Day #77: Baie-de-Brazeau, Quebec

Looking NW at the Pont l'Île-aux-Tourtes. It's still raining but the thunderstorm has passed.

The donut shop didn't open until 9 am this morning so there was no rush to get underway--the crew, afterall, needs their sustenance. By 9:30 am, we were on the lock's blue waiting line. Unlike yesterday's commercial locks, where the delay can be hours, the Parks Canada locks, which are much more pleasure boat oriented, are very quick to get you through. That's why it was strange when after 45 minutes we were still on the blue line looking at a closed lock door and a red signal light. Fifteen minutes later the door opened, an 18' wood runabout exited, and we were green-lighted in. There was a floating dock inside the lock and two friendly, college-aged kids, smartly dressed in their green Parks Canada uniforms, helped us tie up. Since we'd spent last night on the park's wall we paid them the $C33.30 ($C.90/ft) fee. Then we sat and waited. And, waited some more. Then we heard someone say, "The lightening storm just took out our power." Storm? What storm? The sky was overcast and grey, but hardly threatening. A quick check of the MyRadar app confirmed that a big, powerful thunderstorm to the NW was indeed bearing down on us. Up to this point all the delays had been irritating. Now, seen in their proper light, the delays were providential. It's not much fun being tossed around in a squall while dodging lightening. Thank you Parks Canada.

28 miles from Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue to Baie-de- Brazeau, Quebec.

Worried that our anchoring skills have atrophied we decided to drop the hook in a nice quiet Bay off the Ottawa River. There isn't a house in sight. The waters are calm and the winds light and cool. DBH

Day #76: Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec

Bypassing the Montreal Rapids means traversing narrow canals which puts us in close proximity to large ships.

Our days of dealing with freighter traffic are coming to an end. The ships continue along the St Lawrence while our route will be along the Ottawa River.

Nellie gets a front row seat along restaurant row.

26 miles from Montreal, Quebec to Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.

As the map shows, today's 26 miles didn't even get us off the Île de Montréal. But, after a 14 day hiatus, it was good to get moving again. DBH

Day #65-67: More Exploring of Montreal, Quebec

Looking north at the Tour de l'Horloge and Pont Jacque-Cartier. The current in the middle of the St. Lawrence is 6 kts while there's a 1 knt countercurrent next to the shore. 

Looking southwest at the Palais de Justice de Montréal. 

It's 9:30 pm and we're walking home after a late dinner and a visit to the grocery store. Entering the park Champ-de-Mars we see lots of folks sitting around. There's nice music playing in the background. To our right is the 242' tall Palais de Justice de Montréal. Its facade is completely lit by a picture--a moving picture--that's telling the history of Montreal. How could we not sit on the grass and watch the 30 minute show?

This picture doesn't do justice to the size of the projection, easily 100'x200'. Now that's a big screen.

Nellie's 7000 mile plus trip to date.  This chart not intended for navigational purposes ;-)

When I asked a friend how he managed to cruise his 46' trawler around the world he said, "I just stood at the helm for a really long time." Things can really be simple when looked at properly. DBH

Day #63 & #64: Exploring Montreal, Quebec

Originally called Ville Marie, the city of Montreal is named for the island's highest point, Mont Réal.

Montreal is a great walking town. We've already clocked 12 miles and have hardly scratched the surface.

Montreal's international fireworks competition takes place at 10 PM on Wednesdays during July and August.  (Montreal photo)

Not knowing what to expect we turned Nellie's stereo to 107.5 MHz and looked north out the pilothouse windows.  It was the Italian pyrotechnics team's night to perform.  I could wax poetic about the performance but would do it an injustice.  Watch it for yourself via this YouTube video.

Nellie's under the blue dot and in the heart of it all.

I'm afraid we're back to our profligate ways--rather than getting back to cruising, we're extending our stay at the Montreal Yacht Club to a week.  It's a rough life...  DBH

Day #62: Clawing Our Way into Montreal, Quebec

Coming into Montreal the banks are lined with ships plying their trade. (Blackwood photo)

Looking down on Nellie's deck, water is coming aboard through the freeing ports. It definitely wasn't a dry deck day. (Blackwood photo)

Looking south-southwest at the Montreal Yacht Club and the Tour de l'Horloge (clock tower).

