Monday September 3rd

We had a very nice beat to Westport, 44° 10.94N 73° 25.82W.  Winds averaging 12 knots and another beautiful, sunny day.  We docked, and took our bikes to explore the town.  It didn’t take very long – not much going on here!  We had planned to go to Port Henry tomorrow, and since Westport was a little disappointing, we cycled to Port Henry to check it out.  After a very hilly ride to windward, we decided that Port Henry was probably not worth a visit.  The sail there promises to be beautiful though, so we’re currently planning to sail there and then anchor somewhere in this area for tomorrow night.    

Ship’s log: 2373.7 Today's log: 12.3nm, Season total: 738.2 nm

Sunday September 2nd

We went for an early morning walk around Essex Town.  A quaint town but very quiet.  The muffins were scrumptious!  Winds were light, so we set off back to Burlington at 9am.  It was a very sedate and enjoyable beat but eventually the winds died and the engines were turned on.  Being Labor Day 

weekend, we couldn’t find a mooring so we dropped Rome off and headed south.  The northerly winds had returned so we sailed most of the way to Converse Bay, 44° 17.07N 73° 17.30W, but motor sailed the last hour so that we wouldn’t be anchoring in the dark.  Converse Bay is absolutely beautiful with great views in almost every direction. 

Ship’s log: 2333.8 Today's log: 23.7nm, Season total: 698.3 nm

Saturday September 1st

Set sail for Long Point, where Rome and her family spent a week’s vacation earlier in the summer, (and we joined them).  It was interesting to see the bay from a sailing perspective.  Dropped the hook in Town Farm Bay, 44° 16.00N 73° 17.75W, for swims, lunch and some unsuccessful fishing.   A beautiful bay with very pretty houses in Charlotte, VT.  We then backtracked slightly to Essex, NY where we docked at the Old Dock Restaurant, 44° 18.61N 73° 21.03W,and dined.  We spent the night on the dock compliments of the restaurant.  We had an outside table which turned very chilly, but fortunately we were only 10 yards from the boat, so we able to return to the boat several time for slippers, long sleeve T shirts and blankets!

Ship’s log: 2333.8 Today's log: 23.7nm, Season total: 698.3 nm

Friday August 31st

Took the boat into the town dock to fill the water tanks and took the opportunity of doing some grocery shopping.  We also visited Verizon Wireless since Teresa’s phone was misbehaving and re-discovered how hilly Burlington is!  Teresa’s sister Rome arrived.  We had a cocktail on the boat, went ashore, visited the Vermont Brewing Company, yum, yum, and toured Church Street, where we visited an Olive Oil shop and sampled several oils and vinegars.  Went back to the boat, and had dinner to a live band that was playing from the shore. 

Ship’s log: 2310.1 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 674.6 nm

Thursday August 30th

We went for another bike ride, north this time on the bike paths to Malletts Bay.  The bike path used to follow a causeway around Mallets Bay, but it’s currently being repaired after Irene hit last year.  There is also a bike ferry traversing the causeway, but this is also closed at the moment.  Shame.  We found a nice ride though and finished up on the “Bike the City” route – a 10 mile bike path round the city and UVM campus.  The “Bike the City” trail took us through corn fields, next to a stream, with cows wading the stream.  Very Vermont.  It also took us past the “Ethan Allen Tower”, which we climbed for some beautiful views of the lake and surroundings. 

Ship’s log: 2310.1 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 674.6 nm

Wednesday August 29th

Bill and Kathy departed in the morning, so we set off for a bike ride to Shelburne Bay.  We had ordered a part for our roller furler and cycled to Shelburne shipyard to pick it up.  A beautiful ride.  Returned to the boat and watched the local paddling team zoom past, right next to our boat.

Ship’s log: 2310.1 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 674.6 nm

Tuesday August 28th

We started the day with a nice refreshing swim and then took the dinghy ashore and walked on some of the islands many footpaths.   Bill and Kathy had brought some delicious spare ribs, so we had those for lunch.  The winds shifted to the north during the morning and so we had another great sail, downwind, back to Burlington, where we picked up a mooring again, 44° 28.42N 73° 13.47W.

Ship’s log: 2310.1 Today's log: 13.0nm, Season total: 674.6 nm

Monday August 27th

Kathy and Bill, (friends from Jay), joined us in the morning.  We picked them up in the dinghy and, with winds of 20 knots from the south, gave them and their luggage a wet ride to the boat.  The winds were great for a sail to Valcour Island however, 44° 37.86N 73° 24.42W.  We dropped the hook in Spoon Bay, 

and since it was their wedding anniversary, opened a bottle of champagne from the ships stores.  (By coincidence, it was Ron’s anniversary too - from a previous life -  so He joined in with the photos).  We dined on Pork Tenderloin, more wine and beer and went to bed contented. 

