29 Jun 15

Big day planned today, so we were up at the crack of dawn, or 06:00. After a quick breakfast, we got away from the dock at 07:00 and headed for the St. Lawrence. We fell in behind “Kaministiqua”, a Great Lakes freighter, which helped us get under the first two lift bridges, and were right behind her at the Upper Beauharnois Lock, arriving at the pleasure boat waiting dock at 09:00. And then, after 3.5 (long!!) hours of waiting, we finally locked in, fuming!!! We got through the Lower Beauharnois Lock with no troubles, crossed Lac St. Louis, and entered the Canal de la Rive Sud, with its 6 kn speed limit, just after 14:00. We were tied up at the waiting dock for Ste. Catherine’s Lock at 15:30, and finally entered the lock at 17:05. Dan and Kathy on “Willie Dawes”, out of Camden, ME were waiting beside us and we had a nice chat with them; they are doing the Down East Loop as well, so we will no doubt see them later on. We pottered on down to the Ste. Lambert Lock and waited another half hour there. Then, finally, we were through the last lock of this year (HOORAY!!!) at 19:22 and belting down-river for Montreal. And then, at the south end of Ile Ste. Helene, we had to turn up-river for 1.5 miles, against 4 kn of foul current. But, fortunately, we stayed very close to the island side and missed the worst of the tide (we actually passed a planing-hull power-boat, who was foolishly trying to stem the very worst of the current). We were tied up at Marina Port d’Escale in the heart of Montreal (the Vieux Port, to be precise) at just after 20:00. Thirteen hours to make 43 N-miles; I would expect to make 100 miles in a 13-hour day. But, never mind, we have made it to Montreal. Ca c’est bon!! We had a nice chat with the good folks on “Red Eagle”, Grand Banks 42, who are “also” on the Loop. Too tired to hit the town, we had a quick happy hour and dinner aboard and crashed!

45-30.369’N, 073-33.004’W

30 Jun 15

Slept in till 08:00, then had a leisurely breakfast, then went for a leisurely stroll around this most-European of North American cities (except for maybe Quebec, which we have yet to visit); you would swear you were in France. Did a bit of grocery shopping, had crepes jambon et fromage for lunch and stopped at the marine supply shop to spend a small fortune on charts for the rest of the Down East Loop to Maine, there being no chart booklets available to cover the area; apparently, not too many people actually do this trip. Dropped all this stuff back at the boat, then went for a loooong walk to the top of Mont Royal (incredible views of Montreal and Fleuve St. Lawrence) and back (very sore feet, knees and ankles). Then, back to the boat for a quick shower and happy hour, then back into town to “La Cage aux Sport” for dinner and the game (i.e., USA v Germany (or Etats Unis v Allemagne, as they say around here) in the FIFA Women’s World Cup competition); USA won 2 - 0 - now onto the finals. And that is it for June. Tomorrow is Canada Day and should be a cracker, unless the rain calms things down, which I seriously doubt.

1 Jul 15

It was rainy most of the day, so we stayed aboard and prepared ship to receive guests. The Canada Day celebrations have been damped down a bit; no band music from the stands until 16:00 (it was supposed to start at 11:00), although there was a 21-gun salute from somewhere in town at 12:00. We walked up into town after the rain slowed down a bit, but ended up ducking into a local microbrewery, 3 Brasseurs, for a beer and then into a Portuguese tapas restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we went back to 3 Brasseurs to watch the second half of the other women’s FIFA semi-final World Cup match; England lost to Japan 2-1, after an own-goal in the final 3 minutes - bummer of a way to lose. Afterward, we walked down to the quay alongside the Clock Tower to watch the Canada Day fireworks from Ile St. Helene.  

