Bag Pipes are wailing, the temperature is 92 degrees and the humidity is about 35. Old but beautiful buildings came slowly into view as we were rising out of the canal depths. For two hours, Dream Seeker made its way carefully along eight stair-step locks that empty directly into downtown Ottawa, the capital of Canada, providing entertainment for hoards of tourist along the Rideau Canal.

We tied up along the dock wall and found ourselves right in the middle of downtown.  We could walk anywhere and did for three days; Parliament Hill and the impressive changing of the guard ceremony, the Art museums and Notre Dame Basilica.  Sauntered through the By Way market, a farmers market, surrounded by fish markets, delis restaurants and shopping centers and had dinner in an Irish Pub.

Spent some time with some friendly Canadians heading back to Toronto, their home, Art and Bonnie, on the next boat, who gave us some tips on what to see on our next leg of the journey.

Very large Spider following me

Notre Dame Basilica

Notre Dame Basilica

Crowds watching

local guard

female troops

Step locks

Changing of the Guard

Tied up to the dock wall

National Art Museum

Rising from the depths

Locks, Locks and more Locks, each one different and yet the same, some fit huge tankers and some smaller vessels, some fit both, some with fixed docks, some with floating docks, but all formidable.

We waited at the St Lambert dock for three hours before entering and tying up to the wall and to the other eighteen boats for the trip through.  Four in the afternoon, can we make it to St Anne’s? There is a lock wall to tie up to, restaurants and music.

Big mistake!  Forgot the looper code, stop early for the night. Everything was as we thought but “there was no room at the inn”.  Boats were everywhere even rafted together. Many of the docks were underwater.  OK, let’s try to anchor it is eight-thirty!

We know the bottom is rocky, no sand, nothing to hold the anchor. “Denny, it is getting dark! “, was my helpful comment. Nine-thirty, after many tries in many places and with lots of prayers, we anchored safely. Another long and exhausting day!

The next morning we entered the Carillon, an impressive lock, unique in north America, it has a nearly two ton guillotine gate that enables passage up or down a 62 foot drop in one operation. I had been told that, red and green lights and a lockmaster yelling in French, control the entrance to the dock, but our experience was fortunately different.

Cute bilingual university students ushered us into the locks. The only unfortunate occurrence was when Denny forgot to press on the brake pedal and we hit the steps on the locks front wall, shearing off only a small portion of dream Seekers front railing. “Don’t worry epoxy will fix that!”

On exit from these canals, the smaller but faster boats rocket past us leaving huge wakes and bouncy seas. The Canadians enjoy their short but beautiful summer season to the fullest.

inside the lock

Leaving the Carillon

The Carillon Lock

Hydro plant and Lock

ferry

hours of operation

I spoke with my son Gary on our entrance to Montreal.  He knows the city well and I asked him what we should see. Many of these next words are his.

The French Canadians and their passion for street art and performance are very unique to Montreal’s identity. The Cirque de Soleil started in Montreal; any new cirque performance must first play on its’ river. The first Cirque performers were poor starving homeless street children. We did see lots of street art and artists.

Is Poutine, a native dish, any good Gary? It sounds gross. “It is delicious but should never be consumed by a healthy person.  It is potato frites covered in disturbingly salty beef gravy with cheese curd for extra fat. You can sit next to someone who is eating it and still taste it”.  We did try the local smoked brisket and it was excellent.

We took the “on off “ bus through the town stopping at the churches parks and underground city. Montreal is thriving, busy and beautiful, but has a surprising number of homeless on its’ streets.

closed shopping. street

Museum of fine arts

Roman. Catholic cathedral

Dream Seeker and tower

homeless

street artists

Montreal by Sea

Basilica

We arrived at Sorel at 7:30 pm. It was still daylight. The trip was not very picturesque, lots of commerce, and long.   We could not take advantage of the restaurant and the music; it was an exhausting day; drinks and leftovers on the bridge.

Quebec province is definitely French speaking.  Many speak English but they prefer to speak French. Break out the French phrase book.  French is spoken; my brain thinks English, out comes Spanish.  My high school French and college Spanish is sorely strained.  I am very confused.

I am inserting a video of the lock tenders that was lost in the last blog. The morning is cool and beautiful.  It must be Canada.

Sorel Marina restaurant

another smoky plant

entrance to marina

Sea strainers and more sea strainers and did I mention sea strainers? The root of All evil. Tied up to the dock wall for the night, Denny cleaned out all the filters and in the morning we progressed down the remaining locks and bridges.

Three feet from the lock wall, two feet, catch that line, keep it loose, young college students on summer break manually operate the series of locks and direct Dream Seeker through the narrow openings. Local spectators watch our dexterity and question where we are from. “Florida is a long way away’” Do you like Quebec? Where are you going next? Are you on the Loop? Oh Adieu, the gates are opening. Onto the Richelieu!

