The St Lawrence River
Wednesday, 18 June – Sorel to Montreal, QC – 43 mi., 2202
cum mi.
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We got out of the large ship channel into the small boat channel and
enjoyed some scenic small side river scenery. The Montreal skyline was almost as dramatic as that of New York. Huge container vessels in the water, and an amusement park on the island near
the ports. We docked at the Port d’Escale Marina. Adjacent to old town, we were close to everything. We started biking to the Atwater Market. Biking on the streets got old quickly. We found we were
really in the way of all the cars. We met a really nice guy named Norm on his bike,
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We found other loopers - the Dawn Treader, with Dave and Jan and Tony and Jan. We stayed in Montreal for another day to enjoy breakfast, lunch (at Schwartz’s – an institution in Montreal), a cool marine shop where we bought both the charts we needed and some extra fenders to protect the boat in the
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Thursday, 20 June – Montreal to Point aux Anglais, QC – 44
mi., 2246 cum mi.
Beautiful day, 60 degrees. We pulled out of Old Port
Montreal into the strong current of the St Lawrence, this time going
downstream. Then around the island and upstream in the south channel toward the
St Lambert Lock. This is a Federal lock, so our Parks Canada season pass didn’t
work here. We had to pay the $30 lock fee and and call in from a phone booth at
the lock entrance. We had to wait two hours at their floating dock for passage.
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That gave us a chance to meet other folks who showed up, like Dominique and
Marie who were on a weeklong getaway after leaving their three children at
grandma’s.
And a sailboat with three very French-speaking sailors. When we
entered the lock, we were the largest boat, so we held the bow and stern lines
at the wall, and the other two boats rafted up to our boat.
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St Lambert lock took us up 17 ft. The next
lock was St Catherine which took us up 30 ft with the same procedure, only this
time we did not need to wait, but we did have to pay another $30 fee. This is
the St Lawrence Seaway, and it carries huge commercial vessels. We left the
seaway into Lake St Louis, following the meandering channel markers. Another
lock, only one ft elevation at St Anne de Bellevue took us into Lac Des Deux
Montagnes (lake of the two mountains).
Although we didn’t stop, the town of St Anne had tie up docks, and they were busy with folks enjoying the outdoor restaurants along the water. We docked at Pointe aux Anglais, after hitting a rock in their approach channel. The restaurant had just opened today, and on Thursday ladies eat for half price. We met the chef and his wife, who spend the winter running a French restaurant in Hollywood Florida.
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Although we didn’t stop, the town of St Anne had tie up docks, and they were busy with folks enjoying the outdoor restaurants along the water. We docked at Pointe aux Anglais, after hitting a rock in their approach channel. The restaurant had just opened today, and on Thursday ladies eat for half price. We met the chef and his wife, who spend the winter running a French restaurant in Hollywood Florida.
The Ottawa River
Friday, 21 June – Pointe aux Anglais to Montebello, QC – 42
mi., 2288 cum mi.
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open for upstream traffic. 65 ft up, a million liters per min gravity fed water, 200 ton guillotine door, built in the 1960’s replacing 7 locks built in the 1800’s. Three lock attendants helped us tie up to a floating dock inside the lock. So easy!
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buffet the chefs prepared, with lobster, steak, and every imaginable seafood, vegetable, and dessert treat. Delicious! Afterward, we
returned to the pool, closing it at 10 PM. At the end of a busy day, we were “good tired.”
Saturday, 22 June – Montebello to Gatineau, QC – 42 mi.,
2330 cum mi.
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