Day 271, "on the loop", 7/7/2023

July 1st is Canada Day

Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (French: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the British North America Act, 1867, when the three separate colonies of the United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into a single dominion within the British Empire called Canada.

Originally called Dominion Day (French: Le Jour de la Confédération), the holiday was renamed in 1982, the same year that the Canadian constitution was patriated by the Canada Act, 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada Day celebrations take place throughout the country, as well as in various locations around the world attended by Canadians living abroad.

People are given the option to take Friday or Monday off work as their Canadian Day holiday. We thought there would be a mass celebration; however, we feel due to the rain and weather, it kept people away.

Saturday (7/1),

It rained most of the morning; however, as soon as we got the weather break....

Chris, Dan, Karen and I walked to a bakery called Petite Grande (means "little barn). It was probably about a 2 mile walk, one way! The pastries were "out of this world" and well worth the walk, There was a variety of cheese, pastries and breads. This place also had a small deli and made "to go" sandwiches. Each one of us purchased something different. Chris and Dan were generous with their selections, they shared their bread pudding and chocolate coconut cake. I shared the Apple pie at the 7/2 pot luck.

One of many desserts shared, this was the chocolate coconut cake!

Below, a picture of one of the MANY potlucks we had during our stay in Valleyfield.

Karen, Capel, Joel and I had dinner at a local cajun restaurant called New Orleans. Our waiter was friendly and probably assigned to us because he was the only English speaking person on staff. He asked what brought us "non speaking French" people to his restaurant, we laughed and explained the loop. He was intrigued and wanted to know more about the loop. His English was really good, so we asked how he learn English so well, he explained he is a "gamer" and plays games with people from the United States using the English language.

Sunday (7/2),

It was somewhat of a lazy day for us, it rained most of the evening. Dan and Chris were doing chores, catching up on their blog and emails. Karen and I decided to walk around the town to window shop and look for Canada postage stamps to mail post cards back to the U.S.

Dan and Chris took a short ride over to the dock office to fuel up and get a pump out before leaving for our 7/3 destination. They were unable to do this when they checked in because the equipment was not working properly.

Monday (7/3),

Left ValleyField, it is an adorable town. Everyone walks, ride bikes or jet skis in the nearby areas. Earlier in the week, people were stopping by, posing for pictures in front of the boats, and enjoying the great weather.

We witness a jet-ski capsize near our boat in the canal, no one was hurt (Thank Goodness). Joel and Capel offered to help; however, it must have happened before as they knew just what to do. Pulled it to shallow water, flipped it back over and went about their day!

Map of Trip:

ValleyField Marina (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada) to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Lock (on the Wall).

Used our Canada park pass for the first time, it will be used multiple times during this part of our trip. See random stuff below to learn more about these passes. If you plan a trip to Canada, these passes come in handy!

Stayed overnight at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, on the Canal.

Information about the area:

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue (French pronunciation: ​[sɛ̃t an də bɛlvy]) is an on-island suburb located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish in 1703. The oldest, Dorval, was founded in 1667.

The Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal and boardwalk. Linking Lake Saint-Louis and Lake of Two Mountains at the mouth of the Ottawa River, the canal was an integral part of the Montreal-Ottawa-Kingston inland shipping route from its opening in 1843. Today, it is used essentially for pleasure boating.

During our one night stay, we walked around the area, checked out a pub for nachos and ate at Do 'Licieux before enjoying some ice cream. Chris, Dan and I needed postage stamps, so we stopped in a convenient store that "had it all": Pharmacy, postal service, and other necessities. It seemed like a dollar general with a CVS and Post Office Included.

Upon arrival at Sainte Anne, we were told the Carillon Lock was broken. The group we were traveling with decided once the Sainte Anne Lock opened (the next day), we would take our chances, cruise to Carillon Lock in hopes the problem would be fixed.

