Chambly Canal, Quebec

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We had one of our loveliest days on July 14 traveling along the Chambly Canal and through a series of nine locks.

 

The Chambly Canal runs 10 miles downstream along the Richelieu River connecting the towns of St. Jean de Richelieu and Chambly.    Each lock is very small – only 21 feet wide and 100 feet long.  We traveled on a Tuesday and the river was very quiet so we never had to share a lock with another boat.

At each approach to a lock, we were greeting by friendly lockkeepers and beautiful flowers lining the park-like settings.   It was most interesting to see that each lock is still operated by hand cranks. Once we were secured in the lock, the lockkeeper turned the crank to open the gates and again to close them when we were through.  We talked with  many friendly and curious  people as we passed through the locks.

We did have one small mishap.  Though the day was sunny and clear, it was quite windy.  As we approached one of these narrow locks, our boat was blown sideways and our stern bumper rail nicked the bulkhead of the lock.  The lockkeeper was required to complete an incident report though the damage to our boat and their bulkhead was minimal. Fortunately, no real harm was done and we continued on our merry way!

The last locks were different in that they were in quick succession, like a staircase of three locks.  We entered the first, tied up to the side of the lock, turned off the engine, the lock drained, we left the lock and immediately motored about 20 feet  to the next one and repeated the process two more times.  As soon as we exited the third one, we entered the Chambly Basin, a beautiful round bay at the top of the canal. 

 

We stayed at Marina de Chambly for two nights as our friends, Steve and Cathy were flying in from Sacramento and we planned to spend some time in Montreal just 45 minutes away by car. 

The marina was adjacent to the last lock and the cute little town of Chambly was around the corner.  Once again, the Canadians take great pride in their gardens.  The flowers were just spectacular!

We spent some time shopping and re-provisioning the boat for our guests’ arrival.

Steve and Cathy arrived late that evening and we prepared for making the most of our next day in Montreal.

St. Paul de Ile-aux-Noix, Quebec

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We crossed the border into Canada on Sunday July 12!  It was a beautiful day and a short two hour cruise.  We were on the Richelieu River which Lake Champlain flows into.  The countryside is changing.  The mountains of Lake Champlain and the Hudson have receded. The Quebec countryside is a flatter farming landscape punctuated by many small villages.   

Just about a mile from our marina we crossed the border and a mile further up was the stop for Canadian customs.  Instead of our having to call in and dock at customs, customs came to us!  A boat with three customs officers rafted onto our boat and one of them came aboard.  He was very polite, asked the perfunctory questions and proceeded to look throughout our boat including opening cabinets!  The three main questions he asked were:  are you carrying firearms (no), what’s our itinerary and when do we plan to leave (cruising up the St. Lawrence to Gaspe’ and around New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia until the end of August), and how much alcohol do you have on board (34 cans of beer, 10  bottles of wine and 5 bottles of liquor).  Although our “ship’s store” exceeded the stated limits,  he made no comment and we passed the inspection! 

As we proceeded down river, we were amazed by the number of  boats that were on the waterway.  Motor boats of all sizes were buzzing around us the entire time.  Quite different from the preponderance of sailboats we saw on Lake Champlain!  There were also a few unusual specimens.

We stopped at St. Paul de Ile-aux-Noix because it had five marinas and we wanted to get some more work done on the boat. It was also described as being somewhat akin to Fort Lauderdale with numerous canals lining the coast.

 

At the Gosselin Marina we met a very interesting guy named Michel who was working there and who took great interest in helping us.  He and his girlfriend have traveled extensively on the catamaran that he built and in three weeks they are leaving for their home in Florida and eventually to sail and live in Martinique for awhile.  It’s amazing how many Canadians we met who have homes in Florida!  We invited Michel and Nathalie onto our boat as they were interested to see a trawler up close. We had a lovely time exchanging stories – maybe we’ll see them when we return to Florida. 

St. Paul is really a tiny village but our new friends recommended a wonderful restaurant owned by a woman from Alsace.  Although it was not open on Sunday night, we went there for breakfast the next morning and had an amazingly delicious Alsatian breakfast in a perfectly charming little space.

By the time we finished our boat repairs and chores which included adding new windshield wiper blades, replacing the A/C main breaker panel switch, putting in a new shower head, cleaning the heads, and stocking up on new safety supplies it was too late to move to our next stop.  Instead,  we finished up the day by eating a very early dinner at the same restaurant where we had breakfast  (having skipped lunch).

We returned to the boat and hung our Canadian courtesy flag and did some more trip planning.  We will be heading north on the Chambly Canal through all nine locks  bound for a marina in the town of Chambly.     

Rouses Point, NY

This was our last stop before crossing the border into Canada.  We arrived here on Thursday, July 9 for three nights.

