The Saint Lawrence Seaway from Montreal
and the Ottawa River to Ottawa...
July 14 - 20, 2023
We left Montreal bright and early so we could be the first on the “blue line” at the St Lawrence Seaway Sainte Lambert Lock. As we got to the blue line which tells the lock operators you want to go through, we saw a large commercial ship come out.
We had the 80 million dollar boat Viva La Vie from Switzerland in front of us and no commercial vehicle which is not uncommon. Besides us, there were 10 other boats. We tied to the wall which requires me to hold the bow line and Danny to hold the stern line. Beach House rafted to us and had no problems.
We were all smiles at the first lock!
While holding our ropes, we saw these interesting squares near us. These follow the lock up or down and actually attach to large ships like suction cups as holding a rope of a ship the size of the one exiting at the front and back would obviously not cut it!
The second seaway lock was St Catherine Lock. This was quite another story. The expensive boat went in first like before and Beach House tied up to hold lines and we rafted to them. The other boats were rafted 3 rows of 3 boats across. This picture is actually from the first lock but the line up was the same.
Danny and I think they flooded the lock too quickly and Beach House and the other boats lost their stern line. Danny dropped hold of the stern line and ran to start the boat and try to push Beach House up against the wall to pin them in to grab the lines. The 80 million dollar boat had their people on the back with eyes as big as saucers. Danny could see us hitting their swim platform- he estimated a cost of $125,000. In addition, I was holding on to the 2 boats near 2 of the 3 lines in case we needed to break free which once we got them to the wall, we did. All 9 boats behind us had some damage, our 2 boats did not. We were very lucky and could have been much worse. Danny has always been clear, being in a lock and not having the engine on is dangerous. If he had not been able to start our boat, who knows what would have happened. The expensive boat did not have any lines in this lock unlike the first one, they used their PODS which holds you in place. One of the Loopers behind us felt the incident occurred due to their PODS further disrupting the water current. Danny said it was obvious, the problem came from the back of the lock, since that is where more damage occurred- one had a swim platform break off after hitting the opposite wall. We heard a blood curdling scream during this event which we knew wasn't good. We were consumed with our own problems though I feared someone had gotten their arm or leg pinned between 2 boats or a boat and a wall. The scream was coming from the boat with the ripped off swim platform. These pictures below were taken from the expensive boat. The pictures also made the Great Loop forum by the Looper behind us, Jim & Dawn on Dawn Watch from Texas.
We were all exhausted through this so we couldn’t wait to get to St Anne Bellevue to be done for the day. It was a lovely town and stayed 2 nights on the wall(which means no power or water to which to connect). The town had a waterfront park on both sides of the lock and stores and restaurants along the river. Great experience from the restaurants(we had great pizza at Violet Angel), great ice cream(3 places within steps of each other), Farmer’s market( we purchased many items especially supporting a student run farm), good grocery store, outdoor music concerts in the evening which our last night we grilled and ate just outside our boat along the water with Roxanne, David and their dog Goose from The Beach House.
The girls from MacDonald student run ecological gardens.
The Other Woman at the wall at Sainte Anne Bellevue.
This home built in 1796 by a fur trader. It was going to be destroyed in 1960 for a road but was named a historical monument and was protected. Of course, we have churches(from 1703) too and sunsets!
We were at St Anne's on a weekend which is very festive to put it mildly. I walked over to the lock and saw this which shows you the boat activity all day except maybe early like 9am. People would ride by dancing and singing.
Making our way towards Ottawa had us completing 2 additional locks- passing through the St Anne’s lock and the Carillon lock. St Anne is like the older locks in size except we can tie off to a floating dock(above) so very easy and no stress! We were due for that for sure! We were expecting rain all day and it was kept to a minimum. Rain, I don’t mind, thunderstorms is another story. Danny and I enjoyed the sites.
Pointe aux Anglais Lighthouse
The Carillon lock has a 200 ton door with 180 ton counterweight. We rose 65 feet tied off to floating dock and The Beach House rafted to us. There was no issues, thank goodness!
Entry into the lock as the door goes up and then inside the lock. Below is the lock master's home.
One of the lock staff that was at the back of the lock. Roxanne and Danny relaxing while water rises.
So now you see us at the top of the lock. Everything you saw when we were at the bottom, are now underwater and we are floating on top!
