August 2 - St Anne de Bellevue to St Jean, Quebec
St. Anne de Bellevue is a suburb on the west side on Montreal. We left after just one night and passed by Montreal. Next time we will spend more time around Montreal.
Our trip required entering the St. Lawrence River and traveling through two large seaway locks. Each lock costs $30 and usually requires a wait while large ships travel through. We waited 30 minutes at each lock and were locked through by ourselves. One little tug boat in a very large lock. We were lucky.
After stopping in Longeueil for the night, we set out east on the St. Lawrence at breakneck speeds. There was a 4 or 5 knot current pushing us to the Atlantic ocean. We set our all time speed record of 20.1 miles per hour. This little tug can get up and move, especially with a current pushing it.
Then a right turn onto the Richelieu River and reality set in. 6 or 7 miles per hour was about all we could do (without spending too much on diesel fuel). But we weren't in a hurry, so that was okay.
Then one night in Chambly - also another place we could spend more time. Beautiful concert in the park - all in French. Luckily Patti and I speak "fluent" French thanks to our friends Patrick et Annie. Merci beacoup! We didn't understand many of the words, but the music was beautiful.
Then we entered the Chambly Canal - the slowest canal in North America. 10 miles and 9 locks took 5 hours. The locks were busy with the Quebecois returning from their two week holidays - also called the "construction holidays" on the last week of July and first week of August.
After a long day in the Chambly Canal we stopped and watched the balloons go overhead.
Arriving in St Jean meant that we finished our last lock. There were too many to count, and while they made us slow down on our trip which is a good thing, it is still good to be beyond them. Maybe next year.
Today we have arrived in the good old USSA. I used their new ROAM application, which told them we were coming back and check in was very smooth. (Although Patti made me eat all my fresh vegetables before we came back into the US.)
Now on Lake Champlain at Rouses Point we thought that more people would speak English. Wrong. There are more Quebecois here than NY Staters.
And let me say that we like Canadians and the Quebecois. We like practicing our French. They are very sympathique and we like that. But, let me get this off my chest: put them behind the wheel of a power boat and they will wake you every time. Big wakes. Close to your boat when it isn't necessary. What is it about Canadians and power boats? Wake is just not on their radar. There. I have said it. Now let's see how much better the Americans do on Lake Champlain.
Our trip required entering the St. Lawrence River and traveling through two large seaway locks. Each lock costs $30 and usually requires a wait while large ships travel through. We waited 30 minutes at each lock and were locked through by ourselves. One little tug boat in a very large lock. We were lucky.
After stopping in Longeueil for the night, we set out east on the St. Lawrence at breakneck speeds. There was a 4 or 5 knot current pushing us to the Atlantic ocean. We set our all time speed record of 20.1 miles per hour. This little tug can get up and move, especially with a current pushing it.
Then a right turn onto the Richelieu River and reality set in. 6 or 7 miles per hour was about all we could do (without spending too much on diesel fuel). But we weren't in a hurry, so that was okay.
Then one night in Chambly - also another place we could spend more time. Beautiful concert in the park - all in French. Luckily Patti and I speak "fluent" French thanks to our friends Patrick et Annie. Merci beacoup! We didn't understand many of the words, but the music was beautiful.
Then we entered the Chambly Canal - the slowest canal in North America. 10 miles and 9 locks took 5 hours. The locks were busy with the Quebecois returning from their two week holidays - also called the "construction holidays" on the last week of July and first week of August.
After a long day in the Chambly Canal we stopped and watched the balloons go overhead.
Arriving in St Jean meant that we finished our last lock. There were too many to count, and while they made us slow down on our trip which is a good thing, it is still good to be beyond them. Maybe next year.
Today we have arrived in the good old USSA. I used their new ROAM application, which told them we were coming back and check in was very smooth. (Although Patti made me eat all my fresh vegetables before we came back into the US.)
Now on Lake Champlain at Rouses Point we thought that more people would speak English. Wrong. There are more Quebecois here than NY Staters.
And let me say that we like Canadians and the Quebecois. We like practicing our French. They are very sympathique and we like that. But, let me get this off my chest: put them behind the wheel of a power boat and they will wake you every time. Big wakes. Close to your boat when it isn't necessary. What is it about Canadians and power boats? Wake is just not on their radar. There. I have said it. Now let's see how much better the Americans do on Lake Champlain.
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