Montreal, Allez!!

We have just completed a ridiculously cheap week in Montreal.  For 5 out of the 7 days we were tied up to the wall at the east end of the Lachine Canal right in the Old Port.  When we arrived at our first lock in Canada we bought an annual mooring pass for $333 which allows us to stay up to 48 hours at a time at almost any of the locks in the Parks Canada system.  So far that has worked out to $0.75 per foot and that will keep going down as we travel through Ottawa and the Rideau Canal.

The giant freighters are back, we must be in the St. Lawrence.
This is probably the prettiest one I've seen all trip.

Getting to downtown Montreal was tough.  The current runs as fast as 5.7 knots and we top out at 6 knots.  We were worried we weren't going to make it.

Reg was excited to pass by the home of the Expos but he is still pretty bitter about the '94 strike.

 '

Even though the Expos are long gone there are plenty of opportunities to watch sports.

After all the World Cup games we've watched it was great to see the Montreal Impact live. We had tickets in the standing room only section at the end of the field and we singing and chanting en Francais the whole time.  Montreal, Allez!

We also got a chance to go and see some Derby.  Gotham (#3 in the world) vs. Montreal (#7). I was so excited to see the refs (yes, I'm pretty nerdy, but they are my people)

I also found plenty of time to relax.

Although it is hard to fully relax when someone
is staring at you the whole time.

I also got to check out some real Montreal landmarks as featured in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TncdhLGjFTE

We are now tied up at another lock wall at Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue.  This was supposed to be a one night stay but there is bad weather coming through so we will be here longer than intended.

Next update will be from Ottawa.

Oh, Canada!

Immediately before we crossed the border we came across a fort for sale. 

How cool would this be?

A few minutes later we passed this monument and arrived back in Canada:

A little underwhelming I thought.

This was a much more significant monument:
  

Of course, we aren't really home - we are in Quebec which is even better because the food is amazing especially after the rural US where pate and decent cheese are hard to find and Applebees is haute cuisine.

A fancy wine box full of cheese. Oh, my

I'm not the type of person who regularly takes photos of meals
but I made an exception for this breakfast from Cafe Ecluse No 10.
That's an egg cooked in puff pastry served with scalloped potatoes, homemade
baked beans, and a fruit salsa.  Absolutely delicious.

At Chambly, we visited the fort and got to mix some Canadian history with all the American history we've been getting over the past year. Some of my favourite exhibits:

"The  Iroquois, through massacres and inhumanities, have prevented the country's population from growing, and the King is determined to carry the war to their doorsteps in order to exterminate them completely". Do you think Louis XIV recognized any hypocrisy  in this statement?

Frontenac to the Western Indians: "I am strong enough to kill the English, destroy the Iroquois and whip you if you fail in your duty to me". Good pep talk.

"New France entrusts itself to God and its Engineers".  No wonder France lost in the end.

Our first few days in Canada have all been back in canals and locks. 

Very narrow canals and very small locks. Just took one other boat to fill the lock completely.

The Chambly rapids - the reason for the locks.

Next up - Montreal.

Lake Champlain

How unfortunate to be on Lake Champlain with our mast down.  What a great place to sail - there are cruising sailboats in every direction and filling every marina.  But, alas, we are pretty ugly, very slow powerboat at the moment.

We didn't mind the lack of sails on this calm day.

Our first stop on the lake was Port Henry, NY.  We stayed in a marina so we could be close to a town/have power to ensure we could watch the World Cup.

World Cup Fever in Port Henry

The highlight for us on Lake Champlain was the 2 nights we spent anchored at Valcour Island.  

It was mid week so we had an anchorage to ourselves

The landscape was so much like home I felt really homesick for the first time. The east side of the island was just like being in Georgian Bay or the Thousand Islands which I guess makes sense as we aren't too far from that neck of the woods now. The island is even set up with rustic campsites like the ones in Ontario's National Parks.

On the rest of the island, the landscape varied wildly:

Beachy areas on the west side

Grasslands closer to the center of the island

Lake Superior? 

 

We spent hours hiking on the island which was rewarding when we stumbled across ruins of the various camps and cottages which once dotted the shores.

The hike was less rewarding on the many parts of the trail that were not maintained:

Yes, that's the trail.

Next up? Canada!

Independence Day on the New York Canals

The staff at Riverview Marine Services who took down our mast were fantastic.  Very efficient and they loan power tools and provide scrap wood that south-bound sailors have left behind so we had everything we needed to secure the mast.

Not pretty but it works. I thought it
looked a little like we were planning
a crucifixion!

I'm always very nervous about this part!

This is why we had to lose the mast.
Bridge deck is only 17' above the water

I like when they let me help.

Shortly after heading north from Riverview Marine Services in Catskill, NY we reached our first lock in the NY canal system at Troy. On the way we passed a sunken Jetski tied to one of the navigation buoys.  I would love to know the stories behind some of the odd things we’ve seen on the American waterways.

 Speaking of odd things we’ve seen on the American waterways:

 Just past Troy we had a decision to make:

If my admittedly half-hearted job search had borne fruit we could have headed west on the Erie Canal to get home faster.  Since I am still an unemployed bum lady of leisure we have the time to head north to Lake Champlain, Montreal, Ottawa, and Kingston.

One of the great things about being back in rural inland rivers is the return of free town walls to dock at.  Some even have free power and water. We took advantage of this at Waterford, Mechanicville, and Whitehall.  Add in a couple of nights at anchor and this has been a very cheap part of the trip - a good thing after spending a week in the New York area! The town walls have also made it easy to keep up with the World Cup.  We’ve spent a fair amount of time in café’s, bars, and town marina lounges to watch.  We are usually the only people watching with the exception of Ed and Shannon on Darwin.  In the lounge at Waterford we caused quite a stir because the women who volunteer wanted to turn off the game at half time to watch The View! I always wondered who watched those crappy shows and now I know – little old ladies in upstate NY.

The other benefit of being back in the rivers is fresh water.  The salt is so hard on everything metallic on the boat.  That has meant a few extra chores this week:

Cleaning and adjusting brake cables.

One needs replacing but that

is a chore for another day.

Giving all the non-stainless tools some TLC

Speaking of cleaning, This is the best stuff to clean the slime of the ICW and rivers from the waterline.  Oxalic Acid is the active ingredient in many fancy marine cleaners.  Buying it at the hardware store and mixing it myself saves a lot of money. Be warned - it is tough on the gelcoat and wax so it needs to be thoroughly rinsed and not left on very long.