Boat Ramblings 4
Hi, we arrived here in a marina in Trenton, Canada and they have wifi
so will get this away while I can.
June 28th.....St Lawrence Waterway, Canada, just north
of Montreal. Have to say the countryside has taken on quite a different flair from the saltwater marshes of Florida and Georgia,
the Cypress swamps of the Carolinas, the villages of Chesapeake Bay, and the open waters of the Atlantic as we by passed New
Jersey. Making our way north up the Hudson River from New York, the scenery became quite majestic. The Catskill Ranges with
their deciduous and conifer forests, met us at the waters edge. We passed manor type homes, belonging to such folks as the
Roosevelts and the Vanderbilts along with forts dating back to the revolutionary war against the British in 1812, all of which
made for a delightful sightseeing journey. Even the famed West Point Military Academy was a surprise. Situated
right on the Hudson, it is a massive stone like structure with the central portion and the church seemingly the original buildings
when the fledging nation decided it needed a military base for training. Some modern buildings have been added of course,
but the entire picture presented from the water was one of a substantial fort like structure tucked atop a rocky granite outcrop
at a narrow portion of the Hudson. My imagination was afire as I envisioned the old sailing war ships of the English
making their way up the Hudson (no easy endeavor), to sack and burn all the way to Albany and the Revolutionaries meeting
them head on at every turn. I was fascinated to learn the defenders had strung two separate long chains across a couple of
narrow portions of the river to thwart the British ship's passage up the river, but the British were not daunted. In
fact those crafty sailors simply hauled in one of the chains and subsequently took it to Gibraltar to apply the same principle
in their battle over there with whoever they were then fighting ... the Spaniards I believe.
The Hudson can
dive to quite some depths, sometimes up to 300ft as we pushed on northward. The tidal effects were still very strong, so again
we moved as much as we could when the tide was in our favor. So much debris in the form of logs and dead trees made their
way first down then up the river again, moving also with the tide, which required us to keep our eyes alert for them.
As our track channeled us into the confines of the Hudson, we started meeting up with other boat people who
were also following a similar path to ours. This path is known as the Great Loop and about 100 boats undertake the adventure
every year, but obviously their starting points vary greatly. There are not that many overnight stopping points in the
Hudson, so we tended to congregate in the same marinas. It was quite pleasant to have someone knock on your hull mid
afternoon to say "cocktails aboard "Navigator" around five this evening" or "cocktail hour this evening
on the dock around 6pm". At such time the group would gather for a general chin wag, drink in one hand and nibbles
to share in the other.
As Richard and dog stayed put for a week or so in a marina in Kingston while I dashed
home (by taxi, bus, another bus, 2 planes and finally the shuttle...14 hrs in all to get home) most of the "Loopers"
as the group is referred to, have moved on ahead of us as the season is short up here. Many of them have taken the Erie
Canal into Lake Erie, because their vessels were unable to get under some of the bridges (some being as low as 17feet) in
the Champlain Canal leading into Lake Champlain which lies mostly in Vermont. We ourselves needed to "unstep"
(lower) our small mast (which holds our electronics and outdoor lights) and secure the mast into a cradle Richard had constructed
for the purpose, in order for us to fit under the bridges. When we were in Albany we managed to do this without outside
help, accompanied by only some minor cursing and head scratching. Mind you, we still approached each bridge very, very
slowly. I would eyeball it from a vantage point to make sure we would fit under, which we did with just a few inches
to spare on several occasions...only when on the other side would we let our breaths out!
