Rouses Point to Montreal

July 07-14, 2018:  Rouses Point to Montreal

Leaving Rouses Point on Saturday July 7^th and entering the Richelieu River heading north, it is 70 miles up-river and through the Chambly and St Ours Canals to the St Lawrence River and then another 30 miles down the St Lawrence to Montreal. 

We passed the ruins of Fort Montgomery, actually the second Fort Montgomery.  The first Fort was built following the War of 1812 to protect America’s northern border. Construction began in 1816 and unfortunately the Fort was completed before survey work was done.  It turns out the Fort was constructed north of the 45^th parallel and therefore in Canada.  It was nicknamed Fort Blunder and a second fort was constructed on the American side of the border. The ruins of this second Fort Montgomery are now on private property.

Ruins of the "new" Ft Montgomery

There was a short wait while three boats, travelling together, cleared the Canadian Customs Dock.  Then it was our turn.  The stop was brief, the Customs Agent was very polite and the only questions were regarding firearms, alcohol and length of stay; there was no physical inspection of the boat and we were on our way in short order, now flying our Canadian courtesy flag on the bow pulpit. 

We decided to run at “trawler speed” about 8+ KTS (near 10 MPH) on the River Richelieu to conserve fuel and to enjoy the scenery on this magnificent sunny, breezy day.  Once in the canal portion of the trip, the posted speed limit is 10 MPH (8.5 KTS).  Imagine how much of your environs you would absorb by traveling in your car at 10 MPH!  

The Chambly Canal is a Canadian National Historic Site, administered by Parks Canada.  The nine locks and seven, swing, rolling and lift bridges, requiring an opening for you to pass through, take from three to five hours to transit.  All but one lock and the bridges are mechanically operated.  Much of the canal is lined with greenway, bicycle paths and picnic areas.  Flowers both wild and cultivated also line the way and there are glimpses of the Richelieu River rapids that necessitate the canal for navigation.  Passing through villages along the way, you may tie up to a dock and have lunch or an ice cream or visit a bakery. 

Lift bridge leading to a lock

Waiting for southbound vessel to clear lock - can you spot Kapt Karl?

In 2017 passage through the canal was at no charge in celebration of Canada’s 150^th anniversary of the Confederation.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the first lock and asked about payment for passage, only to be told it was "free" for that "day."  We inquired the reason why, and the lock tender handing us the lines shrugged and said he did not know.  Donna later Googled and discovered it was the 175^th Anniversary of the date in 1843 that the first vessel transited the canal.  

Coming through 2nd of flight of 3 locks into Chambly

Since we were the only boat locking through northbound -- we passed only one vessel locking through southbound --  Parks Canada did not lose much in the way of fees for the day!

We arrived in the town of Chambly and tied to the dock outside the final flight of three locks mid-afternoon.  For a small fee, you can stay at the dock overnight, which we did.  After the day-trippers left, we had the dock to ourselves.  

The town was celebrating both the 175^th anniversary and Multi-Cultural Day.  The main street was blocked to vehicular traffic and several music venues were set up.  As we walked thru town to our favorite restaurant we heard jazz, African and Latin bands and later enjoyed dinner at La Cochonne Rit’s sidewalk café.  The day culminated with fireworks over the Chambly Basin directly in front of Santorini.  We are really living a charmed life!

Sunday July 8^th we enjoyed coffee in the cockpit on yet another beautiful morning, bells ringing from the church steeple across the water.  The day’s journey is a short three hour run to this [below] portion of the Richelieu to the single lock at St Ours.  A 25 knot wind kicked up while we waited along with another vessel outside the lock for southbound boats to lock through, and the wind made our maneuvering in the narrow "wait zone" a bit tense.  After fifteen minutes we entered the lock.  There is only a five-foot lift (or drop) at this lock and you use your own lines to tie to a floating dock inside the lock.  After exiting, we tied up to the dock on the protected north side of the lock to spend the night.  You would never know the wind was blowing so hard as the walls on either side of the lock entrance protected us.  A lovely park with a gift/snack shop surrounds the St Ours Lock, along with campsites, walking trails and great views of the rapids.  You can also cross over the top of the lock and walk up hill to a restaurant.

As we sat in our cockpit with Clio, enjoying a cool drink, a young couple who recognized Santorini and stopped to chat.  As it turns out, we met them at the dock in Chambly last year when they helped us tie up and we chatted for quite a while before they headed home for the night in their boat.  Today, they happened to be in the park at St Ours with friends picnicking when they spotted our boat.  Serendipity!  They told us that they live just outside of Chambly and often cruise this stretch of the Richelieu between Chambly and St Ours without locking through on either end. 

St Ours Lock

On Monday July 9^th we had planned to go the short distance (25 miles) to anchor off shore in the Village of Contrecour along the St Lawrence.  However, after listening to the St Lawrence Seaway weather forecast for strong winds and gusts over 40 MPH in the afternoon, we decided to get an early start (6:00 AM) and head directly for Montreal fifty miles away.  When we reached the St Lawrence at 7:30 AM, the wind was already blowing 14 MPH from the southwest.  The wind and river current travelling in the same direction and on our nose made for pretty smooth cruising, although not very fuel-efficient.  We followed a huge freighter most of the way and were passed by others headed out to sea.  It was a pleasant journey and we were lucky again.  The wind really started gusting as soon as we passed through the breakwater of the Yacht Club Montreal making our docking a bit of a challenge, but overall our trip to Montreal was stress-free.

After settling-in from our trip we walked up to Rue Notre Dame to the bank, the SAQ (wine  store), and and cafe to buy some quite delicious Panini sandwiches.  It's good to be back in Montreal. 

Clock Tower in Old Port Montreal

Chapel and Museum Marguerite Bourgeoys