Back to Dorval

Jessica and Jeremy met me at Le Club Natique de Longueil at 8:00 AM with coffee and croissants.  

We set out to the locks with a large ship traffic coming out of the lock.  We radio him and it was suggested we turn around and let him pass.  We complied.  

A short wait at the dock and departed the dock prematurely because other boats were positioning to enter the lock.  An EcoMaris with a lot of crew entered the lock way before the green light.  Gotta tell Lise !

Another boat tied up to us.  Overall uneventful lockage.

We skipped the zig-zag channel and followed the Auto-route.  I tried to dock at the sheer leg but JP was hogging the sheer leg so I docked at 14:56, weclomed by Jason, Michel M others.  

I eventually got the mast off on Sunday

Met with Shipwright and EB Spar on Monday

And raced with Bruce on Tuesday.

Good to be home, but Lake St. Louis is so small now.

Ile Verte to Longueil

I departed at noon for an 11 NM trip to Longueil. 

It is a relatively short trip from what is effectively the east end of Montreal to Longueuil Marina. About 15 miles.  However, the current can exceed 3 knots.  

Ships and passenger ferries are plentiful.  

Anchored at 15h30 outside Le Club Nautique de Longueil.  Took the dinghy to the club and looked around, then visited Longueil Marina to investigate the best venue to pick up Jessica to help me through the Seaway locks.

Longueil Marina was large, had nice docks but all the docks were well gated and the fuel dock was only open at 8.  And there was confusion about parking availabily due to F1 weekend.

St Ours to Ile Verte

I got out at 8 ish and the two other boats had already departed.  I took out the garbage and departed at 8:12. 

Up the Richieu river was uneventful. Current was 1.5 to 2 knots in my favour.  The only boat I passed was near the St Lawrence and I asked him to slow down and he did.  We waved.  Unlike 2018 when there were hundreds of power boats passing close to us, making it very uncomfortable with the mast on deck.

The St Lawrence was cold, rolly and windy.  The current was 1 knots against me. The leg was 30 NM when I arrived at Ile Verte.

I had some indecision about anchoring at Ile Verte.  The current was strong and windy - but bother were coming from the west.  I puttered around look for a shallow spot.  I ended up anchoring on the windward side of Ile Verte in 18 feet of water at 4:30,.  

I was tired and cold and took a nap and then made a fast supper of Korean Ramen which was spicy and warmed me up.

Chambly to St Ours

I left the anchorage at 9:45 and sailed across the bay to the Richieu River towards St. Ours lock.

Upon arrival, they did not respond to my radio until I was about 1/2 mile when they told me the lock would open in 10 minutes and told me to put my fenders to port.  I repeated the instructions and she said yes - On the Left!

I was a little nervous that I was single handed but I was aware there was a floating dock in the lock so it should be easy. 

The lockage was easy.  Carol, a student of Norm’s VHF course.  She was expecting BELLUM.  

I comopleted the lock at 2PM and spent the afternoon at the park.  Made supper and went to bed a little early.

St Jean to Chambly -s the locks with Hal

When I arrived at St Jean on Monday at 1:15, just after the last lockage. They told me I would be first at 9AM.  But I needed a crew to do the locks. I told them that I had a crew coming tomorrow - weather permitting … The forecast was for lots of rain Tuesday.  

They passed a 67 foot power boat about 2PM. He was going to be the 9AM departure on Tuesday I was annoyed that they let him through before me.  They told me that I would be at 1PM on Tuesday since there would be no staff at 9AM.  

I met Palbert and his girlfriend at the lock.  I talked him to come help me through the locks tomorrow.  He agreed to.  I had lots of doubt and concern about him.  I talked a lot and I was not too sure how stable he was.

On Tuesday morning, it rained and stopped about 10:30 and Hal showed up and we chatted and prepared to depart.  The other boat wanted his fenders on the port side so I departed the dock a little earlier to switch my fenders to starboard.  

The lockage went well except at lock 7, a fender got caught against the wall and ripped off the handrail it was attached to hand rail.

At Lock 2, Matin showed up with a dock wheel that I wanted to buy on FB marketplace.

After lock 1, we docked.  We were going to go for a late lunch and met a dock operator and we asked if anyone was driving back to St. Jean and Yve was at 1700.  We had lunch —- a Montreal Pizza consisting a a funny dough with smoked meat and yellow mustard … at $33, it was quite pricy.

After Had departed, I had a beer with Catherine and her crew who was docked in front of BELLUM.

They gave me the shower code for the marina and I had a shower.  

I departed the dock for an anchorage nearby.

St. Paul to Ile aux Noix to St. Jean

Kaloni finally contacted me.  I had tried to get a hold of her to see if she can help me with the locks.  I had lost contact with her and I was aware she had some family issues.  She was in very bad shape and didn’t think she could or should help me.

Hal was planning help me with the locks anyways.

I departed my anchorage at Fort Lennox after the rain about 11.  I got the St Jean and docked at 1;15… use missing the last lockage.

I visited St. Jean but Monday everything was closed.

