Dinner in Montreal’s Old Port – Place de Jacques Cartier

Two adjacent restaurants: Restaurant Solmer (Portugese fare) & La Sauvagine (French fare), joined forces. You can order from either menu.

The service was fantastic. We called ahead so there was no wait. We had a choice of sidewalk or inside table.

We went for the inside.

Below is the best Escargot I can remember tasting in any presentation.

We started with the Escargot, a multi-game patte, then Shelly ordered Dover Sole which is sautéed then de-boned table-side. Ray went for the Fillet Mignon Flambé, completely prepared table side by Manuel, including the vegetables and a magnificent sauce.
Manuel at work … this is his specialty.
After dinner we went outside for some fresh air with our master chef, Manuel. He and his team combined to give the best service.
Click to see the video of Manuel at work!

This was an early celebration of Shelly’s 39th birthday next week.

Island of Montreal, Quebec Province

We arrived here yesterday as the sun set, fighting a current which typically varied from 3-5 mph. Fortunately, it was only for 1.6 miles to get into our protected marina [Yacht Club Montreal].

This shows the St Lambert Lock (lower right), the U-Turn to go up river for 1.6 miles to get to Yacht Club Montreal.
Shelly was able to capture this video of a navigation buoy near the Jacques Cartier Bridge.

There was zero wind. The “waves” you see are all from currents of the St Lawrence River here, and ‘some’ wave action from boat traffic I suppose.

A faster cruising speed for us is occasionally 9.0 mph / 1700 RPM
At 1700 RPM, we saw as low as 3.3 mph speed over ground SOG. That means we were bucking 5.7 mph of current at that part of the river. 3-5 mph was more typically observed.
Our tach shows where we were set for engine speed for this 1.6 miles… a hair over 1700 RPM

This is not tidal current; it is always flowing towards the Atlantic. The St Lambert Lock is the last lock in the St Lawrence Waterway which technically goes all the way through the Welland Canal Locks to Lake Erie on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Unlike the Hudson River in Albany/Troy NY, the tide and salt water of the Atlantic Ocean never makes it up this far to the last down-bound lock.

This sailboat definitely has its engine running. You can see cooling water exiting the starboard quarter exhaust port.
A 15 mile long narrow shipping CANAL exists just inside the yellow line. Two large locks overcome the elevation difference above and below the Rapids De Lachine shown in the center. Large ships and pleasure craft like ours share this waterway; the ships have priority access to the locks.

There is little to no current in the shipping canal itself. But there ARE strong currents above and below this canal. They have been generally been helping us for weeks! This evening was the exception!
Several different types of vessels are captured in this video, including a Canadian Coast Guard Hovercraft going up-river against the current on a cushion of air!

Inside the marina’s breakwater, all is calm.

This pic shows both outside and in.

Gerard Gariepy!

This post will make more sense after seeing this one from the day before:

https://shellerina.com/2024/07/29/beauharmois-quebec/

Here is a video of our first exchange with new friend, Gerard, aboard his sailing vessel Adagio yesterday.

Adagio passing astern of us with helpful local advice.

After their afternoon sail, Gerard stopped by last eve to see how we were doing. (It was dark, so I don’t have a ‘team photo’.)

But Mr. Gariepy did explain that he is the caretaker and president of the organization responsible for all the lands on the water in the City of Beauharnois. (BOW-harn-Wah)

Corporation En Rive de Beauharnois” is the organization’s formal name.

They have laid down 100 new mooring blocks, all interconnected by new chain.

“This is the first step in building out a network of docks and a breakwater to build a new municipal marina here. We have all the permits required for 149 boats!”

In Ray’s personal opinion, this is the ideal location and village for such a facility: “Not everyone wants to put in a long cruising day after getting to and ‘doing’ the Upper and Lower Beauharois Locks, THEN having to continue all the way to Montreal through two more locks that operate at 4:00 and 6:00pm for pleasure craft.”

This is going to be a great stop for cruisers AND it will benefit local businesses as well!

Fortunately for you blog fans, Gerard came back this morning.

Gerard points to where the new moorings are for the planned dock network and breakwater.

He is particularly proud of the completion of La Captainerie. “There is room for 120 people on that upper deck!”

La Captainerie, a newly constructed facility near the existing basin and park.

Funds already allocated for these projects amount to $6.5M… all from local sources.

I also got a tour of the inside.

We could not go upstairs, as they had rented it out to a film
company for a day or two, and actors were already at work.

The film company is producing a series called Sorciere. They do 20 episodes each season; this their 3rd season.

Au Revoir Beauharnois!

We are off to Montreal for a couple days.

Beauharnois Quebec

Today we transited down a combined +/- 75 feet elevation through two locks called the Upper & Lower Beauharnois Locks.

At the bottom we landed in the city of Beauharnois attracted to a free mooring field there. We’d get another budget-savings night and have a short and easy cruising day! We were secured by 1:00pm.

