July 31 – August 2 Don’s Birthday Weekend in Ottawa
August 1st is Don’s birthday and it’s going to be a doozy because both Kate and Zach arrive on the 31st to celebrate. They get into town before noon on Friday, so we have time to tour the city before our birthday dinner reservations at Joey Rideau’s. Saturday morning, we tour Parliament Hill and surrounding areas, then start the engine and head down the Rideau Canal, starting a new chapter in our blog. We found Ottawa to be a beautiful, people-friendly city full of walking/biking trails, green spaces, art and history. We’ll skip the writing and let the pictures tell the tale.
July 30 – The Flight of Eight to Ottawa city center.
To enter Ottawa’s city center from the downstream side of the Ottawa River, it is necessary to pass through 8 adjoined locks, so that the boat moves directly from 1 lock basin to the next. This is an extra-large version of the Chambly High Dive we experienced early in the month. We arrive at the blue line (dockage reserved for boats waiting to lock) at 830am with 4 other vessels already in line to enter for the 9am lift. It takes a full 2.5 hours to make this climb, so getting in on the first lift is highly desirable. We are met by an energetic lock master who interviewed all of us, deftly transitioning between French and English. After carefully examining our boats and getting our dimensions, he announced that all 5 of us could fit. Talk about advanced head math! We were last in the queue, but he put us and another boat of similar size in front of the pack, one on each side of the lock. The remaining 3 would stack in behind us. OH boy! After what amounted to an NFL huddle of boat crews we all start our engines. A large Four Winns goes first. They have a bit of trouble getting parallel to the wall, but they sort it out in short order. We’re next. In our experience, lock wall-cables are attached at the top of the wall and hang free. When entering from the low side of the lock, this makes it easy to grab a line at midships and walk it back, thus controlling the stern. These cables were attached at both top and bottom which called for some fancy work with the boat hook, but we figured out an effective system. Next to enter were 2 large express cruisers, one on each wall, and then the coup de gras: the smallest boat was directed to slide right in the middle of the pack and tie to the boats on each side. Now packed in like a nautical jigsaw puzzle, the gates closed behind us and the lock master addressed us from atop the closed doors, like a high school band director.
The lift was smooth and we repeated the process of loading and lifting 7 more times. Manning the stern, I was breaking a sweat. This set of locks sits directly adjacent to Parliament Hill on one side and the upscale hotel, Chateau Laurier on the other. As we went along, we acquired a group of multi-national people who followed us up the lock, cheering us along. It’s a bit hard to explain, but when entering a lock from the low side, it is impossible to see what is above and in front of you. Each time you rise above the wall, it’s like entering a new world and I have grown to love this feeling. Here, we were lifted into a fairy tale with Chateau Laurier rising above us, the bridges, the crowds of people, the bag pipes playing. Welcome to Ottawa!
We exited the last lock, found a perfect place on the wall within sight of parliament and out of the major foot traffic corridor and tied up. Arrived! Just as we were finishing with our lines, a couple wandered up. “You guys from Shady Side? We’re from Galesville!” What are the odds that we would tie up in Ottawa, Canada and immediately meet folks from 5 miles down the road and just across the river from our home?? Really, they are from Connecticut but purchased their super cool Californian 40, Millenium Falcon, from a friend we’ve known for many years in Galesville. We were so happy to meet them and spent an evening on our back deck swapping stories and laughing. It was a good day, and we are ready for the kid’s arrival tomorrow!
July 24 – 29 Carillon Lock to Ottawa
We have not been to a marina in a while, so we pull into a little place called the Golden Anchor in the town of Hawkesbury on the south side of the river. The center of the Ottawa River is the provincial boundary between French-speaking Quebec to the North and English-speaking Ontario on the South shore. In Hawkesbury we learn that most of the boats in the marina are Quebecois so the primary language there is French and we had fun giving one very enthusiastic Quebecois a tour of our boat. We got dinner at the recommended Giant Pig. Don ordered a 3-piece fried chicken dinner and was served 3 giant fried chicken breasts and about 10 pounds of fries; I had an epic smoked meat and fried pickle poutine– it was awesome. We continue West the next day and pass by the Montebello Chateau resort on the Quebec side. This is worth looking up on the internet. It has a rich history and in addition to being a resort, includes a wildlife preserve, a fish hatchery, old growth forest and miles of trails for hiking and cross-country skiing.
The first people – the Algonquin Nation in this part of Canada – named the Ottawa River Kichi Sibi or Great River as it was central to their way of life, culture, sustenance and commerce. As we continue west, we marvel at the networks of islands and the wildness of the place. It is a short flight of imagination to see elaborately crafted birch bark canoes drifting through the water. When we reach the Grande Presqu’ile we turn into a narrow channel that leads to a spur of the river behind the island and near the small town of Papineauville to anchor for the night. We get a bit of attention from paddle borders and fisher folk. Seems we remain a bit of an oddity with our anchoring habit. A friendly family in a pontoon boat stopped by to make sure we were OK. I know I’m sounding like a broken record using the phrase ‘charming town’, but here we are again. Papineauville fits the bill.
