Good news for Au Feel de L'Eau

Aqua Taxi on the Gatineau, last summer

The Aqua Taxi service owned by Au Feel de L'Eau has had some good news this month. They are not only going to be sailing on the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers this summer. They've also been granted permission to run their electric water taxi on the Rideau Canal.

Du nouveau pour 2014! Nous sommes très heureux d'annoncer que nous offrirons un service d'Aqua-Taxi électrique sur le canal Rideau dès la saison prochaine.

I'm very pleased to hear this. There are already cruises available through town from May to October, up the Rideau Canal to Dows Lake and back, but no opportunity to get off the boat at the far end. Your only option is to disembark at your starting point. The Aqua Taxi will change that. Since there isn't a convenient bus running from downtown to Dows Lake, it's a service Ottawa tourists and residents have needed for years.

I wonder if I shall see them bringing their boat up through the eight locks by Parliament Hill.

A celebratory cruise

On Tuesday this week Chris and I had been married for forty years, and we celebrated on the river, inviting six friends to share a cruise with us on the electric Duffy boat owned by Au Feel de L'Eau. The little boat called BES I is kept from May-October at the Casino Marina in Gatineau. Look for the sign advertising Croisières as you come down the steps on the right hand side of the Casino building at the end of the Boulevard du Casino––and here's the boat:

Chris already on board, meeting Sylvie, Captain of the boat

The other vessels moored there are the temporary visitors' boats and the Aquataxi that also belongs to Sylvie and Jean-Marc, skippers of Au Feel de L'Eau.

The Aquataxi ferries passengers across the Ottawa River
from the Rideau Canal to the Museum of Civilisation and back

It is a tight squeeze by this dock, but the Duffy boat's manoeuvrability allows for neat parking and an easy embarkation. We carried snacks on board for supper, everyone wiping their shoes on a carpet before entering the boat which was beautifully carpeted and furnished with soft leather seats, and at 6pm we promptly set sail.

Chris steering

As soon as Sylvie had navigated her boat through the narrow channel into Lac Leamy, she let Chris take the wheel and served us wine from the first of three bottles provided by the company––wine glasses, plates and napkins were provided too. The best thing about the cruise is its quietness, the electric engine being so unobtrusive that all you're aware of is the lapping of the water against the hull. No engine fumes pollute the air, either! We had the bonus of perfect weather on Tuesday evening, but if we hadn't been so fortunate, the canopy and roll down blinds would have protected us from wind and rain, and that would have been a romantic experience too. As we cruised, we listened to music through the speakers: Ravel's Bolero (at less than full volume) and some piano music.

We took the canal from Lac Leamy to the Gatineau River, sailed under the Lady Aberdeen Bridge at Pointe-Gatineau and thence into the Ottawa River, upstream to the city, not turning around until we reached Victoria Island. On the return journey, the Aquataxi, after its last trip of the day, followed us home by the same route in reverse.

Entering the channel between Lac Leamy and the Gatineau River

Passing the Rideau Falls

Below Parliament Hill, half way through the cruise

We paid for two hours on the water, but Sylvie had noticed I'd been following Au Feel de L'Eau on Facebook and treated us to extra time, later posting a photo of me on their page:

Our Facebook fan of the month, Mrs Alison Hobbs, got an extra 30 minutes on her cruise for following us on Facebook. Congratulations and thank you, Mrs Hobbs.

Chris didn't steer all the time; I had a turn too, and Sylvie took over for some of the difficult sections, under the Rideau Falls for example, and for the docking procedures. On the return she let Chris take the boat through the mouth of the Gatineau where underwater rocks and shallows have to be avoided, with reference to markers in the river and the chart.

My turn to steer the boat, photo by Carol Hinde

We don't usually see the Falls from this angle!

The navigation chart

Sylvie keeping an eye on Chris at the wheel

At the end of the voyage we had the bonus of a beautiful sunset, as well, and as we set off to drive home, all the fountains down the Boulevard du Casino were floodlit.

Having spent such a splendid evening on the cruise, relished by everyone, I promised that I'd recommend this service as widely as I could. It won the bronze award in the Services Touristiques category this year (Grands Prix du Tourisme Québecois) and stands another chance of winning a prize next year.

Note to first time cruisers: Take advantage of the washrooms at the Casino before you embark or when you disembark because this is one thing the boat lacks. Parking at the Casino is free.

"On the water at last!"

Au Feel de l'Eau posted a status update on Facebook, I see. It says:

Photo from tourismeoutouais.com

Enfin sur l'eau, sur notre belle rivière des Outaouais, en route pour les quai du casinos. 17 mai 2013

Au Feel de L'Eau is Ottawa's and Gatineau's water taxi company that not only offers a short ferry ride across the Ottawa River from the Rideau Canal locks to the Museum of Civilisation, but also private cruises on the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers for parties of up to 10 people. They advertise the boat as being "electric powered" and therefore causing "zero pollution" and no noise either. I intend to sail on this boat this summer. She's called "Bes" after the Egyptian God of pleasure.

Ferry me over!

I cannot get to my love if I would dee 

The waters of Tyne run between him and me 

And here I must stand with a tear in my ee 

Both sighing and sickly, my true love to see 

Oh where is the boatman, my bonny hinney? 

Oh where is the boatman? Bring him to me! 

To ferry me over the Tyne to my honey 

Or skull him across that rough river to me.  

Oh bring me a boatman, I'll give any money

And you for your trouble rewarded shall be

To carry me over the Tyne to my honey

And I will remember the boatman and thee.

The Ottawa River is not the Tyne, but there's probably just as much need for a ferryman here between Ottawa and Gatineau to carry the lovers or the tourists across to one side of the river or the other. Today we finally saw proof that such a service has begun to exist and I'm very glad to advertise it here on my blog. The skipper (who comes from Worthing, in England) told us that he and his associates at Au Feel de L'Eau had been lobbying the National Capital Commission for several years to allow their Aqua Taxi service and that this year permission was finally granted, especially because the boat being used is an electricity powered vessel which doesn't pollute the river. Every evening after a longer than normal journey via Lac Leamy its batteries are recharged at the Gatineau Casino and for $20 you can take that ride. Normally, however, the water taxi simply operates between the dock next to the Rideau Canal locks below Parliament Hill and the Museum of Civilisation on the opposite bank. That short ride that costs just $5 will save you a couple of kilometres' walk across the Alexandra Bridge. Up to 10 people can come on board at once.

Here is some more information about the service.