Always Reason to Celebrate
After a change into dry clothes and an easy passage through the St. Catherine lock, we travel the 7 nautical miles to the interesting and complicated St Lambert Lock. We have seen YouTube videos from other boaters so we know we are facing a rail bridge and some road bridges.
We arrive ahead of schedule, as asked, catching up with the 60+ foot catamaran who offered assistance at the prior lock and 2 other boats. I can see a ship is entering the channel so I expect we are in for a bit of a wait. There is an announcement over the PA system, but of course not in a language we are too comfortable with, but based on the fact that the other boats drop their anchors, we expect a longer wait. Seems we were asked to move out of the way of the upbound ship. The Belasitza passes and then we wait for 6 trains! We enter the channel an hour after our reserved time and find ourselves in the Montreal area, with some excitement - maybe because of the squall line we are heading toward.
I am able to capture one photo of the Expo ‘67 site and Ile Sainte Helene before the torrential rain hits us, after the squall. I can’t open my eyes. The rain is so heavy I can’t see in front of the boat. We activate the radar. This was to be a celebration. We managed the St. Lawrence Seaway - RCMP, reservations, all seven locks, many bridges and a few challenges. Soaked. (We have a centrepiece to cover the cockpit from the bimini (over the helm) to the dodger (over the companionway) but usually choose not to have it installed while on the move. Today we should have kept it in place.)
The rain finally stops when we arrive at the marker to turn to the Real Bouvier marina channel at Longueuil. We chose not to stay in Montreal due to the strong current we would have against us, having to turn back up the river, after leaving the seaway channel. The chart shows 5’ depth at the entrance and a 3 knot current. Harald works us through and we arrive at the gas dock for diesel just as the clouds open again. We are sent to a slip right across from fuel dock and find there is no wifi and another very long walk to the washrooms.
I must comment now on the presence of herons. Seems every time we have either entered an anchorage or a marina, at least one heron or white egret has flown over or near by. This now is a sign for us - we know this is where we are to be. The ever-present heron greets us as we dock.
This has been a challenging day, but Harald, being Mr Positive, believes it was only another hiccup. We knew we would have a few on this long journey, but watching my husband swim to shore to get us back on track was more than I signed up for. But seems he did sign up for it and was willing to tackle anything that crossed our path, so I agreed to carry on too.
We do have much to celebrate, so after hot showers aboard, and eggs, sausage and toast at 9:00pm, we opened our celebratory champagne. We made it through the seaway!
What was an anticipated anxiety ended with just one major issue and one extended delay in the last two of seven locks. We would have been really stuck if not for the generous assistance of other boaters. (Especially Serenity 7 a 63 ft catamaran cruiser and a family from Ottawa in a 36’ Carver and two very helpful lads from a Quebec hydro dam). Maybe we can pay it forward some day soon.
A week later, when I am composing this post, we have experienced this boater generosity several more times. People want to talk. They want to hear our story and they want to be helpful. Local knowledge is always important, and we have appreciated it now for over 500 nautical miles.
