The St. Lawrence Seaway Saga!

July 10, 2009: Longueuil Marina to Dorval via the St. Lawrence Seaway. We made buttermilk biscuits for breakfast. I bought an updated chart for Lac St. Louis and a missing chart of the Ottawa River. The staff was very nice here along with some fellow boaters. We befriended people who were buddy boating on two sailboats from Quebec on their way to Lake Ontario for their summer vacation. They invited us to join then on the trek through the giant Seaway Locks.

When we arrived at the St. Lambert Lock we joined with yet another sailboat and eight powerboats who were waiting for passage. The wait was two and one half hours. This was fine as it allowed for an early lunch before proceeding. Commercial vessels take precedence and there were several large ships coming through. We rafted to a 41 foot Gulfstar ketch and simply rode up in the lock away from the grimy wall. It took one and one half hours to arrive at the St. Catherine's Lock.
(Sara) Wonderful. That pretty much encompasses our experience beginning at seven 'o'clock yesterday evening. We'd been sitting, bored and annoyed, for five hours. I, slowly succumbing to insanity as I completed my millionth hemp bracelet, humming 'Silver Bells' and other such Christmas songs to myself. Steph, babbling about a bet we'd made with each other about the likelihood of yet another cargo ship cutting in front of us to enter the lock. Dad, attempting to formulate a sensible plan. At around six, we'd pretty much come to the conclusion that we were doomed to anchor in some nearby cove, to give up on our quest to arrive in Montreal. And yet we didn't, desperately clenching onto some mad hope that the lock would open. Any minute now... any hour now... any day now... Suddenly, a green light shone, blinking, beckoning. “Oh my God! Mom, it's a green light! A green, light!!” Steph cried into her cell phone. Dad and I, sighting our salvation with shock, were silently unbelieving for a few moments before joining her whoops of thrilled exultation. So we passed through, and found that the other side was beautiful. While Dad steered, Steph and I, drawing, sat on the deck. After our inspiration had been strewn across the white pages before us and a gorgeous sunset had been photographed, my sister and I analyzed our art enthusiastically, our celebratory mood lingering in our grins.
At 9, as we entered the Royal Saint Lawrence Yacht Club (dubbed 'royal' by Queen Victoria many years ago), the sunset sunk into hues of electric magenta. Our friend, Eric Rioux, greeted us at the clubhouse and we drove to a local Asian restaurant for a celebratory meal.

July 11, 2007: The Yacht Club is a haven for many local sailors and hosts many social activities. I am surprised by the number of large sailboats here. The forecast for today was for a windy morning and then thunderstorms in the afternoon. The local sailors were out in the morning to take advantage of the wind. Sue arrived about mid day from Boston. Eric has graciously offered to take us in to see McGill University and was also present. By the time we were ready it was time for an excellent lunch at the Clubhouse. We were then off to downtown Montreal and our self guided walking tour of the University. Unfortunately the Welcome Center was closed so we were on our own with the help of some written material. A few raindrops fell as we walked about the campus until we approached the upper campus sports and dormitory section. Then rain and lighting caught up with us. We stopped around the Molson Stadium for a brief respite from the wind. A football game had been underway when this storm hit and both the players and the fans were taking shelter beneath the stands. We left the soggy but still spirited group and walked back down campus to the car. The streets were like raging streams and there was no way to avoid getting your feet totally soaked. Getting back to the Yacht Club was difficult since the main highway had been closed for repairs and the detour for a superhighway was through some city streets. Eric and I then went off to pick up my Aunt Dorothy from the Laval side of Montreal while Sue, Sara and Stephanie dried out on the boat. We all went to dinner at Micki's Restaurant in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and enjoyed seeing Eric's Mom. A good Italian meal and a good time was enjoyed by all of us even though the thunderstorms returned.

July 12, 2007: Just another day at the RSLYC in Dorval. A mixed day with a sunny start then a cool and wet evening. We visited with Aunt Dorothy and the Rioux's and enjoyed swimming in a very nice pool. We have also been eating out far too much. The area was filled with bicyclists on the shore bike trails. A visit to the Lachine Museum brought us to the oldest house in Montreal. It was a fur trading outpost above the Lachine rapids. Examples of the birchbark canoes make you feel fortunate to have a modern boat to travel in.

Montreal in sight.

