reticent to leave, it is time to move on, and besides, there is a national history museum in Hull that we are wanting to visit.  Before leaving, however, we take a stroll to ByTown Marketplace where we take in another pastry at a local Patisserie as part of a "second" breakfast.

Back at Eclipse, we untie our lines and motor down to the "blue line" on the dock ahead.  Putting our boat on the "blue line" lets the lock-staff know that we are ready to lock through.  We are told that it will take an hour before the locks are ready and the boats already locking through have completed their journey.  In the meantime we pass the time writing "poetry" about the man who built the canal, Colonel By.

Finally, our time arrives and we start the process through the eight locks that will drop us 79 feet to the waters of the Ottawa River below.  The process takes about an hour and a half and many, many people line both sides of the locks to watch us as we proceed down this watery "staircase" on our way to the Ottawa River.

After reaching the river, we set our sights across it to find some public docking space at the public dock adjacent to the Museum of Natural History.  The museum provides an amazing collection of artifacts from the history of Canada and contains a special place for the First Nation's peoples from the far north.  Of particular interest is the exhibit on the "Franklin Expedition".  The story relates the horrific events that Franklin and his crew endured as their two ships became locked in the polar ice forcing the crew to abandon ship and attempt to trek across the ice to attempt a self rescue.  Most of the crew did not make it and many resorted to cannibalism of their fallen comrades to attempt to hang in and survive through the cruel weather conditions.

The ships were located in 2016 after 150 years of searching and many, many preserved instruments, utensils, dishes, tools and personal effects were recovered in startlingly superb condition.

After spending the better part of four hours at the museum, we headed down the Ottawa River and up a side river and channel cut to dock at the Ottawa Casino.