I have uploaded a time-lapse video of the trip from Gananoque, ON to Montreal, QC at the following url:

http://youtu.be/DRP9BoTEV9A 

2 Jul 15

Not yet satisfied with the state of the boat, the Admiral spent all morning tidying up and I worked on course planning for the rest of the Down East Loop (I took hundreds of screenshots of coastline details for which I do not have charts). After lunch, we walked back over to the IGA for more groceries, then back to the boat, then over to the International Jazz Fest area to see what was going on. We heard a little bit of music and watched the street performers until it was time to meet Ashley, who flew in from Houston. We got her settled back at the boat, then all went for a late dinner at one of the sidewalk cafes, Le Fripon on Place Jacques Cartier. There are parties going on all up and down the docks.  

3 Jul 15

Another gorgeous day in paradise. We lazed around the boat until about 11:00, then walked up toward McGill, where Ashley is to meet a grad student in their SLP masters program. We had a picnic lunch on the McGill campus grounds, then left Ashley to her meeting, while the Admiral and I went to the McCord Museum. After we all reunited, we walked to the IGA grocery store to stock up on hors d’oeuvres for happy hour with John and Laurie’s friends in Montreal, Kathy and Phillip. They arrived at the boat around 18:30 and, after a lengthy happy hour and long chat, we walked up to the Jazz Fest to see Florence K. Meanwhile, Ashley went to collect her friend, Jenna, who is arriving by train from NYC to spend the weekend with us. The marina, which was half-empty this morning, is now completely full of power boats, all with Montreal registration, who have come into the Vieux Port for Le Weekend. After the “Florence K” show, we went to the French theatre (name escapes me now) for a late dinner in their sidewalk cafe, finally getting back to the boat well after 01:00, just before the young ladies.

4 Jul 15

After last night’s excesses, we all slept in a bit and had a leisurely breakfast aboard. About 11:00 we took the Metro out to the Olympic Park to see the Biodome. Unfortunately, since it was a warm Saturday in summer, the place was full, so we walked over to the Botanical Gardens and had a late lunch, then went for a long tour of the Gardens. Feet worn down to the nubs by 16:30, we took the bus and Metro back to the boat for happy hour, then showered and played Spades until time for fireworks; they are not actually doing this for the 4th of July, but it is part of the International Fireworks Competition. The fireworks, though viewed from nearly a mile away, were pretty spectacular. The quayside along the river was very crowded with people of all ages out on a beautiful evening to see the fireworks. The marina is even more crowded now than before; there are a couple of places where the boats are rafted 4-deep at the dock; everyone is here to see and be seen. We were all exhausted afterward and went back to the boat and to bed early-ish.

5 Jul 15

The Admiral tempted us all awake with a lovely breakfast of eggs, fruit and fresh-baked croissants. We got on the road early (by our relaxed standards) and made it back out to the Biodome by 11:00. Then, we rode the bus to Rue Mont Royal, where we found a crepe for lunch, after which, we rode another bus to very near to the Chalet Mont Royal, where we took in the air and the views from Mont Royal. The young ladies walked all the way back via McGill, while the Admiral and I rode more buses back to the Vieux Port. We all met back at the boat for happy hour, then went for an early dinner at Verses Restaurant; unfortunately, although somewhat expensive, it was, at best, average. By the time we finished dinner, we were too late to watch the FIFA Womens World Cup Final - US v Japan; USA Women won 5-2.

6 Jul 15

Jenna had an early flight, so we got up and got her away at 07:30. The Admiral, Ashley and I then walked over to Notre Dame Basilica and took a guided tour; very beautiful church. We had brunch at Maison Christian Faure, quiche and croissants and cafe au lait; tres bien. Then, we rode around somewhat aimlessly on the Metro and the buses until about 14:00, when we returned to the boat. About 17:00, we walked Ashley up to the bus stop to catch the express to Pierre Trudeau International Airport and her flight home to Houston. We got back for happy hour, but before we could get dinner on the grill, Ashley called to advise her flight was cancelled/postponed until tomorrow morning and she was returning to the boat. We had dinner when she got back at about 21:00 and crashed.