Ship’s log: 2297.1 Today's log: 13.5nm, Season total: 661.6 nm

Sunday August 26th

Woke up had a swim, then a very sedate sail under screecher to Burlington, 44° 28.39N 73° 13.45W, where we picked up a mooring.  We went ashore, did laundry and 2 trips to the grocery store.  Time flew by as usual and with the shorter days, we ended up doing the last shopping trip in the dark.  We ate ashore at Splash – a restaurant on the dock. 

Ship’s log: 2283.6 Today's log: 4.3nm, Season total: 648.1 nm

Saturday August 25th

We had a very nice beat to Shelburne Bay, 44° 24.35N 73° 13.80W, where we dropped anchor.  Catamarans have a reputation for not being very fast to windward.  However, with Teresa at the helm, we crossed tacks with a 40’ sailboat and gained several boat lengths on the leg.  Then Ron took over, the helm and she caught us up.  Must have been fluky winds!  In any event it was another great sailing day. 

Ship’s log: 2279.3 Today's log: 22.2nm, Season total: 643.8 nm

Friday August 24th

Platsburgh has a railway station.  When we commented to ourselves on this we were a little shocked to realize how rare this is in rural America.  Not to worry though, we were reminded of the railway line’s existence throughout the night.  We woke up late-ish an went exploring and shopping by bike.  Picked up brake blocks, a camping stove that would save us from baking in the galley on hot evenings, and groceries.  Set off for Providence Island and dropped the hook there, 44° 36.62N 73° 20.78W, on a totally windless day. 

Ship’s log: 2257.1 Today's log: 7.1nm, Season total: 621.6 nm

Thursday August 23rd

Had a great beat to Platsburgh, NY, 44° 41.68N 73° 26.51W, in winds from 8 knots to 15 knots - perfect.  We docked, got our bikes out and headed for the local bike shop where we bought a new tyre and tube for Ron’s bike and got him rolling again.  Went back to the marina, had showers in a pretty grubby facility which was disappointing because this was the most expensive place we have stayed all season.  We cycled to the Platsburgh/South Hero ferry, crossed back to VT and cycled to the Snow Farm Winery where they had wine tasting and a concert.  The band, we forget the name, was very good.  It tried to rain a little but didn’t really succeed, so all in all a very nice evening.  By the time we cycled back via the ferry again we had clocked 20+ miles.  When we got back to the boat, we discovered that the marina bar seems to be the local pick up joint.  Sitting on the boat now at 11:11pm wondering how long the “music” will continue.  Are we getting old?

Ship’s log: 2250.0 Today's log: 21.5nm, Season total: 614.5 nm

Wednesday August 22nd

We putzed around in the morning planning our next couple of weeks cruising, then headed ashore and set off on bikes to North Hero General Store where we planned to take advantage of their WIFI.  On the way Ron got a puncture and we spent about an hour trying to fix it.  We had some fancy pre-glued inner tube patches and, long story short, they weren’t working.  We replaced the tube, pumped it up hard and it seemed to be OK, then after a minute or so, hiss…  After several attempts, we locked Ron’s bike up, Ron walked to the store (1.5 miles) and Teresa went for a ride while Ron updated the blog.  

Tuesday August, 21st

We put our bikes in the dinghy and went ashore via the dinghy dock at North Hero Marina.  Yesterday we called them to ask if they could offer us a mooring or dock for the night and they said he didn’t have any space.  So today we asked if we could use his dinghy dock.  He said yes.  We had a great ride to South Hero on some beautiful bike paths and ended up doing 46 miles on our folding bikes.  We got back to the boat and moved her to Carry Bay, 44° 50.25N 73° 17.13W, where we had no mosquito problems.

Ship’s log: 2228.5 Today's log: 1.6nm, Season total: 593.0 nm

Monday August 20th

We set off for Pelots Bay expecting winds of 20 knots.  So we tucked a reef in when we hoisted the mainsail, just to be sure the reefing system worked after raising the mast.  It did.  So we shook the reef out and spent the rest of the day with winds varying between 8 knots and 0 knots.  A challenging sail in the light and sometimes non-existent winds, but interesting.  We anchored in Pelots bay, 44° 49.57N 73° 18.11W, a beautiful, secluded spot with the nearest boat perhaps ½ nm away.  Recently we’d seen very few insects in the evenings and had been dispensing with our mosquito netting.  We decided to do the same tonight.  BIG mistake.  We were invaded by mosquitos and by the time we got the netting up it was too late.  We spent most of the evening and night killing the little b*ggers, but most of them got us first.  We had noticed a shallow, weedy area not far for the boat and with hindsight, this was probably the source of the mossies.  We also saw a guy in a “Lake Mower” – a large contraption that was harvesting the weeds.  Apparently he was planning on using the weeds as mulch and compost. 

