All Locked Up

We finally got away about 9:50 this morning. It was a gorgeous sunny day but proceeded to get hot and muggy quickly. I am always nervous going under power lines regardless of what the chart says. These ones began our voyage this morning. Alan has a great time egging me on. We made good time to the St.Catherine’s lock. We had to wait for a freighter going up and then one coming downriver towards us but then it was our turn. About 45 minutes – just enough time to cross one more minor thing off the to do list. This lock is one that you tie to the port side which is great for us because we don’t have to worry about our Airx wind generator. which has a new blade due to another encounter with a lock wall.

We tootled along until we came to a bridge. “Alan, do we fit under this bridge?” says I skeptically. This is the seaway, it can’t have low bridges as a sign declaring 10m. came into view. Some quick math meant we were about 18ft too tall and I played dodge boat and pulled a u-turn. As we headed back to consider our options we heard a loud siren. The staff on the bridge were halting traffic so the bridge could be lifted-- oops. Another u-turn through half a dozen speedboats and we were though.

We motored along the south side of Lac St. Louis and decided to keep heading west this time. All of a sudden there was a ear piercing squeal from both of our VHF radios. All points bulletin… a plane has crashed. Everyone requested to help look for survivor.  Well even though the event was about 20 miles away it would have taken us at least two days to Riviere de Prairie. Shortly after we heard another announcement. The pilot (and only occupant) had been found safe and sound. Nice to know they take all accidents seriously.

As we arrived at the Beauharnois locks, Alan noticed that the light was green. Pedal to the metal before they decided they were done and closed the doors. Normally a pleasure boat stops at the small dock leading into the lock and pays the $25 fee via a credit card kiosk, but they waved us right in. This one was a starboard tie up and we had another sailboat tied to us on the outside. It was definitely a challenge to keep everything from bumping things they shouldn’t. The other skipper jumped on board to help keep us off the wall. This is a flight of two locks so once we were done we had to do it all over again.

Those locks lead into a long canal. The first piece of interesting construction was the Route 30 bridge over the canal. Looks like it is on schedule to open the end of the year.

It was getting to the end of the day and we were having trouble finding the wharves described in the Cruising Guide so we decided to try anchoring. We there is an unmistakable feeling of an anchor and chain bouncing along a rock bottom. That’s what we heard so we pulled it up and kept going. The next loud announcement from the VHF was a squall warning. Great! Just then the last of the 4 wharves came into view … maybe. We headed up to it and discovered a small dock next to a local launching ramp with just enough water under the keel. It will do. Finally dinner time.