The mooring field of Beauharnois QC. Blue Dot is where we secured for the night. Read on!

The WWG cruising guide gave a phone number to call to verify the mooring ball is available. We called. The number was correct!

The language barrier was a challenge but basically the owner of the mooring field said our 39 foot powerboat was too big.

When I asked if I could simply drop the hook east of his mooring field; we got a “go ahead”.

About an hour later a fellow in a 40 foot sailboat swung by our stern on their way to a nice family Sunday afternoon sail. He recommended we move into the small stone pier/basin. “Tie up anywhere except on the floating dock. We all use that for pumping out.”

Old aerial pic… off season… with boats being stored in this municipal parking lot “downtown”. There is a town launch ramp out of frame to the right.

The reason why he recommended a move is: “There are a large number of chains on the bottom here, I wouldn’t want you to snag one and have to cut your rode, loosing it AND your anchor.”

“The basin has cleats and plenty of water for your boat. You’ll be fine there for a night or two.” The fellow was confident and knowledgable, and he seemed to have a slight tone of ‘authority’ even. (Almost too strong an adjective for such a friendly guy!) Stay tuned! There are more newsworthy details coming about this!

Next day’s post: https://shellerina.com/2024/07/29/gerard-gariepy/

I occasionally use a “trip line” on our anchor wherever reviews say that we *might* get snagged. I did not use one today.

Fortunately, Shelly and I successfully weighed anchor, without incident, and then slowly made our way into this basin, and secured with an in-town side-tie, now enabling easy visits ashore! All of our “locking laundry” (aka fenders) were still out and hanging… prepared for double-duty tying up to a stone wall for the night!

At first we were the only ones here. But this little basin served many other boats today…
Louis & Melissa aboard Marilou are locals coming in for lunch ‘n’ stuff. It was great to exchange stories with them.
Looking west.

Above: Looking east.

Later, looking west again. If “pet friendly” is on your list of criteria, this area fits the bill!

((My observation is: people are always picking up after their dogs. But they don’t pick up after their geese!))

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Young people hang out here. Lots of fishermen all day too!
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Walking around the village.,.

This micro-brewery pub was the first place locals recommended.
50 yards meters from the basin!
They have the evidence in their window: they ARE a real micro-brewery!

The second establishment was this sidewalk cookery.

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Be sure to attempt to order en Francaise! Shelly and I learned years ago in the Caribbean how fun it can be to make the attempt to order in the local tongue. It really makes it fun for the servers too!

Build international goodwill.
Patate Mallette: a hopping place with tables, and a fast-moving lines.
Here is another!

Going ashore, I learned that this basin, used by many, with no “staff” or “fees” is just part of this community’s commitment to parks & recreation.

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Now you know some French!

Barharnois

I am told the correct pronunciation for this town is: BAR-hon-Wah

Sunrise PQ – a “Go” today

Sun’s up, Baie Franscoise, Vallyfield Quebec.
Nice anchorage!
We are expecting some sea grasses on the hook.
Lower Left:

https://marinavalleyfield.com/marina-valleyfield/

All French website!

No room. So we get a free night on the hook!

We have a bridge and lock reservation to get moving for shortly !

Larocque Bridge – Vallyfield

The website instructions for locking through the Upper and Lower Beauharnois Locks are to make your pleasure craft reservations at least a day ahead of time and pay the CAN$25 per lock fee with a credit card. The daily TIME for pleasure craft to lock through is 11:00a.m. (Subject to change).

Then we must report to this Larocque Bridge by 9:00am.

I left our nearby anchorage with the intent of clearing this bridge at 8:00a.m. Figuring we could tie up at the wall above the lock and wait there for the 11:00a.m. lock appointment.

When approaching the bridge shortly before 8:00, I called the bridge tender on the designated VHF-14. The bridge tender told me that pleasure craft should call on VHF-68. So I called on 68.

Then she said the bridge won’t open for pleasure craft until 9:00a.m.

This westbound cargo ship is the reason for the 15 minute delay for opening the bridge for us. The bridge tender wanted to service us all with a single opening.
St Louis Bridge

Next was the similar St Louis de Gonzague Lift Bridge we hit before arriving at the Upper Beauharnois Lock.

There is *some* limited room for pleasure craft to tie up while waiting for the 11:00 down-bound lock here.

The best strategy is not to rush from the St Louis Bridge… I suggest you time your arrival for 11:00 at the upper lock.

Once inside the chamber of these Beauharnois Locks, the operators passed us long lines for us to “pay out” during the descent.

This illustrates the common “S-Hook” technique that Shelly uses around the “horns” of the midship cleat.

Two lines were given; I did a similar thing at the stern quarter cleat.

There are a LOT of variations from lock to lock, canal to canal, waterway to waterway. Not knowing what to expect when entering a new-to-you lock chamber can be stressful.

It is best to simply remain calm, put the puzzle pieces together. Then execute the best way possible. The fundamentals of locking are the same everywhere!

