Lower Ottawa River transit

[BerettaRacer]

Ok, I know it not quite the Great Lakes, but it's close by, lol.

Does anyone know the max size boat, draft/beam/tons etc that can transit from Montreal, up the lower Ottawa River and enter the Rideau Canal system??

There's a ton of info on the Rideau (max 6' draft), and found some info about mid 30' boats being trailered on portages on the upper Ottawa, but thats about it. One write up I read said the river was shallow just south of Ottawa city but no numbers were given, and no info on the locks north of Montreal.

I did a trip up the St Lawrence from the Atlantic a couple of years ago but we were in kind of a hurry and went from Montreal straight into the Wellan, and the upper lakes for the summer, besides we had 8' draft and didn't look into small waterway side trips.

Thx

 

[ktcanuck]

Ignore the stuff about trailering. That applies above Ottawa and the Rideau connects to the Ottawa River in Ottawa. Looking at your boat I would be more concerned about draft. Despite promises certain parts of the Rideau Canal are shallow. Folks with 5 feet draft have had issues in places.

Check here:

http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/statistics.html

Keith

 

[BerettaRacer]

Thx, but right now the Rideau canal isn't the issue, plenty of info available for that. I'm interested in the Ottawa river leg from Montreal up to and leading into the Rideau.
I've read about a couple of locks close to Montreal, a lock in Ottawa leading from the river into the Rideau, and shallows in the river on the south side of Ottawa, but nobody's giving any numbers on controlling depths or lock sizes etc.
Already know I can't go north of Ottawa, but if I could come up the river from Montreal, hook a left into the Rideau and drop down to Kingston would be a nice loop.
ps: don't worry about the stats for the boat in my profile, it will be a different boat, probably an older 500.
Thx

 

[bajturner]

A lot of boats travel this route every season, completing a popular circuit locally referred to as the triangle (Ottawa, Kingston, Montreal). I myself stick primarily to the Rideau System between Smiths Falls and Kingston and the 1000 Islands but last summer did head north, through Ottawa, to the Ottawa River and then as far east towards Montreal as the Chateau Montebello. I live in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, and keep my boat on Big Rideau Lake, an hour drive by car south of Ottawa.

Your best reference would be detailed nautical charts for the waterway, which are available. Unfortunately mine are on the boat! That being said, I can tell you that for certain many 40-60 foot boats have no trouble on the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Montreal. While in Montebello last year, a Meridian 580 (Oceans 10, owned or previously owned by former NHLer Guy Lafleur) was docked there, regularly goes to Montreal, and occasionally heads to Ottawa and then south to Kingston. 44DBs are a common sight on the entire triangle. You do have to watch your charts in certain areas.

Here are links providing information on the locks between Ottawa and Lac des Deux-Montagnes, which leads you to the St. Lawrence Seaway.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/qc/canalcarillon/index.aspx
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/qc/annedebellevue/index.aspx

Also, here is a map that may be useful:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/qc/annedebellevue/visit/reseau-navigation-system.aspx

I hope this helps. As you plan your trip, feel free to ask me any questions you like. It will make the winter go faster to help plan a trip!

 

[BerettaRacer]

Thx, thats perfect!! Don't need to know any details now for the rough thinking stages, a long as I know I can make the loop. Have heard good thing about the Rideau but didn't want to plan on it if I had to run up from Kingston just to turn around and come back. Trent Severn is a straight thru also.

Had my boss's boat in the area (St Lawrence/Welland/Great Lakes) a few years ago, but, we have to go where he (actually I shoud say SHE) wants, imagine that!! LOL. I've been doing the Boss's boat in the Med for last few seasons since. He's shopping for a bigger boat, I'm planning my retirement trips. :grin:

When not out keeping somebody else's boat running (paycheck) I generally live in Ft Laud, but grew up in Maine. Figuire I could easily do a NE corridor loop ( Maine/St Lawrence/ Erie/Hudson) in a summer. Might even let some of the family visit, put 'em to work line handling in the locks. :lol:

 

[Tomco]

My boat is almost next to Brian's (Four Turtles) on the big Rideau and we do most of our boating on the Rideau canal portion. Checking the maps is probably the best - I don't have mine with me but may be going back up to the boat this weekend and can check for you. It has been my understanding that the Rideau canal is more restrictive than the Ottawa river (lock size, water depth), so if you can get through the Rideau then you should be good on the Ottawa. Here is one of the better documents on the Rideau canal http://www.rideaufriends.com/documents/watson-guide.pdf As Brian said, your safe with 4' draft but 5' is pushing it in some areas ... again, if you can traverse the canal, you will be able to do the Ottawa River. You shouldn't have any trouble with a 50' boat.

 

[northern]

We do not meet many people on this site with a 120 foot boat. Tell usabout it. Speed where you go how big a crew

 

[BerettaRacer]

With just crew on we'll generally cruise 12 kts or so, thats usually the long deliveries, to conserve fuel. But with the boss, usually the short hops between the tourist/senic spots, bump up to 13-14. We're a pretty casual boat, not real formal, base crew is 5, sometimes up to 6-8 for watchstanders on long trips etc.
Base out of Ft Laud, cruise the usuals, U.S east coast, Carib, Bahamas, Bermuda, and a little change of pace up to Great Lakes a few yrs ago. Last few yrs have been in the Med based out of Italy, cruising France, Monaco, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Albania etc etc.
Boss in the market for bigger boat now, see what happens, I'm about ready for a break, maybe pick up an older 'Dancer, do a little cruising of my own, lol.

