JULY 16-20 : ONTO CANADA

July 16 :  We spent our last night in the US at Rouse Point.  A small town that is dominated by three marinas.  The predominant residents are Canadians who keep their boats there for the summer so that they can cruise Lake Champlain.

July17 :  A mile up river from Rouse Point is the Canadian border.  After a brief check in with Canadian Customs, we lowered the yellow quarantine flag and were on our way up the Richelieu River.

  After the war of 1812, the Americans began work on a fort which was intended to protect the northern end of Lake Champlain.  However, it was determined that the location of the fort was north of Parallel 45 and therefore in Canada.  The original fort was not completed and a second one-the current Fort Montgomery-seen above was built on American terrain.

Small towns dot the banks of the Richelieu River most of which have prominent churches. 

Our first stop in Canada is the picturesque town of St. Jean sur Richelieu.  We purchased a seasonal pass that allows us to dock along the side the locks.  Here is the Duddon Pilot docked just south of the first lock which is Lock 9 on the Chambly Canal. 

There is some interesting art in the public square of St. Jean.

We walked around the town, found an open air market and purchased local produce.  A bakery provided croissants for breakfast.  Dinner was at the Restaurant Vivaldi which was great especially as it was a porter votre vin-bring your own bottle.

July18:  Before we can enter the first lock on the Chambly Canal, we have to wait for two low bridges to be opened.  The bridge operator is also the lock operator and does not start work until 9:00 a.m..  While we  waited for the bridge opening, another Looper pulled up behind us-Daddy's Dream.  As several of the locks are close together and the canal is very narrow, we will go through the locks together.

Heading down the narrow Chambly Canal.

 The red navigational aid indicates that the channel is to the left of the marker.  Pretty narrow!!

 One of the 10 low bridges that cross the Chambly Canal.  Some are kept in the open position.  Others like this one open on demand or a set schedule.

The bridge operators were prompt about opening the bridges for us.  This one was in a very rural area and required the operator to manually lower the road barrier before opening the bridge. 

Daddy's Dream following behind us.  This gives a good idea of how narrow the canal really is. 

 Farmland borders the canal's banks.

Farmhouse on one bank.

 Going through one of the locks.  These locks are operated by hand by the Canada Parks personnel who are  very polite and helpful.  As several of the locks are close together, the lock personnel call ahead to arrange lockage through the next set of locks.

 Several of the low bridges operate in conjunction with the locks. 

 The last set of three locks are descended together in a staircase fashion.

 Mont St. Hillaire is quite distinctive as seen from the river.

We had planned to stop at this village but the boat traffic in the river was so heavy that we concluded it would make for a rough night.   So we pressed on to the last lock and moored south of Lock St. Ours for the night.  It was a delightful rural setting that made for a quiet night's sleep.

July 19-20:  Our destination today is Sorel which is located on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  As it is a shorter run, we locked through St. Ours lock at 9:30 with one other boat.

 Passing through the Port of Sorel.  As it is right at the juncture with the St. Lawrence Seaway, it is a busy spot with many large ships. 

As our reservations in Montreal are for Sunday, July 21, we plan to stay in Sorel for two nights.  It is a good location to catch up on laundry and other boat chores.  Temperatures have been in the high 80s to 90s every day and a serve thunderstorm watch has been posted so it is a good time to stay put for a couple of nights.