Some operators communicate a LOT; some not so much! Some may not even speak English.

Shelly and I have travelled a lot over the decades. When one travels, one learns: “Expect the unexpected.”

In our blog we try to help with our pics and stories!

We found this link to be helpful:

https://greatlakes-seaway.com/en/pleasure-craft/

Cornwall (ON) Marina 200… some details.

This pic’s blue dot shows our position in this basin (Slip 66).

Note that the strong current of the St Lawrence River flows NE (left to right in this pic).

So the ANGLE of this entrance to this basin is perfectly designed for an easy and controlled approach against the current at a good angle.

Transients here are generally put on the right side, on the wall or in a slip like us tonight. The walk from this area to the office will be a long 1500-1900 feet, so consider tying up at the fuel or pump out dock (left side entrance) to pay your bill and buy your ice etc. Then go to your assigned spot.

The video below shows our entrance today. You can see the office and fuel dock to the left. We did not stop there, so basically, I got my exercise in!

One of the reviews on Waterway Guide suggest using your dinghy to get over to the office.

Here a video shows as I turn around to show this marina as I back into our slip.

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My hope is that today’s two posts help you make this stop.

Back in Canada…

We arrived in Cornwall Ontario today after a trip down the St Lawrence River.

4-5 mph of current helped us make over 12 mph SOG (speed over ground).
Crosshairs / Lat-Long are the US Snell Lock. Blue Dot is Cornwall Marina 200. The yellow route is discussed below.
This red & yellow steel structure FLOATS and goes up and down as the lock fills and empties. They are the best!!! All she has to do is take a round turn and S-hook around her midship cleat.

I noticed that there were no navigation buoys (ATONs) on the shorter route to this marina from the Snell Lock in the crosshairs. Yet the route looked “OK” for our 4 ft draft.

Shelly suggested I call the marina for their advice, which I did. They recommend the longer route up and around. See the yellow arrow above around Cornwall Island. “Locals take the shortcut, but with the strong currents here and today’s fresh breeze, newbies to this area should generally go around.”

Add to that the fact that the Mainship 390 is not famous for having a very responsive helm in-current compared to an outboard or a sterndrive.

So we took the longer path and played it safe!

So: 3 locks today:

Some of the St Lawrence Locks are in Canada waters, some are in the US. Today we went through the first lock between Lake Ontario and the Atlantic Ocean, the Canada-side “Iroquois Lock”, VHF-17, reservations and prepayment CAN$25 on their website are required. We did not tie up or anything! We just free floated in the chamber. Easy!

The second lock was on the US side, the Eisenhower Lock. VHF-14. No reservation, cash only. US$60 paid for both US locks today (Eisenhower + Snell). (Snell is on VHF-17.) (Both US locks had the floating bollards.)

After we secured at Cornwall’s Marina 200, a nice protected basin NW of Cornwall Island, we called Canadian Customs (888-226-7277 = 888-CANPASS) and got cleared and a new “Report Number”.

Even though we cleared Canadian Customs on July 2, we had to repeat the process as we stepped, docked, or anchored in the US.

This marina is one part of an expansive park & recreation campus! Very impressive area of a very impressive city.

There is no Uber or Lyft here, because Choice Taxi and another taxi company are on top of their game. Fast, responsive, reasonable to get re-provisioned.

Our transient next-door neighbors, Gilles & Brigette of …
Vino Tinto… Shelly’s and my preferred beverage!

Gilles helped the marina’s dock hand catch Shelly’s lines, on a finger that the crosswind was pushing us away from. So, we really appreciated their help!

We had fun trying to tell our stories each using our “home tongues” of French for them, and English for us.

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Ogdensburg NY

Ogdensburg Municipal Marina $2 / ft incl 30A shore power.
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We are on the wall just inside the basin’s entrance.
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T-Boomers just after we secured.
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Twin 30 Amp in the wall
The slips are mostly for seasonal boat rental slips 20-27’ from the looks of it.

Addendum

7:45pm Thursday

It looks like we are in for a bumpy night here for our second night here on the wall at the entrance to this basin.

10:30pm. Thankfully, things have settled down at this hour!

Boldt Castle – worth the stop!

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We tied right up to the docks they have for pleasure craft.

Heart Island.

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Even a stopped clock is correct twice a day! Actually, I think this clock in the tower was working and correct!
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St Lawrence River – a major international shipping channel
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The rest rooms were immaculate!
This venue is available for weddings. We did not inquire about renting the castle for Thanksgiving Dinner.
The server’s dining area.
Actual curved glass! Ace Hardware here we come!
The grounds were professionally kept.
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We are off to Odgensburg NY Municipal Marina for Wed night.

Then Cornwall PQ, Bay at Francois PQ, then we take a right at Sorel Tracy PQ for the Richeleau River Canal to Lake Champlain to Albany.

