Aug 6-12

It's now Monday of the Long Weekend, and Veronica and Shawn have decide to leave quite early to beat any traffic woes trying to get out of Montreal as it is not a long weekend for Quebec so weekday traffic could be bad. We departed just after them to start our voyage up the Seaway, but not before a little drama with someone demanding to get on our boat, but that's a story for one on one, not here. St. Lambert was our first lock and unfortunately the docks were full of other boats waiting and we ended up watching two ships go through and waited for 4 1/2 hours for our turn. It seemed that this would be the day for things to go bad. Since we waited on anchor, when it was time to pull up and go our swivel was jammed on the shank and we could not pull the anchor all the way up. Tried to un-jam it but only succeeded in breaking the mooring pole. We travelled with about 20 other boats so it was a slow process. St. Catherine's was the next lock and since it was quite close and we were still following the two ships we had to wait again about 45 minutes. At least I was able to free the swivel and set anchor again, but somehow Joy was cleaning the boarding mat and dropped it overboard and was lost to the deep. With a crowded lock again, and with us against the wall I tried to push off with another mooring pole and broke it as well. Once out of the lock we had the long trip across Lake St. Louis to Beauharnois locks. Since it was getting late in the day we figured we would take an anchorage outside the locks for the night and head out the next day. However as we were approaching they were just opening the locks for two other small boats so we made the decision to go in, they assured us that we had time to get through both locks and the two lift bridges before Valleyfield. Should have gone with our first plan. As we were exiting the second lock, the weather had become quite threatening with warnings of severe thundershowers. We had no choice now but to head to Valleyfield. Just like when we were down bound  the bridges gave us nothing but grief. We arrived at the first bridge just as they were closing it, and had to wait  30 minutes for them to open it again. When we got to the second bridge they were not ready for us and there was a car on the bridge so they could not open. By the way these bridges are not manned, so everything is done through video cameras and loud speakers from their command station in Lachine. It took another 15 minutes to get the guy off the bridge and for them to open. By this time the weather is looking quite ominous and we bolted for Valleyfield where we anchored for the night. We were anchored for only 15 minutes before  the wind and heavy rain started, but only lasted for 1/2 hour before it blew through.

The next day was the log trip across Lake St. Francis, past Cornwall to the Snell and Eisenhower Locks. Not an overly long or hard day and no troubles with the locks as only 4 boats travelled through with us. We decided to quit a little early today and take an anchorage between Mille Roches and Moulinette Islands.

The next day we had only the one lock to travel through and it was the Iroquois Locks with only an 8 inch lift, hardly seemed worth closing the doors for. It was just after 1:00 pm when we were through so instead of stopping we decided to carry on and make the 1000 islands for the balance of the vacation.  The strong current makes it a slow ride, but we finally made Central Grenadier and parked ourselves for the rest of the vacation and returned to the Marina on Saturday night. Sunday we left the marina around noon to catch up on the mail, lawn and chores around home before back to work on Monday.

Aug 4-5

Another beautiful day on the St.Lawrence as we depart our anchorage for Montreal on the small craft route by Repentigny and behind Saint Therese Island. We arrived at the Old Port of Montreal just before noon and Veronica, Shawn and Olive were waiting for us. Once docked and settled in was time again to hit downtown Montreal, walking up St.Laurent Blvd all the way to Saint-Catherine St for a shopping spree, and lunch at Rueben's.

That evening was suppose  to be a nice quiet night out for dinner and a good night sleep for the next day's adventures. Unfortunately the boat beside turns out to be a AirBnB and didn't they party all night to 6:30 in the morning. Quite disappointing.

Next day we enjoyed the sights and sounds of Place Jacques-Cartier, and decided to take in the PoutineFest for lunch followed by an exciting jet boat ride through the Lachine Rapids. The weather was extremely hot and the soaking felt good. I never thought I would want be in a boat with water half way up my calf's going through 6 foot standing waves and having fun.

Sunday was Shawn's Birthday and we always take  him for Chinese food, and we found a great restaurant in China Town of St.Laurent Blvd.

Thank goodness Sunday night was quieter and we looked forward to a good nights sleep.

Aug 1 -3

Today we departed Plattsburgh for our return voyage down the Richelieu. The wind has been strong from the South West for the past two days and it was a bit of a lumpy ride getting back out on the lake, but improved once we turned north to the start of the Richelieu. First of course was the mandatory stop at Canadian Customs to check back into Canada. A fairly easy exercise other than the docking at their tiny floating dock in this strong wind. We continued on our trip past ile-aux-Noix and finally stopping for the night at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu where we took the town docks for the night. Dinner was in a nice pizzeria for our first pizza dinner of the cruise. Certainly need to get all the food groups in. Arranged with Parks Canada to be the first through the bridge first thing in the morning for the upcoming Chambly Locks.

