Montreal to Rideau Lakes via St. Lawrence River

After 3 days we had our fill of the somewhat crowded busyness and decided it was time to head for the quite islands of the St. Lawrence River.  Leaving the Old Port, we headed back around the La Ronde Amusement park and into the 2 commercial locks we came through 3 days ago to get here. It's a good thing we left when we did, because the next morning the lower lock was closed and remained closed for quite some time because of a tanker spill in the system. If we had of decided to spend one more day in Old Montreal there is no telling how long we would have been held up there, possibly ruining the plans for the remainder of our vacation.

Our cruise up the St Lawrence were at cooler temperatures than our trip down the Ottawa River. On the way to the Islands which pretty much start at Brockville, we had stopovers at Craig Quay, Chrysler Park  Marina near Upper Canada Village, passing through the Beauharnois, Snell, Eisenhower, and Iroquois commercial locks.   There is one thing in the commercial locks that caught us by surprise here, we are familiar with the lock staff throwing down lines from the top of the lock for us to cleat and feed through as the water rises; At Eisenhower lock, we entered and the lock staff said number 2. We had no idea what he meant, until we got in and noticed these numbered floating hooks inside the lock wall, it was weird however that we would only get one of these hooks, we had to feed the bow line around it at midships, and the same for the stern line. It was a little difficult to keep the stern in to the wall, and the lines were rubbing up the concrete wall the whole way making our lines very dirty and their lock walls very clean. Iroquois was another anomaly, we entered the lock, they closed the doors behind us, we pulled to the lock wall, paid our fee, then they just opened the door in front of us and we left. It was no noticeable lift to this lock at all.

The current can be 3-4 knots in these areas, you can see some of the navigation buoys healing over to the force of the current, so heading upstream will have an effect on your speed and fuel economy, though not enough to warrant not going up the St. Lawrence. We lost a little time, and burned a little more fuel than usual, but nothing drastic. We will however go downstream on the St. Lawrence the next time we do this triangle just for a change.

We were in need of provisions, so before we went out for the night on one of the Brockville group islands we had to stop into the Brockville Marina to find a grocery store. This marina allows you to tie up for free, if slips are available, for up to 3 hours. This gave us plenty of time to do a little shopping on Main Street, and stock up on food and water.

Leaving Brockville Marina, it was only a few minutes before we hit the islands. We rounded Refugee Island, seeing a full dock free on the southern side, we took it. It was a beautiful spot, the water in this area was so green and clear. We spent the evening swimming, snorkeling, and watching water foul gracefully flying inches above the water.

The next day we left the Brockville Island group, and passed through a little bit of open water, to get to the next group of islands where we stayed at Grenadier Island. Grenadier is a big island with tons of park dockage around it. We decided to check out Grenadier Central since we have never been there before. There ended up being a lot of boats there that evening, and I can see why, it has a big grassy field, a beach, and docks enough for more than 20 boats give or take.

Having spent two nights without shorepower we were in dire need to charge the house battery, so we needed a marina. Next stop was Gananoque. Heading to Gan is a marvelous cruise through the 1000 Islands area. We took the Canadian Middle Channel until we entered the Gananoque Narrows. It was a very windy day; 25 knots with gusts to 40-50. I am not completely sure how I did this but I sterned into my assigned dock at Gan without mishap in this wind. It has to be the windiest time I have ever docked the boat. There were many other boats that came in that day that were not so fortunate, one teeing the finger dock on the port side and another was blown around between two docks, while yelling at dock hands.

One of our favorite islands is Camelot Island just south east of Gananoque. We like it on the mooring cans there, but it is a really busy island and we rarely ever get any spot at that island. I think the last time we were there was 8 or 9 years ago. The morning after Gan we set off to see if we could get a mooring can at that island. As we got closer we could see another boat on approach from the north just ahead of me, he took the south side, and I tried for the north side, as we rounded the island there it was, a free mooring, rarely seen by us at this island. We quickly tied up, and as we did we could see the other boat that was ahead of me round the island without a spot. A few moments later other boats came in close to us to ask if we were staying or leaving. We stayed the night and had a wonderful time. We even met up with a boater who was vacationing in the area whom we once shared a home marina with.

