From Dede's Perspective:


Upon leaving Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, we entered the Lac St Louis to the St Lawrence Seaway. The Seaway locks have many guidelines and rules to follow AND are much more intimidating than the other locks we have traversed.

Each lock on the Seaway has floating pleasure craft docks at their entrance. The docks are equipped with telephones. You must tie up your boat, exit up the stairs and phone "someone" to let them know you want to lock through. There is a machine similar to a "pay for parking," in which you need to pay by credit card (cash costs more $$). Our passes were $30 each; the commercial vessels are upwards of $2000 in each lock! Commercial ships have the right of way (and there are many); consequently, pleasure craft have to wait to pass through the locks. Wait time can be as long as 3-4 hours. The Seaway operates 24/7.The bridge to enter has flashing lights...amber flashing means the bridge operator has seen you; green means to move forward. The locks are huge...realize they lock tugboats, barges and freighters through the Seaway. The locks are about 1000 feet long and 60 feet wide!!

The St. Catherine and St. Lambert Locks dropped us about 50 feet. We were fortunate...only waited for each less than an hour. In the second lock, we were the ONLY vessel...pretty onerous when you realize they filled this HUGE chamber with water just for us!! I enjoyed chatting with the attendants!!

Upon exiting the second lock, we headed to Montreal. We normally cruise at 6-7knots...the current picked us up, and we were cruising at 12 ½ knots...like a sleigh ride!! We made a decision to NOT stop in Montreal...we have visited "Old Montreal" by foot before...done the "Tommy Tourist" thing... and decided to stick to those small towns and villages we have never seen.

25 miles downstream of Montreal is the pretty village of Contrecoeur. We tied to a public dock, in front of a prominent cathedral. Too small to spend the night, but NOT to small to enjoy their pastry shops, of which there were many!!

Onward to Sorel, approximately 38 nm downriver from Montreal and situated at the mouth of the Richelieu River. Sorel is the 4th oldest city in Quebec, formed in 1642. It was built as a fort in defense against the Iroquois Indians by Charles Montmagny, the 1st governor of New France. It is in Sorel that the 1st Christmas tree made its' appearance in North America, after the visit the of Prince William Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, in 1787. It became a clearinghouse for the steady stream of refugees. Sorel is a commercial port, something that became very apparent when we turned the corner and saw the tall grain elevators, foundries and other industrial plants with mountains of raw material such as coal and scrap iron in heaps along the waterfront. Once we securely got into a lovely marina, we got our bikes and toured this lovely city. We happen to be there for their "Festival de la gibelotter de Sorel-Tracey" (I will let you interpret it!! Lol!). We met a wonderful young student, who seemed to attach himself to us. He spoke fluent French (of course), English and was reading a book on "How to Learn Spanish!" He loved interpreting for us, and enjoyed spending time with Jim!! He was continuing his studies in foreign languages at college, and he assured us he would stay in touch via e-mail!

We left Sorel on Saturday morning, and headed down the next part of our journey...the Richelieu Canal. This canal runs from the US/Canadian border on Lake Champlain about 68 nm to Sorel. Technically, the Richelieu Canal is made up of the Richelieu River, Saint-Oars Lock, Chambly Canal and the Headwaters of the Richelieu River on Lake Champlain. To simplify matters, the entire stretch is commonly referred to as the Richelieu Canal and/or the Chambly Canal.

Leaving on a weekend day was the WRONG move!! The Canadians boating season is about 8-weeks, and this was the first good weekend!! We felt like we were driving in Boston, during rush hour, going the wrong way!! The boats are, for all practical purposes, very fast motorboats, jet skies and any/all kind of fast watercraft! There are NO speed limits and NO concern for slowing down when passing another boat! There were several little towns along the way that we wanted to visit but, between the wakes knocking our boat around (at a dock) and unmarked shoals, we forwent visiting the towns along the Richelieu Canal by water (maybe we will try a trip by car!!).

After a long day on the Richelieu Canal, we entered and tied up in the Chambly Canal Basin. At the end of the 18th century, many merchants from Lower Canada and Vermont petitioned the government to canalize the Richelieu River so as to allow uninterrupted waterway communications between the St. Lawrence, the Richelieu and Lake Champlain. Canal construction began in 1831; however, financial problems, cholera epidemic and the rebellion of the Patriots combined to temporarily interrupt the project. The canal did not open until 1843. The Chambly Canal, located between Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Chambly, enables boats to negotiate a rise of 79 feet over a distance of 10 miles. It comprises several swing, slide and lift bridges. Its stair locks are unique in Quebec. At Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, lock no 9 is the only one equipped with a hydraulic mechanism, and controls the water level of the entire canal. The lock chambers are much more narrow than others we have locked thru, and we did "gently" hit (a minor scratch in his varnished teak rail!!) another boat!!

We are securely tied to the wall after lock no. 9, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

Stay tuned....