From old world to new! It is Sunday and the basin is full of what Denny calls “the Knucklehead navy”. Reminiscent of the Palm Beach waterways you see all shapes and sizes of watercraft travelling fast enough to continually rock our sixty thousand pound boat. Where is that horn?

A kilometer later, the engine is overheating again; drop the anchor, found in another sea strainer, various vegetation, a plastic bag and two minnows. These old canals are beautiful but laden with vegetation.

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?

Fort MacKensie

Lock

The old bridge and the new bridge

Chambly Canal

A deserted dock, a strong current and an outgoing tide all came together with the wind while we tried to dock Dream Seeker in a narrow berth in Gaines Marina, a mile from the Canadian border.  It was only 4:30pm but the marina closed at 4.

JoAnn and Paul, French speaking Canadians, emerged from their concrete sailboat and came to our rescue guiding our path and catching lines.  Over drinks we found they are world travellers who live sometimes in Montreal sometimes in Africa and occasionally on their sailboat. They also had a car and took us to the grocery and hardware store in the morning.

High winds, big waves and dark skies compelled us to postpone our entrance into Canada one more day; a good thing because it was Friday, farmers market day. Denny ventured to US customs for information.

Saturday morning we sailed out on a calm sea, waving good-by to our new friends.

Gaines Marina

sundown

JoAnn and Paul

concrete sail boat

Burlington is a city in northwestern Vermont on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain,  south of the Canadian border. It is the most populous city in Vermont and home to three colleges and the UVM medical center

Trying to ignore the steep hills of the city and our labored breathing, we perused the shops, craft stores and restaurants of this thriving city.  Even Denny succumbed to its charm and bought himself some new shorts and hat.

Time has gone very quickly and joyfully since we left home in April. We have travelled 1800 miles, almost one third of the journey.  Terry’s toe has healed well and he is looking forward to home and having the stitches removed. We said goodbye to Terry and Sharon and sailed on toward the Richelieu River.

Is that washer still running?

Basin Harbor Marina

Denny Shopping

There is no “Uber “ in Vergennes but there is a taxi by appointment; today the service stops at 5:30PM. Jessica and William, who run the service, are playing bingo. We taxied to the attractive downtown shops, plumbing supply, and grocery store, about seven miles from the resort.

Vergeenes is a friendly boating haven on Lake Champlain, which prides itself on being Vermont’s oldest and the U.S.’s smallest incorporated city. It boasts a fascinating maritime museum and Red Mill restaurant. The Basin Harbor Club includes a dining room with excellent food and old world charm, a full service marina and totally updated electric service.

“Ay, there’s the rub!”  Dream Seeker does not have totally updated electric service.

Grab those power cords let’s plug into shore power. Pop! A general sound of alarm came from the nearby boaters.  No lights! the air conditioning shut off, what happened to the power? With one small plug in, Dream Seeker managed to wipe out all the electricity in the entire complex.

It seems that the new national electric code calls for highly sensitive ground fault interrupters. Due to the antiquity of Dream Seeker, it’s wiring is not entirely up to standards. In Dream Seeker’s defense, we were able to use one power cord; apparently half the boat was updated.

Maritime museum

Docent

Terry on board gunboat

Dinner at old hotel

Whitehall is considered to be the birthplace of the US navy. The first fleet of  ships is said to have been built here, in 1776, during the American Revolution. It is also where we start our canal trip.

Sixty nautical miles, twelve locks and three days later we are through the Champlain Canal. Directly passed the last lock, we arrive at New Whitehall Marina.  Terry and Sharon are invaluable crew. They know what to do and how to share their knowledge.  They are also fun to be with.

Musicians are setting up; lets have drinks and dinner here.  Lynn, the marina and restaurant owner, a master of many trades and talents, greets us with gusto and lots of wine. He proves to be very knowledgeable, strong and willing to help. It was only after we ordered hamburgers, that we found out he is also a New York Culinary school chef.  Timing is everything!

Want to use the microwave? Don’t forget to shut off the breaker for the galley lights and turn on the microwave breaker. This continual adjustment has been plaguing us since Denny installed the latest electric outlet in the galley.

Lynn is also as electrician; here is the problem, Denny, do you want me to fix it??  My shouts of “yes, yes” go unheard, no, I will do it myself thanks. This is worrisome.

It is time to put the radar arch back up; hopefully there are no more bridges lower than fifteen feet. Four men make this job look easy. A combination of music, dancing, wine and unfettered helpfulness makes this is a great stop.

WhiteHall Marina

Arden Lynn Denny

Whitehall Marina

dancing duo

Hold that line

WhiteHall Marina