The 1000 Islands area really is a boaters paradise and has some of the best fresh water cruising in the world. There are docks, mooring cans, and anchorages a plenty and it would take years of constant cruising to fully explore the whole area. The water is clear and cool and the landscapes are phenomenal. If you want a good view of what the islands are like, it is a good idea to catch some of Ian Coristine's photography of the area.

Camelot was our last stay at the islands, and from there we headed to Kingston for a two day stopover to get Mary Browns Fried Chicken delivered to the boat; a tradition we started a few years ago, to eat out at some of the great restaurants in downtown Kingston, and also to get provisions for the last leg of the cruise up the Rideau River and back into the Rideau Lakes. 

Kingston Town Hall

As we entered the Rideau system there is a feeling of home that comes with it, staying at Lower Brewers, anchoring in Morton Bay, Chaffey's, and a night at Newboro, but it also has the feeling of completion, other areas we have never been have now passed under our hull. A fabulous trip around eastern Ontario, one that we will remember for many years, and was quite possibly the nicest cruise we have done yet.  We will do this triangle cruise again, but we have many more waters to explore that we have never been. Lets see what next seasons vacations holds.

Kingston Mills Lock

Lower Brewers Lock

Morton Bay

Big Bird at Chaffey's Lock

Rapids at Chaffey's Lock

Beautiful Trawler

I ran across this Monk 36 trawler on the internet, of which I am a huge fan. This one is for sale close by, in Toronto. She is a wonderful example of a Nova Scotia built Monk. She even has some ties to my Tollycraft 34, designed by the same family of naval architects, the Monks'. For anyone considering a sub 40 trawler, I would look no further. Her classic lines, salty look, superior construction and craftsmanship will keep this vessel looking great for many years to come. She is seakindly and economical with her single 220hp diesel engine. She would do well as a small live-aboard, great for doing the great loop, hanging out in the Bahamas, or just cruising the great lakes. If I were in the market, I'd be running to take a look at this beautiful boat.

Ottawa to Montreal Video

The Admiral has prepared part II of the Golden Triangle cruise video which is from Ottawa to Montreal. This high definition video is related to the Ottawa to Montreal blog post, and you may also be interested in part 1 of this video series.

Old Montreal

Even though we just live a couple of hours away, we have never gone to the Old Port in Montreal. We had decided years ago that the only way we wanted to see the Old Port was by boat, it was certainly worth the wait. The Old Port Marina is a pleasure to stay at, the docks are clean, and there is lots of room. It is central to anything that is happening in Old Montreal. On the east side was the restaurant terraces, Cirque du Soleil, a photography exhibit and much more, to the west were the dock shops, the science museum, and to the north is central Old Montreal.

We stayed 3 days and 3 nights from July 9th to the 11th, and it was the perfect furthest point destination for this cruise. The first day, we just relaxed and got our bearings. We dropped into a tent display that was showing a beautiful nature photography exhibit.   That evening we had to try one of the restaurants in the area. We ended up at Jardin Nelson, which had wonderful atmosphere and good food. The restaurant is sort of outside but behind an old building facade, there are huge upside-down umbrellas that catch and funnel rain water into clear tubes where the patrons can stay dry and watch the rain falling, all the while listening to a really good live jazz band.

The next morning the Admiral wanted to get up to Saint Catherine Street for some shopping. It was advised to us that the best way to get there was on the subway. Since we have never been on a subway we decided that would be the way we would go. After riding the Metro I have to agree it is a very cheap, fast and easy way to get around Montreal.