Finally
we left the strong tidal currents of the Hudson behind us and entered the locks of the New York Canal System on the Hudson,
at Troy, north of Albany. This canal was part of United State canal system finished in 1825 to open up western USA to trade
via the Great Lakes from the east coast and Europe. The building of the railroads though eventually put the canal system
into demise. Through the first 40 miles, we negotiated 6 locks on the first day then a further 5 locks on the second
day. As the Hudson is still a commercial river for moving goods by barge, the canal and locking system moves vessels up and
through the Catskills and the Adirondack Mountains. From here we moved into the Champlain Canal system, a twenty mile
stretch that begins the descent through another series of locks which lands us finally in Lake Champlain. The Champlain
canal was initially built in the late 1700s so it was most interesting. As we moved through the headwaters of the Hudson
and her canal system, the river narrows dramatically and is extremely picturesque, at times displaying delightful homes along
its banks, while at other times we would be surrounded by open farmland or deep green forests. After the first lock the water
becomes completely fresh water, not brackish or salty, although it is still murky. The weather for this sector was just
glorious, however it quickly went downhill once we reached Lake Champlain, becoming cold, wet and windy. No problem
though, for we bounced our way north up the 109 mile stretch of lake and crossed into Canada where the sun peeped through
again. After coming alongside and clearing Customs which was a breeze (contrary to what we had been told to expect)
we entered the 10 mile long Chambly Canal which was built around 1833 connecting Lake Champlain to the Richelieu River via
a system of 9 locks. Just fabulous. The locks are very narrow and are all hand operated. The canal runs
beside the river but sits higher, so at times we were overlooking the tops of homes as we motored along the canal, much like
New Orleans. The last set of 3 locks were a real treat to experience. As Halcyon sat atop in the first lock we
were able to look down over the next two locks which gave the impression of looking down a stairway. The combined distance
of all three covered only approx 200 yards but between the three of them, they would take us down a drop of some 38 odd feet
to the lovely township of Chambly and the Chambly Basin at the base of the locks. As the Canadian Parks runs this canal
and locking system, it is beautifully maintained with the locks surrounded by trees, manicured lawns, flower beds and lots
of ducks and geese with their babies. They have gone to great pains to keep these locks in their original working order
and the staff, many of whom are college students, were efficient and friendly. There is so much history throughout the
entire area northward of NY and there is much evidence of the efforts being made to preserve the history. This includes
the battles between the Indians, the French, the English and the new nation of Northern America along with life as it was
during those times. It would seem the rivers and canals were the life blood of the people who lived in these areas. Those
folks were sure made of tough stuff, tougher than most of us these days I would hazard a guess.
We are now
deep in the French Province of Quebec and to our surprise, one rarely hears English being spoken, in fact very few locals
speak English (or any other language for that matter). Richard's French is coming to the rescue and he is doing a stirling
job conversing....he certainly sounds impressive to me and even better, they understand him! For me, not so much, grocery
shopping is an experience, but thank goodness hand signals are universal. It seems this part of the country runs on
gas not diesel, for so far, diesel is hard to find, which is another surprise. Fortunately we have enough fuel on board
to last us for awhile yet though.
My friend Barbara (one of my Appalachian Trail hiking buddies),
joined us at Kingston, NY. As Barb is a bit of a runner, she and Walker would leap ashore at every opportunity for a
wee bit of exercise. Walker sleeps like the dead on those nights, his body having forgotten what it was like to cover so much
ground in a short distance of time. We have very much enjoyed Barb's company on board, and what a wonderful extra crew
member she has been as we moved through the locks. Having an extra pair of hands on deck has been invaluable on so many occasions.
After the first few locks which we blundered our way through, the three of us have actually got quite slick at nudging and
guiding Halcyon through the locking system.
This morning we shot down the Richelieu River, did a left hand
turn at Sorel into the St. Lawrence Waterway, a massive river which carries the waters from the Great Lakes eastward to the
Atlantic Ocean. are now anchored for the night off the township Contre Couer 30 miles upstream on the St. L. Waterway.
The weekend pleasure craft traffic is quite overwhelming, but fortunately the Quebecians, who apparently enjoy partying until
the wee hours of the morning, leave the water to do so, so this evening we have a calm and serene anchorage to ourselves now
all the water craft have gone home. The steady 2 knot northbound current tugging on the anchor and chain is doing a
great job holding us in a stable position.
1st July: We have reached Montreal having negotiated
two more locks, but they were commercial locks which bypass the rapids at Montreal. They are monster locks which we
shared with other pleasure craft and ocean going cargo ships. We all had to line up, big and small, and await our turn.
What an impressive amount of water is moved through each time one of these locks are opened.
We are now holed up in a marina for a couple of days to restock. We bade farewell to Barb this morning who caught
the bus to NY. I do believe boating life appealed to her, for she had initially joined us for 8 days but elected to
stay on for a further 4 days. She is now quite fluent in understanding boating lingo....stuff like; stern, beam, galley, aft
cabin, line, fender, head, and even "fine off the starboard bow" etc....what a good sport she is. Last night we
were treated to a fireworks display from the deck of our boat, which was a pleasant surprise, it being Canada Day here today.