Rouses Point is really just a small village but it definitely has its charm.  It’s only one mile from the Canadian border at the corner of New York, Vermont and Quebec.   Gaines Marina, where we are staying, is attractive, efficient, and well-appointed.  Ninety-nine percent of the people who keep boats here are from Quebec so everyone speaks French  and they are very friendly. 

 

The weather has been ideal – sunny with temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s during the day and very little humidity.  We’ve   spent most of the time on the boat cleaning, repairing, re-arranging, and doing laundry. We’ve used Rouses Point to prepare ourselves for crossing the border and for the guests we’ll be having for 10 days.  Steve and Cathy from Sacramento will be joining us from Montreal to Quebec City.  We’re looking forward to their arrival!

Jonny gave Lynn a break from cooking by preparing two delicious dinners which we enjoyed on the aft deck while watching beautiful sunsets. 

Please note:  We will have more limited communication capabilities while we are in Canada.  Our access to the internet will be limited to marinas that have WIFI.  We request that those who wish to contact us do so by text as we’ll have unlimited text capability.  We have a limited voice plan so our phone conversations will be very short and we won’t have voice mail capability.  Whenever we have WIFI, we’ll check our email and respond as best we can.  Thanks for your understanding.

Middle Bay Anchorage, Lake Champlain

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We continued to meander through Lake Champlain heading for Plattsburg, NY on July 9.  As we got closer to Plattsburg, we changed our minds and decided to find an anchorage instead of staying in another “city”.  There were a couple of bays that were supposed to be especially scenic especially in the area of Treadwell Bay.  The first one we looked at was Deep Bay.  Though it was beautiful, harrow and deep,  there were a lot of boats on moorings  and we were looking for something a little less populated.   We cruised back to the much smaller Middle Bay.      

This was it!  Only  three other boats were anchored there. The bay was quiet, surrounded by trees and the water was very still.  We dropped the hook immediately and settled down for a peaceful evening. 

Jonny did some rowing and of course talked to one of the other boats anchored there.  It seems like most of the boats in this part of the lake are owned by Canadians who enjoy Lake Champlain as much as the Americans do.

We are finalizing our plans for the Canadian portion of our trip.  It begins after our next stop which is Rouses Point, NY,  the last marina we stay in before entering Canada!  

Back to Burlington

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Our return cruise to Burlington on July 6 was a short one.  It only took two hours for us to get there from our Shelburne Bay anchorage which was about eight miles south of Burlington.   We were returning to Burlington to pick up the new anchor and chain we were buying.  What a treat to return to this great town.  The only down side is the marina does not have laundry facilities so we’ll have to wait until we get to the next marina to address our growing pile of dirty laundry!

Jonny washed down the boat, which is much easier now that we are in fresh water.  Afterwards, he rode his bike to the chiropractor since his back is still bothering him (even after 3 visits to said chiropractor).   Lynn luxuriated in some alone time having failed to find a nearby place for a pedicure.

 

That evening we met Susan and Brooke (the two women who we met at lunch on Willsboro Bay).  They had offered to help us in any way and in fact they very kindly picked up the new anchor from West Marine for us and delivered it to our boat.  We then walked over to a cool restaurant near the waterfront called The Skinny Pancake.  We spent a very enjoyable evening getting to know each other, exchanging stories and just having a great time together!  What a treat it is to meet such lovely people.  We hope our paths will cross again in the future. 

On  Tuesday we walked into the center of town where Lynn bought some rain pants and a pair of quick-dry outdoor pants in anticipation of cooler and wetter weather in Canada.  We also did our grocery shopping at City Market which is a very cool co-op style market somewhat like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

Later that afternoon we rode our bikes on a bike trail that wound around the coastline and through some very  pretty parts of town.  We didn’t have time to take it all the way to the bike ferry that connects the trail over Mallots Bay which would have been a lot of fun.  We had to get back because Jonny had yet another appointment with the chiropractor.  

Apparently even men have the  prerogative of changing their minds and that’s exactly what happened with Jonny’s decision about diving for the anchor we lost in Converse Bay.  First he was going to have someone dive for it, then he cancelled the dive, then he found someone else who could dive for it for less money and the dive was on.  To make a long story short, Pierre, the handsome diver, delivered the retrieved anchor  later that evening and  Chip, the handsome marina owner,  delivered the 200 feet of chain we purchased through him.  We spent our last evening in Burlington moving the old (heavy) chain to the aft deck,  loading the new (heavy) chain into the chain locker, and connecting the old anchor to the new chain.  We now feel much more secure about anchoring in the deep rocky terrain of northern Vermont and Canada. 

