Chambly Canal

Chambly Canal:  We decided that we just had to go see the old fort before leaving Chambly.  It was a short walk up the street from the marina.  We got there about 8:45 to find that the fort opened to the public at 10:00, so we strolled around the grounds and snapped some pictures of the memorials and such.  I wanted to go back to the supermarket to pick up something I forgot, but as we walked back we saw activity at the lock and decided we should make a run for it. 

When we walked up to the fort, I put on a sweatshirt due to the cool breeze, but by the time we got back to the boat, the sweatshirt was pitched to one side in favor of a sleeveless shirt – now that breeze felt heavenly.  The locks open for business at 8:30.  We pulled up to the “blue line” / waiting line to lock through at 9:15.  At 9:30 we were still waiting with concern as to whether we would actually get to lock through.  There were 3 boats in front of us including one that we know had been waiting since 8:15 to lock through and it wasn’t clear how many boats would actually fit in the lock together.  Another one of those “hurry up and wait scenarios”.  However, we figured  it was definitely better to run for it and wait than to just miss it.

We thought we would lock right through after a boat came out of the lock going down, but after half an hour of waiting, the captain decided to take a walk up to see what was happening only to find out that the bridge had one lane of traffic due to maintenance on a street lamp.  With all the traffic plus the maintenance on the light, there was no way the lock was going to be locking anyone up.  I could have gone to the supermarket 3 or 4 times by this point in time but still feared that the second I left the boat would be about one minute before they started locking boats through and I’d mess things up for our passage.  Ah well!

When the boats were allowed to enter the lock, my fear was realized – we would not fit with the other 3 boats, so our wait was once again extended for an unknown period of time.  The lock is a set of 3 so there was always the possibility that they would put us in lock one after they put those 3 in lock 2, so yet again we wait on “pins and needles” for our turn.  Oh, by the way, the fort is now open for tours.  At this point in time, the captain is expecting to get all the way through the Chambly today and past US customs.  Only time will tell if that expectation will be realized.

Well, no such luck as far as locking through in tandem.  We had to wait for all three locks to be cleared before we could start on our way.  We pulled into the fist lock at around 10:30.  The locks 1 through 8 were either combination of 3 or in such close proximity as to be in combination.  We exited lock 8 at 1:30, so that was a solid 3 hours of working the locks in the broiling sun.  Multiple times we had to wait in the lock for 5 to 15 minutes before we could exit even though the gates were open so that our exit could coincide with up-bound boats exiting the next lock we were to enter.  Locking through these locks was yet another new experience. 

In the Chambly canal they required that we securely tie a line to the boat while tending a bow line and a stern line.  In the first lock we were told to tie the line to the stern which helped not at all – just made things awkward.  By the time we got to lock 6 we learned that the secured line was indeed supposed to be a “spring” line tied to the cleat amidships.  Once we learned this trick, it took a lot of the strain off the captain and I and put it on the mid-ship cleat instead making our job considerably easier. 

After lock 8 the attendant who was very friendly told me as we pulled away that I could rest because it was a full hour and a half until lock 9 – the last lock of the Chambly Canal.  We passed under 4 bridges that needed to be open for us along the way – bridges 4, 7, 9 and 10.  A few are no longer bridges though the remains of past use are in evidence and bridge 6 did not open.  As soon as the light was green as we approached bridge 7, the bridge attendant said, “Go for it capitan.  It eez now or nev’ere!”  Bridge 7 was a swing bridge, and when the boat behind us was going through the opening the bridge was closing so close on his tail that it looked like the bridge was pushing him through!

By the time we got through Lock 9 I was sick to death of locks after taking 5 hours to travel 10 miles.  The bicycles on the bike trail were flying by us the whole time, and I was quite envious of their speed.  We arrived at US customs around 6:00 and were greeted by very friendly customs officials.  It felt good to be back in the US even though we were at a floating dock at the side of Lake Champlain and not yet on US soil per se!  We checked into Gaines Marina for the night and went in search of food.

We plan to stop at Burlington, VT tomorrow and then Westport on our way back home, then through the Champlain Locks and back to the Hudson.