We are purposefully meandering up the river – soaking it in. We plan to meet kids Kate and Zach in Ottawa on July 31st which means we have a few days to travel a short distance. From Papineauville, we wander a bit further up the river and find an anchorage behind Fox Point – once again all by ourselves near a community park, a causeway and a ferry landing. There is not a lot of walking to be had here, but we meet a kid with a serious passion for fishing who proudly shows us a nice smallmouth that he caught, and an elderly gentleman who offered us (including Spot) fresh cheese curd from Quebec. Spot was a big fan.
The next day brings us to the Ottawa city limits. This is a milestone and we are giddy that we’ve gotten this far. We pass the waterfalls, the prime minister’s residence, and soak in the skyline. There are crazy amphibious tour buses, round tiki bar boats and the typical Canadian Navy of jet skis and pontoon boats buzzing about. We drop our anchor in a cove across from the waterfalls. Don installs a trip line on the anchor because of the likelihood of logs on the bottom. We are within a quick dinghy ride to a sandy beach which also provides access to the Gatineau Park trail system. This is over 200km of trails on the Quebec side of the river in Gatineau, not to mention prime swimming for Spot. We spent one night at this anchorage and then, with the weather turning ugly, we pull into the Portage Champlain Yacht club for a 2-night stay at a reasonable price of $2.50 per foot. Not only does this make life easier in a rainstorm (no bailing the dinghy to walk the pup), but we can also fill water tanks, pump out and do a real grocery run ahead of Kate and Zach’s arrival. We also learn that for the entire month of August, Ottawa has fireworks shows each Wednesday and Saturday night. It’s an international competition where a different country runs each display. This evening’s show was the French entry, and here we are with a front row seat! We signed up for the $10 yacht club dinner and met some of the members. It’s a festival atmosphere ahead of the fireworks. Of course, the weather descended with a vengeance on the first boom, but the pyrotechnic crew persevered with a moist celebration. It was beautiful. However, if I were France, I’d ask for a re-do!
July 23 – 24 The Lake of Two Mountains to Carillon
After a day of stormy weather, we say goodbye to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and lock up to a beautiful day on the Lac de Deux Montagnes. This is another sailor’s dream with distant shorelines of parks, small towns and a national park with a gorgeous beach. As we soak in the sun and the sights, we are excited and a bit nervous as the most daunting lock waits just around the corner: The Carillon guillotine. This is a monster feat of engineering that bypasses a hydroelectric dam. Instead of doors that open, the Carillon has a slab that drops from above and the lift is a whopping 65 feet. It is early afternoon when we arrive and tie to the wall on the low side. We look on, amazed as the gate rises and the lock regurgitates a 32-foot sailboat with the rig up. Spot relishes a good swim and long walks through the park and associated trails; we hike to the top of the dam stare down into the lock and I get a little queasy. Two lock workers arrive at the close of the day to say that they will be ready at 9am to bring us in. They didn’t seem nervous at all, which I took as a good sign. We enter the lock on schedule. It’s amazing. The two young women manning the station tell us that they descend 111 steps to the bottom of the lock, the good news being that they get a lift back up from the water itself. It takes about 30 minutes to make the rise and voila – we have cleared the last lock until we reach the Flight of Eight at the city of Ottawa.
July 20-24 St Catherine Lock to Saint Anne de Bellevue
We are scheduled for an 11am lift at Saint Catherine Lock so we take advantage of the time to walk Spot into the charming village of La Prairie. There is an old world feel here with modest but handsome detail-rich historic homes. The town is a study on blending new construction with the old in a way that everything fits together, and in the application of mixed density housing. Small apartment flats were gracefully interspersed with single family homes creating a beautiful and welcoming community.
