AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: Back in Canada! – Rouses Point New York to Montreal Quebec

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.