The remaining days we spent trying to get into sold out Cirque du Soleil, which we never succeeded in doing, looking around the science museum, shopping, eating, and enjoying the action. We even seen a few of the highest fireworks from the C-Shel of the Fireworks competition where they were doing a fireworks tribute to Celine Dion, not sure why, but we will take it.

There is a good chance you will see some very large beautiful yachts as well up this way. The nicest we seen was the Vicem 72 that came in.

Old Montreal with the Old Port will be getting a visit from us again. We cannot recommend this destination more to any boater passing through. It is a great contrast against the secluded quite anchorages, small town marinas, and tranquil lock stations. Next time though, we may even stay at La Ronde Marina for a night to take in a couple roller coasters as well.

Ottawa to Montreal

The Ottawa River portion of the cruise is from July 5th through to the 9th, consisting of nights at Casino du Lac-Leamy, Montebello, Hudson, and Sainte Anne de Bellevue with a notable highlight through the Carillon Lock.

The flight of eight locks down from the Chateau Laurier were as uneventful as any other locking we do, except for the fact that we were interviewed by a Japanese documentary crew. The C-Shel may be on Japanese TV!  It was also very hot going down, we don't think we have ever been so warm doing any other lock. The heat wave struck big time that day, it reached into the 40's with the humidex. Once out on the Ottawa River however, things were a little cooler with a breeze off the water. With the Parliament buildings at our stern we were in good spirits to make the short trip to the Gatineau River, and into Lac-Leamy to take advantage of the free dockage at the Casino. The Casino Du Lac Leamy is a highly recommended stopover, with power, water hookup, its clean, with easy access to the casino and its restaurants. The casino's Air Conditioning was very much appreciated as well, since the A/C in the salon of the boat gave up blowing cold air in the mid day heat.  

Parliament Hill

Casino du Lac-Leamy Marina

The next morning we set off for Montebello. It was ridiculously hot again that day. We have a certain budget for fuel, so cruising at our hull speed of 7.5 knots was what we had planned to do most of the trip. The wind at our stern made it feel like there wasn't a breeze, we had no choice but to bring the C-Shel out of the water at planning speed of 19 knots. We enjoyed the wind at that speed and kept it up for about 1.5 to 2 hours. The Ottawa River opens up here, and almost begs you to go a little faster anyway. It was completely calm and it seemed we were the only ones headed this way.




We arrived at Montebello mid afternoon, registered, then quickly went to the pool to cool down.  We have never been to Montebello before. It exceeded our expectations. It is a lovely resort, with great marina facilities, beautiful grounds, and wonderful food. There is no way anyone cruising the Ottawa River should pass this place by. We will return every time we are on the Ottawa River.

Interior of Montebello Chalet

The following days cruise included a lockage through Carillon Lock. It is the first lock on the way to Montreal from Ottawa. It is a Parks Canada lock so your passes for Rideau or Trent locking work here. Carillon is the largest dropping lock in Canada, some 65 feet, and with its 200 ton guillotine door it is quite the experience. Locking through though is a breeze though, they have a dock installed inside the lock that goes up and down the lock wall. All boaters have to do is tie to the dock and relax and watch, no handling messy lock lines or fighting to keep you boat off the lock wall.

Continuing on to the village of Hudson, we stocked up on provisions at an IGA that was the nicest little grocery store. Hudson is a great place to stock up, and the village has a few nice places to eat as well. The Irish Pub we found served very good Lamb Shanks.

The last stop before Old Montreal would be the Sainte Anne de Bellevue Lock, which is on the lower western point of Montreal Island. This would be our destination for the next day. We stayed below the lock after going through. The southern pier is the quietest, though if you like the night life, the northern pier is where you will want to stay. The lock at Sainte Anne is lined with bars and restaurants. The Northern side will give someone great access to these, but you will get a lot of foot traffic coming by the boat. We actually were the only boat on the southern pier, probably because the water was so low, there was no access from the dock to the boat except from the bow. The C-Shel has a high bow so we had no problems. A couple of very good friends were in the area and decided to drop by and see us to chat about how the trip was going, as they may be doing this leg of the trip and back in August if the water levels do not get any lower.

