Day 7, Thursday May 31, and we dock at Port de Plaisance Lachine, an exceedingly pretty and pleasing marina, protected and surrounded by parks and inlets. The twin-spired church clock rang charmingly and frequently, but thankfully their the batteries seemed to run out overnight. We stayed for three nights to stock up (and pump out) and have Stephan and Diane over for smoked trout and goats cheese, red onion, capers and lemon, fresh baguette and white wine, all of which saw us through Saturday afternoon.
Sunday and we woke to a stiff breeze (15 knots gusting to 25) but with the sun shining on our next leg – through the two remaining big Seaway locks, Ste. Catherine and St. Lambert – and then we would be in Montreal, east side, at Longueuil Marina.
The locks were a little challenging in the breeze, especially St. Lambert, but we managed to get through safely enough, losing only one fender in the process, which was picked out of the water by a lock attendant with an ever-useful boat hook. There were no other boats in the lock with us to witness the event.
As we passed Ile de Notre Dame – the site of Expo 67 and where the Canadian Grand Prix was due to take place the following weekend – we also saw the profile of the Montreal Olympic Stadium in the distance. We turned into Longueuil Marina and had a berth for two nights on the same dock as the Coast Guard cutters, and with the knowledge that all the BIG locks were behind us until our return in August.
The next day it rained and rained and rained – which was why we had booked for 2 nights here in the first place – but with a cosy day inside, with a foray into town in the evening for a fabulous bistro meal of rillette, boudin noir and rognons de veau, we made the most of it.
The next day dawns gloomy as we head off for what we intend to be a night at anchor at Contrecoeur, further down river, in the small craft channel. We seem to be the only boat on the water as we pass the industrial region of Montreal, and the port.
And then it happened – I look down and see the starboard oil pressure has plummeted to near zero, so I turn off the engine and we hover in the channel while I take a look in the engine bay. Here, the oil – or at least a large part of it – that was supposed to be in the crankcase now showed itself to be under the engine, in a glistening, gloopy mess.
We turned around, thinking that we would have a better chance at a fix back in Montreal, but after several cell phone conversations with people in Longueuil, Montreal, Chambly and Sorel, we turned around again, back on our original course. Of course, this was all with the port engine only, but the aid of the current meant that we were still doing nearly 9 knots with half the horsepower! We were headed now for the Richelieu River, just south of Sorel, for attention by a boat yard there, named Boisvert.
As we came into the boatyard’s dock, on one engine, which makes steerage somewhat more of a challenge than normal, it started to rain like blazes, just to add to the atmosphere. But we tied up, with their help. To cut a long story short, we stayed the night and the next day Patrick the mechanic had diagnosed the problem – a burst oil line of 1977 vintage probably – and sourced replacement parts and returned and installed them. So we were on our way again by late afternoon on the river, and spent the night at St Ours Lock, which was our original intention for this stage of the trip.
As the rest of Ontario was voting on election day (Thursday June 7), we made the trip down to Chambly, the start of the Chambly Canal, having voted early in Toronto. The trip was straight forward after going through St Ours Lock itself, but very breezy. In fact, the weather has been really cool – even cold – for June, and we are yet to be tempted to bring out the kayak.
Two nights in Chambly means a respite, groceries, a pumpout, fresh water, nice walks, an old fort and another great bistro meal – ris de veau for M, and more boudin noir – better known in England as black pudding – for S.
Saturday (Day 17) is dedicated to getting through the Chambly Canal to St Jean sur le Richelieu, a distance of only 12 miles, but with 9 locks (small ones) and several swing bridges, run by Parks Canada. It will take 5 hours. We go through with another boat – a Chris Craft owned by Pat, Lisa and their 3 dogs – and it’s a snug fit.
Arriving in St Jean sur Richelieu we tie up at the lock wall and immediately go for fish and chips as we haven’t had a chance to eat. Then we can relax and putter about and prepare for heading into the States on Monday. But first we have to track down some Goat’s Milk for Michel for her diet. This is not as easy as it sounds, since it is exceedingly difficult to find anywhere in Quebec stores. A google, some confused phone calls and an hour’s walk to an IGA and we return with the goods.
Sunday sees us playing tourists ourselves at the locks as we watch other boats crammed into the small lock on their way north.
We are going to go out to dinner at another bistro tonight – maybe we’ll order something other than boudin noir – Sunday, our last in Quebec for two or three weeks. Between now and then we’ll be exploring Lake Champlain.
If they let us in.