It's the Final Blog Post! "do dee doo dooooo, dee do dee do do....etc." - Day 15

Day 15

After getting mellow in Montebello we gassed up and set out for the final leg home. Having done this portion of the trip we knew that the only real goal was to make sure we were in Ottawa by early afternoon to catch the locks up onto the Rideau Canal. The trip from Montebello to the edge of Ottawa is by far the tamest portion of the triangle, with many straight stretches, moderate traffic and, aside from dodging a few crossing ferries, no obstacles or locks. On this day we putted along with the stereo up loud and soaked it all in.

While not as exciting to sightsee as the 1000 islands, there are many nice homes to gawk at as you drive by. After a few hours on slow cruising speed you edge up to the outskirts of Ottawa. You will likely note a definite increase in traffic here as the day trippers and recreational boaters and fishers are out and about. You should also pay attention to your charts as the river is deceiving with depth at certain points.

On your way into Ottawa you pass several marina and boating clubs....mind the no wake zones as they are sometimes patrolled (and of course it's shitty to throw your wake in a no wake zone anyway). One marina you pass by is the Rockcliffe marina, which is a decent enough stop having overnighted there in the past. It also has a little restaurant and gas pumps.

Those are gold and silver metallic panels on that house boat. Roan would say it's a transformer house boat

Rockcliffe marina

We take for granted the sights of Ottawa since this our home base, but if you are doing the triangle, it is pretty cool to see the amazing buildings and architecture from the water. To get onto the Rideau you head right into the heart of it all, with great views of the Museum of Civilization (or whatever the government has decided to rename it to) and Parliament Hill.

I don't even know

Ottawa cottage

The "real" Rideau river

The perpetually under construction Parliament

Wider view of downtown

We got to the Ottawa locks in the early afternoon as planned and waited for our turn to ascent the 6 locks (there are 8, but 2 of them are doubled). We have done these locks several times and it's a totally different experience from anywhere else because you always have a huge tourist audience watching your every step. I have termed these locks the fishbowl for that reason.

Preparing to enter the fishbowl

You don't really want to fuck up here...embarrassing! 

After about an hour we were through the last lock and on our way to home port. If you are visiting, the top of the locks is a great place to dock as there is power and access to downtown Ottawa including Parliament Hill, the Rideau Centre and the market. Once through the locks it's about a 20 minute putt to Dow's Lake. There is one bridge that you need to go under and radio if you cannot fit. Unfortunately if you are a bigger boat, the wait may be a while as this is a rush hour artery (one that I happen to take home when I'm smiling in my car driving in rush hour...said no one ever).

We docked at Dow's Lake in the early evening safe and sound, tired, lusting for land and content with our accomplishment of navigating the Upper Lower Canada Triangle (is this catching on yet?)

Final Thoughts.

If you are planning to do the trip keep in mind you have to pay for every lock. We bought a seasons pass since we can't go much anywhere in our boat without locking. You can pay for locks while you are in them via credit card or cash. The Seaway locks are not covered by Canal locks passes so bring cash for them.

Boating like this with a 5 year old is stressful, but looking back now I wouldn't change it for the world.

If you can get your hands on a Ports guide book do so as they are a wealth of information.

Make sure your GPS is loaded and have charts for everywhere as well (this is common sense I know).

Many non-marina stops on the Rideau Canal and the 1000 Islands have no power so plan accordingly.

Gettin mellow in Montebello

It was for these days that coffee was invented. After my nightmare sleep being harassed by trains every 20 minutes I was up at 7 (which, if you know me, is very early for a non-work day unless I am golfing that morning). Thankfully there was a coffee shop open just a block away and I treated us to cappuccinos. While we were ready to leave asap, the Bellevue lock didn't open until 9:30 so we killed time until we finally made it in.  The two Ottawa river locks are pretty comfy in that they have a floating dock inside them with staff there to assist in the locking process.  By ten we were up into Lake of Two Mountains and officially on the last leg of our journey - the Ottawa river.

Not really seeing the two mountains here...

The Ottawa river is pretty tame. There are, as I said, two locks and the current isn't overwhelming. The landscape is pretty green, with lots of properties dotting the shore as you drive by. I have to say, after the last couple of days, I wasn't about to complain about how tame the river seemed.