We clear the St. Catherine lock easily and find ourselves relaxed enough to enjoy the party like atmosphere during the lift. On exiting the lock, it is a short run through the remainder of the canal after which the St Lawrence widens, opening into the expansive Lac Saint-Louis which flanks the South bank of Montreal. I will admit that before this trip we had not fully internalized Montreal was an Island. Nor were we quite expecting the vast expanses of fresh water up here. It is a veritable inland sea, and we rolled merrily along into a stiff wind and a boisterous chop excited to be Ottawa bound and – don’t tell Nereus – wishing we had a sailboat. What a day! On entering Lac Saint-Louis from the locks, vessels traveling on Saint Lawrence toward the next series of locks and ultimately to Lake Ontario follow a Southwesterly course. We, on the other hand, take a sharp right and head for the north shore to pick up the channel that will take us Westward into the Ottawa River. The ensuing zig zag through the Lake is one example of our red and green markers switching sides multiple times within a few hours as we repeatedly transitioned from leaving to returning. Our homemade marker symbols on the helm were a tremendous help. Thanks again to Normand for the tip! By the time we reach the Northwest corner of the Lac, we are ready for some calmer water. Spot has had enough of this rocking and rolling stuff. The entrance to the Ottawa River narrows between Ile Perrot and the very Southwestern tip of Montreal. This is Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the location of our next lock which will lift us into the Lac de Deux Montagnes (Lake of Two Mountains). It is getting late and it is still very windy, so we elect to tie at the lock wall. The friendly Canadians who were in the lock with us at Saint Catherine helped catch our lines. Sainte Anne is wonderful; so much so, that we stayed for our allotted 2 nights and asked permission to stay one more. Restaurants, bakeries, shops, a jazz concert in the canal-side park, lovely walking through beautiful neighborhoods and a grocery run kept us in place. Spot also loved Sainte Anne. There was a long wharf where we could let him run because there was nowhere for him to adventure off to. He joyfully put on the jets and got in some cardio. He also successfully distracted nearly the entire staff of a restaurant where we enjoyed dinner on the patio as they left their duty stations to come apply affection. Lucky dog.
July 19 continued – Between the Locks
We are determined to get ourselves into old Montreal despite having passed by the old port because of the current on that side of the river. So, when we leave the Saint Lambert lock we decide to stop alongside the canal, before the Saint Catherine Lock, in a town called La Prairie – just a 20-minute drive from Montreal’s old port. This is a bit of a flyer from the canal playbook but was a recommendation of our Canadian friend back in Champlain. This area was not surveyed on our charts which made us hesitate, but it is charted on Navionics. Between that and our friend’s local knowledge, we decided to take advantage of our 3.5 foot draft and go for it. We found consistent 6-7 feet of water throughout the basin and we anchored off the town park in a cranking west wind. It’s still before noon, so we mobilize, get ourselves to shore and order up a Lyft for the short ride into old Montreal. It is Sunday and the day is sparkling so the Old Port is jumping! We stroll through the charming streets and window shop. We had Spotty with us and could not find a pup-friendly restaurant, so we found a little market and purchased the makings for a picnic which we ate in Victoria Square. On the ride back to La Prairie, our Uber driver had recently moved to Montreal from Nova Scotia but was originally from West Africa. We hit it off with this young man and laughed the whole ride back. He was amazed by our boat trip and hooted, “you are oversimplifying!” when I explained that we came up the Hudson, into Champlain then into the Richelieu. At the top of the Richelieu we banged a left on the St Lawrence and here we are!! He also wanted to know if we had a lot of guns. We said, “nope, no guns.” He said, “Really? I am against violence of all sorts but if I had to live in the US, I would buy myself a lot of guns. You guys are crazy down there. Everybody is shooting all the time – that’s what I see on the news.” We explained that it really isn’t that crazy where we live, but that as a country we do have a gun violence problem.” This led to a discussion about the news in general and how it can leave people with incomplete or mistaken impressions if only a partial or unbalanced picture is provided.
July 19 Good Morning Montreal!
We lift our anchor early to make our 9am lift at Saint Lambert, the first lock of the seaway. It’s a short run along the small boat channel before it bends west, providing a spectacular view of the Montreal skyline and then dumping us back out into the main shipping lanes for the approach to the lock. We are pleased that we are now within spitting distance of the first lock and have not encountered a current of more than 2 knots. This is because once we crossed the river, we stayed close to that Eastern shore, away from Montreal where we understand the current can reach 5 knots near the Lachine rapids. The Seaway Locks are super organized. They’ve got a website where you can reserve your transit, pay your $25 fee, and get all the instructions you need. In the lock choreography, pleasure craft are separated from ships. This seems obvious, but I was harboring anxiety about being squashed in a lock with a large freighter. There are several set lift times throughout the day: be there or be square. We approach Saint Lambert early for our scheduled lift and sure enough, the posse of pleasure craft arrives, some of them familiar from locks along the Chambly. Being new to the Seaway game, we hang back and enter behind a group of fancy Canadian-flagged express cruisers. So, in we go, the walls are very high. There are people up there in hard hats, yelling instructions and dropping lines from 30 feet above your head. Yikes! We are directed to tie ‘on the shoulder’ or outboard of a US boat – a Nordic Tug 42 which is attached to the wall. We had previously met this captain up at the Saint Ours Lock. Nice guy hailing from New Mexico and travelling alone, which is prohibited in the Seaway Locks – you must have at least 2 people. Being short of crew did create a bit of an issue as we tried to pass lines in a hurry, and once again Nereus’ chubby aft end swung into the center of the lock. We got lots of friendly coaching from the Canadians and I jumped over to our friend’s boat, to help handle lines along the wall during the lift. We reach the top, I jump back aboard Nereus, the gates open and out we go.