After a good nights sleep we were ready; for the long day of locking. Same as last time, I Docked'R and Holidaze went together first and we teamed up with two smaller boats in the next lock down behind them. Going down was certainly a lot easier than the up bound voyage with little strain of the ropes they use for staying on the wall. All in all it was about a 5 hour run through the 9 locks and we were back cruising along the Richelieu. Being a long day we made that nights stop in Beloeil at a nice marina and with a short walk to a very fine restaurant with a view of Mont-Saint-Hilaire as our backdrop.

We were now on the last stretch of the Richelieu with only the St.Ours lock to go before Sorel and the St. Lawrence.

Once through everybody started thinking what our next stop would be. As we had made arrangements to go to Montreal and have Veronica and Shawn aboard for the upcoming long weekend we decided since it was a long trip to Montreal against the current we would get a head start and continue on to an anchorage somewhere closer to Montreal. The rest of the fleet decided they would stop in Sorel for the night.

As we continued down the St. Lawrence we took the small craft route and found a nice anchorage just off ile Bouchard for the night and settled in for a good nights sleep.

July 29 - 31

So today we are leaving Westport and heading to Valcour Island anchorage

It was another beautiful day for cruising down the lake and enjoy the scenery of the Vermont Green Mountains on one side and the Adirondacks on the other.

We anchored as a group for the first time off Valcour Island SW of Bluff Point. We had a chance to take the kayaks out that afternoon, and of course Ebony got to go ashore via dinghy. It was a little difficult to get the anchors to hold with such a thin layer of sand over a rock bottom. Bob was able to dive down and check that we had a good hold for the night, however we did deploy a stern anchor as the winds were expected to shift during the night.

Next day it was off to Plattsburgh for a couple of days and to get restocked and do a little land exploring. Dinner this night was at the Naked Turtle at the marina. The afternoon was a little exploring of downtown Plattsburgh, ice cream and a nice find of Hank's and Bundaberg Root Beers. Jim has the ability to find these gems when travelling.

Tuesday Jim arranged a van for us all and it was off to Lake Placid for the day. Cathie and Rachel were dropped off in Lake Placid while Jim, Bob, Joy and I headed out to the Lake Placid Bobsled run for the Bobsled experience we were anxious to try. But, none of us read or noticed the fine print in the brochure, the Bobsled experience only ran Thursday to Mondays, extreme disappointment. So let's look for another adventure in Zip-lining. Again disappointment as they were all booked up for the day and could not accommodate our last minute decision to try it. Well this is Whiteface Mountain area so let's take a Gondola ride up.  Here we find that the Gondola has no restaurant at the top and only goes half way up Whiteface. Our final decision is to drive to the top of Whiteface for lunch and enjoy the view. We were all so proud of Bob as he made the final 260 foot climb to the top.

When we returned to Lake Placid later in the day to pick up Cathie and Rachel, it seems they had a good day based on the shopping bags they were carrying. Dinner that night was our first Chinese food night at a buffet with a huge and varied selection and only $10.95 a person, life is good.

July 21-28

It's been a few days since our last update, and we have lots to add.

Our voyage down the St.Lawrence from Montreal to Sorel was pleasant and quick with the 1.5 knot current pushing us all the way.Montreal needs some work on their Cardinal Buoys. At Sorel we entered the Richelieu and to our first Lock at St. Ours. Quite a pleasant lock to travel through as it has floating docks inside to tie up too for the lift. We chose to stay at a nice little marina in Handfield for the night before heading to the Chambly Canal the next day

The Chambly is not quite so nice to travel. There are nine locks in all and they are narrow and short, and now very busy with the Quebec construction holiday. Being so narrow only 2 of our boats will fit each lock at a time, so Holidaze and I Docked'R travelled together and we were a lock behind with 3 other small boats. We started the locking at10:00am and we finally got through the last lock at 5:30pm. It was a long, hot, slow day of travel. Gosselin Marina was  our stay for the night. We made use of the pool and the supplied BBQ's and had a nice group dinner on shore. As it was Rachel's Birthday we of course had to have one of Joy's chocolate cakes to celebrate.

