For several years now, I have taken the Sea Pearl 21 (SP21) on the Ottawa River at Lac du Rocher Fendu and gone upriver for an overnight camping trip. At less than two hours of driving from home, the area above Lac du Rocher Fendu is a bit of a hidden gem in the Ottawa valley for a great short camping trip on the water. It has a bit of everything -- the lake for sailing, the up-river channels for paddling, incredible scenery, a few sandy beaches, good fishing, and it’s mostly isolated from boat traffic and cottage developments.
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| Lac du Rocher Fendu, GE map |
This year, when we got back from PEI in early September, I started looking for a favourable 2-day weather window for Rocher Fendu. The weather and my schedule began clearing-up for Sep 17-18 (Thur, Fri), so I packed up, and I was off for my 6th overnight on the Ottawa River above Rocher Fendu.
The routine is to leave early (6 am or so) and hit the McDonald's in Arnprior or Tim Horton in Renfrew for breakfast. It's then a short drive to the Ottawa River public river access and parking lot at Acres Road (of the Kerr Line Rd). The overnight parking at this access point is reasonably popular in the summer for people going to their cottages on the Quebec side of Lac du Rocher Fendu (i.e. it's a pretty safe parking lot).
Lac du Rocher Fendu is not a big lake for sailing, it's about 5-6 km long by 1 km wide, and there are a few rocks and shoals to avoid (even for the SP21). On this lovely September morning (10 am or so), as I pulled out of the protected Acres Rd bay into the lake, I quickly realized it was a beautiful sailing day. The winds were out of the south at about 8 knots; just great for a relaxing SP21 sail with the Wood Duck (WD) kayak in tow. I headed downriver for 3-4 km towards Miller Bay. That's as far downriver as you can sail, it then gets narrow, treacherous, and there's a railroad bridge across the river after another kilometre. From Miller Bay, I turned around and pointed the SP towards Killoran Bay on the Ontario side (2.5 km away).
Killoran Bay is one of my favourite bay on the Ottawa River. It's only about 1.5 km of paddling (following the Ontario shore) to get into Killoran Bay. See my other post on a late May canoe/fishing day trip to Killoran Bay.
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Killoran Bay, Ottawa River, Ontario
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I carefully sailed into Killoran Bay on its southern shore and set anchor in the second small bay/inlet. After a morning snack, I got my fishing gear organized and headed out in the WD for some Northern Pike. After trolling and casting for an hour, I landed and released a couple of medium-sized fish. Then, it was back to the mother ship for an on-board lunch. After lunch, I sailed out of the bay and headed upriver. Unfortunately, the winds had died quite a bit, and progress was slow. I crossed the river and hugged the Quebec shore, checking out the cottages and development. There doesn’t seem to be too much new from other years. Once I got to the north end of the lake, the winds were a bit stronger, so I continued sailing downwind into the narrow river dodging islands and rocks. From the north end of Lac du Rocher Fendu, it’s about 3.5 km of narrow river/channels to my campsite destination. There are no developments (cottages, etc.) in this beautiful section of the river.
As I was halfway in this narrow section of the river, I met a cruising pontoon boat and stopped to chat. The skipper told me that in 30 years, he had never seen anybody else sailing up this part of the river and how far I was going (basically, are you sure you know what you are doing!).
Today, I was heading for the only campsite in this area of the river. It’s on a small island on the Ontario side of the river and has a well-protected landing for the SP on the backside. I’ve camped and parked the SP here multiple times. I’ve never met anybody at the campsite, but somebody maintains this site. It has a nice outhouse, and this year it had a picnic table and bbq! If the deluxe site was occupied, I do have a few back-up options in the area.
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| Deluxe campsite on small island |
This is as far as the SP21 will ever get upriver from Lac du Rocher Fendu. From here, the river gets more narrow and treacherous with stronger currents. If you have good local knowledge and are brave, the river is navigable for another 3 km by motorboat. I've twice seen guys do it in their small outboard fishing boats, and I expect that the white water outfitters also cruise this area to pick-up the rafting clients.
After checking the campsite and an afternoon snack, I headed out in the WD for a paddle around Bruce's Bay and the Quebec shoreline. There's an old relic brick building from the logging days on the Quebec side, directly across the river from the campsite island.
Then, it was back to the campsite to relax and prepare dinner. On bug-free nights, I always sleep aboard the SP21 under the pop tent. On September 17 afternoon/evening, the downriver dam operators must have let out some water because when I went to sleep, the SP21 was secure to a tree and floating nicely just off the campsite landing spot. But when I got up at 2 am to use the great outdoors, I quickly notice that the water level was down, and the SP21 was firmly on some rocks and listing a bit! There was nothing I could do but go back to sleep. I was quite relieved when I awoke in the morning to find the boat afloat again.
Lesson learned – beware of anchoring ashore on the Ottawa River; there are no tides, but the water level can be unpredictable from the dam operations.
After breakfast, I moved the SP across the river to a small sandy beach and set anchor in deeper waters. From here, I headed upriver in my WD kayak with fishing gear, camera, lunch, snacks and lots of water. This is the part of the trip I enjoy every time! This narrow section of the river is very isolated; and has beautiful scenery, a few sandy beaches, and great bass fishing in the fast waters. I spend 2 hours or so going up to the first un-navigable rapids (Muskrat Rapids), enjoying the bass fishing and general scenery. At the end of the road, just before Muskrat Rapids, there’s an island with a great campsite where I stopped for lunch. The island campsite would be a mandatory overnight stop on a kayak trip in this area. According to Google Earth, this area is part of the un-serviced Ottawa River Provincial Park.
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| Muskrat Rapids campsite |
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After lunch, it was time to make my way back to the SP, using alternate routes around islands and rocks. There’s one big island (no name) with a fabulous narrow channel (1 km) on the Quebec side that’s a lot of fun to paddle and explore.
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| Sea Pearl 21 and Wood Duck 12 kayak |
By the time I got back to the SP, the wind was getting pretty heavy and coming upriver. So, there was no choice; it was Honda-power to get from here to Lac du Rocher Fendu. Once on the lake, I hoisted sails and had a fast sail back to the Acres Road dock/ramp.
Another great Rocher Fendu overnight, well worth the effort!
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