Sainte Anne De Bellevue Quebec to Ottawa Ontario – June 30, 2017

Jun 28^th – It was a warm/cool day with a mix of sun and clouds with intermittent thunderstorms and moderate to high winds.  We left the Sainte Anne De Bellevue lock wall and went through the lock and travelled 26 miles to stay at the next lock in Carillon Quebec.  On the way, Hull Marina (across the river from Ottawa) called and told us they had a slip for us for the July 1^st weekend … Exxxcellent!  Maria has been trying to get a slip for days and we finally have a place close to Ottawa to stay while we celebrate Canada’s 150^th birthday.  In between the showers & thunderstorms we went for a walk to check out the area and visited the old lock and lock keepers house as well as a museum that was housed in the barracks where soldiers lived.  We got back to the boat just in time for another thunderstorm to hit … so we decided to enjoy the light show with a cold beer.  Unfortunately our plan to BBQ dinner didn’t work out so well thus we had to cook it on the stove instead … Oh well, everything tastes great on the boat after a day of fresh air and activities!

Jun 29^th – It was a cool rainy day with light winds.  We left the Carillon lock wall, headed through the lock and then travelled 12 miles north to Hawkesbury Ontario where we pulled onto the free town dock.  They have 15 amp power on a hydro pole across from the dock however they are having power issues since only 1 of the 6 receptacles had power.  We’d like to walk into town however we’re waiting for the rain to stop … it doesn’t look like we’ll see any dry weather today.  The weather forecast looks lousy for the next week or so thus we’re hoping the weather man is wrong and we see some half decent weather in Ottawa for the upcoming celebration of Canada’s birthday.

Jun 30^th – It was a warm rainy foggy day with light winds, however the sun did decide to make an appearance at the end of the day.  We left the town dock in Hawkesbury and headed 60 miles to Ottawa Ontario and parked on the blue line of Lock 1 on the Rideau canal.  During our travels we had Quebec on our starboard side and Ontario on our Port.  We wandered in and out of each province multiple times during the day.  The sun made an appearance shortly after we arrived in Ottawa thus we went for a walk and there are already hundreds and perhaps thousands of people walking around getting ready for Canada’s 150^th birthday celebrations. Tomorrow morning we’ll pull off the blue line and head over to a marina in Hull Quebec where we will stay for 2 nights.  We’ll be able to walk to the Ottawa festivities from there.

Old Lock and Lock Keepers house in Carillon Quebec

The existing Carillon Lock

Arriving in Ottawa Ontario

Wall to Wall boats parked at the top of the 1st 8 locks

Maria likes big guns

Here are the 1st 8 locks of the Rideau Canal system in Ottawa

Ottawa ON

Happy Birthday Canada!

Can you see Aqua-Fennatic?

Montreal Quebec to Sainte Anne De Bellevue Quebec – June 27, 2017

Jun 25^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds and showers late in the day.  We are still staying in a slip at the Montreal Yacht Club enjoying the city.  Maria and I walked all around Montreal today and enjoyed the sites of the city.  And then we decided to walk to Costco and we couldn’t believe the difference in the price of beer between Costco in Montreal and the Beer Store in Ontario … thus we loaded up the cart.  We decided to get an Uber to take us back to the marina and we quickly learned that the poor guy that picked us up could only speak a little English thus it was difficult for us to communicate with him … however he was the nicest guy … plus his English was better than my French!  The location for the Montreal Yacht Club was wrong on the Uber App thus we had to try to find the entrance into the marina and when we found it the marina wouldn’t let us in.  Finally they sent a couple dock hands to come get us with a golf cart and they told us next time we should take advantage of their courtesy vehicle.  We thanked the Uber driver for all his help with an interesting situation and we offered him a large tip for putting up with all the confusion however he wouldn’t accept it thus Maria gave him a big hug instead.  Our niece, Natacha, came over for dinner on the boat and watched the Bridge lighting ceremony which was performed to music as well as fireworks … Exxxcellent!  It was a chilly evening thus I had to put pants and a sweatshirt on … What?!  

