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