Eastbound up the St. Lawrence to Montreal

Heading to Montreal on the St. Lawrence Seaway

Our visit to Cornwall was an uneventful day although we did have a "Rapids Ride" up the river to get to the town marina. Our stay was short but the Captain did find out details on getting to the large seaway locks and how long it takes to get through each one. It was during his evening "dock party stop" that he found out just how far each lock was from each other and how the Lock Attendees work the scheduling.

There are three locks that we needed to pass through on the way to Montreal. The first one was called Beauharnois and is located about a 2.5 hours east of Cornwall and according to locking information you need to book it a day in advance and arrive 30 minute prior to the lock time. We booked a 9 am lock time which meant we needed to leave our marina slip in Cornwall by 6 am. That all made some sense but only the Captain knew that info when he arrived back at the boat the night before after the locals filled him with 4 beer. Fortunately, Cynthia is an early riser, so at 5:30 am the Captain and Cynthia untied the boat, fired up the two Diesel engines and set off for Montreal. Jan was fast asleep at the time and woke up wondering, "WTF?" Swabbie slept through it all till 8 am.

The trip to Beauharnois lock was great. Flat water and smooth sailing. We arrived at 8:30 in time for the lift, except a freighter was in front of us again, so we were delayed for an hour or so. In the meantime we tied up at the dock and chatted with the crew from Silent Flight II (remember them - they are on their way to Halifax) and we all waited till we could pass into the lock.

The locks on the seaway are deep and they provide long ropes to hang on to, as your boat is lowered into the water. Most of todays locks were about 35 to 45 foot drops. After locking, we travelled further east to the canal which routes you around Montreal and includes a series of 2 lift bridges and 2 more locks. We had to wait at all lift bridges for over 1 hour each time to get through. It was a bit frustrating.

The day was warm and not much wind but it was annoying as it kept raining. Somehow it decided to start raining just when we were to lock through. Cynthia has now become a pro at maneuvering the lines in the rain. Jan thanks you, as this was always her job and relished in sitting inside the dry boat watching her earn her mariner stripes. There was a very short period of time when she complained, but after being told to "Suck it up Buttercup" she changed her attitude and went back to her post on the bow. After the second locking the rain stopped and it was sunny for the rest of the day.

Too Bad So Sad !

The cruise around the canal was like riding a slow boat to China. There was no sense being in a hurray as we knew we would have to wait at the next lock to get passage. Another freighter was again in front of us, so we took our time around the canal at 4 knots per hour. There wasn't many interesting things on this route and we were basically in this canal for the best part of the afternoon. The Sainte-Catherine lock was first. We passed through it in relatively good time. It was the waiting at the Saint Lambert lock which is across from Old Montreal that really wore us down. We waited for over 2 hours just floating in the water prior to the lock. It seemed like they were going to not let us through at all, but finally they opened up and let us lock. This was at 5 pm and we started our day at 6 am. Well some of us did! There was no doubt that we were tired and just wanted to tie up somewhere soon.

Over the past two days we passed several freighters and decided to follow their progress on the internet. We found an App that gave us their position, description of the ship and where they were going as well as their cargo.

Finally at 6:30 we made it through the last

lock and were headed to Port D'escale in Old Montreal. It was a short 15 minute ride from the locks to our final eastbound destination. As we left the seaway channel and turned south towards our marina, the winds picked up a lot. The current became extremely fast and dark rain clouds hung over our heads. Oh no - another tough time to dock and it may be raining again?

It turned out not to be bad at all. Our marina was situated between two large buildings that had at least 30 foot walls surrounding the marina. There was no wind, calm water and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

We have arrived in Montreal, in one piece and only 1 day later than planned. After talking to the marina staff we managed to get our stay extended by a day so we are here for 2 full days and plan to leave on Tuesday morning for Ottawa. We were tired.

We had left overs from previous meals. We didn't watch any TV. We did not play any games. We went to bed early. That's why we never made a blog post last night. Oh yeah, Cynthia didn't even do the dishes before her bedtime, something that goes against her grain. We extended her a mulligan, as up till now there's never been a dish left dirty, for more than 5 minutes.

Port D'escale is a nice and very convenient marina with lots of good sized boats, extremely private and well secured. We have a view of the large Ferris Wheel on the waterfront and are close to the action in the big city. It's our home for a couple of nights.

Out To See III has a couple days off to rest

The Hallman Experience - Patience runs thin - floating for hours is not our cup of tea

Solution - Tie up at the dock, have a drink and wait till the staff calls you to lock through.

hmmmm ..... I think I suggested that at the get go.. Guess who's writing this line?

GO HABS GO !