Cornwall and Cruising Eastbound

A full day of locking on the St. Lawrence seaway

Today was another fantastic day on the water and we travelled from Brockville to Cornwall. We passed through the Iroquois Locks which are in Canada and then spent the better part of the day passing through the Eisenhower and Snell Locks which are located in Massena, NY. During the lockage through the US portions we were allowed to remain on our boats and did not have to report to the US Border Patrol nor did we have to clear customs. It was an easy passage although it took some time.

As we were preparing to leave Brockville this morning, we saw a large red Freighter pass heading Eastbound on the St. Lawrence River. About one hour later as we were heading the same direction we passed this freighter and we had no idea that our day on the water was going to be determined by this big red freighter.

At the Iroquois Locks it was a quick lockage. As a matter of fact the water level only changed about 6" in the lock as the water levels are low this year. They were opening the outgoing gate for us as they closed the incoming gate. We basically boated through the locks without tying up.

At the Iroquois Lock we basically boated through as the lock doors opened and closed

As we left the locks, we passed the Red Freighter and cruised to the Eisenhower locking station. When we arrived they told us we would have at least a 1 1/2 hour wait as they had to wait for the Red Freighter to arrive and lock him through first. It seems that they get priority. There were three boats waiting to lock through and we all tied up waiting for the word that we could enter.

Eisenhower Locks

We arrived at the Eisenhower lock at 11 am and it took us 3 1/2 hours to get through the two locks. The drop in each lock is 38 feet and the overall length of each lock is 740 feet.

It was a humid day, no winds, and not a ripple on the water. As boaters would say the water was like ice so it made our trip a lot smoother.

When we left the locks we headed to Cornwall and took the Polly's Gut route to the town and what a ride that was. Our Navionics GPS Plotter routed us this way and I did not question the selection of that route. However we were riding against very strong current all the way around the Cornwall Island and we started to wonder if this was a good route to get to the marina. It was the first time on the trip that everyone was at the helm looking at the Chartplotter, watching the depth and wondering if we should turn around.

We never turned back and stayed the course, and took our time to get around the island. The engines were working overtime against a 12 Knot current. The local say it is the best way to get to Cornwall and none of them fear the rapids but unless you know the current and depth it can be a bit intimidating.

Marina 200 in Cornwall is a located about a 10 minute walk from the downtown and after we had docked for the evening Jan and Cynthia did some laundry and Swabbie and myself washed the boat and dingy. We opted to have dinner at a local restaurant and it was the first time we dined out during out cruise. The menu at Truffles offered us anything from a variety of Burgers to Specialty Italian Pasta or Lamb. It was good and we have leftovers now for another meal.

In the evening Jan and Cynthia relaxed and Swabbie and the Captain decided that not only should the boat be cleaned but we also needed a shower. So we strolled to the showers and cleaned up. On our way back to our boat I met a group of local boaters and asked them about the three locks in Quebec and the best way to get there. I found out that there is a lift bridge on the way that can be troublesome so we need to get an early start in the morning to get all our locks completed to make it to Old Montreal by the end of the day. If we can do this we will have managed to arrive only 1 day later than planned.

As for the marina members, little did I know that they can be a troublesome group. They gave me some good advice on the best way to get to Quebec and how to pass through the locks and lift bridge, but they also fed me 4 beer in less than 45 minutes and if I said no to another beer, they would put one in my empty hand regardless. We spent time talking about the area of Cornwall, boating stories and life in general. They were a great bunch of locals and they enjoy their 21 weeks of boating together each season. I was glad they fed me both beer and information.

I promised the local boaters that they would make today's Blog

Tomorrow morning we leave for our final Eastbound destination and hopefully we will make it by the end of Saturday. We are all looking forward to our arrival in Old Montreal.

The Hallman Experience: Did we have soil our pants in the Polly's Gut Rapids?

Solution: I am not sure of the answer, but we made it I think we almost Pooped !

Tomorrow we conquer Montreal