Ship’s log: 2226.9 Today's log: 20.4nm, Season total: 591.4 nm

Saturday August 18th, Sunday August 19th

Laura and Rick joined us in the morning at Rouses point and we loaded 6 bikes and people into 2 cars and headed for North Hero, one of Lake Champlain’s many islands, for a bike ride.  It was a beautiful day for a bike ride, we continued on to Grand Isle, Ron and Laura got into a little speed contest and the group became spread out.  The leaders stopped at a likely looking café for lunch and waited for the tail enders to catch up, and waited and waited, and waited …  We backtracked and found Marc waiting for Dee.   Cell phone coverage was not good and we couldn’t contact her so we backtracked a little more.  Long story short, Dee had seen a group of cyclists ahead of her make a left turn and, assuming it was us, followed them.  The good news was that we were on a small Island with not too many roads, and we eventually all met up again.    We headed off for North Hero for lunch and then returned to the boat by car.  After showers we partook of the marina’s lobster dinner party, and learned that they know a lot more about lobsters in Maine than they do here – they were all overcooked and mushy.  The BYOB was good though and the cake wasn’t bad.  On Sunday, we had breakfast, and sat around on the trampoline in beautiful weather to decide what to do.  Rick gave Ron some fishing tips, and before long it was lunchtime so we ate on the tramp.  Our guests left around 4pm having spent an uncharacteristically lazy day. 

Ship’s log: 2206.5 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 571.0 nm

Friday August, 17th

Well we went to bed last night without our usual confidence in our anchor, since it was very weedy where we dropped (and everywhere else we could find).  And in the middle of the night we were woken up by a loud crash!  We were out of bed and into the cockpit in seconds flat to find out where we had dragged to …  But we were still in the same place.  Further investigation revealed that the hook holding our recycling bag, full of bottles, cans and the like, had failed and the recycling was now on the floor.  Of all nights for that to happen!  Oh well.  We went back to bed, woke early and set off for a mooring at Rouses Point, 44° 59.35N 73° 21.75W, where we would meet Dee and Marc this evening and Laura and Rick tomorrow.  We had a long way to go – about 30 miles – so set off early and had a great sail with winds up to 20knots behind us.  We arrived at 1pm, filled up with gas and water, did laundry, shopping and met Dee and Marc at 5:45. 

Ship’s log: 2206.5 Today's log: 26.0nm, Season total: 571.0 nm

Thursday August 16th

We set off in very light winds for a tour of St. Albans bay.  It was a pretty bay, but the water was FULL of algae which detracted somewhat from the experience.  We managed to sail into the bay, but on the way out were totally becalmed and had to resort to the engines.  We were heading to Keelers Bay to anchor and visit the local winery which has a concert every Thursday evening. A little wind returned and we sailed the last part and attempted to anchor near a launch ramp where we would be able to land our bikes and visit the winery.  This area was very shallow however and full of weeds, so after 3 unsuccessful attempts, we moved to a deeper part and dropped the hook there, 44° 39.19N 73° 17.77W.  It was deeper here but still weedy and we weren’t confident enough to leave the boat and visit the winery.  So we swam, fished, stretched and enjoyed a bottle of wine from the 1000 Islands winery instead.   

Ship’s log: 2180.5 Today's log: 14.0nm, Season total: 545.0 nm

Wednesday August 15th

We put our mosquito netting up as usual last night, and slept well all night.  So did the bugs!  When we woke, there were hundreds on the outside of the netting and also on the inside of the netting and the ceiling of the boat.  Uugh!  Not sure what they were – they looked like mosquitos but they didn’t bite.  And we don’t know how they got in.  The netting is not totally bug proof, but they had to work hard to find the way in, and there were no lights on to attract them while we slept.  Oh well – the joys of nature.

We set off for Burton Island, 44° 46.59N 73° 11.71W, and motored the 6nm on a windless day.  Burton Island is a Vermont state park and we explored on foot.  One of the trails had a Dr. Suess book - The Lorax - with a page every 100 yards or so.  So we read the book as we walked the trail.  Of course it’s for kids, and the story was about a greedy business man destroying forest and habitat, in his quest for riches.  Nice for kids to be reading this while they’re out in nature!  “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better – it’s not”. 

Ship’s log: 2166.5 Today's log: 6.1nm, Season total: 531.0 nm

Tuesday August 14th

We woke up with the batteries reading 14V – nice – and spent several hours in the morning cleaning the boat.  Ron did the hard part – the outside and Teresa did the easy work – the inside.  Unfortunately, the 12V vacuum cleaner, sucked up a lot of juice, despite being plugged in to shorepower, and we ended up with 12.8V L.  We then went for a bike ride along some very nice roads running along the shore hoping that the batteries would regain some charge, which they did.  We set off for Nichols Point, 44° 44.85N 73° 19.30W, in very light winds, but persevered with sailing, despite being becalmed for 15 minutes, and sailed all the way.  Of course it helped that our destination was only 3.5 nm away!  We dropped the hook in company with several other boats, and Ron went fishing.  He got a good bite, but the fish jumped out of the water and got away.  It was about 3’ long!  We both went for a swim in beautiful calm and flat water.  15 minutes after our swim it was blowing 20 knots, raining, and didn’t look at all like swimming conditions. 

Ship’s log: 2160.4 Today's log: 3.5nm, Season total: 524.9 nm

Monday, August 13th

We went ashore to explore more of the hiking trails in the morning. 