Jun 26^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds.  We left the Montreal Yacht Club and headed only 14 miles along the St Lawrence Seaway through 2 locks.  We arrived at the first St Lawrence Seaway lock at 10:30am with another Looper, Eddie and Kate on “Total Eclipse”, and waited about 5 ½ hours before we got through and we didn’t get through the second lock until about 7pm.  We didn’t have enough time left to make it to our planned destination thus we had to quickly figure out “Plan B” and decided to drop the anchor in a small bay shortly after the St Catherine lock.  It looks like the winds should be light tonight, however one of the 4 weather applications I make use of shows a small possibility of thunderstorms at 2am.

Jun 27^th – It was a warm/cool day with a mix of sun and clouds and intermittent rain / thundershowers with moderate winds … aka – a mixed bag of crap.  We left the St Catherine lock anchorage with “Total Eclipse” this morning and headed 22 miles along the St Lawrence seaway and Ottawa River to Sainte Anne De Bellevue lock in Quebec.  Only one side of the lock wall was usable for docking since the other side was under water due to the high water levels.  Once we were tied up we ventured into the cute town which is loaded with water front restaurants and shops.  We went out to dinner with Eddie and Kate to an Indian restaurant “Tandoori Bellevue” and the food was Exxxcellent!  If you’re in the area I’d suggest you drop by and give it a try.  It’s blog day thus we returned back to the boat so I could do my thing.

The Expensive Montreal bridge with $39.5M worth of lights installed ... yikes!

Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal

Extra Skinny Us

Olympic Monument in Montreal

Fun with Flags and more flags

McGill University in the background

Cathedral in Montreal

Maria playing with a big gun

Amazing sunset at our St Catherine's lock anchorage

The same sunset minutes later with hot pink highlights

Sailboat race that we passed

Wow ... we can see a Toronto sign from our dock ... we're not far from home!

St Anne Du Bellevue ... a very cute town

Aqua-Fennatic is hiding in this picture

Dinner with Eddie and Kate from "Total Eclipse" 

Back in Canada! – Rouses Point New York to Montreal Quebec – June 24, 2017

Jun 22^nd – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds.  Before we left our Gaines Marina mooring we called the Nexus Canada Marine phone number to report our entrance into Canada.  They told us that we were good to go into Canada without any further requirements.  Thus we headed 25 miles north to the start of the Chambly Canal in Saint Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec and stayed at the lock 9 wall.  On the way north we were chased by a Canadian boarder patrol boat which told us to return to the Canadian check in dock.  We mentioned the directions that we received from the Nexus operator and provided them our check in number however they told us we had to go back to their report in dock.  Thus we returned to the Canada check in dock and they confirmed that the Nexus operator told us that no other check in was required.  I’m still not sure which process is correct … the one given to us by the Nexus operator or the Canadian Boarder Patrol … Oh well we are officially in Canada.  We were hoping to go through all of the Chambly Canal locks today however we found out they only had 2 lockages today and they were full.  Thus we’re in line for the 2^nd lockage tomorrow.  We grabbed our lock pass and overnight pass, walked around the town and grabbed some Canadian cash from the bank.  Maria is thrilled to be in Canada since she has full access to her Canadian cell phone and data … Exxxcellent!  

Jun 23^rd – It was a hot muggy day with rain and moderate winds.  We left Chambly lock 9 and headed north on the Chambly canal through 9 locks and finally through the St Ours lock on the Richelieu River in Quebec where we tied up for the night.  It was a crappy day thus I was driving from both the lower and upper stations depending on how hard it was raining.  The Chambly canal is very narrow and the locks are small and we locked through with 3 boats in total … they shoe horned us in the lock.  One of the boats slowed us down a couple of times … once when the captain fell in the water while in the lock … thus they stopped the lock and waited for him to take a shower and change his clothes.  The second time was when the first mate of the same boat decided she was too hot and tied her lines to go change her clothes thus they couldn’t start the lock until she was done.  After we completed all of these locks it was definitely “Beer Time”!

