Montreal

Montreal: On the trip from Ottawa to Montreal, my son became the "first mate" acting as navigator and sometimes piloting the boat, and his mate and I just relaxed and enjoyed the boat ride for a change.  Due to a mix up in slip reservations, we had to move to a different slip the night before we left Ottawa / Gatineau.  As we pulled away from the dock in the Marina, the captain heard a squeal coming from the engine compartment, so on Sunday before leaving for the trip to Montreal, he decided he better investigate the noise.  He could see nothing obvious from inside the boat, so he decided he would need to dive under the boat to see if anything was wrapped around the propeller stopping it from turning properly. 

The end result of his investigation was inconclusive as he found nothing inside or out of the boat that would appear to be the cause of the problem.  He had two hypotheses: 1) some of the grasses from the lakes we have been crossing got caught and was causing things to squeal or 2) the packing was too tight.  He loosened the packing before leaving.  As we motored along we heard the squealing and then it stopped somewhere along the way after pushing the engine up to a high speed to try to flush the problem, the noise went away and we never heard it again, so we figure it "fixed itself" or else loosening the packing did the trick.

We went through 2 locks to get to Montreal on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Each of these required that the boat be secured to a floating dock that went up and down in the lock instead of tending the boat with lines and boat hooks, so the first mate and his mate got to experience a couple of locks but without the hands-on approach to locking through that the captain and I had along the Rideau Canal.  Having left the dock in Ottawa / Gatineau around 9:00 in the morning, we made it to St. Anne's near Montreal around 7:00 at night.  The day went by quickly and it was very surprising to find that it was so late by the time we got settled in for the night.

In St. Anne's we tied up to the canal wall and went off to find out what the facilities were like and find dinner.  Along the water in St. Anne's there is a boardwalk and along the boardwalk there is a large selection of restaurants and ice cream shops.  Dinner at Peter's Cape Cod restaurant was the best part of our overnight stay.  Unfortunately we had nothing good to say about the rest of our stay at this sight.  The charge for overnight stay on the wall was $.90 per foot which for us translated into $31.50.  Basically for our $$ we got the privilege to sleep practically beneath railroad tracks heavily utilized by commuter and freight trains.  There was no electric, no water, and no showers.  There was one toilet that was locked around 10:00 p.m. so basically no toilets for overnight mooring. 

Our intent had been to leave the boat at St. Anne's for 3 nights and travel into Montreal from there by train / bus; however, after one night on that lock wall, my son's wife and I were so miserable, I begged the captain to take us elsewhere.  So, before setting off for a visit to Montreal, we moved our boat to a marina - Royal Saint Lawrence Yacht Club.  The rate per night was almost twice per foot what the lock wall cost but the return on investment was at least quadrupled!  The difference was like going from sleeping on a park bench to staying in a 5-star hotel.  The first thing we did was run for the showers which we discovered when we got there were beautifully setup in private ceramic-tiled stalls.  We got electricity which translated into air conditioning to help fight the high humidity, and we got very clean "wash room" facilities i.e. toilets that weren't locked by 10:00 p.m.

After freshening up we decided to make the trek into Montreal.  We decided that we would get lunch in the city so we set out to find transportation into "town".  The reception desk at the marina recommended we take a taxi to the commuter train that would get us into town fast.  They called the taxi for us and we were on our way.  In Dorval where we were to get the train, there are two train stations back-to-back - the commuter train and the "via" train.  The via train goes to Toronto, Ottawa, etc. but not Montreal, so that is not the one we wanted but that was the one the taxi driver took us to.  He said he would have to drive "all the way around" if he were to take us to the commuter train, so we paid him and set off on foot to find our way to the other train station via under and overpasses.

Finally we got to the train ticket machine and had no clue what to do to get tickets out of the machine.  There were tain tickets and tram ticket options and we had no idea what was what.  The Captain called the 800 number posted on the wall to ask them for help getting tickets.  Thankfully my son was busily reviewing the schedules and before the captain could start following the instructions and inserting his money in the machine, my son pointed out that commuter hours were now over and the next train didn't come through for another 1.5 to 2 hours.  Fall back plan ... take the bus!  So we next went in search of a bus to get us into town.  Fortunately I had been hoarding Canadian loonies and toonies and was able to pay the bus fare because the bus required exact change so we needed $12 (4 x $3.00) to get all of us on the bus.  The bus took us to the Metro which took us to Old Port Montreal. 

By the time we got there it was already after 2:00 and that light breakfast we had hours ago was ancient history.  We found a "Chop Crazy" in a "food court" type setting and loved the food, and honestly the loving part had nothing to do with our starved state.  After fortifying ourselves with food, we visited Notre Dame and later toured City Hall and were able to admire the stained glass windows displayed at both locations.  We walked the streets of Old (Vieux) Port after a visit to the Information Center and found the Modavie Restaurant they had recommended for dinner.  The suggestion was a good one as we all enjoyed our meals.  Our timing was excellent as well since the skies had appeared threatening but shortly after we entered the restaurant, the skies opened up and it just poured with thunder and lightening. 

By the time we were done with our meal the bad weather had passed, so we decided to make our way back to our boat.  We decided to go back by bus given our success using that mode of transportation getting to Montreal.  I was so glad my son and daughter-in-law were with us to guide us through the maze of the Metro and the bus as we made it home in good time with no mishaps.  Shortly after we were safe and snug back on the boat the skies opened up for a second thunder and lightening storm which lasted several hours.   Good timing team!

Tuesday was a lazy day as our temporary first mate and his mate had to head home to Utah.  We had an al fresco lunch on the fly bridge of the boat and just chatted until it was time to call a taxi to take them to the airport.  After seeing them off the captain and I rushed back to the boat and drove it around to the fuel dock to fuel up before they closed at 3:00 p.m.   We got there at 2:45 and by the time we were done with fueling and emptying holding tanks, it was going on for 3:30 so I guess we made them work a little overtime.  The captain wanted to be ready to go first thing in the morning to make it to the St Catherine lock by 10:00.  This lock and the one that follows are commercial locks and commercial traffic gets priority.  10:00 is a set time for locking through recreational boats; other than that locking through is "if time allows" basis, so it could be hours to wait for an opportunity.

We're all set so in the morning we just pull out of our slip and keep going.  Next stop - Sorel.