The last several days had been overcast and not very windy, and since we rely on sun or wind to charge our batteries, they’ve been getting pretty low lately.  So we decided to go to Mooneys Bay Marina, 44° 47.20N 73° 21.98W, to replenish batteries, water and food.  We beat out of the bay to round the red buoy marking a reef we had to round before heading north to Mooneys Bay.  Usually, we tack when the water depth shallows to 20’ and we decided to do the same today when tacking toward the reef.  Ready about, 20’, Lee oh, uh oh, 15’, 10’, 6’, bang!  Then, after looking at the contours on the chart more closely, we realized that the reef was like a vertical wall rising out of the sea bed.  Fortunately, with light winds we weren’t sailing too fast and were half way through the tack before hitting, so no damage done.  Hopefully we learned a lesson.  In Georgian Bay last year, with granite rocks everywhere we never touched bottom, and today’s experience was the third time this year!  Let’s hope it’s the last this season. 

We tied up in the marina, plugged in, went shopping by bike, had showers and hamburgers for dinner. 

Ship’s log: 2156.9 Today's log: 5.0nm, Season total: 521.4 nm

Sunday August 12th

We were anchored close to North Hero town where an air show was scheduled, so we waited for the entertainment.  It started about noon but we were a little too far away for a good view.  The weather in the afternoon looked great for sailing, so we set off for Deep Bay, 44° 46.55N 73° 22.89W.  Deep Bay had been recommended twice recently, so we were looking forward to seeing it.  It was a little disappointing – crowded with moorings, the water didn’t look good for swimming, and the moorings cost as much as commercial moorings with WIFI and access to marinas!  There were however, some very nice walking trails on the nearby state park which we enjoyed. 

Ship’s log: 2151.8 Today's log: 12.4nm, Season total: 516.4 nm

Saturday August 11th

Went for a bike ride across Rouses Point Bridge to our home state of Vermont.  Returned to the boat and prepared to set sail.  The forecast was for rain later, so when we set off, we were expecting to get wet.  As is turned out we had a beautiful beat from noon until about 4:30pm, when the rain started, so we only had half an hour of rain before anchoring in Carry Bay, 44° 50.13N 73° 17.14W.  Lake Champlain looks like its going to be a very nice sailing area for our last month of cruising, with many islands and bays in which to anchor.  Teresa went for a swim in the rain and cleaned the boat’s waterline.  Ron went fishing, caught a smallmouth bass and filleted it for an appetizer.  Teresa cooked the fish in beer batter and cracker crumbs.  A delicious, but small, appetizer.  Ron needs to learn how to fillet a fish without wasting most of the meat. 

Ship’s log: 2239.5 Today's log: 26.5nm, Season total: 504.0 nm

Thursday, Friday August 9th, 10th

The mast raise went well, perhaps because the able staff at Gaines Marina did most of the work.  (They’ve done it a few times before).  We returned to our mooring and fitted the boom, rigged the various halyard, lines, sails and sheets.  The final job was to reconnect the wiring, but it started raining, so that job was shelved until Friday.  It rained on and off through the night but we had a brief dry spell Friday morning, so were able to reconnect the wiring.  Then it started raining again so we decided to stay on the mooring one more night. 

Wednesday August 8th

Motored for a few hours to Lake Champlain where we cleared customs in the USA and docked at Gaines marina, Rouses Point, NY, 44° 59.52N 73° 21.65W.  We did laundry, prepared the mast for raising tomorrow and investigated the rudder damage.  It turned out that the weak link in the rudders didn’t break, but the cable did!  So we rigged things so that the rudders are permanently down and we’ll fix the cable at the end of the season.  No big deal, except that we can’t creep into really shallow spot anymore. 

Ship’s log: 2113.0 Today's log: 10.6nm, Season total: 477.5 nm

Tuesday August 7th

We traversed the next 5 locks and various swing and lifting bridges, then had a long stretch of narrow canal before the last lock at Saint Jean.  The canal was reasonable deep in the middle, but because of our width, one of our hulls was pretty close to shore and we hit one of our rudders on rocks on the bottom – twice, once with Teresa at the helm and once with Ron.  Ron claims he had the better hit!  The rudders are able to be raised, and the raise/lower mechanism has a weak point which is designed to break before serious damage is done.  We broke it.  The rudders still work but we

cannot raise them any longer.  Oh well, our first grounding!   In addition to the rudder issue, the engines were lacking power, so we limped through the last lock and tied up outside to investigate hoping that we hadn’t damaged them as well.  One of the nice things about our engines is that they also lift out of the water when we’re sailing.  So we lifted them up and discovered a lot of weed wrapped tightly around the props.  The weed was removed and we were back in full working order.  We re-entered the Richelieu River and motored on to Gagnon marina, 45° 03.66N 73° 16.35W.  We were hoping to raise our mast here, but when push came to shove, we were told that our boat was too wide for the crane dock.  Not one of our most successful days, but no major problems either.