If you visit here do not miss the video & theatre that give a concise history of this amazing place. DVDs are available in the gift shop for the same content.

The castle’s story is a healthy mix of tragedy and romance… and it is certainly historically significant.

It was a very worthwhile stop for us. We were there from 10:30am to 1:30. The snack bar + ice cream stop on the docks came in handy.

There IS an elevator for the castle’s 4 floors, and they have wheelchairs for those who need them AND golf carts to bring folks up to the castle from the docks if needed.

The first & second floors are incredibly restored. Third and fourth show construction / work-in-progress AND offer great views of this magnificent 1000 Islands Area of North America. (Yes, the snack bar has garden salads with 1000 Island dressing.) Hot Dogs, burgers, pizza, wraps, etc.

Clayton NY USA

Cape Vincent NY to Clayton NY.

St Lawence River

Yes. We’ve started counting our 1000 Islands! <grin>

Craig & Patti of Spontaneous – Fellow Loopers – home port: Cape Vincent NY!!!
Great cruising day comes to a close.
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Moon rise
Moon Rise2
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Cape Vincent NY … has left a great impression.

Team Photo of dock-mates:

Julie & Jennette of Zellah

Bill & Sheila of Mystic

Dave & Tamara of Dog Days

Shelly & Ray of Shellerina

Pic taken by “Kim”. Thanks Kim!

Zellah
Mike Avery, mayor of this public dock. Craig & Natalie & Audrey of Hyggei
Good “ZA” … short walk from public dock.

US Customs is also a very short walk. (Near ferry terminal).

Multi-modal here.
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Here is where we tied up for two nights. 30A + fresh city water. $20 donation/nite.

No rest rooms. No trash? Odd. Everything is a close walk.

RON at Cape Vincent Marina will also accommodate your needs and give you good advice.

Bob’s Liquor Store (aka Cape Vincent Liquor Store) delivers to the docks. They have a very respectable inventory for a small town.

Bob is a local leader in this community. His son Todd is also on top of his game with great customer service.

Their service was a noteworthy contrast to what we experienced in Ontario for most of this past month during the LCBO strike. A major irritation. We are SO happy to be OUT of Ontario, without that strike + full Internet etc.

Remarkable improvement over Ontario! Thank You!

Annual POKER RUN fund raiser today in the 1000 Islands region: a parade of “muscle boats” traversed all the ports including this one this morning.

This boat led the fleet of dozens of power boats.

A good sized crowd assembled to see the “parade” flotilla.

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Back in US waters!

11:45 a.m. crossed into US waters.
Secured at town dock 1:39 p.m. Cape Vincent NY. Sweet town!

Back on our own ships’s ROUTER!
Crystal clear Lake Ontario!

Click to see videos.

Wolfe Island’s east end wind turbines.
We are officially on the St Lawrence River. Cape Vincent town dock 10 minutes.
Clear water! It reminds me of Block Island RI, except this is fresh water. Both have VERY clear water. Northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are similarly amazing!

Checked into US Customs, stopped at the local market.

Wine will be delivered this hour, to our boat at the public dock… which has 30A shore power and city water!

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Boat House restaurant

Boat House Seafood Restaurant – Belleville ON

Walking distance from Meyers Pier Marina!

Shelly after escargot! Lovin’ life!
Local CAB.

Our choices:

Seafood Chowder

Escargots

Lobster Roll

Seared Scallops

It was all excellent.

Shelly and Jordan
Jill and Ray
Great waterfront dining
Looks like a great venue for Ontario’s winters too!
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Highly recommended … not only by us!

Needin’ more Time, needin’ more Online, needin more Red Wine!

Peterborough ON Lift Lock

This past weekend in the shadows of the 54 foot Lift Lock at Peterborough ON, Shelly and I decided that 90 miles of the 240 mile Trent Severn Waterway would have to be enough for 2024.

From the top of Peterborough’s lift lock.

We left behind 142 (x2) miles of waterway and 24 (x2) locks to get to the end and the eastern end of Georgian Bay and back to Peterborough. Then another 5-7 good weather travel days to make Kingston ON again.

We also left behind the chance to transit The “Chute” Railway Lock in the town of Georgian Bay.

This unique marine railway lock carries several boats at a time across a road from a waterway at one level to another at a different level.

While we are chagrin at leaving all that behind, our new itinerary ensures the plan to navigate the St Lawrence River and Lake Champlain remains intact.

We want to be on Long Island NY with our son, Nick, on US Labor Day September 2, and ultimately make Jacksonville FL during the first few days of November.

Transiting locks and weather (Beryl’s remnants), and routine maintenance simply took more of our time than we expected. “240 miles in 24 [leisurely] days (x2 … each direction)” was not enough time.

Internet Service

Good Internet was elusive… and reportedly it was on a trajectory to get worse if we continued west. I could elaborate on this, as it was my field, my profession. When I was paying the bill at the office, the dockmaster here said, “The WiFi should be pretty good, we just got this whole system upgraded a couple of weeks ago,” pointing to the antennas and routers on the wall.