Smuggler Harbor to Fort Lennox St Paul Ile aux Noix

Got up at 8, put the dinghy back on the Dinghy Tow and departed the anchorage.  I noticed how clear the water in Lake Champlain was.

I called CBP at Rouses Point to see if I needed to check out of the USA.  I told him I had a cruising permit and cruising license.  He told me he "did not think so".

I headed north slowly at 2000 rpm arriving at Canada Customs at 2:30.  Canada Customs was a breeze and they were amused that I kissed the ground.  Customers was a breeze.

I headed for St. Jean, but Hal was unavailable on Monday to do the Chambly locks, so I stopped at Fort Lennox for the night.  

The anchorage east of the island was congested with over 100 boats at anchor.

Quacker Smith to Burlington to Smugger's Harbor.

Saturday morning was foggy.  At about 11, the sun was out, and there was a slight breeze, but the fog did not lift.  It was apparently smoke from the prairie fires.

At noon, the visibility was good enough for me to depart for Burlington, VT.  

I got the mooring ball and dinghied with a diesel jerry can to refill.  To my surprise, the price was 3.56, which was very good.  

I walked to West Marine to pick up the Magma BBQ I had on order.  I took it on the bus back to the dinghy, getting some dumplings at a dumpling house in Burlington.

I got off the mooring ball to fill the BELLUM tanks.

I departed at 6:15, and Norm encouraged me to anchor at Valcour.  I arrived at 20:32, anchored a little further out, but there were no winds in the forecast.

Enjoyed a beer and the last dumpling.  Examined the BBQ and it was very shiny, but it was made in China.  I thought Magma was American-made.

Vergennes to Quacker Smith

At 10, I tried to depart from the dock, but I was unable to do so without risking scratching my hull.  The current was pushing me against the pier with metal posts.

I went to the nearby red house to ask the gentleman of the house to help me fend the boat from the metal posts.

It was easier to exit Otter Creek since I was more comfortable with the creek, and the current was in my favour.  I did 7 nm in 50 minutes.  

I headed to Burlington, but it was threatening to rain all afternoon, so I decided to anchor.  My choices were Quacker Smith, Shelbourne, or take a mooring ball at Burlington.  The rain started, and Quacker Smith was the closest, so I went there.  

It rained all afternoon.  I did an oil change and cleaned up the boat.  When the rain stopped, I flew the drone.

INSIGHT - Lake Champlain is a delightful sailing area.  I considered spending a summer here!

Whitehall to Vergennes

I got up early to make coffee using free power at the dock.  My neighbour, a Ranger Tug offered me his coffee.

Lock C12 opened at 8 and I locked through with another sailboat.  It was easy sailing to Crown Point and Lake Champlain opened up.  I was going to anchor at Port Henry to wait for Lisa, but the weather looked bad for the weekend so we cancelled I continued north.  Norm suggested I check out Otter Creek.  The last time I tried was July 24, 2018, when we kept getting grounded in Field Bay.  I tried again and it was easy.  

I made it to Vergennes and docked at the free dock.  It seemed that floating dock was not in and I tied up to the frame where the floating dock was supposed to be attached to.  Two small scratches on BELLUM.

I flew the drone and walked the town and came back for pork tenderloin.

I planned the Chambly locks with Norm and Hal. Looks like Hal will come down, park the car at Chambly and bike to St Jean Lock 9 and he will do the Chambly locks with me with the bike onboard.

It was a long day

Fort Edwards to Whitehall

I slept in until 8:30, only to find that everyone had already left the dock at Fort Edwards.

I made a Nespresso and departed for C7, tying up at the rock wall just before the lock.  The dockmaster was doing C7 and C8.  I waited about 15 minutes when the lockmaster talked to me to say the lock was being drained and should be ready soon.  Three other sailboats arrived and I gave the information about the lock status.

We did C7 and C8 without too much delay.

C9 changed direction from up to down.  My furler drum got caught on the edge of the lock as we descended and broke the furler foil.

C11 was uneventful.  There is no C10.

I fell behind and missed C12, but it was in my plan to stop at Whitehall since there were several free docks in Whitehall.  After C12, were anchorages.  It was 4PM and I think I had enough.

I walked through a bit of Whitehall but it was not too interesting.  I bought some used DVDs

Mechanicsville to Fort Edward

Started at 10 AM and went through Champlain Locks 3, 4, 5, and 6, with lots of waiting at C4, where the lockmaster was handling two locks by himself.

We ended up at Fort Edward just before C7 at 7 PM.  Another nice free dock with power, water, washrooms and coin-operated showers.

I made burgers and went to bed at 10.

Troy to Mechanicsville

Last night my temporary crown popped out while eating some ribs.

I thought I might go back to Montreal to have the permanent crown installed because I was not certain how much longer the locks C1 to C4 would be closed

The next morning I put the temporary crown back on and it fitted.  I got an email stating the lock would be open.  I searched for a dentist in Troy who could re-cement the crown.  Found Brunswick Dental to do it.  The dentist was Russian.

I did some groceries at Walmart near the dentist.  

I got back to the dock at 12:30.  Another boat was coming up the river towards Federal Lock so I undocked and followed her.  

