July 12, 2013 Day 51  Chambly Canal

St. Jean Lock Wall
St. Jean, Quebec, Canada

Dr. Seuss was right again…“I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true that bang ups and hang ups can happen to you.” From  “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

Bienvenue!

Well, this has been quite a day.  We departed Rouses Point, NY and were shortly in Canadian waters. Our first stop was Canadian Customs which is on a small pier on the Richelieu River.  We were the lead boat and pulled into the dock at 7:30.  The agent had not arrived yet, but eventually came (he was not late – we were early.) We had a smooth entrance into Canada.  We anchored while waiting for Irish Attitude, Harmony, and Journey to go through customs and soon we were all on our way up the Richelieu River.  This river is lined with many small houses and is a popular site for small boats.

Bill at the customs office

We arrived at a marina in St. Jean and got a pump out. Bill also purchased a Quebec flag. We had already put up our Canadian flag but he thought it would be nice to fly one for each of the provinces. (Tom, if you are reading this you would be proud!)

One of many bistros in St. Jean

We tied up on the blue line to wait for the bridge and Lock 9 opening. We received instructions on the order we would travel.  The lock is very small and we were put in the third group with one small boat.  We pulled into the lock and just as the lockmaster handed Joyce a line, Bill edged the boat back to straighten it up a little. The starboard engine got stuck in reverse and Bill could not even turn off that engine.  Joyce dropped the line in the water to prevent from being pulled overboard, and then we bumped into the little boat behind us, causing him to hit the closing gate!  Bill finally got both engines turned off and the lock attendants were able to secure our boat with more lines. We were fortunate not to have any damage to our boat, but the small boat had damage to the swim platform and some other dents.  No one was injured and we are thankful for that!! The lock master filed a report, took pictures, etc. and soon the attendants pulled us out of the lock to a small dock on the canal wall.  We had quite an audience and caused an hour delay for all boats waiting to enter behind us.

Bill quickly identified the problem when he went to the engine room.  The shift cable had fallen off the transmission which meant there was no connection!  It was an easy fix and we are grateful for that.  Bill walked back to the lockmaster who suggested we spend the night here on the canal wall. We were already out of sync with the lineup of boats and we would not be able to make it to Chambly anyway.  The bridges and locks are coordinated to make the boat traffic flow. There have also been cutbacks and the locks operate on a shorter schedule. So we “decompressed” and spent a quiet afternoon reading and watching all the bicyclists go by.  We had dinner on board and made plans to travel to Chambly tomorrow. We received a text from our friends and they said they would spend an extra day at Chambly so we could catch up with them. Loopers are the greatest people!

July 11, 2013 Day 50  Lake Champlain

Gaines Marina
Rouses Point, NY

We said good bye to Vermont and went back to New York today.  We had a great ride on Lake Champlain with a mostly sunny day and a light breeze and calm water!  There were lots of sailboats out also.  The scenery is spectacular.

Lake Champlain

We arrived at Gaines Marina in Rouses Point, NY at 1:30.  After checking in, Joyce walked uptown with Margi, Gay, and Janet to do a little more provisioning.  Bill waited for one of our packages to arrive and fortunately it did arrive!

We all had dinner on our own boats (we finally made the crab cakes we bought in Delaware.) Then, with canvas chairs in arm, we walked back up town to watch a performance of “Pirate Kings and Drama Queens” in an outdoor setting in the Samuel de Champlain Center Stage at the Civic Center.  It was a fun evening and a change of pace for us!

The outdoor theatre in Rouses Point

We came back and got everything ready to enter Canada tomorrow – passports, boat documentation papers, Canadian flag, etc.  We will turn off our data plan and be on an ATT Canada plan which means we will only post the blog when we have wifi.

We will leave at 7:00 in the morning to arrive at customs at 7:30.  Our destination is the lovely town of Chambly in the province of Quebec.  It was one of our favorites last year.

July 10, 2013 Day 49  Lake Champlain

Burlington Boathouse
Burlington, VT

Quaint Church Street in Burlington

We stayed in port today as planned.  Joyce and Janet (Harmony) took the bus this morning and went to Walmart to pick up prescriptions and a few provisions.  After lunch, Joyce and Janet went with Margi and Gay to the nearby Church Street pedestrian mall and browsed through many of the shops. This area is full of restaurants with outdoor seating and is very popular.  Burlington is home to the University of Vermont and two smaller colleges and is a beautiful setting on Lake Champlain.

Bill helped Rick with his AIS in the afternoon.  At 5:30 Irish Attitude, Harmony, and Journey came to our boat for docktails and we visited for over two hours with lots of laughter and stories!  We had a quick late dinner and made plans to leave in the morning.  We will all go to a marina in Rouses Point, NY.  This will be our last stop in the United Sates before entering Canada.

July 9, 2013 Day 48  Lake Champlain

Burlington Boathouse
Burlington, VT

We had a calm ride on Lake Champlain to Burlington today!  The scenery is beautiful with mountains and trees on either side of the lake and we were in awe of it.  We left Westport at 8:10 with Irish Attitude and Journey and stopped first at Shelburne Shipyards for fuel and pumpout.

Following Journey into Burlington

We arrived at the Burlington Community Boathouse at 12:45.  Sea Hunt IV also arrived here today as did Harmony.  The high water level is evident here as well.  We could only see the top of the sea wall near the mooring balls.  We checked in and then visited with each other for a while, checking out all the literature describing the area.  Since we were here last year we stayed on the boat and rested for a while and decided to do any errands/sightseeing tomorrow.  Joyce pulled her back a few days ago and is not moving around with ease.