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July 17 – 18 The St. Lawrence
We cast our lines early for a short run to Sorel- Tracy at the junction with the St. Lawrence. This industrial shipping town will be the Northern most point on our journey this summer. Our goal is to make the majority of our 40- mile run up the St. Lawrence to Montreal while the weather is calm. For this final section of the Richelieu, we are running North parallel to and almost in sight of the St. Lawerence. At Sorel-Tracy, we’ll make a hairpin turn and begin our trip back South and upriver, against the current. Meanwhile, on the Richelieu we’ve got a good push and are travelling over 7 knots at low RPM and we are curious what will happen when the two rivers meet. We’ve been thinking A LOT about the St Lawrence: the current, the shipping, the sea state and what kind of challenges the big river might throw at us. On this day, the waterway was much more benign than expected and far more beautiful than we’d imagined. It’s also BIG! We were spit out of the Richelieu like a watermelon seed and maintained “speed” for a good distance as we crossed the river to the Western shore. Here we picked up the small craft channel – well outside the shipping lane. The water is clear, there are stately homes interspersed with beach cottages and people enjoying the water. The wind and water are calm. The current made itself known as our speed overground decreased to just over 4 knots. As always, we’ve got no issues with slow. I head back to the galley and make some banana blueberry bread – delish! I love my galley because I have a panoramic view even as I cook.
As the day rolls by, we identify the town of Varennes on the Eastern shore of the river as a stopping point. There is no marina and we were hoping we could anchor close enough to town to get the dinghy and Spot to shore. To get to Varennes we need to ‘cross over’ from the Western shore to the East, where the shipping channel hugs the bank. This is the most challenging part of our St. Lawrence run. Both of us were at the helm station to keep a careful eye on the charts and steerage as we picked our way through a maze of shoals and small islands. I would not want to do this in heavy weather. Having transited the mid-river obstacle course, we turn our nose upriver and hug the right side of the shipping channel because here we have room to move over for ships. The left side of the channel is just rocks against the shoreline. Reaching Varennes, we look both ways, cross the channel and approach town. It is WINDY. We cannot get close to shore due to shoal water, there’s a ferry running, large ships in proximity, and stiff current. It’s no go for anchoring. We move the boat just a quarter mile upriver and anchor in the shelter of Varennes Island – a bird sanctuary. Now we have a little island between us and the ships, and the worst of the wind. There’s just enough MUDDY beach to walk Spot and let him do some swimming. Not ideal, but the sunset couldn’t be beat.
We rise early next morning. The weather is predicted to turn nasty. We head upriver using the small craft channel which has a string of islands between us and the shipping lane. On the advice of our friend from Montreal, who we met back in Champlain, we reach the island of Boucherville and take a right into a small canal that bisects the island, which is a public park and a fancy golf course. We need to lower our mast to get under a bridge at the entry of the canal. We find ourselves all alone in a peaceful anchorage. Just a few intrepid golfers riding a little ferry back and forth. We understand it can get really crowded here but the impending weather provided us with lovely solitude. Dogs are allowed only on the Southern side of the park and off we go for a solid hike. It’s about time. We smile at signs labelling poison ivy along. The Canadians really are so nice! Returning to the boat, we see an imposing black inflatable circling Nereus. It looks big, fast and dangerous – it’s the police. We think ‘uh oh’. As we approach in our dinghy, they say “Francais? English?” Under normal circumstances, I would say ‘Francais’ because I love practicing my French, but this is not the time to play:
“Is this your boat?”, they ask
“Yes”
“You are from the US?”
“Yes”
“How long will you be in Canada?”
“Ummm, another month? But things can change”
“Where are you going?”
“Ottawa.”
And then the guy behind the wheel said: “That is a really cool boat, what is it? How old is it? How long did it take to get here? You should go to Georgian Bay. It’s spectacular. Ottawa, it’s alright but if I were you, I’d go straight to Huron.” At this point our dinghy had drifted to them and we held on to their boat. Relieved that we were not under arrest, we had a nice chat. Spot got lots of ear scratches and was thinking the inflatable looked like a better deal than our little dinghy and the officers took it with good humor. Then, with a hearty ‘Bon Voyage’, off they zoomed.