 

Ship’s log: 2102.4 Today's log: 22.8nm, Season total: 466.9 nm

Monday August 6th

Motored to Chambly, 45° 26.78N 73° 16.99W, traversed the first 3 consecutive locks and tied up to the wall where we will spend the night.  There is a beautiful bike path along the canal, so we got the bikes out and explored.  The canal bypasses the Richelieu rapids, and having seen them we were grateful that the canal had been built.  We ended up in Saint Jean sur Richelieu, where the canal ends and boat traffic rejoins the Richelieu River.  We had to support the local economy by buying an ice cream.  Ron asked for a medium, since he guessed that Teresa would want a bite.  It was HUGE, bigger even than a US Medium, and even though Teresa helped Ron out a little, we couldn’t finish it and it ended up in the garbage.  We  got chatting to an older gentleman who was interested in our folding bikes.  Apparently he has 27 bikes at home, one of them a German folding bike from 1957!  There was a nice photo display on the path.  We returned to the boat, a 24mile round trip, had sun showers on the boat and supported the local economy again by going out to dinner at the Tri Colores – delicious Italian!

Ship’s log: 2079.6 Today's log: 15.0nm, Season total: 444.1 nm

Sunday August 5th

Well I guess all the preparation work paid off.  We tied up at the mast crane, hauled Ron up the mast to attach the crane hook, disconnected the shrouds and forestay and lowered the mast onto the boat.  Simple – well not too difficult anyway.  We tied it down securely then got drenched as the skies opened up for a brief but strong shower.  We set off down the Richelieu River towards Lake Champlain.  We had strong headwinds all day, and a slight current against us.  We passed through 1 lock and just as the lock doors opened the skies once again opened and Teresa got a lovely shower while doing her jobs on the foredeck.   So, for the third outfit in a day!  We anchored behind Ile de Jeannotte, 45° 38.99N 73° 11.95W. After anchoring, we took advantage of the clouds and strong breeze to cool off and had happy hour on the trampoline.  A big black cloud arrived after our first drink and its contents chased us back inside the boat. 

Ship’s log: 2064.6 Today's log: 29.9nm, Season total: 429.1 nm

Saturday August 4th

We had a nice beat to Sorel, 46° 02.90N 73° 06.44W, our last sail for a few days, ‘cause we’re about to drop the mast.  We arrived about 12:30 and spent the afternoon getting the mainsail off the boom, the genoa dropped and all the running rigging and boom off the mast in preparation for dropping the mast tomorrow.  Teresa went for a bike ride around Sorel while Ron finished up the last few jobs. Sorel is an industrial town so I was surprised to find a row of lovely waterfront homes and a beautiful bike path with natural shade provided by the lush green canopy of foliage.  The center of the town was more what we expected.     We ate on the boat and went to bed dreaming about all the ways dropping the mast could go wrong, (at least Ron did!)

Ship’s log: 2034.7 Today's log: 13.8nm, Season total: 399.2 nm

Friday August 3rd

We reprovisioned the boat and set off for Contrecoeur, 45° 51.93N 73° 14.06W, a recommended anchorage on the way to Sorel.  The winds were very fickle all day, ranging from 2 knots or less to 12 knots (infrequently).  However they were mostly behind us and we had a fair current all day so we sailed all day, a nice change from the previous few days in the canals.  We arrived at Contrecoeur, which was indeed a very pleasant anchorage.  It was another hot day – 94F – and we really wanted to swim, but the water here didn’t look as nice as the 1000 islands so we declined.  (Perhaps we’re getting spoiled!). 

Ship’s log: 2020.9 Today's log: 14.9nm, Season total: 385.4 nm

Thursday, August 2nd

We found a beautiful ride along the Lachine canal, which happened to take us to the Atwater market, so we felt obliged to stop there for a crepe breakfast.  After another gastronomique delight, Rick and Laura departed L   We went for another bike ride along the canal and went to Ted and Liz’s on The Boulevard for an evening BBQ.  It was a great evening and we finished with a nice walk home in the cool evening breeze. 

Wednesday, August 1st

We cycled up and up and up the “Mont Real”, which has spectacular views of the city and continued a tour of the city’s hotspots including lunch at Schwartz’s for Montreal smoked meat sandwiches, happy hour at les Trois Brasseurs for Belgian style beer and dinner at Jardin Nelson – for delicious crepes.   

Tuesday, July 31st

Laura and Rick, (from VT), joined us for a few days in Montreal and arrived mid-morning.  We explored a little on foot, had lunch and went for a bike ride.  We wound up at Atwater market – a wonderful, (French of course) market with gazillions of French cheeses, patés, pastries, breads etc. etc.  We all went window shopping and Rick and Laura bought a scrumptious looking gateaux.  Ted and Liz, who live in Montreal, joined us for a barbeque dinner on the boat.  After dinner we walked to l’Horloge, (the old clock tower) to watch the fireworks, and then returned to the boat to devour Laura and Rick’s gateaux. 

