Canadian Customs

Proceeding slowly onto what looked like a deserted custom office dock, we tied up quickly and efficiently. Denny, I think you just passed the driving test. Inside, two cordial custom officers who watched us dock, greeted us with questions. How much liquor do you have on board? Do you have more than $10,000.00 in cash, any guns on board? We must have answered correctly because they sent us on our way with little fuss and the documentation for a two-month stay.

The immediate course takes us from Lake Champlain to the Richelieu River, the Chambly canal and back to the Richelieu River. The Chambly Canal enables boats to bypass rapids and climb or descend a large drop between the Chambly Basin and the upper Richelieu. About twelve miles long, the navigable waterway has nine locks. Most of the locks are operated manually and their bridges turn, roll and tilt. The Canal is one of Canada national historic sites.

An alarm goes off, the starboard engine is overheating, slow down. We limp through four of the nine locks and five bridges before stopping for the night on a dock wall to regroup and check our engines. The outside temperature is 95 degrees, are you sure we are in Canada?