All good things...

Well, that's it.  The grand adventure is done. Since I have idea how to feel about this I'm going to be a real engineer and ignore my feelings and resort to numbers instead.

Days on board:
     400

Nautical miles traveled:
     6231

Locks traversed:
     110

Countries/States/Provinces visited:
     3/16/2     

Nights at anchor/on free walls:
     134

Total marina costs:
     $18,137

Total fuel costs:
     $3,297
     

The Home Stretch

We made it to Lake Ontario a few days ago and with that the trip begins to wind down. Everywhere we go is now somewhere we've already been.  Even though this signals the end of the adventure I was still quite excited to see my home waters.  So many of my sailing firsts have been on this lake.  First sail on a keelboat.  First championship regatta.  First regatta helming the boat with Dad at crew.  First big lake crossing (on a CL 16 with no radio, no compass, no cell phone - the 80s were a dangerous time, kids). It is also where we left from a year ago (has it really been a whole year?)

Here's a few shots of the past week:

Not having the kids on board means way more space on the BBQ for us.  We've been eating like kings!

  

The southern end of the Rideau canal was particularly weedy.  This bunch ceased our prop completely and required an emergency docking on the side of the canal.

In a crowded lock we picked up a new crew member.  This kid was particulary precocious and took himself of a tour of the boat.

A real life Tom Thompson painting

The sea scouts coming out of a lock.  Kids up to age 17 get to camp, operate motor boats, learn to sail, and get their Pleasrue Craft Operator Cards as well as their VHF radio certificate.  Apparently the course is free - I wonder if in return they have to join the Navy when they turn 18?

The mast went back up in Kingston.  They all had hard hats but they didn't offer me one when they asked me to help!

That's all, folks.  Look for the "We're home" message in a few days after I've had a chance to dry my tears.

The Rideau

After the war of 1812, the British felt they needed a secure way to move people and goods between Kingston and Montreal in case of an American blockade of the St. Lawrence River. Construction of the Rideau Canal was completed in 1832. The canal was never needed for its military purpose but it sure makes a great recreational route.

The canal is virtually unchanged from 1832.  Almost all of the locks are hand operated and the route is still mainly rural - the largest town between the end points is Smith's Falls with a population of approximately 9000.

When we hit the first Parks Canada lock in Quebec we bought seasonal locking and mooring passes.  The mooring pass allows us to spend up to 48 hours (although many allow more) at almost any lock in the Rideau or Trent and also at docks in the Thousand Islands.  I estimate that by the time we reach Kingston the pass will have worked out to 42 cents per foot per night.  That is an amazing deal. Some lock walls also have power for an extra $10 per night but we only used that for one night in Ottawa as it was cloudy and our solar wasn't keep the batteries up after 4 days with no motoring.

Anyone who wants to visit without a boat (or with a boat too small to sleep on) can find places to camp at many of the locks.

Even some of the bridges are hand operated,.  This one moves out of the way with a simple push.  

We are now two travel days from Kingston. Once we get there the mast goes back up for the final push home.  Hard to believe it.

Ottawa

Our last lock between Ottawa and Montreal was Carillion.  It is the only lock we’ve been through that uses a lifting gate instead of 2 opening doors.  It was quite imposing.

Carillion lock

On our first night in the Ottawa area we were surprised to find a quiet anchorage on the Hull side of the Ottawa River.  By carefully following the chart and slowly making our way in we found a small spot in a side stream that was large enough just for us and the kayakers going by.  Our last spot for peace and quiet for a while.

Our first full day in Ottawa was spent climbing the Rideau Canal flight locks.  It takes almost three hours to get through and is surprisingly tiring.  Luckily, we had help in the form our friend Tonya from University that we haven’t seen in 20 years and her family.  Having so many hands to grab lines and fend off from other boats whose captains didn’t know what they were doing was a real treat. As it was a summer Sunday the locks were lined with onlookers using us as their afternoon entertainment.  I am pleased to report that we performed like champs and didn’t do anything embarrassing.

Flight from the bottom...

... and the top

Once through the locks we went back to Tonya’s house and were treated like royalty with a home cooked meal, free laundry, and – gasp – a bath! Reg brought me a cup of tea while I soaked with a bath bomb the colour of blue Gatorade.  It was a close to heaven as I’m likely to get.

Not me

For the next few days we were serious tourists visiting the National Art Gallery, The Museum of History (formerly the Museum of Civilization, formerly the Museum of Man), and the changing of the guard at Parliament Hill.

In high school Reg worked at the National Art Gallery as a security guard.  Actually, as a guy who told people to back away from the art and where to find the Voice of Fire (more on that in a minute).  Any serious threats would have been taken care of by whoever was at the other end of his radio.

Just like in New York at the Guggenheim I was a fish out of water.  Some of the art I could appreciate.  What Canadian doesn't appreciate the Group of Seven?

Some of the art I didn’t get at all:

"My icons differ from a Byzantine Christ held in majesty.  They are dumb, anonymous and inglorious... My icons do not raise up the blessed savior in elaborate cathedrals. They are constructed concentrations celebrating barren rooms".That is a lot to pack into a white box with an offset fluorescent tube on top.

Lexier's practice explores universal concerns about aging and mortality, measurement and accumulation. This work reflects the artist's interest in comparative relationships.

  

???

Among the art I didn’t get was the aforementioned Voice of Fire.  Anyone who was in Canada in the late 80s must remember this work.  It was incredibly controversial at the time as the gallery spent $1.8 million on it and it was painted by an American!  While doing a little research for the blog I learned that it hung upside down for 3 years before anyone noticed which suggests to me that even the curator didn’t understand it.  The painting’s value is now estimated at $40 million so I guess the gallery shouldn’t have been criticized so much after all.

