Melochville to Montreal

By the time we were through and out of the Lower Lock it was getting quite late and we knew we would be heading directly  into Lac St. Louis, another large lake made up of the widening of the St. Lawrence River. We knew the lake was wide and long, we knew the sky would be dark in minutes and we knew we had not planned on being where we were that late.  We had hoped to find a good anchoring area on the lake but it was far too dark for that so we altered the plan, turned our mast and running lights on and headed out into the lake. After travelling 2 nautical miles with no chart plotter waypoints set and a heavy wind rising on the water, we realized we were not going to find shelter following that route so we turned back to head toward the lock in hopes of locating an anchorage near it and wait for morning to continue across the lake.  Our paper charts identified a small public wharf at Melochville, just outside the Lock but that it was not suitable for boats of our size.  Using our depth sounder we motored in anyway, noting that the water levels in the Lake were still high. However, I am sure that it was our blind faith that unnerved us as we prayed that  we may be able to find deep enough space at the wharf for our hull depth.  As luck would have it, our boat slithered quietly into the wharf while we used our flashlights to guide her in position with half a meter of water to spare at 10 pm.  We tied the boat without a word, knowing that we would be there for the night even if we did have the wind coming right at us. After climbing back down  into her cozy cabin safe and sound, we both fell into bed after a very long day.

The following day was to be just as exciting.  We left Melochville at 8:30 am and crossed Lac St. Louis without incident.  Again it was hot and sunny as we entered and exited the next set of locks, the Cote St. Catherine and the St. Lambert locks, that would lead us into Montreal. We have driven a car through Montreal countless times and have taken the La Fontaine Tunnel on the Hwy. 20 as many  but it was truly awesome to sail by the site of the Expo 67 that we both had visited as teenagers, by Montreal dockyards and harbour and to sail over the Tunnel we had so many times driven through.

 Our plan was to stay in Longueuil that evening and we arrived at the Port de Plaisance Real Bouvier Marina at 8:30 pm.  We steadied our little vessel in her berth there, walked into this beautiful town over a pedway at the Marina and were delighted to find the lively bustle on a warm summer evening of a street festival taking place.  We ambled in and out of bakeries, open air restaurants serving multitudes of choice, local craft vendors, wine  cafes, and live musical and traditional dance performances.  We couldn't resist the wafting odours of various types of poutine that drifted toward us as we ambled by.  We succumbed, not only to the poutine, but to beer, curd, coffee, and french vanilla ice cream all on the same street.