The following day we took a cab to return the new anchor to West Marine, where we now have several hundred dollars of credit which will probably not take long for us to spend!  We walked to the University of Vermont Medical Center where we caught the free bus (again) back into town.  We had our last meal (for now) in Burlington at a popular and packed breakfast/lunch place called Mirabelle’s.  Another good meal in this very attractive town.  We definitely recommend Burlington as a place to visit especially in the summer!  

Shelburne Island Anchorage, VT

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On the 4th of July, we left Valcour Island for our next port.  Today’s big decision was not to dive for our anchor but instead we would buy a new one.  Jonny found the one that he originally wanted to buy (but didn’t).  It’s now on sale at West Marine for just a little more than the cost of the dive.  We now have even more time to explore beautiful Lake Champlain because we can’t pick up the anchor and chain until Monday or Tuesday.  So we headed up to Willsboro Bay where we had to traverse a narrow passage among the islands on the way to that scenic bay.  We were drawn to explore it because it was described as a dramatically wild, fjord-like body of water unlike any other on the lake.  While we found it to be beautiful and scenic, it did not quite meet our visual image of the guidebook’s description.  We found a little lakeside restaurant that we docked at for lunch.  There, we met two women, Brooke and Susan,  who had also motored there for lunch. They were very interested in our boat and our trip. We invited them onboard to see Zendo up close. They were most appreciative and offered to help us in any way when we returned to Burlington. 

 

As we continued our cruise, we headed to Shelburne Bay and we’re again on the Vermont side, just south of Burlington.  We found a very nice anchorage there and set our hook.  Amazingly, we were the only powerboat in the anchorage and we were surrounded by beautiful sailboats!  As soon as we dropped the hook, it started to rain, then it cleared up and then it got cloudy again.  We were anchored pretty close to a sailboat and due to our lack of a chain we started to drift so close that we almost hit it!  We had to put our fenders out, just in case!  So we pulled the anchor to move to another spot.  As soon as we did, a huge thunderstorm descended on us  and we had to circle around and around until it let up and we could safely anchor. 

The next day we spent walking to and touring Shelburne Farms which had been highly recommended to us.  Shelburne Farms was developed by one of the Vanderbilts and is still a working dairy farm that produces great cheeses, has a lovely inn and a big focus on education and conservation.  They were hosting a concert the night before for the 4th of July but it was rained out due to those massive storms mentioned above.  The tour we took was very informative and the farm with its surrounding countryside, meadows, inn, barns, and gardens were designed by the same architect who designed Central Park in New York City.  It was just beautiful and made for a very enjoyable day!

 

We spent another quiet evening at anchor though we had to move our anchorage yet again because we were anchored too close to a private mooring field instead of the one available to the public!

Valcour Island Anchorage, NY

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Since we need to stay in Lake Champlain a bit longer to wait until our new anchor and chain come in, we took the opportunity to explore some of the attractive anchorages in the central part of the lake.  Upon leaving Burlington, we cruised to nearby Valcour Island, a completely uninhabited island with 7 miles of hiking trails and 1000 acres of publicly owned forest.  It is designated as a New Your State Primitive Area and neither motor vehicles nor bicycles are permitted on the island.  It was also the site of one of the major naval battles of the Revolutionary War where troops led by Benedict Arnold attacked the British who were on their way to Fort Ticonderoga.  Arnold’s attack failed but it was successful in delaying the Royal Army’s march and creating time for Fort Ticonderoga to prepare itself for the British attack.  After losing this battle, the British were forced  to withdraw to Quebec for the winter. That set the stage for their defeat at Saratoga in 1777.  

We anchored off of Valcour Island in lovely Spoon Bay, its shape described well by its name.  We dinghied over to the island and went for a long hike through the woods.  Our goal was to hike a trail across to the other side of the island but due to heavy rains this season, the trail got too muddy for us to proceed beyond a mile or so. 

There were quite a few boats anchored in the bay as it was July 3 and a holiday weekend for Americans and Canadians.  In fact, most of the boats were Canadian; we are only a few miles from the Canadian border.  As more boats arrived, there were two sets of four boats each that rafted onto each other and created their own floating parties!  We learned from talking with some of the Canadians that they prefer to keep their boats in the U.S. because of  Canadian taxes and the great cruising on Lake Champlain.

We spent some time cleaning up all the bugs that had descended on our boat the last couple of days. We’re not sure what they are, but they are a nuisance, though thankfully they don’t bite.  After we finished dinner, we could see some fireworks in the distance.  Lynn was a little disappointed to miss seeing fireworks close up, but we wanted to avoid the madness of hundreds of boats floating next to each other if we had found a close-in viewing area.  At least we saw a few in the distance and our rafted-up neighbors managed to shoot some off as well!