Quebec City, Quebec to Cap-a-l'Aigle, Quebec July 8--11

Incredible Toy Store

Montgomery Falls--30 ft. higher than Niagara

Current is Flowing!

Underwater An Hour Ago

     We had three full and interesting days in Quebec, and then traveled 70 miles downriver to Cap-a-l’Aigle, Quebec.  A few days prior to arrival in Quebec, I had suffered an autopilot compass malfunction.  Not only was the compass for the autopilot off by 100 degrees or so, but it was unstable, and so could not maintain a course.  I hand-steered from Sorel to Quebec, but upon arrival an immediate priority was its repair!  After phone consultation with an expert and former vendor in Florida, I was fairly certain that the compass itself was what had failed, and so a local electronics technician was engaged to order the parts and install them…not a “plug and play” endeavor.  To make a very long story short, one morning was spent arranging all of this, and then 2 days later after arrival of parts, 5 hours was spent on the installation and troubleshooting thereof.  But the bottom line is that I have an autopilot again, and travel is once again feasible! 

     We spent a couple of days sightseeing Quebec, a fascinating city and one of the oldest in North America.  We saw the old, walled city, and buildings and churches nearly 400 years old.  We saw the Plains of Abraham where a decisive battle in 1759, won by the British, wrested control of Canada and a great deal of what is now the United States from France.  We enjoyed a taste of Europe in the western hemisphere, rode the Funiculaire up the hillside, practiced our “pigeon” French, and had a great time.  One day we navigated our way by bus out to a more modern part of town to visit a Bell Canada store, where I was able to work around the system to obtain some data access for our IPAD via the cellular system.  You would not believe how convoluted and complicated this is for “non-citizens”.  We have cell phone/text service available (pay by the minute) on our home cellular plans, but data access off of American plans is not affordable…$2/Mb!  I now have 5Gb of data for $35/month, though in theory my access is limited to only one month.  But I have a plan for that also!  The evening before our departure, 3 couples that own K-K yachts and a Canadian couple from a Grand Banks trawler went out for a great dinner together—and way too late an evening!

     We had television cameras around our boat for 2 days!  Not because of us, but because of a huge racing sailboat about to depart for a transatlantic crossing to Great Britain and then France.  However, the government became involved related to the qualifications of the captain, and whether or not it was a vessel for hire and therefore subject to intense regulation.  The government refused to allow departure, and negotiations and lobbying were ongoing in both Quebec and Ottawa.  When we left the marina, the boat and its somewhat disheartened crew were still there…
     We traveled downriver to a quaint little marina in Cap-a-l'Aigle (Cape of the Eagle).  The tide change is about 15 feet, and lots of land and attachments for the dock that were underwater upon our arrival two hours earlier soon became bare.  Little English is spoken here, but people are friendly, and it is one of the few stops available along the route to the Saguenay River and fjord, which is our next destination for its scenery and whale watching.

Ursuline Convent 1642

Quebec Marina with Two Visitors

Old Quebec City Viewed from Marina

Rue Saint Jean

Notre Dame Church



Rue Sous le Fort

Rue du Petit Champlain

The Funiculaire

View from the Funiculaire

Fairmont Chateau Frontenac

Samuel de Champlain

Center of Parliament



Anglican Church

St. Roche Church

Augustinian Monastery 1639

Wayne...this is for you

Chambly, Quebec to Sorel, Quebec, to Quebec City, Quebec July 5--7

     We were to leave Chambly at 0900 when the locks opened, but it was actually later before they got us locked through.  The last three locks of the Chambly Canal are stair-stepped—i.e. the exit gates for one lock are the entrance gates for the next, so three locks which drop you 35 feet only have four gates.  They basically let you into the highest lock, then send your water on ahead of you into the next lock.   After departing the locks, we crossed the wide Chambly Basin, then headed down the Richelieu River towards Sorel.  We passed Pont Boleil, a very narrow very low bridge accompanied by rapid current, with about three feet to spare on each side of the boat.  Many neat, small communities with nice houses, well-manicured lawns, and impressive old churches, three cable ferries, and one larger lock (St. Ours Lock) were along the way.  We reached Sorel, passed out of the Richelieu River into the St. Lawrence River, and headed into the islands of Lac St. Pierre.  We anchored up a nice channel, and had a quiet, peaceful evening in 25 feet of water about 50 feet from the shore. 

