We left Valleyfield on Friday July 7th. This was a motor boat day all day. It took about 9 hours to get through the 2 bridges and 2 locks of the Beauharnois Canal. We fired up the generator leaving the dock and let it run all day. Our motor speed was about 4 knots and the batteries were recharging while we waited for openings. When we got to the first lock, we had to wait about 2 hours. It was down for maintenance and they planned to lock pleasure boats through only once the whole day. There were seven of us going down, but over 50 coming up to see the hydroplane races. After the locks we spent a night anchored in front of a small town called Melocheville. This is only the second time we have stayed at a recommended anchorage, other than the usual well thought out ones. We were unprotected from anything out if the North. Not predicted, but a big storm came up and we were within 40 ' of the lee shore being pounded for about an hour. Luckily we were stuck well. Sailing to our next anchorage at the start of the Montreal Canal, we saw a large American flagged trawler that did not fare so well. It looks like he anchored where we originally planed to and was blown into the marsh. We arrived at the same time as the salvage boat had and 4 hours later, he was pulled free. I would not want to see that bill.
We had a quiet anchorage and motored all day the next day to get through the bridge and two locks. Another uneventful day and motored to our marine at Longueuil. So, we motored for a day, anchored and sailed for a day and then motored for another day. So far we did not have any problems with our motor. We were able to keep things fairly charged up with the generator. But, we did lose a full knot of top end by the time we were heading into Longueuil. We figured we were probably 60 Ah down on the batteries. But, we had enough power to get us in against the cross currents.
Then the fun began. We found out that the WiFi no longer works at this marina. We called the other marinas and they were full. I had calls to make and needed to stay in Montreal. I did a 6 mile walk the next morning to try and find a cellular data card. Rogers was the only one who would do a prepaid plan, but the first store was out. I get all the way back to the boat and I find out you need to be a Canadian resident to use the card. Never told me that at the store. Between my friends form Toronto and Montreal, I was bale to get 1.5G of data. I hope this will last, but may need to jump through hoops to get it to work. It told a day and half to get this setup. Seems to me if you are paying for the data, money is money. Now I know why Verizon does not have any data plans up here. At least not ones with the gigabytes I need.
So far we have used only 2 gallons of gas!
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| Duane enjoying his morning coffee at the helm! |
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| Duane relaxed at the helm. |
Arrived in Montreal on Sunday @ 3:30pm. Montreal is situated on a large island and was built around a small mountain called Mount Royal. No buildings in Montreal can be taller than Mount Royal.
We ventured through Old Montreal which has narrow streets with plenty of cafes, bistros and shops.
On Monday, Roy's friend Fabien, came and picked us up and took us around Old Motreal. We had a wonderful dinner, at The Keg which was a very nice pub. He was very generous and lent us a car for the week.
We visited Norte Dame Bisilica. it was the most amazing church I have ever seen\. The exquisite stained glass windows along with intricate woodwork was just amazing! Below are some pictures, the pictures do it no justice!
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| The organ at Norte Dam |
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| Roy and I in front of City Hall |
Fabien and Maude invited us over for a fun filled night, including a wonderful dinner and great company!
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| Me, Roy, Fabien, Maude |
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| View from Mount Royal |
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| View from Mount Royal |
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Views of Montreal from the ferry. |
You folks are moving right along! Great pics of Montreal. Take care! Love, LW and Pops
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