Made it through Federal Lock.  But I fell behind the other boat and I continued to Lock C1.  It seems they were waiting for my arrival. There were about six boats in the lock.

After the lift, we continued to C2.  

At C3, I saw one boat docked at Mechanicsville which was a free dock that looked attractive, but I decided it was only 3:30 so I continued.  But C3 would not take all of us and I missed the lock and decided to stay at Mechanicville.  Nice town.  Did more groceries at Price Choppers.

The dock had free power, water, pump-out and showers.

Albany North to Troy

After a day of rain, the morning sky was blue and 10 degrees C, I weighed anchor at 9:10 and headed north.  At 9:43 I get an email saying locks C1 to C4 were not functioning due to high water levels

I headed to the public dock at Troy to wait it out.  

The current was almost 3 knots making it difficult to dock  BELLUM single handed   It took two approaches.  The dock master thinks that it might take two days for the locks to re-open  There is still Federal Lock before the Champlain locks but I am better to wait at Troy   It sounds congested after Federal Lock.

Troy looked touristy, and there was a vegan food fair in town   

No news about when the Champlain locks might open.

Met Summer Time and Le petite bateau blue at tbe dock  

Rip Van Ripple to Albany - Rainy

The current was strong on the river.  Bellum turned about 6:30 due to the current  

I departed at 7:30 hoping to catch some of the slack current. After an hour I decided to take a few town dock in Athens.  

I visited the town - it was quiet   The dock was along a nice park  I plugged in the Nespresso to make coffee.

At 11:30, I departed and by 1ish the current changed and I made it to Albany at 4ish  the first few anchorages were too deep for my comfort level.  It was about 30 feet and mid-tide I went further to the last anchorage before the lock and anchored in 18 feet of water  

I made a steak.

The next day was supposed to be wet and it was.   

Spend Saturday at the anchorage with 66 mm of rain.

Catskill to Rip Van Ripple bridge

Before leaving I decided to check out the town to see if I wanted to stay another night.  Cute town but not worth staying. 

Departed Hop O Nose Marina at 1830 and headed North.  The drive chain was vibrating above 2000 rpm.  So I anchored near the Rip Van Ripple bridge and cooked the other salmon.  

Very pleasant anchorage 

Nyack to Catskill Demast

I walked to 125 th Street Harlem train station to Tarrytown then to Nyack.  Did groceries at Nyack Fresh Market and departed the mooring at 14:30. 

There was a lot of debris on the water due the the high waters. Some logs were over ten feet. 

Headed to Haverstraw Marina to buy 8 gallons of diesel and 1.5 gallon of gas.  I attached the dinghy on the dinghy tow. 

I continued to Hop O Nose Marina at Catskills. 

I tried to anchor, but was invited to dock at the marina.  

I removed the sails and boom and attended a Melanoma seminar and it started drizzle. I tidy up some lines.  Made supper of the salmon.  

Got up early at six and finished of preparing for demasting. It seemed that I can keep the Bimini on and have solar panels and more space inside.  

Waited all day for the crew to demast and did it at 14:30.  It took less than an hour. I moved the boat back to my dock to finish strapping the mast down. 

 

Moved to Nyack Boat Club

After spending two nights at anchor, I moved BELLUM to a mooring at Nyack Boat Club since the Village of Nyack not appreciating the presence of my dinghy at the village launch. 

On Sunday Lisa picked me up and returned to the city.

The mooring had a pole making it easy for me to catch single handed!

Champlain Canal Update

 Champlain Canal 

Lock C-1 (Waterford) through Lock C-6 (Fort Miller) – Open

Lock C-7 (Fort Edward) to Lock C-9 (Smith’s Basin) – Closed 

Lock C-11 (Comstock) to Lock C-12 (Whitehall) – Open

 

Champlain Canal Scheduled Lockings and Double Draining 

Lock C-1 (Waterford), Lock C-2 (Halfmoon), Lock C-3 (Mechanicville), and Lock C-4 (Stillwater) will pass recreational vessels three times daily.  Lock C-1 will pass northbound traffic and Lock C-4 will pass southbound traffic daily at 8:00 am, 10:00 am, and 2:00 pm. Locks C-2 and C-3 will pass traffic when the vessels arrive from Locks C-1 or C-4. 

Additionally, these locks will operate on a "double draining" procedure.  Each lock will be maintained in full condition and emptied twice during locking operations.  For northbound traffic, the locks will be drained twice before traffic enters the lock chamber.  For southbound traffic, the lock will be emptied and refilled once before the vessels are admitted into the lock for southbound passage.  The second draining will occur with the vessels in the lock.

Vessels will not be permitted to moor overnight at the Lock C-1 (Waterford) and Lock C-4 (Stillwater) approach walls.

NYC

The Champlain and Erie Canal in the Mohawk Valley will be delayed as a direct result of the recent weather-related high-water event that impacted Central and Eastern New York.

Lisa was going to come to Nyack to visit.  Later we decided it might be more fun for me to come down to the City.

Spent a nice week in NYC  

Sailing in Manhattan