July 16 – 17 The Richelieu River to the St Lawrence Seaway
By road, Chambly is just a 30-minute drive from Montreal which made us briefly fantasize about renting a trailer for Nereus and hauling her over there. But we continued the long way around, leaving the Chambly basin, running North on the Richelieu. The river quickly becomes rural and a little curvy with Mont Saint-Hilaire continuing to gaze steadfastly from the horizon. The distance is interspersed with small villages, each with its own church with ornate spires and steeples. It seems, back in the day, there may have been competition among towns to build the biggest and most beautiful steeple. Each village has a place for passing boats to tie up. We take advantage of this at St Marc to ride out a powerful squall blowing down the river. With water steaming on the streets after the rain, we take a quick walk around the small town and delight at the old homes, creative flowers and a poster advertising the summer concert series, complete with an Elvis impersonator. Or maybe the King lives in this bucolic corner of the world? We end our day transiting the last lock on the Richelieu – St Ours. This is the first lock which had a floating dock inside the lock chamber which we thought was amazing. No more fending off concrete walls. However, those who have seen the movie The Incredibles, may remember the credo – NO CAPES! This is, in fact, a universal law of physics. We had tied our fenders low to accommodate the floating lock and tied the bottom line of our forward fender back to our rail, creating a loop right against our hull. This loop was in exactly the right place to catch one of the cleats on the floater as we entered the lock and the result was a tiny bit dramatic. All’s well, that ends well. One of the young lock tenders summed up: “This is a sturdy boat!” Another lesson learned. One more thing about the Parks Canada lock tenders: Spot LOVES them. They always have treats and he now associates locks and people in green uniforms with a really good day! There is not much in the way of civilization at St Ours except for a small coffee shop/deli and a well-groomed campground with walking trails. And on a fishy note – Saint Ours locks around a dam which sports an impressive Vianney-Legendre fish ladder as well as a pass for American eels. The ladder was put in place in 2001 and is the only ladder of its type that supports multiple species including American shad, lake sturgeon, river redhorse and the endangered Copper Redhorse. Back at the lock, we meet a family – grandparents with their 2 grandchildren who had just arrived on their small speed boat from Montreal for an overnight camping trip. They looked windblown and the adults relieved to be tied. It has been relentlessly windy the last week. They said the St. Lawrence was very rough, but the winds were forecast to lay down in the morning. Good news for us – as that will be our day!
July 15 – The Chambly Canal.
The lock master informed us yesterday that we would have priority in the lock this morning, so we are up, off the dock and ready for a 9am bridge lift; and then into the lock. What we were not prepared for was the posse of boats that appeared – seemingly out of nowhere, the wind and the current. Nereus for all her loveliness is not a nimble lass – especially when you put wind on her beam. The VHF is exploding with rapid French between the lock master and the gang in the basin as Don gamely maneuvers so we don’t hit walls, rocks or other boats. Our friends around us dance in place with bow thrusters, stern thrusters and dual screws and they’re not sure they appreciate the simple mechanics on Nereus. And then we hear the lock master on the VHF in heavily accented english: “Nereus, is that you treading water below the bridge?” Did the language barrier cause that choice of words? We respond in the affirmative, chuckling. They advise us to pass the other boats in the basin, proceed under the lifted bridge and enter the lock first. We feel so honored! The locking here is easy with all locks running on the power of youth – college kids who staff the locks and turn the cranks by hand. They are a fun and athletic bunch. As we lower, we are told that the 12 locks will open in succession, but we must maintain an average of speed of 5.5 knots. There is no passing in this very narrow canal so when the gates open, off we go – feeling like a mother duck -leading our little parade into the Chambly.
The ride along the Chambly was gorgeous as we wound our way through farm fields, small towns, parks and neighborhoods. Every so often, we’d pass a hockey net tied to the bank. No doubt THIS is a place where great ice hockey players are born. The canal culminates with what I nicknamed the Chambly high dive. This is a staircase of 3 locks, dropping you from one, directly to the next down approximately 24 feet. Handling lines on the bow, and Nereus being the first in line, I enjoyed a precipitous view down the locks and into the basin. The parkland around the locks is gorgeous dotted with tiny historic lock houses and festooned with flags. The Chambly basin stretches out – bright blue and dotted with small boats, paddle boards and water-born fun toys of all description. To the east, the Richelieu spills into the Basin over rapids passing by the imposing Fort Chambly. As many things in this area of North America, the Fort has a long and complicated history but was originally built in the mid 1600’s and has been occupied by the French, the British and American Revolutionaries. To the North, Mont St-Hilaire rises 400 meters from the St. Lawrence plain. This hill that was formed roughly 125 million years ago will stay with us as we complete our journey on the Richelieu and well into the St. Lawrence. The town of Chambly is so fun, we stay a couple of nights anchored in the basin. We swim and find local beer and cheese platters on an outdoor patio. In the evening we watch the local hooligan teenagers take over the lock and use it as a high dive. We listen to a concert in the town park. The weather is windy, but mild. We almost hate to leave.
July 14 – St Jean sur Richelieu
Wildfire smoke descends as we start up the Richelieu. The weird, filtered sunlight and haze smudge the edges of this rural section of river as we head for our first stop at St. Jean sur Richelieu. Here we will spend the night before transiting the first lock on the Chambly Canal which bypasses the Richelieu’s tumble toward the sea. There will be 12 locks in relatively quick succession.