We visited with Loopers on Journey in the late afternoon and then came back and had a light dinner on board.

July 8, 2013 Day 47  Lake Champlain

Westport Marina
Westport, NY

We got an earlier start today, leaving the town wall at 7:15, passed under the final low bridge successfully, and immediately went to our final lock on the canal, Lock 12.   We enjoyed the serenity of the lower part of Lake Champlain which is very narrow and in a rural setting. The Green Mountains of Vermont were on our right to the east, and the Adirondacks of New York were on our left to the west.  We were delighted to see several bald eagles and a few osprey nests. 

Following Irish Attitude, Journey,
and Harmony up Lake Champlain

Fort Ticonderoga

We passed Fort Ticonderoga which was built during the French and Indian War and used in the Revolutionary War.

The day was very overcast and eventually gave way to a little rain, although we missed most of it. Nevertheless, Bill tried driving from the lower helm for a while, partly to test it.  He did not like the limited visibility, so he went back up with his parka on to continue at the upper helm.

We arrived at Westport Marina at 1:05 and the rain had stopped.  We were put on their floating docks with Irish Attitude, Journey, and Harmony.  The marina’s fixed docks were submerged under water and only the top of the electric power posts were visible.  We were told that the water level of Lake Champlain is at 99% capacity!

Beautiful view of Lake Champlain
from the park in Westport

After we got checked in, all four guys spent much of the afternoon putting our canvas, isinglass and radar arch back on our boat.  Bill could not  have done this without them and we are so grateful for their help.  While they were hard at work, Joyce, Janet, Margi and Gay took a short, but uphill walk into the little “downtown” area.  We stopped at their nice Heritage Museum, and went into a couple of small shops.  We enjoyed the view from Main street which overlooks the lake!  When we returned to the marina, we sat on Margi’s boat and visited while the guys were still hard at work.  

Waterfall in Westport

We all went to the Galley Restaurant for dinner. It is attached to the marina and was as far as anyone wanted to walk after our busy day.  The food was very good and going there was a good choice.

We will go to Burlington, VT tomorrow and spend two or three days.

July 7, 2013 Day 46  Champlain Canal

Whitehall Town Wall
Whitehall, NY

We were underway at 8:00 this morning in the rain and immediately went to Lock 7.   When we exited the lock we were no longer on the Hudson River! After 30 days on the Hudson River we are happy to be making some progress.  We also passed Fred’s Tug 44 after the lock. Fred is an excellent resource on the canals and lives in Fort Edward. 

Tug 44

We had four locks to transit today – two up and two down!  Fortunately the rain stopped before we reached the second lock, because we are still driving without the top on our boat! 

The Champlain Canal is narrow and winds around

The view is beautiful along the canal

Skene Manor built in 1874 in Whitehall
sits high across the river from our dock

We arrived at Whitehall at 12:20 and tied up to the town wall – we like these free walls!  This one has fewer hookups so Irish Attitude and Harmony rafted together.  There is a small park next to it with a gazebo so we were able to have a shady spot to visit.

We did get some chores done –Joyce did laundry and Bill changed the oil in the starboard engine. 

During our docktails, we all decided to go to Westport, NY tomorrow to a marina.  We have a six hour cruise so we will leave at 7:00. We still have one lock to get through!  We had dinner on board and then watched another classic "Oklahoma!"

 

 

July 6, 2013 Day 45  The Hudson River

Fort Edward Town Wall
Fort Edward, NY

We are making progress!  We left Mechanicville at 8:05 with Journey, Irish Attitude, Harmony, and a sailboat and entered Lock 3. We then cleared the railroad bridge that is one of two low bridges on the canal.  Bill wisely took down more equipment because we only cleared this bridge by 3” last year.  With higher water levels we would not have made it this year.

Harmony clears the RR bridge!

We continued on and went through three more locks, and had as many as seven boats in the lock at any one time.  We saw the Saratoga Battlefield, the Saratoga Monument, small homes that lined the water, and many trees. Much of the area is rural.  We also passed many boats that were dredging as we got closer to Fort Edward.  Although this can cause delays, we were able to maneuver past them with no problem.

One of many dredging barges on the Canal



Our little boat parade with a beautiful backdrop

We arrived at Fort Edward, NY just before 2:00 and tied up to the free town wall that includes power and electric hook ups for 8 boats.  We relaxed in the park that has a gazebo and many picnic tables with shade trees.  A convenient spot for our 5:00 docktails also!

Our own paark setting in Fort Edward just a few steps
from our boat!

While we were sitting there, a camera crew arrived.  A gentleman approached and introduced himself as the New York Canal Navigation Program Manager and said that they were making a promotional film for the canals.  He heard Bill playing the banjo and wanted to include him in the video.  Bill agreed to do it!  We never know who we will meet!

After we each had dinner on board our own boats, we walked about a half mile to get ice cream.  The amaretto almond chocolate was a hit!  We walked back and talked briefly to another Looper who had arrived late.  The mosquitoes started to come out, so we all said good night and agreed to leave at 8:00 tomorrow to go to Whitehall.  We still have to get under one very low bridge and there is a 50% chance of rain.  So, although we like it here, we have decided to keep moving.