Beached Alligator on the Ottawa River

Through the summer we have been privileged to have Norfolk County’s Alligator Steam Warping Tug Boat here in the Ottawa Valley. It was brought up here from Simcoe under the aegis of the Canadian Forestry Association to be included in the forestry exhibit of Renfrew County’s EXPO 150. Following that event that attracted 30,000 + visitors, the Alligator was hauled to Arnprior to be launched in the Madawaska River and then brought upstream on the Ottawa River to Bristol Quebec to be featured in the June 25th Norway Bay to Braeside Flotilla. Since then, it has been steamed up by the Norfolk crew a couple of times and it remains with us in the Ottawa Valley, beached for the winter, in advance of what we expect will be an exciting summer schedule in 2012. The McNab Days festivities will once again take place in June but we are working on a plan to also have it ply the historic locks in Ottawa by the Chateau Laurier Hotel and steam along the Rideau Canal too.

Presently the W.D. Stalker, resting on the beach at Peter and Barb Haughtons’s place near Bristol Quebec. As you will see, the boat, even at rest, is attracting a lot of attention – this group, at a weekend workshop venue called “Waterlution” visited the Haughtons and the Stalker. Peter Haughton is the (white-haired) fellow sitting on the log… he and Barb have been guardians of the boat all summer and now for over winter too. On that note, you will see that at the end of November, we still have balmy fall weather here in the Valley. Love it!