So, I asked, “Is this the only place in this marina were there are antennas?” “Yes.”

Armed with the secret marina WiFi codes, I walked back to the boat to give it a try. The bandwidth was too slow to even get a “mbps” test result down or up! So I went up to the fly bridge, and hooked up my directional yagi antenna for 2.4gHz WiFi.

Yagi antenna for 2.4 gHz WiFi (aimed at marina office)

I was now able to get a halfway respectable signal I can use for the night.

Adult Beverages

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) has a clear agenda and plan to release their monopolistic grip on wine and liquor retailing in this province. This is a good thing in our opinion and experience.

Effectively, the only place to buy wine in Ontario, or liquor. Closed.

However LCBO’s retail employees don’t agree so they have forced store closures as they strike across this whole province during the same time we are cruising up here.

https://financialpost.com/news/lcbo-strike-ontario-what-you-need-to-know

Transportation

There was a lack of Uber/Lyft type services. Some of the taxi services were price gouging. They laugh at the thought of a marina courtesy car!

There is no Instacart either.

Pharmaceuticals

Rx and OTC drugs were going to become a problem if we stayed in Canada. Some OTC drugs in the States require a prescription from a CANADIAN physician.

OTC Stateside. Rx only in Canada… and only from a Canadian doctor.

Pharmacies here cannot fill Rx scripts by US physicians. There is zero reciprocation agreements.

Fuel, Ice, Pump Out

Availability of fuel and pump-out locations were a fraction of the same stateside. Same with ICE. Almost every marina in the States sells ice, as they know it is something their customers need! Sadly, not here in Canada.

The lack of a competitive market for diesel fuel means prices will be higher of course. We paid US$6.57/gallon (CAN$2.25/liter) in Peterborough ON at the only fuel dock we had seen since Trenton, 90 miles earlier.

(By comparison, diesel we purchased in US this year ranged from $3.30 to $3.79 per gallon).

All these little things equate to “death by a thousand paper cuts.” It’s just irritating.

I guess it makes me really appreciate the free-er market, and more entrepreneurial mentality that is very influential in the US.

The availability of products and services is much more plentiful in the United States. Sunday cannot come soon enough! Clayton NY! We can’t wait to get back to the US.

I *almost* did not post this, as we rarely take on a “negative” tone on this blog. We are “positive” thinkers. But, I also wanted to be journalistically accurate.

I’m hoping the remaining miles [kilometers] in Canada are better than the past few weeks. The PEOPLE have been WONDERFUL: Lock Staff, vendors, local boaters, etc. So we do not want to paint a picture that any of them have let us down!

Addendum 7/27/24

It may be fortuitous that we did not continue to Georgian Bay. Lock 43 on the western end of the Trent Severn Waterway is closed for major repairs for a few days.

ALSO

7/30/2024

View from the Top!

We lifted a total of 54 feet through Flight Lock 16/17. This is the view backwards from the top.

Double Lock aka Flight Lock 16/17 Healey Falls. 3 gates as shown above, 2 chambers.
Click on video above: Entering the double lock 16/17 Healey Falls.

There are two “double locks” here on the Trent Severn. The other is # 11/12 Ranney Falls, which we did July 8.

There is also one on the western Erie Canal which we did on June 14, 2012

https://shellerina.com/2021/06/14/lockport-ny/

Two hours later, Lock 18:

Further up the Trent River, we locked through #18. See the crosshairs above.

Then, keeping our distance from the dam to our left (right side of this pic), we fought 1.5 – 2 mph currents to take the T-Head spot on A-Dock… where the blue dot is.

Dockmaster Emily and Francine of Bon Vivant helped catch our lines in this current. Care was taken to not allow the swift current to push us into Bon Vivant’s stern.

After we were secured, Ray fixed Shelly a Bloody Mary, helped Emily with our Pump Out. He then took a shower and squared up our bill at the office.

Then Ray met “Jim” of Monica’s Old Smokey. He was sitting in the shade of his boat on the swim platform, and he offered to give me a ride over to the “Beer Store”. This local chain really has it made this week as the ONLY local wine ‘n’ liquor retailer is closed due to a labor dispute. “Everyone is drinking beer!”

These folks sport a large cooled warehouse and a conveyor that brings your goods out to the front of the store. It was hot today. The stock boy filling orders inside that huge cooled warehouse was not complaining about his “work environment” today! (I should have taken a pic!)

Jim helped me carry my two cases of local Moosehead lager to Shellerina! What a guy!

Thank you SO much Jim!!!

OK. Dinner.

Shelly was going to cook. “Dr. Hook” aka Doug, pictured below…

Dr. Hook, the avid fisherman, points to the Italian place(s) very close to this marina. “Jim” also weighed in with his recommendation.

Lady B’s Bistro, recommended by Doug. VERY close to Hastings Village Marina.

