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.

July 13 - 16

Starting the 2018 Lake Champlain voyage.

Friday July 13th we dropped one car in Cornwall at Marina 200 as Veronica and Shawn with Olive the dog will travel with us this first weekend. This was our first run through the Seaway Locks. Iroquois was the first with only a drop of one foot. Our first anchorage was Mille Roche were we dinghed ashore for a beach walk and exercise the puppy.

Day 2 has us going through Eisenhower and Snell Locks, both with a 45 foot drop each. Here we got to meet HMCS Moncton. Then into Lake St. Francis were we dropped Veronica and Shawn in Cornwall. A few miles later we picked up a nice anchorage at Colquhoun Islands which had a steady 1 knot current which kept us pointed west all through the night.

Day 3 we travelled through the lake to Valleyfield Quebec. Again another nice anchorage right by the town park. We will stay here a couple of nights and then travel through the Beauharnois Locks into Lac Saint-Louis where we will be meeting up with Bob, Rachel on I'Docked' R and Jim and Cathie on Holidaze.