Upon arrival, we find plenty of room at a beautiful floating dock on the town wall. We are met by a friendly francophone to catch our lines. As we settle in, a Parks Canada employee comes by to chat. We learn that all the historic locks in Canada are part of Parks Canada: the Chambly Canal, Richelieu locks, Ottawa River locks, the Rideau Canal; as well as several national parks. And so we sprung for the $400(US) seasonal mooring pass that allows us to tie at any lock/town wall for 48 hours or more if we talk to the lock master. Given that a night in a marina will generally be at least $100, this is a deal we cannot pass up. There are no services such as power, water and pump out but that suits us fine as we tend to limit our marina stays/visits to once every 10 days or so. That’s the beauty of solar power, large water/holding tanks/and a slow travel pace that sips fuel.
As we orient to St. Jean, the weather is turning stormy and the lock master offers to lift the draw bridge that immediately precedes the lock so we can be closer to the lock and more protected. With the wind building, we decline. Anxious to explore town, we stroll the main street which is lined with lovely restaurants, shops and historic architecture – flowers abound. The weather is hot, muggy with a storm in the air; we can smell the wildfire smoke so there is only one option: ice cream. We find a creamery and order cones, Don waiting outside with Spot. The proprietor asks in heavily accented english: “Does your dog like ice cream?” I’m thinking “Yes, but dat ees not my dog”, but I say, “He does!” And just like that she serves up a cone of vanilla soft serve, marches out the door and administered the treat to Spot who is now convinced this is the best day ever! Having had dessert first, we head to the boat, clean up and set off for dinner. We find a place with an outdoor patio and finish our burgers and beer just in time for the first raindrops. We trot back to the boat and the skies open. Torrential rain, thunder, lightening – the works. A little sailboat tied on the other side of the canal was full of young folks. They came skipping back shouting in glee and every single one of them escaped down below in that little boat – had to be like a human Tetras game down there!
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July 13 – Meeting Real Mountie
Our last stop on Lake Champlain and in the US is the border town of Rouses Point, NY. This is a highlight of the trip because we pulled into the marina in this small town just a few slips away from one of our Pilgrim 40 tribe: Real Mountie. We were warmly greeted by owner Normand, his partner Johanne, and their crew dog Maybec. Also among the welcome committee was Marty – a gregarious and generous Canadian/American who offered a ride to the grocery to bolster our supplies. When I returned from store, Don was installed on the rear deck of Real Mountie. I wandered over with Spot who was happy to meet and settle in with Maybec. The two dogs combined efforts in their longing stares hoping one of us would offer a nibble of cheese, but alas, their efforts fell short. Happy hour commenced and stories were exchanged. Normand is one of those people you feel honored to meet. He is retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was in the security service, protecting the likes of Queen Elizabeth and other dignitaries. He has cruised his Pilgrim for over a decade and is a fountain of information. Real Mountie is a beauty. She’s got the full back porch in place with screens and a custom table which seated us all comfortably. We felt at home and as if we were with old friends. Johanne and Normand wandered over to check out Nereus. We appreciated the opportunity to exchange notes on everything from engine room to galley. One trick we learned was to place moveable red and green markers by our helm. As we transit through the different waterways, we are sometimes returning from the sea and other times leaving – and it’s not always obvious which is which. Having the moveable markers by our helm provides an incredibly helpful reminder of where our markers should fall as we navigate new waterways – sometimes having to make quick decisions.
July 12 – 13 Champlain Part II
The winds in Champlain blow predominantly from the South. The lake kicks up quickly so it’s a good idea to anchor where you have shelter, which can limit your options. We have a couple days of northerly breeze which means we can anchor with Southern Exposure. Thus, we discover White’s (public) Beach at the tip of South Hero also known as Grand Isle. We could hardly believe our luck as we dropped the hook just yards from the beach, with a splendid view over the Inland Sea and Mt Mansfield, Vt to the East and Whiteface Mt, NY to the west. Even luckier, we spied on Google Maps a winery (Snow Farm) a short 10-minute walk from the beach. Into the dinghy we go with Spot on the bow. Turns out, South Hero has a lot going on: there is a marshy forest where color bird houses adorn every tree and dinosaurs prowl in the understory. And there are the fairy castles! These ornate, miniature stone wonders are the work of a Swiss-immigrant farmer who built the castles in the early part of the 1900’s as a tribute to his home country. The bird houses are a mosquito control project launched by a resident many years ago. Tree swallows, love mosquitos and, apparently, brightly colored apartments. We understand there is no vacancy in the tree swallow housing department and mosquitoes did seem a bit rare. The carved wooden dinos are the side project of the talented bird house-building resident. You can read about all of this in Atlas Obscura – who knew? After beverages at the winery, we wandered back to the beach where we met a geology professor from UMass Amherst. He was very interested in the electric outboard on our dinghy and gamely swam out to our boat at anchor to take a look. He also made sure we knew that we would be passing by Isle La Motte which is home to part of the world’s oldest exposed coral reef. This Ordovician reef dates from 450 to 480 million years ago and contains fossils of tropical sponges, gastropods and cephalopods. We didn’t get ashore on La Motte to see any of this, but it was cool to know it’s there. We also had a visit, by kayak, from a sailor from Montreal who was aboard his Gemini Catamaran with his family. He generously took the time to review our charts of the St Lawrence River and provide us with much-needed local knowledge of the river between Sorel-Tracy and Montreal. This was a real confidence booster for us!