Jun 24^th – It was a warm sunny day with light to moderate winds.  We got up extra early to leave the St Ours lock and headed 58 miles on the Richelieu River and then the St Lawrence River to the Montreal Yacht Club in Montreal Quebec.  While we travelled on the Richelieu River we were getting a bit of a push, however the St Lawrence River slowed us down with a least a 2 – 3 mph current against us.  The current got much worse as we approached Montreal …it was 5 – 7 mph against us.  It was the worst current I’ve ever seen … most large boats were up and running thus there were large confused seas everywhere.  It was scary entering the marina, however the current disappeared once I successfully launched our boat through the entrance channel.  It is Fete National Jean Baptiste Day in Quebec thus Montreal is hopping with activities and there are people everywhere!  We met a new Looper who started the trip only a few weeks ago as well as a Platinum Looper who has completed the Loop twice.  Maria and I walked over to a Caribbean festival that was next to the marina and then we met up with our niece, Natacha, and walked around Old Montreal and had dinner at a local restaurant plus additional drinks back on the boat.  We are going to hang around here for a few days to take in the sights.

The marker between the US and Canada ... We're back!

The Canadian Boarder Patrol boat that chased us as we passed by!

Now some Canadian scenery ...

Did anyone lose a balloon? 

Chambly Lock #9 

The Chambly Canal is very narrow!

The St Ours Lock has a floating dock you tie to in the lock ... interesting!

St Ours Lock ... Glamping

We passed a number of beautiful churches

The Hills are alive ... with the sound of music ...

Another interesting church

Montreal skyline

View from our slip - Montreal Yacht Club

Another view from our boat at night

And another

Old Montreal ... there are great walking sections with lots of activity

Montreal buildings

Old Montreal walking streets with lots of activity

With our niece Natacha

Dinner and drinks in Old Montreal

Lake Champlain - New York to Vermont to New York – June 21, 2017

Jun 19^th – It was a hot humid rainy day with intermittent thunderstorms and moderate winds. We stayed at the Whitehall town dock and caught up on some administrative tasks and then watched a number of Netflix shows that Maria previously downloaded.  We also got together with one of the boaters for a short time to discuss some of their favorite Lake Champlain anchorages since they live in this area.  We expect to be on Lake Champlain sometime tomorrow.

Jun 20^th – It was a warm/hot day with a mix of sun and clouds with moderate to light winds.  We left the Whitehall town dock, went through 1 lock and headed 54 miles north to Kingsland Bay on Lake Champlain in Vermont and anchored for the night.  We left Whitehall the same time as another Looper, however they’ve stopped further south for the night.  The local boater from Lake Champlain showed up at the same anchorage as us … imagine that … most likely since they told us about this spot yesterday.  They dropped by to say a quick “Hello” then they left to go home for the night.  The scenery on Lake Champlain is Exxxcellent!    

Jun 21^st – It was a warm/cool mostly cloudy day with moderate winds.  We left our Kingsland Bay anchorage and headed 57 miles north to Rouses Point New York and grabbed a mooring ball at Gaines Marina.  To start the day I ran the generator to make some coffee and it stalled minutes later.  I quickly went down to look at it and found that I forgot to open the seacock for the generator after I cleaned out my sea strainer the other day … A real bone head move!  Luckily I carry extra impellers since the one in the generator was destroyed.  On the way north we stopped at Shelburne Shipyard in Vermont to get some diesel fuel since it seems to be the lowest cost fuel on Lake Champlain at $2.30 per gallon.  When we arrived at the marina we went to the dingy dock and walked into town to grab a few things and then returned back to the boat to prepare dinner.  Tomorrow we will be entering Canada … Maria is already getting excited since our Canadian cell phones have access to Canadian services at this Marina … ie. The Roaming sign is gone … Exxxcellent!

View from the Town dock in Whitehall New York

USS Ticonderoga sunk in 1814 in the Battle of Plattsburg

It looks like something is coming our way

Cruising north on Lake Champlain

Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain Bridge

Interesting view beside the Lake Champlain Bridge

View from our Kingsland Bay anchorage in Vermont

Canadian flags everywhere in Rouses Point New York