The next day had us stopping at US Customs to check into the US, all so serious, and we were finally entering Lake Champlain. As the lake was calm and we were making good time we decided to head to Burton Island State Park in Vermont. To get there we had to travel through the Gut and Lift Bridge into the area they call the Inland Sea. Burton Island was a nice spot and well looked after as a water access only park. However here is where our troubles started. The inner harbour was stated to have a 6 foot entrance limit and they said if you can get past that the inner harbour has lots of depth except at the two far docks. Well they were wrong, once inside we hit bottom and we draw just under 4 1/2 feet therefore the entrance is not really the limiting factor. Even though we hit it sounded like a light touch, so with the wind picking up and the nice location we all decided to stay for two nights. When it was time to depart wouldn't you know it we hit again even though staying in the middle of the channel, and this time it was a solid hit. So the hunting started to find a marina that could and would pull us and source out either a repair or replacement propellers. With the damaged propellers we slowly cruised to Mallets Bay and stayed a two nights in Mallets Bay at Bay Harbour Marine. The next day Jim rented a van and we day traveled to Burlington for shopping, sightseeing and a great lunch at Henry`s Diner. Joy was able to find Champy. And for Dinner we were recommended the WaterWorks, which was very nice and beside the falls and in an old mill.

Our searching found a great yard in Shelburne Shipyard and they were very helpful in sourcing a new set and arranging to get us out of the water and going again.

Since we had to wait a couple of days for delivery, we anchored alone in Sledrunner Bay while the rest of the travelers continued on downne the lake to Bay Port Marina for two nights. I think Bob said something about a Lobster Fest and fireworks, I think he thought he was in heaven.

On Saturday morning Shelburne Shipyard pulled the boat and had the new props on in 40 minutes and we were able to meet up with the fleet in Westport NY that afternoon. So we are all back together again and should be travelling as a full fleet once more.

July 21

Unfortunately no pictures today. It as a busy day of Locking through the Chambly Canal.
The locks are very small and only 2 of our 3 boats at a time would fit, plus all the other boats in line as well, so we were broken up as a group. Holidaze and I Docked'R traveled together and I was 2 lockages behind with 3 small boats. The entire transit took 7 hours for 9 locks and it was long hot day.
With the lateness of the day Bob got us three spots in Gosselin Marine for the night where we were able to use the pool, the shore BBQ for first time this trip a group dinner that was not at a restaurant.
Ended  the evening with a birthday cake for Rachel.

July 19-20

Enjoying the day in Montreal. First we went to see and hear the organ at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal, then walked St.Laurent Blvd to the famous Schwartz's Deli where we had a nice table for two at the back of the restaurant and a fabulous smoked meat sandwich. The rest of the afternoon was walking the streets and stores of Montreal including the very busy Place Jacques Cartier.

Dinner that night with the entire gang at Gibby's Steakhouse.

Friday morning was a 9:00 am departure and farewell to Montreal as we continue down the St.Lawrence to Sorel and the voyage up the Richelieu. Passed the many ship docks on the way out of Montreal and saw many big ships. Great current heading downstream, but is a concern when thinking about the return trip home. Reached Sorel about 3 1/2 hours later and made our turn into the Richelieu. Another hour and we reached the St.Ours lock for our first up bound lockage on the river. It was a long and hot day so we all made the decision to stop at the Handfield Marina for a dock for the night since Chambly locks were still 2 hours away it was now pushing 4:30

 July 17 and 18th

So travelling has been good and the other fleet members have made good time down the Ottawa River, so the decision was to head to Montreal a day earlier and stay for Wednesday and Thursday night.

Therefore we decided to depart Valleyfield a little earlier to get to the Beauharnois Locks. Unfortunately what happened is we got caught between the Valleyfield  and St.Louis lift bridges for the night and had to take the mooring field for the night. There was a steady 2 knot current in 30 feet of water so we put our 120 ft of chain and it was straight out the bow all night.

At least we were able to get the first 9:00 am lift of the St.Louis Bridge and made the locks in good time, however we are in a busier stretch of the river now and many boats are locking together which slows things down.

Once in Lac St. Louis we were finally able to put her up on plane for a stretch after 4 days of slow speed. It was time to blow her out or blow her up, but she ran well. In the Lake we met the Seaquest, a 120 footer making good time and her wake buried our bow.

Finally met up with the rest of the fleet at the Ste.Catherines lock. Now there are even more boats locking together and there are long waits for the locks with the ships  of course having priority.

With all the delays and the busy St.Lambert lock we finally entered the St.Lawrence around 4:30 and enjoyed a wild ride up into the Old Port through the current and standing waves.

It was a long day and with a little rest we all made it out for a nice dinner on the Place Jacques-Carter.

Thursday is a tourist day in Montreal.