With winds shifting North, we left our little paradise and moved west to Valcour Island. We anchored on the west side of the island in a little cove, sheltered on 3 sides. First priority: a swim. Second priority: a long hike around Valcour Island. Spot needs to stretch his legs! As we took to the trails, the water-borne revelers on the shore disappeared and we had the deeply wooded interior to ourselves, except for the ghosts circulating around Bluff Point Light and the decaying home of wealthy Harvard paleontologist Henry Seton who established his camp on Valcour in 1929. These are the last 2 structures on the island. The real ghosts, however, are those from one of the United States’ first free love colonies that established itself on Valcour in 1874. Seriously, I’m not making this up. The Dawn Valcour community was first populated by 12 utopian socialists from Chicago –“The men having the good quality of industry, and the women the necessary gift of beauty.” The Bulington Sentinel wrote about the commune as it was being developed: “Harmony, peace, and happiness are to be promoted. Any discourteous use of language or manner will be obnoxious.” Say it isn’t so!! They were very ahead of their time in 1874, but the commune barely lasted a year. You can read about it all here:
FREE LOVE ON VALCOUR ISLAND – A Utopian dream turns nightmarish | Best of Burlington
We laugh a lot (and sometimes bicker) about the trials and tribulations of managing a boat as a couple and we see examples every day. We were bobbing in the water around our boat, nursing sore muscles from our 18K-step day and closing out our stay at Valcour. Our little cove was emptying out. A good size cruiser exited past us at a good clip. He was on the bow working the anchor. She was driving. As they blasted past us, we heard him calmly say to his partner: “No way you’re in neutral”. And we had a good chuckle as they made their way into the broad waters of the lake. All is right with the world.
July 6-11 Hanging in Burlington
“A society with too few independent thinkers is vulnerable to control by disturbed and opportunistic leaders. A society which wants to create and maintain a free and democratic social system must create responsible independence of thought among its young.” It turns out that Burlington and the surrounding area produced quite a few historical figures whose influence persists today. One of them was the author of this quote, John Dewey, born in Burlington in 1859. As we stood in the early morning reading this quote displayed on the Burlington waterfront, we started thinking again about the importance of learning from history.
It’s been a great week. We are quite smitten with Burlington. Plus, we had more time with Alex and Marc, a trip to Stowe with friend Diane to have lunch with her and husband Dean on their spectacular patio in the mountains. We welcomed Cheri and granddaughter Sadie on board for 2 nights and a trip to Willsboro Bay on the NY side of the lake. Sadie, being new to the cruising boat life was alert and inquisitive often asking; “Is that normal?” Two weeks ago, Don successfully flushed the coolant system in the engine to eliminate any remaining contaminants that could cause issues in the future. As a result, we had a number of 1-gallon jugs of old anti-freeze sealed and stowed in our lazarette. Sadie spied these when we opened the hatch to get the swim ladder and exclaimed, “Is that what I think it is??!!” We were thinking, “yes, obviously its antifreeze”, but Sadie was thinking that this was the method of disposing of our – well, liquid human waste, aka pee. Being the ultimate in potty humor, we laughed about this for the next 2 days. Cheri graciously transported the antifreeze home to dispose of at a sanctioned disposal site and Sadie proudly texted to say the pee had been delivered. It was great having these two on board. Cheri is a great friend, and we loved meeting Sadie who brought a breeze of fresh air. Burlington was also the first place we displayed the full Fegley boating circus putting 2 adults, a dog and an electric bike in the dinghy. My turn to head to the grocery while Don and Spot had a date at the dog park. No injuries and food procured. We leave Burlington well provisioned and with full hearts.