Oka marina is OK...except they had closed their GAZ pumps to the public

Our goal today was Chateau Montebello, the crown jewel of marina stops for this trek. The only hurdle we had to making Montebello was ensuring we got through the massive Carillon locks before they closed. To do that we needed gaz, which, as we have learned in the past, it's always best to have lots than not. One of our boating rules, if you're at a marina with pumps, top up! Anyway, after a few false starts looking for gas we found a private club that sold to the public. With a full tank, we went on plane and made the Carillon lock with lots of time to spare.

The Carillon dam and lock are an impressive sight. It is likely the deepest lock we crossed this trip, despite the fact we hit the giant seaway locks. Again, the locking was pretty easy with floating docks and staff on hand.

In the distance, nothing but dam

Inside the Carillon lock, by the time we fill up, we drive over the top of the stairs.

Once we were through the locks it was smooth sailing to Montebello.

Some smooth sailing.

More smooth sailing

Chateau Montebello has its own marina and the facilities are amazing. The dockage fees are pretty pricey - double that of a regular marina - but you get a pass to use all the Hotel facilities. Don't want to shower at the marina? Walk a hundred meters and swim in the indoor olympic size pool and use the hot tub and showers there. Or walk over to the outdoor pool and get served at the poolside bar. Oh, and wifi at the docks actually works!!!! All in all, a great stop at Montebello to get us charged up for the final leg home.

Indoor and outdoor pools plus wifi to watch netflix and youtube??? YES!!!

The 50 Somethings' Disco Boat With a Train Over My Head - Day 13

I have to say day 13 was probably the hardest day of the trip. Our 5 year old was losing his mind, our patience was very low, the Montreal tip of the triangle is stressful and pretty hard to navigate and to top it off St. Anne de Bellevue was not a good overnight for us. What I love about boating is that I am already looking back at this day and laughing.

Thankfully during the night the wind shifted and when we awoke the shit smell previously wafting through Sallaberry de Valleyfield had dissipated. We had a leisurely morning at the marina enjoying decent shower facilities then set out for the tip of the triangle around noon. We motored out back into the main shipping channel and set off East only to be stalled by a timed bridge blocking our path. Sadly then next time the bridge moved was in an hour so we drifted around on the river eating chips and fighting off the most annoying little green bugs.

A bridge too far...or long...whatever

The Horror....the horror....

The bridge finally lifted and we set off toward the next set of locks. Little did we know that a few kms down the river another timed bridge awaited. Luckily we only only had to drift for 20 minutes for this one to open. A few km later you get to the last set of locks before Montreal - the Beauharnois. Luckily we didn't have to wait long before getting into these locks.

Pretty beat up gal

Another spectacular bridge

The last of these monster locks

Once through the locks my plan was to cut across Lake St Louis and take a back channel to the left of Ile Perrot into Lake of Two Mountains and start the journey up the Ottawa River. We motored some distance before Jenn pointed out that the channel depths were too shallow and I would need to backtrack. No shortcuts today. The chars for this area are not laid out as smoothly as the rest of the triangle and we struggled mightily trying to figure out the way around Ile Perrot. We knew for sure that we had to get back on the shipping channel and head East for Montreal.

Montreal!

So many old canals hiding in this area

like ships...

passing in the day...

We finally figured out that the safest way to get around was to drive all the way to Montreal west where you can take a buoyed channel across the lake and then get back on another channel heading west toward St Anne de Bellevue and the Ottawa River. Doing this literally adds about ten kms of boating.

We finally made it to St Anne de Bellevue and grabbed a spot on the sheltered canal in the town. Its probably a fun place to go if you don't have a five year old and want to party and enjoy the many restaurants along the boardwalk. That wasn't us. Add to that we had a party of four 50 somethings right behind us testing their stereo out later that night. To top it off we parked near the lock entrance, fairly close to the train bridge, which, as luck would have it, has trains running every 20 minutes. It was very loud and after a stressful day no one really got much sleep. If you stay here, stay away from the bridge!!

The party canal

dream boat!

Day 12 - Horseshit!

Despite how cozy Marina 200 was, we decided it was time to motor on and head out for Quebec.  I had thought maybe we could make Montreal by today but had no real sense of the distance. Once again the wind was at our backs. Once you leave Cornwall the seaway really widens inevitably leading into Lake St. Francis. Most of our day was spent bouncing through the decent size waves of this area.

Shortly after leaving Cornwall

River widens

Adirondack Mountains in the distance

Another bird island...word

What I loved about this stretch is that at times you can look down or up the river and all you see is the horizon. It really gives you a sense of the size of the river and the landscape in general.

on and on and on and on and...