Chambly Church

Fort Chambly

Stepped Locks 3, 2, 1 at Chambly

One of Many

He's Coming to Meet Us!

And He's Off!

Bridge Opening to the Left

Low and Narrow...Rear View



Not all Churches...Stacked Silos

Sorel

     The following morning we were off downriver to Trois-Rivieres.  It was quite windy, with west wind being sucked into the low pressure remnant of Hurricane Arthur in the North Atlantic.  We arrived, navigated the narrow channel into the marina, avoided the unmarked sandbar (they say their markers blew away in the last day or two), and docked.  Just before arriving, we had visited by radio with another K-K 48—Alizann—anchored just around the corner.  Later that afternoon Marty & Suzanne came around in their dinghy, and we had a great visit!  We explored the marina area, and found muskrats scampering around the grounds waiting for a handout.  The marina is adjacent, but upwind, to a paper mill.  It reminds Kay of East Texas.  Those of you who have ever lived near a paper mill will understand the importance of the upwind logistic!  The next morning we were underway for Quebec City.  Again, there was a lot of current and moderately strong wind, but we traversed the 68 nautical miles in about 8 hours, entering the outer harbor, passing through the lock into the inner harbor, and docking at the Quebec City Marina about 1730.  The view of this historic city from the marina is awe-inspiring.  We will be tourists here for several days.

Don't Get Out of the Channel!

Great Lakes Cargo Ship

Trois Rivieres, QC

Quebec...Fortified City



Quebec

 

Burlington, VT to Chambly, Quebec July 2--5

Departure from Burlington was preceded by a thorough pump-out of our holding tank, and then we were on our way.  The marina was anxious to clear out due to the expected huge influx of boats scheduled to view the July 4^th fireworks display on the evening of July 3.  Despite some forecasted thunderstorms, we crossed upper Lake Champlain with good weather and mild tailwinds, navigated up around various island, and anchored around the north side of Ile La Motte, a large island about five miles south of the Canadian border.  Higher winds and thunderstorms were forecasted from the south and west, and this area provided some protection.  We anchored in clear water and let out over 100 feet of chain.  The storms did not materialize as far north as we were, and we had a pleasant evening.  This entire end of the world is, however, bug city, with literally tens of thousands of microscopic mosquitoes (non-aggressive) and other types of bugs gathered on the outside of the boat.
     The next morning we were underway early, and crossed into Canada about 0815.  We stopped at the Canadian customs pier, cleared into the country with a few perfunctory questions and documents presented, and were on our way in about ten minutes.  Over the course of the day, which was mostly overcast with only occasional brief sprinkles, we navigated through nine swing bridges and six locks on the Chambly Canal.  A number of these locks are totally hand-operated, with young people who crank the large wooden lock doors open with a hand crank, then crank them closed.  To change levels, floodgate doors in the main lock doors are opened by turning another crank.  The gangplank which allows lock tenders to walk from one side of the canal to the other is also operated with a similar hand crank.  Finally, the large doors are cranked open and the vessel can depart.  Facility with English varies with the individual lock or bridge tender, but by and large their English was far better than our French.  This is Quebec, however, and we’ve noted that they appreciate our attempts to speak their language.  After arriving in Chambly, we tied up to a wall just upstream of the last three locks which are contiguous…the doors that open from the first also open into the second, and so forth.  This stair step continuum of three locks will lower us 35 feet when we depart Chambly.  We will spend a day touring the town, however, before that departure.
     Chambly is a quaint small town, with beautiful old churches and Fort Chambly, one of the earliest French defenses against English and American invasion from the south.  We ate in a restaurant, bought a few things at a very large supermarket a block from the canal, and used free wi-fi at the local library…sometimes outside on the bench, and sometimes inside (open 1 p.m.—9p.m.).

