Ahoy friends and family,
FYI: There is really NO excuse for this post being delayed 😱... We have simply been celebrating a beautiful Canadian 🇨🇦Summer❗️Summer is sooooooooooo short here, there is very little down time and plenty of play time🙂 (obviously not much blog time allotted🤣 ).
We last stranded our blog followers in Ottawa...unsure of our path to Montreal❓
In Ottawa we had the choice of continuing on the Ottawa River to Montreal (completed this journey aboard Thistle in 2014) or backtrack on the Rideau Canal to Kingston and travel via the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Montreal (a new journey to us after The 1,000 Islands area).
Well...Take a guess what direction we decided on❓ ....(No, REALLY GUESS🤓✅🗳).
Yes, due to a few reasons we elected to head back to Kingston👑 (third time is a charm ...lucky 🍀we like the town) and take the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Montreal⚜️.
Now that we have found some extra time (Yes, summer is short here, starting to have cooler nights and seeing some fall 🍁tree colors ). We are excited to share our trip with you down the Saint Lawrence♥️.
First, we hustled back to Kingston on the Rideau (four nights), then spent a couple of days in Kingston. The following morning we pushed off the dock to commence our journey on the Saint Lawrence to Montreal. The journey took twelve days stopping at eight ports.
The first night we happily snuck in one more stop in Gananoque to enjoy a wonderful dinner and visit with our good friends Jim & Lesley.
(And the new journey begins 😃❗️).
The Saint Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks and canals in Canada and the United States that permits ocean going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North American. The Seaway is named from the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. There are a total of 15 locks on the Saint Lawrence Seaway. There are seven locks on the Saint Lawrence River portion of the Seaway. As always, commercial vessels have priority over pleasure craft…so, the lock clearance waiting time is very unpredictable😰.
The Saint Lawrence River provides the basis for the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The water level on Lake Ontario (Kingston, where we started) is 243 feet above sea level, the water level in Montreal Harbor (Montreal Yacht Club, where we finished) is 30 feet above sea level. Some of these Seaway locks were very intimidating😬 (Pictures below).
The Norse explored the Gulf of Saint area in the eleventh century, they were followed by European mariners in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The first European known to sail the Saint Lawrence River area was Jacques Cartier. Because Cartier arrived on The Feast Day of Saint Lawrence he named it the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. (Another story for another time, Saint Lawrence has an interesting history too?)
We were very pleased with our decision to travel on the beautiful Saint Lawrence to Montreal😁. The water quality is spectacular with quaint towns dotting the rivers edge. It was exciting to enter the Provence of Quebec, Canada to feel, hear and taste the French🇫🇷 culture.
Merci for following us …Bon Voyage (until next time) ❌⭕️😘
Summer 2019 “Mini Loop” aboard Thistle!
THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE
😊Start and Finish (Smile Face :)
Red Line - completed (Erie Canal, Oswego Canal, Lake Ontario and Rideau Canal)
Green Line - completed (Saint Lawrence Seaway)
Purple - To Do (We still have quite a Journey to finish❗️ ).
Traveling back on the Rideau we stopped at Lower Brewers and
Reenie made an Apple 🍎Tart with supplies form the Waddle Apple stand.
Rain ☔️(Chilly) in Kingston.
Our stops 🔴 along the Saint Lawrence Seaway:
Kingston
Gananoque
Georgina Island
Brockville
Cornwall
Valleyfield
Saint Ann de Bellevue
Montreal
Georgina Island was a 👍favorite.
On Georgina Island...
Very lucky 🍀to secure a prime dock for Thistle✅.
We were able to walk across the Island, jump in the Saint Lawrence and the river current took us right around the Island to Thistle’s swim step!
THE BEST 🥇
Reenie floating in the current back to Thistle.
Our private dock on Georgina Island.
Chef “BoyerDee” cooked an awesome 😋dinner.
Our evening view of the Thousand Islands Bridge.
Good night 🌝moon.
The Saint Lawrence River water is soooooooooo pristine 🤩clear and beautiful.
After departing Georgina Island we took a sightseeing trip (aboard Thistle)
around the Thousand Islands.
It was an absolutely stunning day to view 🏰Boldt Castle.
Bridge to Boldt Castle.
A Thousand Island home!
Thousand Island cottage life :)
Thistle docked at Singer Castle.
Thousand Island Singer Castle.
Singer (YES, sewing 🧵 machine) Castle.
Brockville for one night.
It is one of Ontario’s oldest communities.
The most notable city feature is the Brockville Tunnel, Canada’s first railway tunnel.
The tunnel was finished in 1860. In 2017 the tunnel was reopened as an LED illuminated pedestrian tunnel with music.
Brockville Marina.
The Groovy ☮️Brockville Tunnel.
Take-Out dinner from the famous Don’s Fish and Chips (BEST 😋ever!)
We were careful to stay on the Canadian side of the Saint Lawrence, didn’t particularly want to go through customs another time?
But... received a Tip from another Looper about good diesel prices at the Ahnawate
Marina. We docked and refueled at the Akweass Mohawk Reservation, just after the Snell Lock on the USA side of the Saint Lawrence.
We were told that customs wasn’t necessary as it is a sovereign nation
(hopefully this tip was 🤞correct).
At the fuel dock we saw a huge hibiscus 🌸flower.
Lock on the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
The locks are 😳GIANT... they are built for commercial cargo ships up to 740 feet long.
We locked through with four other pleasure crafts.
Looking 👀up the lock wall.
Reenie managing the floating bollard lock line.
(Some locks are floating bollard type, most of the locks an attendant tosses
you two of their lines and we both hold onto one bow and one stern line.)
One night in Cornwall at Marina 200.
Cornwall is Ontario’s eastern most city.
Three nights in Valleyfield, Quebec.
The town’s name sounds English, but it is very 🇫🇷French.
Recognized as the “Venice of Quebec”.
We docked along the old Beauharnois Canal Lock Wall.
Thistle’s stern was adjacent to the floating music🎼 stage.
We enjoyed live music all three 😎days!!!
Front row, stage 🎹🎸view from inside Thistle.
A funny game in the canal combines: basketball, water polo and soccer ?
The Valleyfield church.
:) :)
One night on the lock wall in Saint Anne de Bellevue.
Thistle docked in pretty Saint Anne de Bellevue.
An island suburb of Montreal.
We traveled with a lovely French Canadian couple who repurposed a Lobster🦞 boat.
Some fall 🍁colors.
An Indian Summer Day for travel to Montreal.
Traffic 🛳🚢⛴on the Saint Lawrence.
More luxury yacht traffic on the Saint Lawrence...the beautiful Bella Vita.
Clearing the last lock before Montreal ... very thrilling!
The CrAzY 🤪current is up to six knots against us for the last two miles into Montreal Harbor.
Almost to Montreal.
Our view once docked at Montreal Yacht Club.
Our night 🪁🎆🔮🧬💜view aboard Thistle.
Bonne nuit fais de beaux reves❤️🇫🇷💙 🥰.