Sainte Anne de Bellevue Lower Lock

Speaking of low water levels, it is pretty low on the Ottawa. I can remember kicking up mud in at least two places; pulling away from a fuel dock in Oka and pulling away from the dock in Hudson. The Yacht Club in Hudson would not even put us in the marina in a certain slip that was available because they were afraid we would hit. We stayed on the outside of the break wall of the marina. By examining the dock in Saint Anne it looks to be 2-3 feet lower than normal. It is said that the levels are at Chart Datum, and the charts display depths on the low side for safety.

The next morning it was off to Old Montreal, The distance wasn't too far, but we had 2 commercial locks to do and the wait times could be up to 3 hours. They were also calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we had to set off early. It was once again hot and not a breeze. I got lazy and left my bike leaned against the rail on the bow not tied down. I usually fold it up and put it in its storage bag in the cockpit, but not this one time. As we were entering the canal, there was a train of boaters heading from Lachine marina to go up the locks as well, each one kicking up a mighty big wake, having forgot about my bike we took the wakes at the bow as we normally would, except this time I noticed my bike rolling back and forth, It wasn't long until the bike's front tire rolled off the bow and the bike went under the rail and sunk to the bottom of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Needless to say, the C-Shel is taking donations for a fold-up bike.

After waiting for an hour to go through the first lock and finally getting through, we noticed some very dark clouds to the west that were blowing our way. I thought it best to bring the boat on plane and try to out run it to the next lock so we could tie up and take it at the dock. The storm was at our stern the for the 15 minutes it took to get to the next lock. The pleasure craft dock was full so I asked it I could raft onto someone quickly, and someone agreed. As we were tying the lines, the wind started and it poured out of the heavens.

The storm passed and we made it through the lock, now enroute to the Old Port in Montreal, we rounded the La Ronde amusement park and there was another dark cloud. This time we could not out run it, we had to head right for it. It was slow moving through the 4-5 knot current on the way to the Old Port, where we would normally be going 6.5-7.5 knots we were going 2.5-3.5 knots. At times the rain was so heavy that I could hardly see my bow pulpit and if it wasn't for the compass and the GPS, I wouldn't have a clue where we were heading. However as soon as we broke the current and the rain lifted, we could see the Old Port before us and we knew upon first glance that the trip through the commercial locks in the storms would be well worth it.

 Marina at the Old Port Montreal

Rideau Lakes to Ottawa Video

The Admiral has been hard at work to complete a video of the Rideau Lakes to Ottawa portion of the trip. This video is directly related to "First Leg - Rideau Lakes to Ottawa" post. At the end of the video you can jump aboard and lock down the Ottawa Locks with us. You can also watch it in 720p HD. Hope you enjoy.

First Leg - Rideau Lakes to Ottawa

It is Monday July 5th, and we are writing this as we patiently await the first group of boaters locking up the eight Ottawa locks. We are thankfully underneath the shade of the Rideau Street bridge while we wait for the first lock down of the day. We seem to have picked a heat wave to boat throughout the city of Ottawa; our arrival yesterday was in the upper 30s, and today calling for the low 40s with the humidex. That's ok, we will be done before the sun is too high in the sky and docked at Casino De Lac Leamy for the rest of the day and night.

We are a little tired this morning from the uneasiness of having the homeless sleeping next to the boat, and from the construction that seemed to have started at 5am at the Congress Center. I am not sure we would spend the night in downtown Ottawa again. Its not that it was unsafe, we just weren't perfectly relaxed in the atmosphere late in the night. Our recommendation would be to spend the day downtown, but then go back up the canal to Dows Lake at the marina for the night.

