Harald Aces The St. Catherine Lock Triathlon

We are ready to leave Valleyfield on another sunny, warm day, with a light breeze. After reviewing the chart and plan for the day, we reserve two nights at Real Bouvier Marina at Longueuil. Our 12:00 departure gets us to the first bridge with just a short five minute wait for it to be raised.

The cruise down the lovely Beauharnois Canal is peaceful and relaxing. We experience our first current with a cruising speed of near 9 knots. One more “hair-raising” bridge and then we wait at the entrance to the canal. We listen to the advise of a local boater who suggests an anchorage for the night after the lock. The lock passage is easy and by 4:30 we are anchored at the suggested bay, off the little lighthouse at Pointe des Cascades and the old canal.

Harald swims but I’m not impressed with the gelatinous substance clinging to the ladder rope. A lovely sunset ends the day as the Rt Hon Paul J Martin passes east. (New Facebook friend, Catherine Schmuck is the cook onboard as of August. She is now selling her newly published cookbook, “Ship to Shore Chef” after sharing so many of her delicious looking meal plans for feeding the crew - an inspiration for us galley chefs!)

The following day is cloudy but without rain - for the moment. With the Montreal skyline in the distance, we make way for a few ships as we enter the Canal de la Rive Sud at Kahnawake, with the Zelada Desgagnes actually turning around and now following us as we pass by the Lachine Rapids. Two more bridges to clear and we find ourselves at the Sainte Catherine lock, with an increase in wind coming from behind us.

I am happy to pass the helm to Harald as I’m not comfortable with the layout of the pleasure dock at this, the first of the two Montreal locks. Then the Lock Competition begins! We near the dock and are so close to landing but the wind sweeps us too far for me to be able to jump with the lines. Harald makes a sharp turn to try again and the wind and current catch us once again, finding us now drifting toward the little holding basin at a small Quebec Hydro dam, including water intake sluices. (Now that all sounds very scary and it was, but I want to make it clear this was not a large dam). The wind pushes us so we cross the float line (see photo) with our keel hooked on the wrong side. So, good thing, we are snagged and can’t go any further, but also now can’t make it to the dock.

Harald makes the uncertain decision to attach himself to a line and to swim to the dock. The current is strong but he makes headway, only to find he can’t pull himself up with nothing to anchor his feet to. In the photo you can see a small line between the rock pile on the right shore and the dock. With me cheering him on, Harald actually straddles the steal brace pole and shimmies himself along to the dock. All the while I am waving, what I thought to be the international sign for “need help!”, to four gentleman visiting in the parking lot on the east side of the basin. My frantic waving is unanswered except for one gentleman who kindly waved in return.

Soon two very friendly and altruistic Hydro Quebec workers donning life jackets appear. They had closed one sluice to stop our heel toward the dam and one followed Harald’s lead and shimmied across the same pole. (Appears he’s done this before and apparently had to help another sailboat in the same situation last year).

With Mr Hydro, Harald and another helpful boater waiting for the lock to open, they are able to manually pull the boat across the float line and to the dock, where we secure and wait only moments for the call to the lock. All this while the Zelada Desgagnes passes behind where all the action is taking place.

So it does pay to follow the lock instructions to arrive an hour ahead of your scheduled lock passage!