U.S.--Canadian Border

Canadian Customs Dock

The Bridge Is Open

One of Many Beautiful Churches

Lockmaster's Office

We Fill Up the Lock

Lock Operation is by Hand Crank

Beginning of the Process



End of the Process

Lake Champlain to Burlington, VT June 27--July 2

We departed Chipman Point Marina for a leisurely cruise up lower Lake Champlain.  We passed Fort Ticonderoga with its guns facing south, since it was originally built by the French as Fort Carillon, to defend against an English invasion of Lake Champlain.  We also passed a cable ferry, which is pulled across the water by cables attached to each shore.  After the ferry passes, the cables then slacken and sink back to the bottom.  One cannot pass within a couple of hundred yards of these vessels, however, for fear of getting caught up in their cables.  After passing Crown Point, with its new bridge and the monument pictured, we arrived in Kingsland Bay mid-afternoon.  This is an almost totally enclosed long, narrow bay, with beautiful trees adorning rock hills along both sides.  Near one end is a state park in which many families were sunbathing, swimming, and kayaking.  A number of sailboats were moored along the edges, and over the two days which we stayed probably 40 others came and went, some for the day, and some overnight.  The water was pristine, clear, and cool.  The dinghy was launched and run without the need to flush the engine, and the sides of the hull were cleaned!  Ron, Michele, Kay, and I enjoyed the acquaintance of Pierre and Danielle, French Canadians who were spending the week on their boat.  In fact, according to Pierre, the majority of boats on the lake and in its marinas are Canadian.  He also shared with us a number of tips related to traveling in Canada.  We then moved north to a marina in downtown Burlington, VT.  It is a busy place, with large ferries from across the lake and large tour boats docking nearby.  Most of the boats in the marina do appear to be occupied by French Canadians, so it is an interesting mix.  They all stood watching as we docked, but were denied the "adventure" that they probably anticipated with the arrival of such a large vessel.  My deckhand is really good!  They partied on the dock late the first night, but their taste in music (country western) was good, and most left the following day.  We will do some minor last minute restocking while here, being careful not to load up with those items (e.g. potatoes and apples) which cannot be imported into Canada. 

I got a haircut, changed some currency into Canadian, and resupplied groceries as needed.  We spent some time sightseeing in Burlington, an eclectic town somewhat reminiscent of Austin.  It has a number of blocks of pedestrian mall, and is very dog-friendly.  The free shuttle bus that runs a couple of miles up and down the main thoroughfare toured us past old homes and buildings, fraternity houses, and the University of Vermont and its associated medical school and hospital.  We plan to leave July 2 for the upper reaches of Lake Champlain just a few miles south of the Canadian border, spend the night there, and then move into Canada July 3.  We should clear customs and move up the Richelieu River.  I hope to clear the Richelieu River and the nine locks of the Chambly Canal that day and then perhaps spend a night in Chambly before moving on out into the St. Lawrence River at Sorel.  From there, we will travel over a few days to Quebec City, which may be the next spot with an internet connection.  We will have limited (and expensive) cell phone service, but perhaps no data available ($2/Mb) unless we can find a Canadian provider and plan.  So, we will be practicing our (non-existent) French and enjoying our neighbors to the north between now and the next post! 

    

Fort Ticonderoga

Cable Ferry

Crown Point Bridge

Crown Point Monument

Kingsland Bay, VT

Burlington, VT Marina

Canadians Left--Dock is Ours

A Charge for Everything--Even Showers

FBC Burlington--Copper Steeple

Pedestrian Mall

Burlington City Hall