Worth 1.8 million?

Next up in the tourist tour of Ottawa was the changing of the guard on Parliament Hill.  We wouldn’t have known about this if the new guard hadn’t proceeded down the canal past our boat every morning at precisely 9:45. We went to the hill with our American friends on Darwin.  I imagine they knew Canadians had pretty strong British ties but I’m not sure they really got it until we witnessed this spectacle:

OK, so I had a bunch of better photos of the guards but this puppy was too cute to not include.

The final stop on our tour was the Museum of History, particularly the Franklin Expedition exhibit. The expedition, named for its leader Sir John Franklin, left England with 2 ships in 1845 in search of the North West Passage.  They never returned home.  For 20 years more than 30 expeditions searched for the crew of the 2 ships and, while they were able to trace their route up until they were forced to abandon their ships in 1848 after 18 months stuck in the ice, they found no sign of the vessels. In 2008, Parks Canada began a fresh search for the ships.  HMS Erebus was located in 2014, HMS Terror two years later. Apparently, there is an AMC series about the Terror but since they added a monster to the story I don’t think I’ll be checking it out.

The monster AMC inexplicably added.

We also did a little shopping since we were moored right downtown.  Somehow, I was actually able to resist this:

Fluevog

x

Montreal, Allez!!

We have just completed a ridiculously cheap week in Montreal.  For 5 out of the 7 days we were tied up to the wall at the east end of the Lachine Canal right in the Old Port.  When we arrived at our first lock in Canada we bought an annual mooring pass for $333 which allows us to stay up to 48 hours at a time at almost any of the locks in the Parks Canada system.  So far that has worked out to $0.75 per foot and that will keep going down as we travel through Ottawa and the Rideau Canal.

The giant freighters are back, we must be in the St. Lawrence.
This is probably the prettiest one I've seen all trip.

Getting to downtown Montreal was tough.  The current runs as fast as 5.7 knots and we top out at 6 knots.  We were worried we weren't going to make it.

Reg was excited to pass by the home of the Expos but he is still pretty bitter about the '94 strike.

 '

Even though the Expos are long gone there are plenty of opportunities to watch sports.

After all the World Cup games we've watched it was great to see the Montreal Impact live. We had tickets in the standing room only section at the end of the field and we singing and chanting en Francais the whole time.  Montreal, Allez!

We also got a chance to go and see some Derby.  Gotham (#3 in the world) vs. Montreal (#7). I was so excited to see the refs (yes, I'm pretty nerdy, but they are my people)

I also found plenty of time to relax.

Although it is hard to fully relax when someone
is staring at you the whole time.

I also got to check out some real Montreal landmarks as featured in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TncdhLGjFTE

We are now tied up at another lock wall at Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue.  This was supposed to be a one night stay but there is bad weather coming through so we will be here longer than intended.

Next update will be from Ottawa.

Oh, Canada!

Immediately before we crossed the border we came across a fort for sale. 

How cool would this be?

A few minutes later we passed this monument and arrived back in Canada:

A little underwhelming I thought.

This was a much more significant monument:
  

Of course, we aren't really home - we are in Quebec which is even better because the food is amazing especially after the rural US where pate and decent cheese are hard to find and Applebees is haute cuisine.

A fancy wine box full of cheese. Oh, my

I'm not the type of person who regularly takes photos of meals
but I made an exception for this breakfast from Cafe Ecluse No 10.
That's an egg cooked in puff pastry served with scalloped potatoes, homemade
baked beans, and a fruit salsa.  Absolutely delicious.

At Chambly, we visited the fort and got to mix some Canadian history with all the American history we've been getting over the past year. Some of my favourite exhibits:

"The  Iroquois, through massacres and inhumanities, have prevented the country's population from growing, and the King is determined to carry the war to their doorsteps in order to exterminate them completely". Do you think Louis XIV recognized any hypocrisy  in this statement?

Frontenac to the Western Indians: "I am strong enough to kill the English, destroy the Iroquois and whip you if you fail in your duty to me". Good pep talk.

"New France entrusts itself to God and its Engineers".  No wonder France lost in the end.

Our first few days in Canada have all been back in canals and locks. 

Very narrow canals and very small locks. Just took one other boat to fill the lock completely.

The Chambly rapids - the reason for the locks.

Next up - Montreal.

Lake Champlain

How unfortunate to be on Lake Champlain with our mast down.  What a great place to sail - there are cruising sailboats in every direction and filling every marina.  But, alas, we are pretty ugly, very slow powerboat at the moment.

We didn't mind the lack of sails on this calm day.

Our first stop on the lake was Port Henry, NY.  We stayed in a marina so we could be close to a town/have power to ensure we could watch the World Cup.

World Cup Fever in Port Henry

The highlight for us on Lake Champlain was the 2 nights we spent anchored at Valcour Island.  

It was mid week so we had an anchorage to ourselves

The landscape was so much like home I felt really homesick for the first time. The east side of the island was just like being in Georgian Bay or the Thousand Islands which I guess makes sense as we aren't too far from that neck of the woods now. The island is even set up with rustic campsites like the ones in Ontario's National Parks.

On the rest of the island, the landscape varied wildly:

Beachy areas on the west side

Grasslands closer to the center of the island

Lake Superior? 

 

We spent hours hiking on the island which was rewarding when we stumbled across ruins of the various camps and cottages which once dotted the shores.

The hike was less rewarding on the many parts of the trail that were not maintained:

Yes, that's the trail.

Next up? Canada!