Tuesday (7/4), Happy 4th of July! Were told the Carillon lock would be fix and open for boat traffic so decided to make the track to the Carillon lock. Long Gone 2 hailed the Lockmaster (on the radio) who relayed the lock would open at 2pm. We couldn't believe it! The lock was going to open. We pulled in the lock canal, parked on the "blue line" to indicate we wanted to lock through. A rain storm came up with thunder & lightening and as luck would have it, the lock was closed for the remainder of the day.

Not because of the weather, there was a sailboat in the lock, when they went to open the lock door to let him out, the door would not open.

Map of Trip:

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Lock (wall), Quebec, Canada to Centale De Carillon, Eluse Carillon Lock (Quebec, Canada). Side note: The other side of the lock, far left side is considered to be in Ontario, Canada.

Was held up at the Carillon Lock overnight due to damaged lock (the lock door was not opening properly). The workers worked feverishly to figure out the problem. Not to worry, we made the best of it. Walked to the top of the lock, met fellow boaters (traveling toward us).

Pic 1 - Lined up on the "blue line" indicating we want to pass through lock

Pic 2 - Entry door to Carillon Lock (it was broken)

Pic 3 - Lock is empty (as we wait for the repairs)

Pic 1 & 3 - Local dive (Ordered food to go)

Pic 2 - Celebrating the 4th, we met up with Boat Name: Here's to us (Sam & Rev) and then our travel buddies (Arabella and Long Gone 2)

Had dinner at a local dive... this local dive didn't serve beer so we ordered the food "to go" and walk back to the boat. Here we hung out with our buddies and met a few "new" boaters (not doing the loop).

We sat on the dock for a long time after dinner, Boat Name: Adventure (Gene and his adopted daughter, Mary Ellen joined us for docktails).

Wednesday (7/5)

Map of Trip:

Centale De Carillon, Carillon Lock (Quebec, Canada) to Montebello (Quebec, Canada)

Engineers continued to work on the Carillon lock and had it fixed by mid-morning. We left Carillon lock around 11am and headed to Montebello. With the late start, we didn't want to travel too far (traveled for approx. 3 hours).

College kids work the Canada locks and are extremely helpful. We have a Canada park pass (see random info below) displayed on our boat window. The dock hands record the Canada pass as it is being used (or when passing through various parks). It took a good 30+ minutes for the boats waiting at the blue line to enter the lock and get secured.

Dockhands walked around with iPads, we thought they had recorded our park pass. When the lock process was complete, closing of the doors, filled with water and the doors opened on the other side (after being raised 40+ feet), we untied from the boat we were rafted to (Long Gone 2) and started to exit the lock. The dockhand yelled for us to "stop". We didn't know what was wrong, well... apparently they had not confirmed our park pass. We were loose in the lock (somewhat floating). Well, those that know me.... yes, I got anxious, Joel was yelling for me to calm down and speak slowly (I was calling the numbers on our park pass out to the dock hands). After we were squared away, we exited the lock and waited for our travel buddies to catch up.

Pic 1 - Waiting on the Blue line (this indicates you are ready to go through the lock). Due to closure of the lock, We stayed on the wall overnight (no power or water), we used the generator.

Pic 2 - The door you see here is what was broken.

Pic 3 - The lock is empty (due to the work needing to be done.

We had a great day, arrived in Montebello in time to walk around the town a bit. We stopped at a nearby cheese and grocery store around 7:45pm. Unfortunately, they both closed at 8pm. The ice-cream store closed at 8pm also! We did get to see some of the old historic homes on the main / front street.

Pic 1 & 5: The ‘Manoir Papineau’

Pic 2 & 3: Manoir Papineau, Gardener's cottage

Pic 4: Manoir Papineau, Funeral chapel

The ‘Manoir Papineau’ was home to the Papineau family from 1850 to 1929. The house along with outbuildings, landscaped gardens and grounds (including a gardner's cottage, family museum, tea house, granary and funeral chapel) are now open to the public and managed by Parks Canada who became the custodians in 1993; the site represents one of the most treasured heritage locations in the area surrounding La Petite-Nation and in the greater Ottawa River region. Check out link about this home below under random information.