There are several other establishments across the bridge (all walking distance).

Addendum:

on LCBO Strike making wine and liquor unavailable in Ontario. LCBO stands for Liquor Control Board of Ontario! It is a government agency!!!

Dinner at Capers

Trish & Jeff of Oyster, Ray & Shelly at Capers Tap House (very short walk from the west wall here) in Campbellford ON.

Photo by our wonderful server, Kim.

Good food, good new friends enjoyed this evening’s meal followed by a brief tech tour aboard Shellerina.

“The first of many dinners further down the ship’s log.”

Remnants of Hurricane Beryl

The rain started at 7:15am here in Campbellford ON.
10:35 a.m. Wednesday. The “blue dots” in the images above show our location.
We are not making much solar power today! It is a good day to be tied up to a wall with shore power!

It is now noon, and the rain has stopped for a bit. We’ll walk over to check the “facilities”…

Addendum:

This phalic image of the weather map was an interesting study. Reportedly, the St Lawrence River is flowing in the correct direction!

Campbellford Ontario

East Wall has 50A shore power. There is room for about 9 boats on that side, depending upon their size.
West Wall has 30A shore power. There is room for +/- 14 boats on this side.
Nice cleats, aka bits, or bollards!

There is just enough southbound current (+/- 1 mph) here that you will have to take it into consideration for your dock landing. A light wind out of the north was also present when we arrived Tuesday.

Downtown is nearby!
John aboard North Wind. A wall like this one is a great place to meet other boaters at the end of the day!
Jeff & Trish aboard Oyster.

This crew also chronicles their travels on a blog:

https://pearlsaboardoyster.com

I highly recommend their blog. As we are hoping to transit Lake Champlain next month, I have begun digesting all their well-done ‘pics and prose’ of their time there.

Shelly and I will also check out their Youtube content once we have good Internet again. https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCbGHynrW0bZqy9xdxhexQIA

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Jim & Diane aboard Longer Hours.
Joy & Jeff of Empty Nest show us one of the famous welcome signs used here to mark your place on the wall.
They do not leave these signs up for long. So, if you want a pic of yours, take the shot soon after you are secured to your spot.
This town is officially coined as “the home of the $2 Canadian coin.” aka “Twomie”. This monument celebrates that honor. Shellerina is in the background on the east wall with our other newly made friends and dock mates all transiting the Trent-Severn.
Both sides of the Twomie, Canada’s $2 coin, are shown above next to a US quarter for size comparison.

Check out this amazing pic of the giant coin near sunrise! ((I *think* this pic is by Pat or Teresa Clements of Rock N Roll ))

These $2 coins are very much in use every day here in Canada. They are very frequently given out as change when we pay with cash. Reportedly, King Charles is not yet showing up very often on coinage.

Get a Reservation for this wall:

Call: 750-653-1551

https://www.visittrenthills.ca/oldmillparkdocking/

The Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce does a great job of managing the many available spaces on both sides of the canal.

Cindy & Karen

They are friendly and competent: Karen and Cindy in the office, plus a number of dock hands “workin’ the walls” all make it a team.

A “Welcome Shellerina” sign was hanging on the railing in our assigned space when we arrived.

We Have Begun the Trent Severn Waterway (TSW)

Thanks to Eric and Karen Martin of Tropical Horizons II for taking these pics of our boat this morning!
Shellerina leaving Trent Port Marina this a.m.

Some TIPS and Canadian NORMS for you to know:

Plastic covered cables affixed to the wall, both top and bottom was the norm. We like this better than “hanging lines”.
Shelly gets comfortable on the steps on our starboard side. She takes our midship spring line then goes once around their cable then S-Hooks on her cleat.

The eastern-most locks are all Starboard-side-to (westbound going up).

Canada wants our engines OFF once secured in the chamber. PFDs are not required here, but they are a good idea, obviously.

The chambers are typically left FULL at night for safety reasons. So early-rising UP bound vessels may need to wait for the chambers to empty.

They also expect every boat to grab TWO cables, not just one. So I typically grabbed one aft from the swim platform.

If there are three 40-50 foot boats, the lock master is likely to have 3rd and 4th boats RAFT UP to the boats on the starboard wall… so long as wind conditions make it safe to do so.

On the way UP these locks have too much turbulence on the port side wall. So while that wall has cables, they are only used for locking DOWN.

Lock #6 Wall (high side) has 30 Amp shore power. They accept plastic. So you don’t need Canadian currency (CA$10.75).

The next place with power is the Town of Cambellford Town Walls between Lock 12 & 13. I believe all the lock walls have picnic tables, washrooms, (no fresh water hose spigots), and maybe showers. Everything is first-come-first-serve as Lock Walls. But in general, it does not appear to be a problem to find a place to tie up for the night someplace here on the TSW, plus there are anchorages shown in the cruising guides. The walls at Campbellford DO take reservations. We recommend it!

