July 24 - Alexandria Bay, NY to Belleville, ON

A cold front had come through and temperatures had dropped into the mid 40's - the coldest on our trip. After a last view of the small harbor of Alexandria Bay and Boldt Castle, we continued our trip though the 1,000 Islands. We saw many boat houses and fabulous estates.

This area is where many of the very rich, from New York, Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh built their summer "cottages". It might be interesting to know that the popular Thousand Island Dressing was named after this chain of islands.

Rather then going into Lake Ontario, we took the inside route to Kingston, a beautiful city with two historic forts. So that we could pick up some days lost due to the change in our routing, we decided not to make a stop. Instead we continued

cruising to Belleville. The marina where we had strayed 7 years ago was not able to accommodate us. Instead we went to a small marina just west of the city. Very friendly people and a great overnight stop for us. A picture will be included tomorrow.

July 23 - Morrisburg, ON to Alexandria Bay, NY

Wanting to be sure to catch an early
lock through, we left at 7:30 a.m. We got to the last of the seven locks at 9:00 a.m. Since a laker was also required locking, it had priority over the recreational craft. The process went fast and at 10:00 a.m. we went through with just one other boat.

The difference was just 6 inches and after paying the $30 locking fee, we were off for the 1000 Island area of Ontario. We passed the city of Brockville where we spent a nights on our last Great Loop trip. We passed many small islands, some

with homes, others with lighthouses and then two islands with castles. The first one we passed was the Singer Castle. It was built some 100 years ago for Commodore Frederick Gilbert Bourne. As I understand it, he was the marketing

 manager for the Singer Corporation. He came up with the idea of selling sewing machines for a dollar down and a dollar a week. The other castle was Boldt Castle built in 1900 by George Boldt as a present for his wife. When she died,

just months before the completion of the castle, he had all worked stopped and the castle stayed vacant. Today both castle can be visited. Overnight tie up was in the center of Alexandria Bay, on the US side of the border. Here we also took on 150 gallons of diesel fuel.

July 22 - Salaberry de Valleyfield to Morrisburg, Ontario

Before leaving our marina, Henk
spend some time washing the thousands of bugs off our boat. That done, we continued our trip on the St. Lawrence and it was much the same as yesterday. We passed many fishing boats, and we were passed by many faster boats.

Today we had just two locks to pass - both on the US side of the border. The first lock was the Snell Lock and we were just able to reach it in time for the 1:00 p.m. assigned to pleasure craft. The second lock was the Eisenhower Lock and here we waited for two hours for a large

laker to come through. After it was our turn, we locked through and boated another 10 miles before stopping in Morrisburg, ON. We stayed at the Chrysler Marina, the same place where we had docked 7 years ago. After having docked, a small passenger ship came into the harbor. They were on a cruise from Kingston, ON to Montreal, Quebec.

July 21 - Montreal to Salaberry de Valleyfield

This morning we departed Montreal and cruised the short distance to the first of seven St Lawrence Seaway locks. The current was very strong and within minutes we were being pushed along 3 to 4 miles faster then normal. Soon we had to turn into the channel leading up to the lock. A number of boats were waiting for the lock doors to open. When they did, we were assigned to the wall position and other smaller boats were rafted off our boat. After all boats were secure, the doors closed and water came up from various spots in the chamber.

Once the proper level was reached, the doors on the other side of the lock opened and we could proceed to the next lock. Today we passed through four locks. As we cruised from lock to lock, we saw many navigation signals and signs - all helping ships stay in the proper channels. Again we saw a number of churches with silver painted spires and domes - some even had the roof painted silver. We tied up at a marina in Salaberry de Valleyfield. The town looked very interesting and hopefully we'll be able to visit it during a future car trip.
                     

July 20 - Montreal

The morning was grey, windy and rainy. Because of the number of locks to go through, we decided to wait for better weather. To have a free day in Montrea is just what we needed. Around noon time it became sunny, but still very windy and very humid. On our walk through the old town, we were able to recognize many of the places visited seven years ago.                                                

As can be seen from the picture above, our marina was very secure with a high wall on one side and large former piers on two of the other sides. Just one side was open to the river. It protected us from the winds and wave action. Tonight we will be able to enjoy fireworks.

July 19 - Sorel to Montreal, Quebec

Shortly after having left Sorel, we were passed by a large hydrafoil of the Canadian Coast Guard. According to the Marine Traffic app on my phone, it was traveling at 38 mph. The next ship going outbound was a Dutch ship with Delftzijl as its home port. Later we were passed by a Great Lakes bulk carrier. Even with a very strong current, it still was able to pass us at about 13 mph. With the wind and current we were battling, we often would only be able to travel at 7 to 8 mph. Since it was so windy and hot, we went down to the main cabin and piloted the boat from there.

Every so often we passed small towns with the silver steeple of the local Roman Catholic church. The houses along the river bank were quite attractive and had a French feel to them. When we came closer to Montreal, we saw a large twin spired church - very attractive.

The winds kept getting stronger and the waves became larger, all with white caps. Spray at times reached our flybridge area. The closer we came to Vieux Port of Montreal, the darker it became and lightning started. We entered the harbor and as we tied up, it started pouring. As you can well imagine, we were very happy to be safe and sound, tied up in a port with great protection all around. After the storm had passed, we took a taxi to a large grocery store and restocked. Dinner that evening was pizza.

July 18 - Chambly Canal to Sorel, Quebec

At 9:00 a.m. we were able to resume our trip with locking through three small locks, all close together. Next we came to the famous step locks. We entered from the top, went down the first lock. When the door opened, we were in the next lock and the same happened for the  
last lock. We entered the a small lake near the town of Chambly with its fort. Yes, a number of forts were built on both sides of the border, many around the British - American War of 1812. Via the Richelieu River, with many beautiful homes, we cruised to Saint-Ours, site of our last lock. Along the way we saw a number of interesting Roman Catholic churches, all with silver colored spires. After the Saint-Ours locks, we continued to Sorel on the St. Lawrence River. We decided to spend the night at Marina Saurel. The slip assigned to us afforded a great view of the St. Lawrence. Thressa decided to laundry this evening. Since the laundry facility was on the other side of the harbor and quite a long walk away, I launched our dingy and took her across. While Thressa was doing the laundry, I washed our boat.