July 9, 2009: This was one long day of travel on the water. The weather was fantastic for us. We awoke to a cloudless blue sky at St. Ours. After breakfast we stopped at the last marina on the Richelieu river at Bellerive. Service was excellent and the girls played on the beach at the nearby campground. By 9:30 we were again heading north at 7 knots. This down current run ended abruptly at the St. Lawrence River where we met with 2 and 3 knots of current on the nose. It took me some time to decide on taking the small craft channels where there was a little less current. No engine problems. We saw many large ships and we had to pull over to the side of the channel to allow this huge ship from Singapore to pass us. The River was fairly quiet until we approached the Montreal area at about 3 p.m. Lots of fast powerboats and a few sailboats came out. I am told that this is nothing compared to weekends up here.









































We arrived at the Longeuil Marina at 6 p.m. and were warmly welcomed by a helpful staff. the town is nearby and we enjoyed dinner at a Thai cafe type restaurant. The Main Street is lined with neat shops and restauants and there was an outdoor concert at the village green. Back at the marina we saw a terrific sunset over Montreal that is just to our West.

North by the Chambly Canal & the Richelieu River.

July 8,2009: Departure from Saint Jean at 9 a.m. With the first bridge opening. The attendant came over to our boat and several others to get us ready. We then communicated with multiple bridge attendants on VHF channel 68 all resulting in precise openings. The lock attendants were friendly and helpful. Sara and Stephanie quickly regained their locking techniques. I handled the engine while they took care of the lines and especially took care of pushing the boat away from the slimy lock walls. We were soon though the first 9 locks and tied up in the Chambly Basin for lunch and a trip to the local supermarket. We found the perfect cafe for a quick lunch of incredible salads and sandwiches. The supermarket could not have been more convenient to the boat dock, This town is still very vibrant.
We proceeded north on the Richelieu for the next four hours before arriving at the Saint Ours Lock at 6 p.m. It was fun to see the knotmeter reading 7 knots with the help of the current. We will get payback in spades tomorrow when we turn upstream on the Saint Lawrence River. Several rain storms found us along the way. Visibility dropped to about fifty feet in the cloudbursts of heavy rain. Fortunately we kept moving on with the help of the trusty GPS chartplotter. We encountered several passenger cruise boats in the 80 to 90 foot range. One passenger ship was from Lake Champlain and it makes regular trips to Montreal. The only tight spot is the McMasterville railroad bridge in Beloeil. There is a 30 foot opening at a right angle to the current in a blind corner. No problem for us at our slow pace. Our second excitement was arriving at the St. Ours lock in a cloudburst. The lock attendants refused to open the doors during the rain so we just tied up to the pier. Sara made us all some delicious hot chocolate during the wait. The sun came out soon thereafter and we tied up for the night at the downstream pier.

Oh Canada (or how to avoid thunderstorms).

July 7, 2009: We've made it to Canada! Departure from Burton Island at 10:25 a.m. Though we were all feeling as though we were leaving something greatly important to us behind, we knew that our adventures would extend and we would find towns and islands just as exciting as the one we were reluctant to leave. At the border, a nice lady took our information, though my dad didn't think she was much of a conversationalist, since if you've ever met him you would know that he enjoys making friends everywhere he goes. This, however, is helpful to us on the boat if you ever want to travel with friendly people and learn more about various lakes and oceans from the first hand. After a seven and a half hour voyage over to St. Jean, we were pleased to find that the Canadian town which we had visited a year earlier was still in vibrant condition. We found that the free docks were the calmest we had yet to find and had an overall welcoming entrance to the French-speaking country. This language difference was simple for us to adjust to, being bilingual and French-Canadian, and rather exciting to speak to the natives. Dinner, or “souper” as the Canadians call it, consisted of two delicious pizzas from a well-priced and friendly restaurant called “Pizza Richelieu.” We also found a small boutique nearby where I purchased some black-and-white earrings and we all chose a flavor of “gelato,” a kind of Italian sorbet. Pleased with having found some tasteful sustenance, we hurried back to the boat, our home for three weeks, before the insects could get us.

Steffie

A mixed bag of weather for Tuesday.

July 7, 2009: Calm and partly sunny start at Burton Island. We plan on heading north today. We won't have to worry about the Grand Isle drawbridge with our lowered masts. We may stop again at Ladd's Landing for ice.

Sunshine is still here hurrah!

July 6, 2009: Early to rise this morning for Marc and Sara. Steph got up a little later. We enjoyed a 10 knot south wind until we arrived at Burton Island. we departed Sloop Cove at 7 a.m. with best wishes from Will Patten aboard Wings (he was up walking his dog Lacy). We arrived at the Gut drawbridge exactly one minute before the 9 a.m. bridge opening.

Having passed successfully under the bridge, we found ourselves at Ladd's Landing where we proceeded to lower the mast onto pieces of wood Dad had fashioned to fit the boat, and Steph and Sara had enjoyed decorating with somewhat random artwork. There are even a few quotes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar up there.