With the exception of Lock 1 none of these locks have VHF radios!

Some say the bridges and locks use VHF-14 here. But it has been pretty quiet on 14 and 16. So, if you NEED to contact a lock you can try the phone.

Maatje, Thomas, Ben. Today’s crew at Lock 6, TSW.

But my observation is these folks are not sitting in the office much! They are outside helping boaters lock and tie up to the walls and, in addition, several of the upper gates are HAND OPERATED! ((I’ll have to capture some video of that.))

The “crank handle” on each side of the canal: used to open and close the upper gates

The staff are clearly well-trained, 20-Something year olds, who are encouraged to be as friendly and outgoing as naturally possible.

Tying up to the BLUE painted wall means “I intend to lock thru.” If you tie up before getting to the BLUE wall, it will probably be assumed you are just tying up to the wall for the night or for a bio-break or whatever.

This morning, we only tied up to Lock 1’s Blue painted wall (before they opened for business at 9:00am. The well-coordinated lock masters called ahead to the next lock, so there was “instant service”. We could simply enter into the open lock gates. Unlike in the States, There are NO GREEN / RED lights here. So there was no VHF or light signals to say “Come on in!” It seemed to all work just fine.

The “lifts” were typically 15-28 feet for most of these first six locks.

Here are two links with more information on the TSW and more specific info about each lock.

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/posteeclusage-lockstation

Five boats are tied up here at Lock #6 today.

Ed & Sharron of Our Town have shared 2 or 3 ports with us now. Shellerina is in the background.
All five boats are shown above. Room for more!

We followed Cygnus V thru locks 1-6 today. They continued on to Lock #13. Ray has to change out our fuel filters. So we turned back to get a spot at Lock 6.

Cygnus V – a recently completed Back Cove Yacht, and new model, built in Rockland Maine.
When the lock gates are closed they are safe to walk over to the other side. In lock 6 the showers are on the opposite side of the canal from the office and wash rooms.
We locked through several with this boat on Tuesday. To get to the municipal walls in downtown Campbellford. A highly recommended stop! Call ahead to get a reservation here!
The huge middle gates of double Lock 11/12 Ranney Falls (three gates / two chambers.)

Summary Notes about the first 35-40% of TSW:

Lock 1: Buy your PASSES / stickers.

Lock 6 (high side): First lock NB with Shore Power.

Lock 9: Sells ICE. Both block + cubes. They take plastic.

Between L12 and L13 Campbellford City Walls (east has 50A shore power, west has 30A shore power.) Calling Karen & Cindy & crew to get reservations is highly recommended. 705-653-1551. Tell them Shellerina sent you!

All “Stickered Up” for Trent-Severn!

Seasonal sticker for locks AND Seasonal sticker to moor and tie up to walls on the Trent-Severn Waterway. 30A electric is about US$7.90 (CA$10.75) / night extra, pay as you go. (Only a few walls have shore power on the TSW.)

Stickers cost for the season: US$ 602.20 (CA$819) for a 39 ft vessel.

You buy your stickers at the Lock 1 office when you arrive.

We taxi-ed over the day before… one less thing to do in the morning. It also gave us a chance to get acquainted with the first TSW lock, and ask the staff all the questions we had.

Addendum August 2024

Weeks later when we turned south, NE of Montreal onto the Richelieu River & Chambly Canal ( towards Lake Champlain, ) these stickers “worked” for those locks and walls. So, we figure we got our money’s worth.

Trent Port Marina

Half decent facility <wink>.

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Captain’s Lounge
Captain’s Lounge 2
Grills
Laundry (incl)
Half decent showers / washrooms <wink>.
Gut Work?
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This may help you once you get your slip assignment.

Marina WiFi “above average”. At boat: Solid 6.0 mbps down, 3.8 mbps up, with regular paddle antennas. And it lets the ship’s router connect (not just endpoint devices).

There is a large grocer (Metro) nearby, and a great Rx too, (Shoppers Drug Mart) … very easy walk!

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Lots of vacancies here. So, transients like us should have no problem getting a slip on short notice.
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UBER does not work here. But we found ABC TAXI to be very responsive. 613-392-3525.

Kingston Ontario

We observed most all the traffic comes and goes thru the opening by the Green & White lighthouse on the end of the outside breakwater.

No boats were anchored behind this impressive breakwater. Perhaps it is too deep?!? +/- 24 feet.

The office is across the cul-de-sac as indicated by the arrow.
Getting cleared thru customs comes first. THEN, you can leave your vessel to go to the office and pay the marina bill.

Customs may require a visit to your boat, and possibly to board it and inspect it. OR you may luck out and get your “Report Number” over the phone.

We loved our stay here. The Confederation Basin Marina was excellent. Wooden docks were kept in good repair, and the dockhands (and office staff) were on top of their game. Marina WiFi was good. Nice Showers 24×7, nice laundry is only available during business hours.

