Monday, August 13, 2018

Trip Summary

92 hours on motor
170 liters diesel  1.85 Litres per hour
586 Nmiles

The Track of our adventure








Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Home - final leg

Leaving sanctuary of Kahnawake  



5:40 am We get up.  The radar indicates that the rain will start around 7:30 am so we departed

7:18 am We docked at the club service dock as we slept.  The mast did not let us go into our own dock.

We close all the hatches and we go back to bed. 

10:30 am We empty the boat and we dock at the Redline wharf. 

BYE BYE BELLUM, NEXT!

Monday, August 6, 2018

The Port of Montreal and the Locks

Drain the bilge under engine 2 bottles.

8:00 am Departure 

The day will be long, we return to Dorval and we have two big locks left. 

To avoid a little the current and the big ships, we take the secondary channel that will allow us to see these pretty villages and their beautiful churches. 

The Montreal port is normally bustling with activity but this time it was relatively quiet.

We arrived at the port of Montreal, we look closely at all these big ships that were moored. Bellum is tiny in front of these giants! How lucky, 

The London Star maneuvers to leave the port tethered with two tugs - one pushes the stern, the other pulls the bow and rotate it almost on the spot. 






London Star





Champlain Bridge



3:50 pm St. Lambert Lock. Three power boats.  One of these power boats had cut in front of us, causing unnecessary shaking of Bellum with her mast horizontal.

Leaving the lock, the two boats in front of us slow down to adjust their fenders, we pass them quietly. Once they have everything in order, it is their turn to overtake us at a brisk pace and especially without worrying about the waves left behind them. Bellum gets brewed nicely. I am on the front deck, I cling firmly to the mast so as not to go overboard

5:00 pm St. Catherine Lock 

At the opening of the lock doors at the exit of the second lock, Allan is very concerned about the dark clouds in the distance. He consults his weather radar. A storm awaits us. 

The further we go in the seaway, the more threatening the weather. Between the clouds, the light show is started.

And then lightning that tears the sky find their targets on the ground. It is beautifully disturbing. 

There is the Kahnawake marina on the territory of Indian reserve at the exit of the channel ... What will be the best anchor in the bay in front of the marina where to dock? 

No time to dock, the wind is blowing stronger and we now see the curtain of rain coming towards us.

We enter the bay, we face the wind we cast anchor and we leave the engine running. Now, we are soaked to the bones and the rain pinches our faces. We can hardly see anything in front. Storms of water are falling on us. Sometimes, it is his port that Bellum presents to the wind sometimes it is his starboard but she still hangs well at the bottom. The anchor holds up well despite the 30 knots of wind that shake the boat. Waytogo Rocna Vulcan.

As we were waiting out a storm, a mayday call came in near Chateauguay.  A boat was hitting the rocks in the storm.  Not much we could do.

Once the storm is over, we decide to spend the night here. The Royal St. Lawrence will have to wait a few more hours before we arrive. 


End of the trip meal: Hot Dogs and well-earned Scotch.

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Richelieu River to Contrecoeur

Emptying the sump under engine 2 1/2 bottles 
Oil ok 

10h45 Departure 

12h45 Lock St-Ours, the easiest because it attaches to a floating dock. We are 5 boats and it is comfortable. 

Shortly after our exit from the locks, an osprey passes near us holding a fish firmly in his claws.

On the Richelieu, all the power boats drive recklessly like Sunday drivers. There are the rodeos on the slightest wave, and then there are also the ones who are a bit bigger and of course those towing children on tubes in their wake. 

But the bigger, those nasty pooches, they move in wolf packs and pass near Bellum, completely lacking respect and caring little waves that make. 
















7:00 pm Contrecoeur, from an island in front of the Church. 

We did not bathe nor did anyone else. We are 5 boats in the inlet and we do not see anyone swimming. The water is an opaque green-gray disgusting with heaps of seaweed floating around the boat. 

No see thems invaded the boat.  Tiny bugs that you cannot see and that could easily get through the mosquito netting.  DDT did not help.  Daniele googled and we think they might have been duck fleas.  There were some ducks nearby.  It was an itchy night. I am itchy just writing about it.








Saturday, August 4, 2018

Chambly Canal

9am. Chambly Canal, beginning of the lock. 

12.30 pm Forced wait between the penultimate and the last lock (lock 1). Thunderstorm. We wait.  

Once released, I wanted to anchor at Chambly but the captain said we were moving on.  She says there were no sailboats so all the harbour must be shallow. We go.

4:15 pm We anchored beside the Island of Jeannotte again, it is here that we spend the night.

We will not bath this time even though it was very hot during the locks and many people are in the water. The quality of the water has deteriorated it seems, it is now a milky green with foam that floats here and there. I am not inspired. Allan is less disdainful, he plunges head first and comes out refreshed. 
















On December 11, 2020 we flew over this..  Photo by Jimbo




Friday, August 3, 2018

Mast Down

8:00 am We removed the genoa before leaving the anchorage.

En route to go to Gosselin I am lucky to see an osprey plunge shoulders raised and wings folded. His body resembling the letter M until he touches the water. I do not think he managed to capture anything. 

10:00 am Mast down at Gosselin. 

We will stay at the dock until 3:00 pm time to do the washing and some cleaning. 
Allan and I do not remember that the channel .. was so shallow ... we are very close to the datum this year, we move slowly. 










5:00 pm Arrival at the Federal dock at St-Jean. 

We waited for Daniele's daughter  - Marifé sometimes. 
Nice evening the Dorchester is a very nice place and the carpaccio is excellent.

Beautiful walking along the docks and in the busy city shoreline parks. There was an open salsa party! 

Back to Bellum around 22:00. 

During the night, young party goers will disturb our sleep. It's Friday night! 


Thursday, August 2, 2018

Bye Bye USA, back home welcome to Canada

Good morning! 

Checks. Battery No. 1 ... dead. 

We motored to North Hero Marina.

Full of diesel: 19.5 liters 
Water at the North Hero Marina did not seem so good so we did not fill the water tanks


We sailed and motored our way to Canada.  I called US Customs to report we were leaving via Champlain rather than Whitehall.

It was difficult to dock at customs.  Waves were choppy and lack of shelter.  Starboard stern gel coat was beaten by a cleat.

Canada Customs searched Bellum for half an hour.  What an insult. These poor customs are bored so much, they must attack a boat from time to time. 

We anchored behind Île aux Noix again. I like to return to anchorages that I know, it's like finding a friend benevolent. 

After a good swim, we remove the mainsail but, it is too late to tackle the genoa we will do tomorrow morning. 

Unlike the last time, the evening will be noisy ... we have a disco boat near us. Fortunately, the music is good. 










Deep Bay moorings