June 29 – July 5th Champlain part I
Crown Point
The gates of the Whitehall lock opened to reveal beautiful lower Champlain. We chugged through the serpentine channel with towering bluffs, past Mount Defiance and Fort Ticonderoga. We spent our first night on the hook just off Crown Point where the distance between New York and Vermont shrinks to a stone’s throw. There are 2 forts here: French and English. The French built their Fort Saint-Frederic in the 1730’s during the French Indian war but found themselves continually harassed by the British. In 1759, the French burned their fort and left. With the French departed, the British proceeded to build “the greatest military installation raised in N. America.” In 1773, a chimney fire spread to the powder magazine and obliterated British fort leaving a skeleton force in place. In 1775, 100 Green Mountain boys took over, capturing 111 cannons and moving 29 of them South to defend Boston Harbor. Benedict Arnold, when he was still a friendly, used this fort to stage his Lake Champlain Navy. What’s left today are spectacular ruins on a stunning point of land, a memorial lighthouse, a beautiful campground, walking trails and the perfect anchorage for a swim call. Spot got to try his swim ladder for the first time. Success = Happy Dog!
Vergennes
We head North and take a right. We zig zag around a bit trying to find the cryptic entrance to Otter Creek which winds 9 miles into town. We felt we’d been transported to the Amazon – deep murky water laced with ubiquitous bugs. Thank goodness for Nereus’s screen doors! We parked at the town floating docks – a bit rickety but just fine with fresh water on hand and a roaring dam and waterfall providing both ambience and air conditioning. The dam was once a hydro electric plant. Before that, it was a lumber mill that supplied the wood for 9 ships that Lt. McDonough built in Vergennes and deployed in the war of 1812 battle of Plattsburgh Bay. Modern Vergennes is a super cute and happening village – cool shops ranging from couture to antiques. Our second night here, my cousin Alex and husband Marc appeared at the town wharf, and we convened for dinner at a marvelous little French Bistro – called the black sheep. Ice cream being a necessity for dessert, we marched up the block only to find the local shop (Lu-Lu) had just closed for the night. As we stood staring forlornly at the doors, the proprietor unlocked and invited us in. Waffle cones for all!
Burlington
It’s July 2nd and HOT, so we fled Vergennes for a slip in Burlington where we could plug in and crank up the AC. We were disappointed to arrive inside the Burlington breakwater and see bright green water full of tiny, green flecks and swirls of green on the surface. The fellow who helped catch our lines called it pollen. Not so. Burlington was experiencing a full-blown cyanobacteria bloom– blue green algae which can kill a dog quickly and isn’t great for humans either. So, no swimming for us or for Spotty. On the 3rd of July, we had to vacate the marina as all slips were reserved for the fireworks that night. We left early and dropped the hook with 4 or 5 other boats in the cove just North of town where there’s a public beach. Kids were swimming when we first pulled in but staff quickly asked everyone to get out of the water due to the bloom. Hence a quiet beach on a beautiful holiday. Peaceful – or so we thought. By 5pm there were at least 200 boats in the cove with us with accompanying Jet skis, paddle boards, hydroplaning skateboard thingies, and other assorted oddities. A party was getting started. Prevalent language: Francais!
To stretch our legs ahead of the fireworks, we hiked over the headland to a place where all the early twenty-somethings in Burlington seem to congregate. In flip flops and very abbreviated clothing, beers in hand they somehow scale impossibly steep rocks and hurl themselves off the cliffs into the lake. One concerned youngster saw Don, Spot and I approaching and said ‘careful, it’s really steep’. Yeah, definitely too steep for Spot – we turned around. Instead, we scrambled down a trail to a rugged beach with clear water and launched Spot to the delight of the kids basking like seals on the rocks around the cove.
Fireworks provided entertainment for the evening. Happy 250 USA!!
Georgia
On the 4th we moved Nereus back to a mooring inside Burlington harbor, so she’d be secure while we ventured out to Georgia, VT to stay at Alex and Marc’s beautiful farm. This place is magical – made more so, by time with family. Spot hit it off right away with his pup cousin, Miss Penny and had a grand time touring the meadows, woods, nooks and crannies of the property. Friends joined for dinner and the party commenced. The two kids in attendance did an excellent job of marshalling the adults into the most intense game of Jenga ever played. It was France vs USA and the winner (that was our team USA) got an awesome American Flag paper plate. Friend David made us cheer by blowing up some almost professional fireworks over the lake. Reprise – Happy 250 USA!!
New Pilgrim Friends
With 4th of July in the rear view but the heat still in place, we move the boat off our Burlington mooring and head South into Shelburne where the water is bloom-free and just right for swimming. On the way, we pass Champlain Yacht Club where Don spies another Pilgrim – the beautiful Miss Lily. She’s hull 45, the last one made. Turns out, the owner lives on the lake and saw us splashing around. He came out for a visit. And thus, we made the acquaintance of Fritz Horton, who connected us with Normand and Johanne Vallee of the Pilgrim Real Mountie, who connected us with Ed Muir of the Pilgrim Encore and the author of ‘A Squadron of Characters’. We feel warmly welcomed to the small family of Pilgrim owners!
