Through the Chambly Canal

Setting out from Montreal, we traveled 25 miles down the St Lawrence and anchored off the village of Contrecouer and true to the prevailing weather pattern; we had a cloudburst just as we were setting the anchor.  After a short time, it cleared and we enjoyed our dinner of grilled salmon and a peaceful night’s sleep.  It was lovely to be on the hook again.

On our second day, we traveled another 25 miles to St Ours where we tied to the dock outside the St Ours lock and adjacent to a park.  Ironically, looking at a map, St Ours is almost directly across from Contrecouer.  However, you must go down the Seaway and into the Richeleau River at Sorel.  The path of travel looks like a giant hairpin.  It was a gorgeous day and for once totally rain free and low humidity.  Typical of the seaway, there were numerous small go-fast boats, a very large private yacht, m/v Blue Moon, two freighters underway and one at anchor.  We left the commercial traffic behind after Sorel on the Richeleau arriving at St Ours mid-afternoon with time to enjoy the rest of the day in the cockpit with an adult beverage and then a walk around the park to look at the rapids on the other side that are being by-passed by the lock and canal. 

The following morning we locked through St Ours.  It is only a five-foot lift and you use your own dock lines to tie to a floating dock inside the lock chamber.  The three female lock tenders are cat people and each in-turn had to come and see Clio.  It was another beautiful clear day and we motored slowly to enjoy the scenery along the way passing homes and farms, wild flowers and cultivated gardens and our first glimpse of a mountain in the distance.  Arriving Chambly, we decided to again tie to the canal dock and wait to lock through next day.  This gave us a chance to walk around town both on the river walk and down the main street.  

The Chambly Canal House

Santorini first in line at lock; Fort Chambly in background.

View across Chambly basin from our dock at sunset.

We had our last dinner in Canada at a nice restaurant, made even better by dining outside and with Virginia, our wonderful server, guiding us through the French menu.  Karl decided he could not leave Canada without ordering Poutine as an appetizer.  For those uninitiated, Poutine is French fries, topped with a brown gravy and cheese curds.  Karl ordered with an optional topping of pulled pork!  We both expected the cheese curds to be melted.  They were not, and they tasted like string cheese.  Donna did not expect to like the gravy but it was rich, excellent and home made.  The pork was also excellent.  Taken all together, we enjoyed the experience but are not hankering to repeat it.  Karl also doesn’t regret passing up the opportunity to buy a tee shirt in Montreal.

Another fabulous day of sunshine!  Might this be a new trend?  (Alas, no, the forecast for the next two days was rain.)  There were many boats expecting to lock through in both directions so we were very lucky to be in the first group southbound.  The Chambly is a National Heritage Site and the nine locks are small and operated by hand.  For those who have taken a canal barge trip in Europe, you will recognize this type of locking.

A little snug!

We left Canada, locking and canals behind for now and have entered beautiful Lake Champlain, clearing through US Customs.

O Canada!

With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free!

View of our border (old fishing pier with gap in river) with Canada as seen from Gaines Marina, Rouses Point NY on Lake Champlain -- US Customs trailer (white) can be scene in background on the left

We look forward to a few weeks of exploring Lake Champlain on both the New York and the Vermont side of the Lake.