After spending most of the day on St Francis we realized that Sallaberry de Valleyfield was as far as we would get so we booked at their municipal marina. The accommodations were decent and people were friendly. At the marina there is a gate to the downtown canal as well. Many boats had taken that option and were parked along the boardwalk in the downtown area.

Heading in to the marina at Sallaberry de Valleyfield

The town itself was quaint, with the locals having lots of...character. We decided we were eating out and after having little luck we headed in a few blocks and stumbled across a little authentic Mexican restaurant. oh my god. sooooo good. If you stop here, find this place and eat here.

you gotta eat here - El Tio Luie

big ol church

Roan posing cool

If you are wondering why the blog title is horseshit, well we happened to have the good fortune of coinciding our visit with the annual rodeo located just a short distance from the marina and really all of downtown. The smell. Wow. 

Day 11 - Time For My Big Boy Pants

At this point we didn't know how far we could get in one day or where we would be stopping. After Brockville the river is quite narrow and you are always in the main shipping channel. we got away from the marina at a pretty decent hour in the morning and a strong wind was at our back.  The river was remarkably quiet and many times during this day we seemingly had whole stretches to ourself.

Our only friends today. These birds. 

On this stretch you pass by the towns of Prescott, Ogdensburg, Morrisburg and Iroquois.

Coast Guard in Prescott

Sightseeing 

Another bridge to the US of A

Massive power station

We also passed several tankers and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

Definitely getting size envy here

Surprisingly small wake thrown by these big boys

You also get to experience the joys of navigating Seaway locks. Gone are the memories of the quaint Rideau Canal locks, these are like the Stanley Cup Finals of locks. The Iroquois locks were not too bad to navigate as there are staff there to direct you and if you are on the wall they throw you a rope to hang on to while you lock down. The New York locks were a different story. Shortly after you pass Upper Canada village you head down into New York and hit the Eisonhower and Snell locks. The waterway narrows into a long basin as you approach Eisonhower and on this day we had the full brunt of a strong wind blowing into the lock. The big locks are also pretty stingy with waiting docks to tie up to if you have to wait for the lock to open. In our case we had to sit in the basin and bob up and down constantly fighting the wind to not be blown into shore. There was a large tanker ahead of us that we had to wait to go through. When we finally got in the lock was like a washing machine with giant waves bouncing everywhere and the wind still howling at our back. We had to raft off a larger boat who couldn't keep his bow off the wall and so I had to keep my boat in reverse gear just to keep him off the wall. All in all a stressful lockage. (locking side note, have cash ready for each lock as they cost around $30 each and cash is king)

First mate looking pretty calm cool and collected despite the chaos

When we finally got through the US locks we decided that was enough for the day and aimed for Cornwall. To get to the marina you have to motor past the town and Cornwall Islands and then hand a left and come back up against a pretty strong current. After 15 minutes though we were finally at Marina 200, which is a really cozy marina stop close to downtown with good facilities. After a stressful day there was definitely drinks poured. Ok obviously there are drinks poured after every day of boating.

Putting the Rock in Brockville

Day 10 - Putting the Rock in Brockville

After our little vacation in Ganonoque we made waves eastward, setting out to see the rest of the islands. Seeing as it was a Tuesday the traffic was pretty minimal and the trip was easy going. The scenery is at times breathtaking and the homes and cottages are out of this world.

1000 islands? Pffft I only counted 997

Scenery

More scenery

Lots of little nooks and secret passages

Hey guys check out my summer home I bought

The cruising is pretty easy in this area. Your only real choice is if you want to take the main shipping channel or the northern pleasure craft channel at tar island. We decided to take the northern channel to avoid supertankers.

As you get close to Brockville you can definitely see signs that the current is pretty fast. We got good advice that it makes more sense to travel down the St Lawrence with the current. Add to that the wind was getting pretty strong at our back so I was glad to be motoring east. Close to Brockville there are many public access islands with docks to tie up to for the day.

bridge to the US of A

scenery and greenery

bird island?

birds of a feather...etc.etc.

love this place

We chose to stay at the Brockville public harbour Marina. It was a nice spot except for the fact that the washrooms were disgusting because of ongoing sewage backup issues. Yum. The Marina is close to the downtown area with lots of shops and a large grocery store within walking distance. In Brockville we also got our boy back as his grandparents were kind enough to drive him back from Ottawa. With our crew back to shipshape we prepared for the more challenging leg of our trip.