Rousses' Point to Ottawa

We are behind in our posting but have had a little difficulty getting a good connection for updating the blog and downloading pictures. Our last blog was one week ago as we were preparing to go through customs in Rousses’ Point, NY. As I am writing this, we are now – exactly one week since entering Canada – in Ottawa , the capital city of Canada. Below is a recap of our travels in the last week.
Leaving the Customs station at Rousses’ Point - the first picture - The Richelieu Canal , Chambly Canal, and Richelieu River is 70 miles (and 10 more locks) long leading to the St. Lawrence Seaway at Sorel. We cleared customs at 9:30 AM on June 13th and traveled 34 miles to a marina on the Richelieu River. This journey included 10 locks that are often hand cranked by the workers of Parks Canada. The picture to the right is Pia in the first lock on the Chambly. The last 3 locks on the route are 3 step down locks in succession leading to the Basin de Chambly. We cleared the final 3 locks at ~ 3 PM. Another long day!!! The next 3 pictures are of our journey in this canal system. As you proceed through the canal, local residents are riding bikes and following along the way and pontoon planes are landing on the water in front of you.
On Sunday, we departed the marina early – before 7 AM – headed to Sorel 34 miles away. The trip up the River was great with little traffic and great cruising weather. We cleared Saint Ours Lock early and arrived in Sorel around noon with intention of staying at a marina on the St Lawrence River but decided to continue down the St Lawrence on our way to Montreal since the weather was great and the commercial traffic would be minimal on a Sunday. Pia was able to find a marina down the River in Contrecoeur, Quebec. What a great little village! The picture to the left is "Still Busy" at the marina in Contrecoeur. We were able to walk into town for a visit and dinner in a local Pub but "stumbled" across a rally in progress (we thought it was a town carnival) of a local labor union protesting the hiring practices of a local business. We later found out that the protest was sponsored by the communist party of Canada. In spite of this, everyone was friendly and we enjoyed our time at the marina and in town.
On Monday, we departed Contrecoeur, returning to the St Lawrence, to Montreal, through the Canal de la Rive Sud - and 2 of the largest locks we have been in -(bypassing the rapids around Montreal) and arrived at the town dock of St Anne de Bellevue – an 80 mile trip from Sorel. We stayed at the town dock for 3 nights, and, on Wednesday, took the bus into Montreal and spent a great day touring this great city. Old town Montreal is like being in a small French village – everyone speaks French, the crepes were fattening, and the wine was bold but good. The next 3 pictures are as follows - Montreal from the waterway, Pia at one of the locks on the canal, and "Still Busy" tied to the town dock in St. Anne de Bellevue.
We departed St Anne early Thursday in heavy rain headed for Montebello to meet John, Sue, Doug, and Leslie aboard “Just Relax” and “Happy Clamz”. We haven’t seen these folks since Watertown, NY and it was great seeing them again as we head West on The Great Loop and they head East on the Down East Loop. A great evening of recounting our adventures since we split but sad as they departed early the next morning headed to St Anne and the St Lawrence. We will see John and Sue back in Charlotte when we return home for a visit in December and may actually join them in the Bahamas in January.
Montebello is famous for The Chateau Montebello, a “log cabin” built in the 1930’s and is now a Fairmount Hotel property of 230 rooms, spa, marina, pool, with many activities. The structure is actually built from logs brought from the west coast of Canada and gives a rustic appearance but is very plush. We had a charming lunch in the hotel and toured the gardens and waterfront surrounding the chateau.
Since entering Canada last Saturday, we have traveled 70 miles to Sorel, 80 miles to St Anne de Bellevue, and 45 miles to Montebello, including 15 more locks. This morning, we traveled 42 miles to Ottawa and will spend the next 3 – 4 days here before beginning The Rideau Canal to Kingston – a 126 mile trip from Ottawa. We continue to be amazed that, not only are we on this trip, we are making good progress and are on schedule to be in The Trent Savern Canal mid July for a visit with family and friends.

We are not real sure what we do when we finish the loop - return to Lake Norman or keep a boat on the coast for weekend use. If we choose the latter, we found the ideal house boat for our next great adventure.

When we arrived at the beginning of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, we encountered one of our most memorable events - the 8 Step Locks from the bottom of the river, with the Canadian Parliament buildings on the port and Fairmont Chateau Laurier on the starboard side. These 8 succession locks provide a lift of 76 feet and take about an hour. While the workers are hand cranking the doors so you can pull from one lock to another, many tourists are walking beside the boat asking questions - where are you from, where are you going, how long does it take, etc. We actually met a family from Raleigh on vacation. I will enlarge these last two pictures of the step locks - from the bottom and at the top.

We are now tied to the docks in Ottawa on top of the locks and will be here for the next few days touring the city.