Monday July 30th

Nous sommes arrivé à Montréal!  We had a pleasant trip through the canal de Rive Sud and had very few delays at the 2 bridges and last 2 locks before Montreal.  We noticed that some of our fellow boaters have much bigger boats that we do but we managed to share the waterways regardless.  When we reached Montreal, the canal dumped us out just below the Jaques Cartier bridge, 45° 32.08N 73° 31.92W, so we had a short upstream trip to Port 

d’Escale where we would be staying for the next few days.  Unfortunately there is a BIG current in this part of the river against us since we were now heading upstream.  The chart showed 4.5 knots and Ron was hoping that this part of the river would be tidal which would mean that, at times the current would be less.   No such luck – we now know that this current runs 24 hours a day.  So we bashed on at 5.5 knots making 1 knot over the ground, and when the current got to 5.5 knots we increased our boat speed to 6.5 knots (close to our max speed).  After a grueling hour and a half we made it past the current into Port d’Escale, 45° 30.37N 73° 33.04W, which is located right in the heart of the old city – perfect.  We checked in, cleaned the boat up, provisioned and went out to dinner in the old city.

Ship’s log: 2006.0 Today's log: 19.8nm, Season total: 370.5 nm

Sunday July 29th

Another windless day so we motored all day to Ile Tekakwitha, 45° 24.48N 73° 42.72W.  Had to go through two locks on the way and we ended up locking right behind 2 cigarette boats rafted together.  One had 10 bikini clad sun worshippers on board.  Teresa did not enjoy being at the bow when both boats started up their mighty engines to leave the lock.  We should have had ear mufflers and oxygen masks!  We were expecting this anchorage to be a bit of a dump since the canals we’ve been in recently are much more industrial and this anchorage is right next to the canal we’ll take to Montreal tomorrow.  But we were pleasantly surprised – it’s very nice.  So nice in fact that we took a nice refreshing swim as soon as we anchored.

Ship’s log: 1986.2 Today's log: 21.0nm, Season total: 350.7 nm

Saturday July 28th

A frustrating day today!  We were sailing on Lake St. Francis, 45° 06.0N 74° 28.0W, part of the St. Lawrence, which is 5 miles wide in parts.  Unfortunately the navigable channel (even for us) is only 1/10 

mile wide.  And we had an easterly wind on the nose, over an east setting current, and as every sailor knows, a wind over tide results in a nasty choppy wave pattern.  Our mighty 10hp engines weren’t making much progress so we attempted to sail and soon discovered that, in the narrow channel, we’d be tacking every 10 minutes or so, which would have tired us out pretty quickly.  A real bummer, since it was MUCH more pleasant sailing.  But we had a distance to go so resorted to motoringL. 

Navigation was fun though.  We still don’t have our chartplotter, so decided to navigate the whole day (pilot actually) without using the backup phone app, just like we used to in the old days.  The channels were all extremely well marked with buoys and transits, so it was really easy.  Teresa was not quite so sure though, I saw her switch on her phone app as we were entering Coteau Landing to make sure we were in the right place! 

We tied up to a wall in Coteau landing, 45° 15.44N 74° 12.00W, and on stepping ashore we figured that Coteau must mean Goose Poop in French.  Explored the town on bike – very quaint - and found a restaurant for dinner – they were even showing the Olympics on TV – that was a treat!

Ship’s log: 1965.2 Today's log: 20.3nm, Season total: 329.7 nm

Friday July 27th

Another windless day, so we motored all day and passed through 2 locks on the US side.  We were lucky again and only had to wait ¾ hour.  The weather has turned hot again.  We landed in Cornwall, 45° 00.81N 74° 43.10W, and Teresa went for a bike ride and explored, while Ron took advantage of the internet and phoned the navigation company for a solution to the CF card issue.  Looks like it’s a damaged card, so we’re hoping they’ll send a replacement!    We found an English Fish and Chips shop (run by a Yorkshire woman so authentic) so we ordered some to be delivered to the boat and dined on a picnic table near our dock.  Of course Ron also had to order mushy peas (YUCK!)

Ship’s log: 1944.9 Today's log: 17.0nm, Season total: 309.4 nm

Thursday July 26th

It rained all night and was still raining when we set off for Morrison Island, 44° 58.51N 75° 00.10W.  There was no wind so we motored all dayL.  We got an early start (for us), since we would now be passing through the various locks between Lake Ontario and Montreal.  There are many commercial ships passing this way and they are given priority at the locks, so we have no idea how long we may have to wait.  As it turned out we were able to enter our first and only lock of the day lock about 10 minutes after arriving, so we arrived at our anchorage off Morrison Island early.  It was grey and drizzly all day but the drizzle cleared up after we had anchored and we did a few jobs on the boat.  Ron saw some fish jumping and tried his luck with his fishing rod, but they weren’t playing!  Teresa spotted a Blue Heron and watched it with the binoculars for a while. 

