Day #19: On to St. Jean sur Richilieu

A morning lightening storm pinned us down in Chambly until 10AM. Fortunately, it didn't interfere with our café, pâtisseries et baguette run.


Bicki and Nellie in the Chambly's ninth and last lock.


In the same vain as the Golden Spike, which was driven in 1869 to celebrate the US' first transcontinental railroad, this spike, in St Jean sur Richilieu, commemorates Canada's first steam railway line--The Champlain and St Lawrence, completed in 1836. The Chambly Canal was finished 7 years later in 1843.


It's 12 miles, nine locks and eleven bridges from Chambly to tonight's Park's Canada side-tie in St Jean sur Richilieu. 446 miles in 2019 and 8686 miles since Naples. DBH

Day #18: More R&R in Chambly, Quebec

The Chambly Canal's tow path is now a bike trail. We took advantage of it yesterday with our three wheels.

These are the last of the Richelieu's rapids. Thank goodness for the ingenuity and drive of our forebears, otherwise we'd be doing this trip in a very wet canoe.

My favorite French word is currently 

boulangerie--bakery.  Our early morning baguette run to Chambly's boulangerie also includes deux café au lait and some fresh pâtisseries--pastries.  With three words alone, café, boulangerie and pâtisserie, one could thrive in Québec.

No miles today.  Holding at 435 miles for 2019, and 8674 miles since Naples. DBH

Day #17: Taking a Breath in Chambly, Quebec

This photo taken yesterday could be labeled: Ready, aim, fire! Transiting narrow, rocky areas is always "fun". Add a swirling, fast current--note the ripples on the river's surface--and a blind corner just multiplies the "fun".

We dropped the hook last night near the banks of Chambly (the village from which the eponymous canal was named). The first anchor check occurred half an hour after lights out; the second at 1:30 AM. Both instances were accompanied with rain, wind and lightening. I'm not sure if this is a summer pattern or if in these parts Neptune abhors sailors sleeping well.


Today's journey started at 6:30 AM by recovering the anchor and moving a 1/4 mile to Chambly Lock One's blue line. It ended four hours and 200 yards later after climbing the three locks and taking a side tie in the pretty park at the lock's top.


We went, maybe, 1/2 mile today--and thoroughly enjoyed it. 435 miles for 2019, and 8674 miles since Naples. DBH

Day 16: Diverting Down the Richelieu River

A foggy morning in the Contrecour anchorage.


Chained to a tree at the Port de Plaisance de Contrecour is a huge anchor embossed with a swastika. At first glance this appears to be a WWII relic. In fact, it's a W.L. Byers & Co. Ltd. anchor made in Sunderland, England before the Nazi era. The swastika is a religious and good luck symbol that predates the Nazi hakenkreuz by 11,000 years. For obvious reasons Byers stopped using their good luck symbol in the 1920's.


This morning's fog reminded us to test the radar. Everything was nominal.


The Richelieu's current is about 2mph--against us.


So why, if we're northeast bound, did we make a sharp right into the Richilieu River and head south? Not for any nautical reason, that's for sure. It's a tax thing--we don't want to run afoul of Canadian law. So, we'll head back into the US, round the flagpole, and then continue on the journey.

61 miles today, 435 for 2019, and 8674 since Naples. DBH

Day #15: Contrecoeur, Quebec

Hurry up and wait. That's what transiting the last two locks on the St Lawrence felt like today. Hurry up and wait. On the bright side we made friends with a young couple who are new boaters and the crew of a police boat. In fact, to pass the time we gave tours of Nellie.

Rafting, where boats tie to each other, is the preferred practice in the St. Lawrence locks. The biggest boat goes against the wall and handles the lock lines while everyone else keeps an eye on the fenders. In the picture above Nellie is against the wall and this is her three-boat brood.

I can't say we weren't entertained while waiting to transit the locks. The constant flow of freighters was interrupted by the tall ship Picton Castle, a training ship out of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia.

The flooding has boosted the St Lawrence's speed a bit. There's two things of note in the photo above: what a channel marker looks like in a 3 mph current and, most importantly, that Nellie's going with the current!

Our Contrecour anchorage. The 1 mph current keeps us straight in the channel. Several rain showers struck during the night with winds strong enough to require an anchor check. Anchor checks used to be lengthy ordeals. No more. Now it's a quick look outside followed by a glance at the phone to make sure that the anchor drag app is reporting Nellie as being on station. And then, back to bed; two minutes, tops.

On a well set hook in Contrecour, Quebec. 61 miles today, 374 in 2019 and 8612 from Naples. DBH

Day #14: Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec

Today starts out cold with a dark overcast, rain and very windy.  It's oh so nice to have a pilothouse.

Along came a spider...  Not exactly a great mug shot but clear evidence of who is spinning webs at the top of Nellie's mast.  You'd think she wouldn't be hard to find seeing she's as big as the dinghy.