Additional sites in Montebello:

O-H-I-O (They are everywhere!) Found this guy in Montebello. He currently lives in Virginia area.

Thursday (7/6)

Map of Trip:

Montebello (Quebec, Canada) to Kitchissipi Marina (Gatineau, Quebec, Canada)

GUESS WHO CAME TO SEE US! YES, BREAKAWAY. Breakaway crossed their wake on June 10th (if I remember correctly). They live in Chelsea not far from the marina we were staying at. Danielle drove us to a local deli and then grocery store. Since Alain and Danielle had a vehicle, they also took us all to dinner. We ate at one of their local chicken places, we think it must be Canada's Chick-fil-A equivalent (wink, wink). This chain has a delivery service, we didn't get it in the picture; however, if you look at that yellow car in the background, it has a red rooster like chicken head on top.

Friday, July 7

Kitchissipi Marina to Ottawa Wall (after the Flight of 8)

Arrived in Ottawa around 8:30am (ish), tied off on the Blue Line (which indicates you are ready and would like to enter the lock). This set of locks are called, Flight of 8, which is unique because it's like walking up a staircase, only with a boat. It takes anywhere from 1.5 - 2 hours to complete the set of locks with no breaks. We were a group of 3.

Arabella (48 in length) had their own wall, Puffin (42 in length pulled in before us) and then us (46 in length, including our dinghy) was the last one in, behind Puffin. Side note: Long Gone 2 traveled to Ottawa the day before.

Pic 1 - Flight of 8 (the above picture is also the Flight of 8).

Pic 2 - The Flight of 8 Lock

Pic 3 - Empty Lock chambers (it's like walking up or down stairs

Once you enter the first lock, you are literarily on lock duty; meaning you don't have time to do anything but grab your lines and secure the boat. It took both of us (Joel & I) to complete the task. Through the process, we went through a total of 8 locks, and were raised over 250 feet. Side note: Tourist stand near the lock walls and on the bridge (looking down) to watch the process. We felt like we were in a zoo with all the people watching us!

Here'a how it works: I stand at bow of boat prepared to grab a cable from the wall as Joel drives the boat at an angle to align with the lock cables. Once I align and connect to the wall cable, I cleat that line at front of boat. Then, run to stern (back of boat) to secure a cable at which time Joel turns off the motor and takes position at stern.

There was no ideal way to grab a cable at the back of our boat, so we had to pull the lines

through our back window (we unsnapped the Isinglass and pulled the lines through there). Once Joel took his position at stern, I returned to bow to uncleat the line, allow slack for the boat to begin moving "upward" (in our case). Side note: While this is going on, Jonathan proceeded to call us "back to back, mulitple times". Joel answered phone long enough to explain we were super busy. Did I mention we almost rear-ended Puffin; Captain Joel averted the crisis; however, I admit I was scared.

Once the lock was filled and the doors opened, we would release the boat from the wall and then repeat the above 7 more times. This flight of 8 was exhausting! We did get better each time!

During the 1st lock, one of our fenders came off the railing. Joel had to work to retrieve the fender. Thank Goodness for Puffin, they grabbed it. @Jaime - we are missing you! You were our fender retriever in Kentucky! We have traveled 8 months and never dropped a fender. Dropped it twice in one week - ugh! Puffin retrieved it BOTH times :-)

Stay tuned for upcoming stops: Ottawa (Capital of Canada), Rideau Canal, Trent-Severn and Georgian Bay. We look forward to stopping at these locations and sharing with you all soon!

Random Stuff & Miscellaneous Information

The Rideau:

The historic Rideau Canal is packed into a hundred miles. The pace is slow, the distances short, and the stops are many as we travel almost every day. Cruising the Rideau is

meandering through big cities, charming small towns, wide open lakes, around

tiny rock islands, serpentining through ravines, marshland and rocky coastline.