Thereafter, we headed up to Burton Island where we settled down comfortably at the dock, read The Catcher in the Rye (Sara) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Steph), chatted with everyone (Dad), and generally enjoyed ourselves, basking lazily in the sunshine until we decided to go for a swim. Then things started to get exciting... (To be continued)

Well the wind and rain arrived at about 6 p.m. with only one distinct thunder. We were at the park beach when this started and the thunder shortened our swim. I was able to get some excellent vegetable quiche at the local market for dinner. The storm passed and we went about the island looking for raspberries. The girls wanted to take their bikes but Steph's had a flat. We will need a tube for this one. Sara and Steph took turns on the bike. The berries are not ripe as yet. Fortunately Sue had supplied us with blueberries and stawberries in the cooler.

Rain, rain go away!

July 3, 2009: We arrived at Point Bay Marina at 11:00 and loaded up the Lucy III at the outer docks. One problem, while I was below I saw a tiny puff of smoke coming from the chart table. Investigation led to a leaking iron exhaust pipe just below the muffler. It took until 5 p. m. to get the needed parts and to effect the repair. The staff at Point Bay allowed us to remain at the dock overnight (we could not run the engine for 12 hours until the sealant dried). The Royal Savage Yacht Club cruise boats had mostly departed in the morning to get better weather. They anchored at Sledrunner cove in Shelburne.

Our friends the Helfrichs (Greg, Eileen, Gregory, Stephen and Amanda) were present at the Marina and helped with the trip to the hardware store and auto parts store. Sue went out with the girls in the dinghy for a spin. Steffie bounced off of a mooring and made a quick turn throwing Amanda off balance and she did a back flip into the warm lake. Sue jumped in after her. Amanda was able to jump back in the boat while Sue held on while the dinghy made it's return to the Lucy III's swim ladder. The boys were next in the dinghy tour but returned without mishap. During all of this time, we had a mix of sun and rain. We went into Burlington by car to meet up with the Baum's (Jackie, Stanley, Ariane and Joshua) for dinner at the Burlington Bay Restaurant. The food and the view were excellent. We even had an air show by small biplane during dinner. Afterwards, we all explored the waterfront an awaited the fireworks show at 9:30. This was a long wait in light rain but the 40 minute show was outstanding.

July 4, 2009: Light south winds and partial sunshine. We hope to rejoin the RSYC cruise today at Malletts Bay. We departed at 9 a.m. with the Helfrichs ( the Baum's were not feeling well an opted not to join us for the sail). this was mostly a motorsail up the Lake until off of Port Kent when the Northwest winds began to blow 15 to 20 knots with higher gusts. We sailed just south of South Hero through the marble causeway over to Malletts Bay. I sailed over to several Tartan 34C's at the Malletts Bay Boat Club and then called John Foley to inquire where the RSYC Fleet was. John and latter Adam confirmed that they were in still in Shelburne awaiting better weather. We called over to Champlain Marina and they assigned us an excellent slip at the end of their docks. This is a very nice marina with welcoming staff. One of the residents questioned us latter and it felt that this place does not see many transients. After settling in, we cooked lunch/dinner and then walked down to the waterfront village for ice cream and some exercise. There were fireworks at in the evening along with smores at the grilling area of the Marina. We were sad to see the Helfrichs leave.

July 5, 2009: Sunshine this morning but with a high wind forecast for latter in the day. We made Sloop Cove at Valcour Island and finally connected with the RSYC cruise week fleet. There were favorable winds in the eastern part of the lake just south of South Hero before getting hit with 15 to 20 knots of wind coming from the northwest once the Lucy III came out from the protection of Providence Island. It would be tough going trying to get to the Gut in this wind and wave pattern. A simple course change, and we had an easy sail over to Sloop Cove under a reefed genoa alone. We anchored and then looked for the fleet. Adam called saying that he had just seen us enter the cove and he and his daughter Meredith were just around the bend. They rafted up with us for awhile before anchoring off to avoid the incessant roll in the harbor. The powerboats were rafted well up into the shallow parts of the cove away from much of the wave action (the water was calm in the evening). Sara, Stephanie and Meredith had a great time exploring the island, swimming and playing games. The fleet enjoyed a round dinghy raft at 5 p.m. for hors d'oeuves. A good time a good treats were enjoyed by all. We met up with Adam and Meredith later for a cookout on the Lucy III.

Sara has taken great photos of all of this and the weather was finally spectacular.

Marc, Sue, Sara and Stephanie.