We had one of the best seats in the house I do believe.
The province of Quebec is truly quite
charming, we think we will have to explore this region in more depth at another time, for we need to push on. At Sorel
we came as far north as we had intended and we have turned Halcyon's bow in the general direction of south west, now heading
from here tomorrow (Montreal) to Ottawa via the Ottawa River and onto Lake Ontario via more canals and many locks, but small
ones, so we will not sharing lockage time with the big cargo ships as we did with the previous two locks.
It is very
nice to have places to anchor out again up this way. Being required to stay in a marina overnight due to a lack of safe
anchorages gets darn expensive...the average price runs around $2.00 a foot ($4.00 in NY) per night (based on the length of
one's boat). For this we have access to their showers, bathrooms, laundry, internet (this only sometimes and it is always
slow) and water. "Oh you want power too, well that is extra"!!! Halcyon is 42 ft long...ouch!
On the other hand, marinas are usually very friendly places to be in and for the most part go out of their way to help transient
boat people like ourselves. When we anchor out, however, there is no fee and we enjoy way more privacy, but do have to run
off our own power, which is fine...and it is soooo quiet once our generator is put to an early bed. For the non nautical
folk, yes we do have a shower and bathroom aboard, actually we have two small ensuite bathrooms, complete with shower, vanity,
basin, mirror, cabinets and toilet for each of our two cabins. Halcyon comfortably sleeps four people. Among other things,
she can boast hot and cold running water, central heat and air, microwave, stove, oven, refrigerator and freezer, a small
washing machine (the dryer sucks, hands me back the wet washing in the same condition as when I offered it up to the darn
thing). Also have direct TV (also sucks), satellite radio and heaps of electronics which keeps us afloat, tells us where
we are and so far has kept us safely pointing and moving in the right direction. She is an older yet fine lady but like
all elderly ladies, she has her idiosyncrasies.
Mid July marks the half way point in time for
us. By then we will have been underway for 4 1/2 months with a further 4 1/2 months to go to complete the loop back to Tarpon
Springs, arriving home end of Nov. So far we are on track to complete the journey in the one season. The down side of
completing in the one season are the opportunities missed to explore in more depth some of the areas we pass through.
We are, however, enjoying viewing and experiencing what we can of life on the river systems which is quite unique with a flavor
all of its own.
Churches abound up here, all quite old with somewhat extravagant spires, turrets
and cupolas (dome things) all glittering silver in the sunlight. Barb and I pondered the reason for this color and I have
since learned that they are painted silver to reflect the sun and moonlight so each church can be seen from afar. I also learnt
that the spire of a church was intended to be the highest point of the village, the rationale being that this offers a place
of worship that reaches closest to heaven......mmmmm, my mind wanders to our city skyscrapers, their extensive reflective
windows and the "worshippers" to commerce, money and power who dwell within.......ahh, but I digress.
Today
we had one lock to negotiate. This was our highest lift (or drop) to date....a single lift of 65ft which took us up
past the hydroelectric power station of Carrillon on the Ottawa River. From this smooth operation, we motored on up
the Ottawa River in the company of two other local pleasure craft who were in the lock with us and were also making their
way to Georgian Bay, Ontario, as we are. There is, however, much ground to cover before then.
As we swing gently on yet another serene anchorage in these waters, it is time to put this ramblings to bed. Tomorrow
we arrive in Ottawa, so I will pick it up from there next time. I hear a glass of wine calling, it is that time of day.....cheers.
1. West Point Military Academy
2. Live in Lighthouse on the
Hudson River
3. New York Canal System/Champlain Canal (note bicycle trail alongside canal)
4. Chambly Canal
5. We are in the first of three locks which are close together
in Chambly Canal looking down over the next two locks
6. We are in the 2nd lock waiting
to be lowered to the next lock, the 38ft drop into the Chambly Basin.
Note the hand operated gears for the
locks on the left side.
7. Looking back at the lock as we leave the 2nd lock having been lowered enough
to move to the third and final lock.
8. Yacht about to enter the third and last lock.