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Initially today due to called bad weather, we planned to stop in a small town, Hawkesbury. Given the weather was not bad, Danny wanted to move ahead while we could and The Beach House agreed. The town of Montebello was our next stop. We went to the Chateau Montebello Marina. What a wonderful place! The land originally belonged to the founder of Quebec and then to a political legislator. The chateau was built in 1930 from April to June, yes in 3 months. The structure is in the form of a 6 point star built with 10,000 hand cut red cedar logs from British Columbia forests delivered by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Originally this building was a private retreat, The Seignory Club. Members were politicians, businessmen, and royalty. In 1970, it was purchased by Canadian Pacific Hotels. It operates now as a Fairmont Hotel and Resort. Numerous international meetings have been held here including NATO, G7 Summit, and the North American Leaders Summit. Truly an exceptional property and a very quaint town. We had great meals not to mention ice cream and cheese shop(where they make the cheese themselves). Inside is the large stone fireplace to the ceiling with a beautiful bar and the outside.
While walking the trails into town, we saw black squirrels. I have never seen this before.
Beautiful stone church with a rectory attached. The rectory was purchased and now is an Inn.
Traveling to Ottawa we got to enjoy a group of kids learning to sail and a seaplane landing not far from our boat!
Our next experience was getting ready to go up the 8 locks into Ottawa. We stayed across the river in Gatineau(Quebec province) and walked across the bridge into downtown Ottawa(Ontario province) . You can see the 8 locks in the background to the right of my head and the Parliament buildings in the background. The bridge we walked across was built in 1900. The boat, known as Pogo, built in 1954 is the oldest actively motorized boat in the Royal Canadian Navy. It is made of aluminum and the hull was welded which was the very first for the Canadian Navy. It is housed at the Hull Marina where we stayed.
The flight of 8 locks require you to have 4 hours to complete. We were there at 8:15am(opens at 9am) and already 5 boats in line. While usually they take first come first serve except this one! Because of the time required, the lock staff works to get as many boats that can fit regardless of their arrival. Of course, I got bent out of shape because people were going ahead of us and rafting to other boats. So I called the lock masters office and asked what was happening. They were nice and understood my concern but you have to raft to someone if you want to go through the lock. People we met from Longboat Key(near SK) were 1st and 2nd in line so we rafted up to them. So The Beach House went up with the first group and we went up with the third group. We reached the top at 2pm and right when we did, someone was leaving their space on the wall. So it was meant to be!
The first picture from the bridge is the view we would have, being at the bottom and getting lifted 80 feet through 8 sequential locks. The second picture is from the top where after the 8th lock you go into a tunnel which is 22-25' high depending on the day and water levels.
The Captain awaiting his turn on the "blue line" for the locks. The boat we stayed next to at the back of the lock, Captain's Quarter from Montreal and their black lab!
Danny and I were busy between driving the boat in and out of each lock and holding lines as we moved up each lock. You can see how far down we were and then after about 3 hours, we were on top! People like to stand at the top and on the side to watch the boats as they go up in our case or down.
The staff had a harder job than the other locks we have been in to date. They were doing all the labor winding the metal around the spool in and out between the front and the back of the lock walls.
Ottawa has a lot of park space with beautiful landscaping of plants and flowers not to mention statues and art displayed. We went into the Baytown museum and also the Notre Dame Cathedral prior to leaving.
As I was taking my last picture above, Noon Mass was starting.
As you walked out of the cathedral, you got to see the well known spider outside the art museum.
On July 1st, 1867, Canada came together as a confederation with the passage of the British North American Act. This would include Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada. There were 5 towns proposed for the capital. I read stories where Queen Victoria chose Ottawa by closing her eyes and pointing her finger to a point on a map. Another story was she saw a painting of the scenery in Ottawa sent by a commander's wife in Ottawa. The Parliament building stand-in the middle between the Senate (105 appointed) and House of Commons(338 elected). Similar to the US but different.
Last but not least was the statues of the Woman's Movement. Women in Canada wanted equality however, the courts found women were not considered persons. In October of 1929, the Privy Council overturned the Supreme Court's decision to allow women to be appointed to the Senate. This was probably the one statue that I saw the most people having their pictures taken with in town. It was very close to our boat.
So now we set off to go south from Ottawa on the Rideau Canal which should take us about a week.
TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED 3820.6 miles
TOTAL DAYS 252
45 Locks
20 Bridges Open
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