UBER worked well in Kingston. Amey’s Taxi also had a dominant presence.

Grocer, Rx, liquors, many gr8 restaurants are all walking distance, with lots of wonderful ethnic varieties to try out.

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Zero boats were anchored in the open area. Marina staff indicated that people can anchor there. It is simply not common.
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A welcoming city for everyone.
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What species of geese come to Canada?

This waterfront city park is a very busy place!

Dinner & a Haircut?

Not in that order!

The priorities:

1) clear Canadian Customs and get our “Number”

2) Pay for our slip + get the “secret codes”, (showers, laundry, dock gates, WiFi, etc.)

3) Get Ray a haircut!!!

Before pic:

Shelly calls it my Brillo Pad.

After pic:

Damn I look good!

We loved our visit with Chelsea (the entrepreneur/proprietor and licensed cosmetologist from Paris France (I believe)) and Lena (the barber we know for sure is from Cuba),

They can be found here at this place, a very short walk from the docks at Consolidation Basin Marina in Kingston ON.

They told me Lena’s schedule was full. But then I told them I just travelled all the way from Florida -by boat- to get a haircut here! So, Lena fit me in!

His “business name” is Fades Jimenez. So if you see that in your Google search, this is the place to find him. ((He did not seem to object to gettin US$ cash instead of Canadian bills for his fee+tip.))

As busy as they are, their rates are reasonable. “You just gotta get lucky like me, or get on their schedule!” ((Kinda like marina reservations.))

86 Brock Street, Kingston ON
Chelsea with one of her many good-spirited customers, and me of course… before my “job” got done.

4). Then dinner!

Newly-groomed-Ray and Shelly started walking “back to the boat to fix dinner.”

Good luck with that … here in this town. There are really great restaurants within every block and at every corner. We didn’t get very far.

Observably, TANGO Nuevo was the place getting the most foot traffic. Yet there was no wait! This young couple (above) live locally and come here “all the time.”(They agreed to have me use this pic for our blog.) We gave them one of our Looper cards for free. (I won’t say what we normally charge.). The woman looked at it and instantly spouted out the correct pronunciation of our last name (Sirois) en Francaise! (With rolling R: SeeRR-Wah)

Dinner here was delectable. Shelly and I focused on the seafood section of their diverse menu: Harissa Coconut Curry PEI Muscles, Thai Curry Cod, and gourmet garnished Octopus. All had 3 different and fantastic sauces which complemented the medley of garnishes masterfully selected by the chef for each of these proteins.

It is very easy to over-cook calamari and octopus making it rubbery. Not at this place! They did it perfectly so it was soft and melted on the tongue!

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Oh Canada!

11:30 am ET
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Once docked at Confederation Basin Marina in Kingston ON, we simply called: 888-CANPASS. (888-226-7277) and gave them all our vessel and passport information.

We declared some of Shelly’s potted cooking herbs (basil, rosemary, scallions) that will not be leaving the boat. We also declared alcohol only for “SHIP’S STORE” that won’t be leaving the boat.”

“If you use the correct vocabulary, it’ll save you from having to itemize all the types and quantities.”

We got our “report number” over the telephone! Evidently, a physical visit to the boat is also common to get one’s “number.” But not for us, not for today.

I *think* our Blog gave them more than enough details about us, so they felt comfortable doing ours all by telephone.

Apparently, here in Canada, Verizon Wireless has us covered for all our devices. (We’ll soon see?!).

NEBO’s website says our NEBO tracker will continue working here in CANADA without changing anything.

When asked about “duration” of our stay in Canada, we estimate 40 days should cove our longest possible itinerary… which will include St Lawrence River to the canal south to Lake Champlain.

Pretty easy!

Now that we are officially checked in, Shelly hangs up the Canadian “courtesy flag” from the radar mast. We also own a courtesy flag for the Bahamas, but we have not been there to fly it yet.
Even when in a foreign port, Old Glory still sits in the place of honor on any power boat: off the stern rail or transom. This one will be retired in a couple days on July 4, as we typically replace our ensign every Fourth of July with a new one! You can see this one has faded and the “fly edge” is wearing.
These stickers should help us get back into the USA. Aircraft and vessels leaving the US need to have this registration to get back in. Reportedly, you can buy them upon re-entering. But it is best to have all the paperwork completed ahead of time.

Addendum:

https://shellerina.com/2024/07/04/new-flags-2/

Happy Fourth of July 2024!

June Summary + Lake Ontario Crossing

Long Island NY to Lake Ontario.

Tomorrow, our weather window looks like it remains a good day to cross this Great Lake to Kingston ON.

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In the morning: Very little wind on Lake Ontario, a good sign for the start of our crossing.

Seas were calm the whole way across.

This large “farm” of wind turbines welcomed us to Canada.
Dozens of wind turbines! They even show up on the chart. Wolfe Island.
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This breakwater and fort protect Kingston Harbor.
Finally… At the marina!