 

[Tomco]

Thx, but right now the Rideau canal isn't the issue, plenty of info available for that. I'm interested in the Ottawa river leg from Montreal up to and leading into the Rideau.
I've read about a couple of locks close to Montreal, a lock in Ottawa leading from the river into the Rideau, and shallows in the river on the south side of Ottawa, but nobody's giving any numbers on controlling depths or lock sizes etc.
Already know I can't go north of Ottawa, but if I could come up the river from Montreal, hook a left into the Rideau and drop down to Kingston would be a nice loop.
ps: don't worry about the stats for the boat in my profile, it will be a different boat, probably an older 500.
Thx

Looked over the maps of the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Montreal - the lowest channel water depth is 3m (9.8ft) west of Hawkesbury. The depths provided on the map were from the low water datum ... so, depending on the time of the year, you will likely have a greater depth than on the map. For the most part, the main channel is 5m or more except in a couple of spots. If you want more information, PM me and I can pull some stuff together.

 

[JerryS]

There are two locks on the Ottawa between Montreal and Ottawa. The first coming from Montreal is at Saint Anne de-Bellevue ( 45 25' 15.20"n; 73 57' 19.57"w) The second lock is at Carillon (45 22' 12.35"n; 74 22' 51.30"w) I don't know what size max boat those locks can handle as it has been several years since we last went thru them, but, they are bigger than the locks on the Rideau. Navigating between the St. Lawrence and Saint Anne de-Bellevue is a little tricky. You absolutely have to stay in the channel. The Ottawa River has some shallow points that are easy to navigate around. I am not aware of any shallow water leading to the locks at Ottawa. (There are seven locks at Ottawa that step you up from the Ottawa River to Ottawa) The canal parts of the Rideau are weedy and I think that they only guarantee 5' of water. And, when water is low in the system, you may not get 5'. Depth finders are pretty useless in the weedy, sandy canals.

On the Ottawa River, you can overnight at Saint Anne de-Bellevue and at Montebello, if you are not in a hurry.

Here is a link to our web pages for our trips on the Rideau: https://sites.google.com/site/rideaur/rideaucanalhomepage

Just before you get to the "steps" up at Ottawa, you can stop and overnight at the Casino du lac Leamy in Gatineau. The lac Leamy is an old mining pit that has filled up with water and the Casino is built up on the bank. The Casino has slips available with electric and water. Coming in from Montreal on the Ottawa, you would turn to the right at a tributary which is at 45 27' 09.29"n; 75 41' 34.41"w and go n,nw about a 1/4 mile to an entrance on your left at 45 27' 21.84"n; 75 43' 11.58"w That narrow channel will take you into a small lake and then to another narrow channel at the opposite end which leads into the Casino marina. Of course, I don't know what size boat you are talking about, so you would have to check everything out.

 

[BerettaRacer]

Thanks for all the info. So now I know the Lower Ottawa is a viable transit, and the Rideau will be the controlling depth.

When we were up there we had plans to stay in Montreal for a week or so before the transit of the Welland. I remember coming offf the St Lawrence to turn into a large marina (ex commercial docks converted to slips) right there in downtown Montreal, there were some hellacious currents near the entrance. Even while we were docked there was an incident of some people not being able to make it, washed up against a structure, rolled and capsized the vessel, responders attempted a rescue but it was unsuccessful. They brought in a big hovercraft and used the marina as a base for the recovery and salvage operation.

Thats one area I want to know exactly where to go ahead of time to avoid any mistakes.

On the way back down we did a couple weeks in Toronto, few days in Kingston, another week or so in Montreal, then another few weeks in Quebec before getting held up in Prince Edward Isl for a few weeks wainting for weather in the Atlantic, finally made a mad dash to Halifax then surfed 12'-15' footers all the way into the harbor entrance at Portland, Me. WhoooHoooo!!! LOL.


Forgot all about this, photo's here: http://new.marinetraffic.com/photos/of/ships/photo_keywords:310525000/ship_name:REEF CHIEF

 

[JerryS]

Lachine Rapids run west of Old Port

 

[Bresco]

Getting into Ste. Anne de Bellevue is hazardous. There are so many shallows and the channel is ridiculously winding. Be sure you map out that entrance prior to getting there. We did this exact trip in the summer of 2012. The depth was at times less than 4'. The Ottawa River can be done in one day. We didn't stop between Ste Anne and Ottawa but you could if you wish at a couple marinas. If you are taking the 120' there be sure to call ahead for spots. It is really really busy.

Stay away from the last two weeks of July due to a construction holiday in Quebec. All the boaters seem to converge on the Ottawa and Rideau. It is very difficult to find a spot and the locks are really busy. We ended up just ahead of the onslot of the French boaters but it was still not fun. I may be biased, being Canadian, but I have to say that the locks on the Ottawa River was an experience. The lockmaster was rude because we didn't speak French, didn't understand what he was saying and he continued to ignore us until a fellow boater started to speak to him in French.

The other problem we encountered was that some of the locks are kind of blind. There are commercial tourist boats that take up the entire space in the lock and the channel. The channel can be so narrow that neither of you can turn around. Backing out a long narrow channel was not one of the highlights of the trip. Never mind the wind factor.

You can check our blog out at www.lapointes.ca for more detail.

 

[Bresco]

This link is helpful

http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/locks/index.html