We had some fun with our chartplotter today.  It wouldn’t start so we were back to the old fashioned way of navigating with paper charts and compass backed up by a navigation app on Teresa’s phone.  After a season of having the luxury of a chartplotter, it’s amazing how vulnerable you feel without it, even with the phone as a backup.  The navigation, (actually pilotage, since we were hopping from buoy to buoy), was simple however.  After an hour or so Teresa discovered that the problem was with the flash card, not the chart plotter and were able to get the plotter working again.  However we continued plotting our progress on paper charts, ‘cause we’re not fully trusting the plotter right now. 

Ship’s log: 1927.9 Today's log: 20.2nm, Season total: 292.4 nm

Wednesday July 25th

We started out the day by fixing the water pump.  It had been pumping although no water was being demanded, so it sounded like a leak somewhere.  Couldn’t find any leaks and traced the problem to a piece of dirt in the pump.  We like nice easy problem to fix! 

No wind today, so we motored to Prescott, 44° 42.59N 75° 30.63W.  On the way we noticed an island with dead trees full of birds looking like sculptures.  We went for a bike ride and discovered a windmill that had been converted to a lighthouse on the the site of an 1812 battle between the British and Canadian rebels.   About 100 yards from our berth there was an open air performance of Bill Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, so we got take away pizza, a couple of beers and watched the show.  It was great – modernized a little with a couple of up to date songs and all in all an excellent performance.  The timing was great – it started to rain just after the performance ended. 

Ship’s log: 1907.7 Today's log: 9.1nm, Season total: 272.2 nm

Tuesday 24th July

The winds continued to blow from the north and we had a nice beat to Brockville, 44° 35.21N 75° 40.93W.  The winds were pretty variable, especially in the narrows and of course died in one of the 

narrows just as a large tanker approached us from behind.  A good job that sailboats have engines!  We arrived at Brockville, did some laundry and finalized our plans for getting to Montreal.  Our dock overlooks the river where a fleet of sailboats were racing so we cooked dinner and dined on the dockside tables.  Unfortunately by the time we were eating, the racing had finished, but we had a fine view of the river anyway. 

Ship’s log: 1898.6 Today's log: 12.1nm, Season total: 263.1 nm

Monday 23rd July

We putzed around in the morning, Teresa went for a bike ride and Ron did some more planning for the trip to Montreal.  We set sail for Jorstadt Island, 44° 27.12N 75° 48.68W, where Singer Castle is located.  The wind howled all day and we had a brisk downwind sail to the island past Boldt Castle and Millionaires Row where we saw many beautiful and expensive looking homes.  We anchored off nearby Cedar Island, 44° 27.02N 75° 47.33W, and got the weather forecast on the phone.  It mentioned gusts of 50 knots in squalls!  Gulp.  So far, we’ve only had a short but heavy rain shower, the winds are blowing 15-20 knots and the anchor’s holding.  If you’re reading this blog, we survived the night! 

Addendum.  The winds behaved themselves and blew most of the night from the SW, W and North which were the predicted directions, so we had no problems with the anchor.  No thunderstorms at the boat, but we could see lightening all around us, so although we were safe, it was not entirely a relaxing nights sleep!. 

Ship’s log: 1886.5 Today's log: 17.2nm, Season total: 251.0 nm

Sunday 22nd July

Another beautiful day and downwind sail to Clayton, 44° 14.21N 76° 05.48W with  Dee on the helm most of that day. We docked at the municipal dock which is starting to feel like home!   Cleared customs and Marc and Dee left for their 5 hour drive home.  Ron & Teresa re-provisioned, did some planning for the next few days voyaging, went for a bike ride and before we knew it, it was time for G & T, dinner and bed. 

Ship’s log: 1869.3 Today's log: 8.1nm, Season total: 238.8 nm

Saturday 21st July

We had a leisurely breakfast, then went for a hike on Beaurivage Island and did a ittle bushwhacking.  We returned to the boat and had a swim to get cleaned up.  We had lunch at anchor, the set sail for Wolfe Island to anchor for the night.  We sailed across a large area of open water called the 40 acres.  The wind was perfect for sailing – about 12 knots and we had a pleasant beat to Wolfe with Marc and Dee doing most of the helming to windward.  – Nice work guys!  We arrived at Wolfe and found there were a lot of boats anchored in Brakey Bay so we continued to the next bay - Irvine bay – which had only one boat anchored, 44° 13.66N 76° 16.42W.  This bay is larger than Brakey, so it was almost like having it to ourselves – perfect.  We tried a new strategy for keeping bugs out of the boat.  Lately, we’ve been getting small white bugs attracted by the light inside the boat.  So we erected our mosquito netting and hung a light outside of the netting.  The next morning we discovered gazillions of these bugs on the outside of the boat.  What a mess, but better out than in!  We claim success. 