We'd been warned that the St. Lawrence's current in Vieux-Port de Montréal (Montreal's old port) was quite strong. So strong in fact that it would take us about an hour to cover the last 2 miles into Vieux-Port.

Well, it was as advertised. In the picture above notice the 2.1 mph in the upper right of the chart plotter's screen? Nellie's turning RPMs for 8.5 mph but only going 2.1 mph. That means the river's current is 6.4 mph. At one point we saw our ground speed fall to 1.5 mph! A cruising hueristic is to stay out of currents exceeding 50% of the boat's top speed. I wouldn't want to make a regular practice of it but today's joy ride approached 80% of Nellie's top speed.

30 miles from Contrecoeur, Quebec to Montreal, Quebec.

Step one, Quebec. Check. Step two, Montreal. Check. These are great cities and a bit of a challenge to get to by boat. But oh, once you make it, what a sense of satisfaction. And then to be rewarded by all they have to offer makes it that much sweeter. Happy as clams at the Montreal Yacht Club. DBH

Day #61: Slogging Upstream to Contrecoeur, Quebec

A forlorn looking lake freighter, sister ship to the Edmund Fitzgerald, passes us on Lac-Saint-Pierre while being towed by two tugs. 

The Edmund Fitzgerald before she went down on Lake Superior November 10, 1975 along with her crew of 29. "Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" -- Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.

The Detroit Express is 750' long and displaces 82,000,000 pounds. Nellie was going to claim the right-of-way but then sanity set in...

Between Trois-Rivières and Quebec City Nellie stayed between the channel markers as the river shallows quickly outside of them. The same hasn't been true south of Lac-Saint-Pierre where there's plenty of depth outside the markers. This has several advantages. First, we can put more space between us and the big ships. Second, it allows us to treasure hunt for counter currents which are normally found near the river's banks. I can't say we found a lot of treasure though. All day we turned RPMs for 8.5 mph but only averaged 6 mph. What the heck, the scenery is pretty and we're not in a hurry.

At anchor off of Contrecoeur, Quebec.

48 miles from Trois-Rivières, Quebec to Contrecoeur, Quebec.

Thirty miles northeast of Montreal, behind a long island on the southern shoreline of the St. Lawrence, is the quaint little village of Contrecoeur, Quebec. Nellie is anchored just off the village in 17' of water. A gentle current keeps us pointed upstream. DBH

Day #60: Up the River Down to Trois-Rivières, Quebec

A screen shot of our GPS as we leave Quebec's very busy old port. 

The sailing instructions said to leave Quebec City a half hour before high tide (7am this morning) so as to minimize the adverse current in the Richielieu Rapids. As promised, the rapids were not a problem. The same, however, can't be said for other parts of the river. At one point, while turning RPMs for 8.5 mph, Nellie was advancing under 4 mph!

The with of the St Lawrence is truly amazing. 

It's current not wind causing whitewater on the channel marker's upriver side.

Nellie's own privé (private) mooring up the Saint-Maurice River in Trois-Rivières.

At Trois-Rivières we decide to anchor up the Saint-Maurice River. At the river's confluence with the St. Lawrence, judging by the large number of anchored boats, is a very popular beach. We worm our way through the fleet and find a spot for Nellie. But, it was tight, and like a puppy that can't get comfortable, we keep moving. What makes picking a spot challenging is getting enough separation from surrounding boats. While in shallow water and surrounded on three sides by anchored boats, a big, underway powerboat puts his nose close to Nellie's stern. I give its skipper a quizzical and irritated look. He yells over, "Would you like to use my mooring?" Instantly the anchor drill is over and we have a premo spot for the night.

Looking southeast down the Saint-Maurice towards the Saint Lawrence.

78 uphill miles between Quebec City and Trois-Rivières.

In today's 11 hours underway we averaged 7 mph--and that's going upriver. The trip would have been a lot slower but for the three hours of flood tide push where we averaged over 10 mph. Safely attached to our own privé mooring up the Saint-Maurice. DBH