Gone are the cute little locks of the Rideau Canal.  The two huge locks we traversed today on the Ottawa River were built a century later to handle ocean going ships. 

59 miles from La Grand Presqu'ile to  Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.  The town-side docks are still underwater due to flooding.  Nellie's safely moored to the opposite wall.  To get into town we walk 100 yards back to the lock and cross over the canal.

313 miles into 2019 and 8,551 miles since Naples.  DBH

Day #13: La Grand Presqu'ile, Quebec

6:30am on the Blue Line at the top of the Flight of Eight Locks.  

9:10am starting down.  Seven locks to go.

According to our six day Rideau Canal Lock pass, today is our sixth day.  Fortunately, only lock transit days count towards the total. So, even though Nellie spent 32 days on the Rideau, she managed to traverse all 45 locks in six days.  Now that's good bang-for-the-buck. 

Daring rescue at sea.  Okay, maybe not so daring--it was calm, sunny and within 200 yards of the shoreline--still, someone could have missed dinner! The good news?  It wasn't us that needed to be rescued.  We put the vacationers on our hip and took them a whole two miles back to the dock.  But that's Nellie's mission, spreading goodwill one boatload of folks at a time.

Meet Francis and Helene Lavigne of La Grand Presqu'ile, Quebec.  They are fellow cruisers and offered us a space at their dock.  She was a lab tech.  He built airports.  Together they own three boats, including one on France's Canal du Midi. 

Eight locks and 42 miles from Ottawa to La Grand Presqu'ile

  This evening we're safely tied to the Lavigne's dock in La Grand Presqu'ile, Quebec.  Nellie is now 8 locks and 42 miles from Ottawa.  She's 254 miles into the 2019 cruising season and has 8,491 miles under the keel since leaving Naples.  DBH

Day #11: Backtracking a Little

Nellie spent the last three nights in the comfortable embrace of downtown Ottawa.  We walked, explored and ate our way through the city.  It's funny, what seemed a hardship--not being able to proceed because of the Ottawa River's closure--was, in fact, serendipitous.  We had the Rideau Canal to ourselves; nary another boat was sighted.  Everywhere we stopped there was no competition for moorage and the dock/lock masters were truly happy to see us.

In Kingston Bicki was the "I".  In Ottawa she's the "T".  There's no doubt then, she's "it".

Walking along the Ottawa River we came across a walled estate which, according to the historical marker in front of it, was the home of Sir John Alexander Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister, 1867-1873. We saw several folks going through a makeshift security point and then gaining entrance. So, we thought, why not, and went for it. Sure enough, the estate's owner, as part of Doors Open Ottawa, a two-day annual event, was allowing folks to look around. Once on the estate, which was beautifully landscaped, we waited for our turn to enter the mansion. As we neared the front of the line, a smiling woman in jeans and a button down shirt, came over and shook our hands. To my query about the home's current owner, she was initially taken aback, but then, without losing stride, said the estate was owned by the British government and was the residence of their High Commissioner to Canada. And then added, with a mischievous sparkle in her eye, "I live here, it's my house." Bicki and I came expecting to see an interesting old home. Now, here we were, completely clueless, chatting merrily with Susan Jane le Jeune d'Allegeershecque, the British Ambassador to Canada. I hope, she found our ignorance charming, or at the very least comical.

With this experience in the rear view mirror we were better prepared when, touring the Connaught Building, a 1913 stoneblock beauty made in the Tudor-Gothic style, a nice looking, well dressed man, approached us.  Shaking hands he introduced himself as Bob Hamilton, Commissioner of the CRA.  Now, I didn't know what the CRA was, but "Commissioner," that resonated.  Without missing a beat I responded, "It's nice to meet you Commissioner.  Thank you for taking the time to greet us."  During the subsequent conversation we learned that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) functions like the US' IRS.  Upon parting I took solace in the fact that in this encounter we'd come across more as city sophisticates than country noobs.  Then again, maybe not.

Doors Open Ottawa gained us entrance to the Royal Canadian Mint too.  There, under the watchful gaze of three guards, Bicki got to handle a 28lb gold bar.  Coyly, she slipped it into her jacket.  Kindly, as only Canadians can be, the guards suggested she put it back on the table.

The Ottawa canal is a dangerous place.  I'm afraid I'll throw my shoulder out returning the waves of all the friendly people.

Ahmed and Ava, summer crew at Dows Lake Pavillion, performed the "dirty work" for Nellie--pumping out the holding tank.  They are both college Juniors.  Ava is studying criminology at Carleton University.  Ahmed is a computer science major at Ottawa U.

It's four miles between downtown Ottawa and Dows Lake Pavillion.  Here Nellie will stay for the next two weeks while her crew makes a car trip south.  223 miles in 2019 and 8445 miles from Naples, Florida.  DBH