Ship’s log: 1861.2 Today's log: 16.0nm, Season total: 225.7nm

Friday 20th July

We had planned to go to Singer Castle on Jorstadt Island, but the winds were not in our favour, so we opted for Gananoque, (to clear customs), and Beaurivage instead. 44° 18.12N 76° 10.84W. It was good decision – we had a great sail to Gan, cleared Canadian customs, and went for a walk along the Gananoque trail.  We then motored to Beaurivage (about 1.5nm away), to anchor for the night. The anchor was set, we all went for a swim and the gins and tonics came out.  Marc spotted a fish jumping, so Ron got out his fishing rod.  After a few casts, Ron pulled in a nice Pike, (we think), but the consensus, was to throw the beautiful fish back.  Since no-one was going to eat it, Ron complied.  We dined well on home grown zucchini, corn on the cob, salad, pork chops, beer and wine. 

Ship’s log: 1845.2 Today's log: 16.7nm, Season total: 209.7nm

Thursday 19th July

Ron finished up a few jobs, then Teresa, Marc and Dee arrived.  We settled our guests into the boat, explored the town a little, went grocery shopping and went out for dinner at Cobblestones.  We had a very nice dinner, (thanks Marc), on the deck and watched another beautiful sunset.

Ship’s log: 1828.5 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 193.0nm

Tuesday July 17th, Wednesday 18th

Teresa is visiting her mom and Ron’s working through the Honey Dew list on the boat.  On Tuesday the wind howled all day which was a shame, ‘cause on of my jobs was re-routing the lines that control our mainsail stack pack.  Re-routing the lines meant throwing a weighted messenger line over the spreaders on the mast.  Tricky in 25+ knots of wind, but at least I amused several of the other boaters on the dock.  The sun was shining all day as well and on one occasion I checked the charge we were getting from our solar panels and the wind gen.  I saw 12amps from the wind gen and 8 amps from the solar – 20amps of free, sustainable charge!  Nice.  The bad news is that our fridge, when it’s running, sucks it up at 5 amps when the weather is really hot, (which it is now).  Typical, the first boat I’ve owned with a fridge and I’m belly-aching about it already.  Wouldn’t go back to being fridge-less though!

Later in the day on Tuesday, I went to the hardware store and when I returned to the boat everyone was pretty excited.  The wind was a little calmer now, from a completely different direction and much cooler.  Apparently a front had passed through and it brought winds of 45 knots with it.  I missed all this so it couodn’t have lasted too long.  I would have loved to have seen what the wind gen pumped out during the 45knot gusts!. 

Wednesday was much quieter wind wise, but still hot.  Ron made good progress on his jobs and finished up with a gin and tonic, pizza, beer and beautiful sunset.

Ship’s log: 1828.5 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 193.0nm

Monday July 16th

We woke up to another beautiful, but hot day.  We each took a refreshing dip in the lovely St Lawrence water, and set off for Clayton, 44° 14.22N 76° 05.47W with no wind so we motored.  Our car has been waiting here for us, so we did a little shopping, and then Teresa jumped ship to visit her mom in CT.  I started work on the boat jobs list.  The first job was to varnish the door jambs. I just got the first coat on, abd then looked up at the dark clouds on their way to me.  Belatedly checking the forecast I discovered that thunderstorms and rain are predicted for the next few days.  Oh well, the first coat is dry enough now and it hasn’t rained yet.  Perhaps I’ll get lucky tomorrow!

Ship’s log: 1828.5 Today's log: 7.6nm, Season total: 193.0nm

Sunday July 15th

Ron had an early morning dip, (well about 8:30 actually, so not too early), and then we both went for a bike ride.  We had breakfast, and started laundry by which time the antique car parade had started.  So we watched the parade, and then finished laundry.  We then set sail for Carleton Island, 44° 11.21N 76° 16.18W, to anchor for the night.  We decided to try our Fortress anchor without the anchor ball, since Ron had a theory that the anchor ball was making the anchor buoyant and preventing it from penetrating weeds.  After several unsuccessful attempts we reverted back to our trusty Rocna which dug in first time.  Ron tried a little fishing without any luck. 

Ship’s log: 1820.9 Today's log: 5.7nm, Season total: 185.4nm

Saturday July 14th

Happy Bastille day!  We dressed ship for the occasion and then went ashore for “French” pastries for breakfast, (but they didn’t turn out to be very “French”).  Ron ate them all anyway, and we then went for a bike ride to Tibbets point lighthouse which was very nice.  On the way back we discovered a swimming beach near town that the local dive club told us had a wreck.  We wandered around the town had lunch, browsed some of the, (huge – over 200 vendors), craft fair and then watched the 1 hour parade.  It was hot again, very hot, so we took the dinghy to the beach where the wreck was.  On entering the cove we discover the reason for the wreck – a reef with about 6” depth and we tested the shear-pin on the dinghy engine.  It worked – the prop hit the reef and the shear-pin sheared.  We dived on the wreck with snorkels, read a little in the shade of a tree, replaced the shear-pin and returned to the boat.  Yesterday, on our beat from Kingston we crossed tacks with “La Buena Vida”, took some photos of their boat and they took some photos of us. We invited Marleyne and Heiner aboard Quinita for drinks and to swap photos and had a very pleasant couple of hours with them – http://sv-lbvida.blogspot.com.  The town then put on a very nice firework display right in front of our boat. 

Ship’s log: 1815.2 Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 179.7nm