Red Muskoka chairs are found all along the way. History, culture, restaurants,

ice cream, and brewery opportunities abound, and the locals are friendly and

welcoming. You'll find herons and ducks and birds and yes, Canadian geese.

Bike, hike, swim in the crystal clear water, kayak, paddle board, or chill in a

shady park and listen to the loons. Did I mention the locks? Forty-seven

easy-peasy locks with the most friendly and helpful staff for which any cruiser could hope.

Considered a marvel of human engineering, the Rideau was completed in

1832 and declared a World Heritage Site in 2007. After the War of 1812, the

British feared the Americans might try cutting off the St. Lawrence Seaway

supply route to take Canada. So the Army tasked Colonel John By to build a canal for strategic military purposes connecting the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario. He brilliantly routed the 49 locks along the path of existing rivers, lakes, and ravines, so only about 10% is man-made to bypass the non-naturally navigable stretches, thus preserving the natural beauty of the area and creating a meandering route along 109 nm (202 km/125.5 mi). By the time it was completed the neighbors were on better terms, so its second life was as a commercial route, and towns sprang up and thrived. When the railroad replaced livestock-drawn barges, its third life became solely for recreation and tourism.

The locks are operated just as they were when it opened, with hand-cranked lock doors and sluice gates in all but a couple of the locks staffed by experienced Parks Canada lock masters and summer-hire college students. Many of the locks are a flight of two or several together, so there are 23 lock stations for the 47 locks in the canal. Lock-houses have been preserved as best they can, as have the military blockhouses at some of the locks. The lock stations have overnight dockage and washrooms (aka bathrooms) along the walls before and/or after the lock(s), and each one has its own unique history and charm and are included in the Parks Canada Seasonal Passes.

Locking is like other Parks Canada canals. You pull up to the blue line dock just before the lock (or go right in if the doors are open). There is no radio communication in the Rideau canals.

Canada sells annual park passes that covers admission to more than 80 destinations for 12 months. For us, it saves time at traveling through the locks. Although we will not visit 80 places; we will be traveling the Rideau, Trent Severn and Georgian Bay staying many places along the way which will be covered by this park pass. We purchased our pass early on and received a 20% discount. These passes allow us to stay on various lock walls. Some lock walls have power and water connections and for the walls that do not have it, we will use our generator.

Permits:

• Seasonal lockage and mooring package. $20.00 / foot.

• Seasonal lockage permit. $9.50 / foot.

• Sale! Seasonal lockage permit for canoe or kayak. $9.50 $4.75 / foot.

• Seasonal mooring permit. $10.50 / foot.

• Unavailable. Six-day lockage permit. $5.50 / foot.

• Transit lockage permit. $5.00 / foot.

Montebello, Canada

Fairmont Le Château Montebello (didn't get to visit; but it is a highlight of this area):

Check out here: https://gentologie.com/en/travel/the-fairmont-le-chateau-montebello/

For over 90 years, Fairmont Le Château Montebello has been known for its rustic charm, unique architecture and beautiful natural surroundings. Described as the true Canadian experience, the world's largest log cabin is a welcoming resort destination with more than 40 unique activities and experiences available on-site.

Manoir Papineau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manoir_Papineau

We walked around the grounds of the Papineau.

Grampy Update:

Julie got a lot accomplished during her time with Grampy/Raymond. Not by her doing; but, the SSM patient portal took forever to be set up. Grampy/ Raymond was released on Thursday (6/29) with a low key care plan (Saturday, after his release, finally got access to the patient portal).

With all the confusion with SSM, Julie decided to get his Mercy doctors involved. Grampy saw his Mercy cardiologist and family doctor this week (7/6 & 7/7). He will have his 2nd stint put in on Tuesday(7/11) as out patient and while Julie is here. As of now, no big restrictions; other than no driving until he gets his strength back. Please keep Grampy/Raymond, Julie and our family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you again for everyone pitching in and helping out!