There is a bike/walking path along the entire 10 miles of the Chambly Canal. The lock keepers followed us in a golf cart from one set of locks to the next and then another lock-keeper followed us to the swing bridges to open them as we passed. This is why you could only pass through these locks either at 8:30 or 12:30 each day. The whole lock-thru took four and a half hours with all the workers helping just us three boats. You can see the Richelieu River adjacent to the canal.
The trip down the Chambly Canal and locks has made this whole trip worthwhile! At 8:30 AM a crew of 8-10 canal workers descended upon us..all smiles. They put all three sailboats at the waiting dock-our 42' Catalina, a 34' Tartan, and a 33' Beneteau all with very long masts sticking beyond bow and stern pulpits into a 100 ' longlock, 24'wide. It was a squeeze. The lock depths and doors are all attached to huge gears cranked by hand. One lock went to the next and then to a third followed by a swing bridge. It looked like German engineering to me!
I've seen everything now.....the party boat has a double four poster bed on the roof with curtains around it! And who would try to back up their RV onto a suspended deck so they have a view of the river? Bob, I bet that Greta would not let you pull a stunt like this!!!!
Locking through the St. Lawrence Seaway is a waiting game....how long will the lock-master make a pleasure boat wait before taking his $25-$30.00 fee per lock just for the privilege of a lock-thru? We sat in the Beauharnois lock for over an hour before they closed the gate and locked us through....another hour wait at the St. Catherine Lock...and almost another hour at the final Montreal lock of St. Lambert. We take the advice of a boat captain and anchor in front of the Longueuil Marina. All our stress drains away with some wine and cheese and a view of the Montreal skyline.
We visited the Erie Canal yesterday and it's a fact that several locks are disaster zones.....but nobody is giving out any info about when the canal will re-open. Thanks to Don and Suzi we now have the charts to try the St. Lawrence/ Lake Champlain exit south. On Thursday we saw this beautiful Lake Ontario sunset as we were pulling into Oswego. Today we un-stepped our mast and motored across to Cape Vincent for the night. The adventure to Montreal has begun......
We arrived in Oswego on May 7th and had our mast put up at the Oswego Marina along with two other sailboats. The wind yesterday was gusting to 30 knots so we stayed on the wall in Fulton because it's not fun to lock through in high winds. A gale watch was in effect for Friday-Saturday with winds gusting to 55 knots and 8-10' waves on Lake Ontario. We motored back to Sodus Bay and arrived safely back at Katlynn Marine at 5:00 just 5 hours before the predicted storm hit. Praise God for another safe return home to our fresh water cruising grounds.
Last night we spent our last night with our buddy boat, Mystic, at the free docks in
Waterford. They bought the 10-day Erie Canal Pass and are going to slow down and enjoy themselves! We left this morning at 7:00 to start the Erie Canal. This is the first lock, but it's number is 2 as the Troy Lock used to be number 1 but is now a Federal Lock. We encountered great weather all day except for a downpour near Amsterdam. We locked thru 11 locks and went 50 miles. Ranger is exhausted.....
Ronnie and Dawn met us Sunday at Catskill Creek. They brought all of our wood for our mast which is being taken down at Hop O Nose Marina tomorrow morning at 8:00. We shared dinner together and then we hung out at the dock and enjoyed the 90 degree weather. What a treat!