As we think back on the last 4 days, big smiles cross our faces. We could not have had a better start to our vacation. Good times spent with good friends on familiar waters.  The stretch of river from the Rideau Lakes to Long Island Lock was our old cruising grounds for at least 7 years. It was great to reconnect and hang out with some of these friends on the water.

We managed to leave home port at Rideau Ferry Harbour the evening of June 30th, traveling 2 hours and staying in the Smith Falls Basin. Watch for tree branches overhanging the dock on the park side of the basin when docking; just saying. We wanted to make as much headway as we could as the next day was Canada day and Merrickville can fill up very quickly on Canada Day.

Heading for Merrickville, between Edmunds and Kilmarnoc Lock stations.

Setting off for Merrickville early Canada Day morning, we caught the first lock down. We had checked our messages and already we were notified of 2 good friends at the Merrickville dock and 2 more on the way.  It would end up being a wonderful Canada Day, with some of the best fireworks I have seen in Merrickville ever, and we have experienced many Canada Day fireworks at Merrickville.

The next day it was on to Burritts Rapids Lock station, a very popular lock where many boaters from our old marina congregate on the weekends. It was Friday so there would be a good chance we would see some more old friends that night. One couple that came to Merrickville to see us had decided to join us and hang out until Sunday morning, so two of us left Merrickville and waited to lock down the 3 locks in the small village. Thinking it would be a slow day heading down toward Ottawa, since most boaters were heading back from Canada Day in downtown Ottawa, we were surprised to see after 10 minutes on the blue line, 8 mid sized power boats waiting to go down the lock with us. It was a double lock down, where a lock full of boats would go in one lock and when entered into the second lock the lock staff would load up the top lock again and follow right behind with another lock full of boats.

Locking down Merrickville Lock

On our approach to Burritts Rapids Lock we could see that the top of the lock was full, which was unfortunate since the top gets a little more breeze than down below, so down below we went. We took the last two available spots on the lower dock, and good thing too, there was still a few boats heading up the long reach coming from Ottawa expecting to get dockage at the lower dock at Burritts. I believe there ended up being 25 boats at Burritts that evening, boats were anchored out just off from the lower dock and boats were tied to trees as well.

The next day the plan was to meet up with some good friends at Long Island who had just this season upgraded there 26 cruiser, identical to the one that we upgraded from, to a really nice 32 footer. We rafted up 3 boats while anchored at the top of Long Island Lock. We spent a beautiful evening catching up and enjoying the scenery.

Our friends who had decided to travel with us until Sunday morning, had now decided that they were going to travel with us on our last leg to downtown Ottawa as far as they could then turn around and go back home. Like us, they had never been down any farther than Black Rapids Lock, and this was a good opportunity to do so. In the morning we started the engines, lifted our anchor, untied our still bed-laden friends who also had their hook down, pushed them off to swing on their own, and started the journey toward downtown.

It is a beautiful trip into Ottawa, lovely houses on the water, passing under road bridges that you don't think twice about when we drive on them in the car, but now take on a certain majestic aura about them as you pass under. Half way to downtown, in Hogs Back lock, our friends informed us that they too were going into downtown with us, then later in the evening, going back up to Dows Lake to keep their boat there for the week, and cruise back up to home port next weekend. This was wonderful news to us as we love spending time with them, and we really appreciated their spontaneity and willingness share this portion of the journey with us.  So the two of us kept on cruising together into downtown. Rounding the final corner into downtown we seen the Chateau Laurier at the end of the canal. Though we see this beautiful building all the time, it was like seeing it again for the first time from a boat. It was a sign of closure for the first leg of this cruise, a sign of something about to finish, and something new to begin.

Later that evening, after an afternoon of shopping and eating, we watched a couple of our best friends leave downtown Ottawa and head back up the canal, under a few bridges then out of sight. Though very sad to see them go and wishing they could stay a little longer, we soon realized that phase two of this trip is starting, and there is a lot more to see, explore, and experience on this already fulfilling trip.