Day 79: St. Ours Canal to Longueuil, Quebec
Day 79: Sunday, July 3rd: We were going to make most of the distance we needed to do in the St. Lawrence River today. We had heard so many horror stories about the swift currents, heavy freighter traffic, rapids, etc. that we decided to get an early start.
We had about a 12-mile leg remaining in the Richelieu River down to the small industrial town of Sorel. The first church we passed on the way to Sorel was more ornate than many. In the poor morning light, this picture was the best we could get:
The church at Sorel was in later sun:
Another church was peeping through the trees. At this point In Sorel, Quebec, we were at the easternmost point on our Great Loop trip. Longitude was W073 06.960:
At the mouth of the Richelieu was this huge plant of some sort. Whatever they do, they were busy at it at this early hour on Sunday morning:
We turned into the St. Lawrence and were greeted by calm water, more industry and a shift from loafing at 9 knots down the Richelieu to struggling to get 4.7 to 6 knots up the St. Lawrence. A short way upriver we saw this giant building. We guessed it was another incinerator like we saw on the Hudson River. Who knows?
A couple miles upstream, we met this very large catamaran. It was about 130 feet long and was running about 50 knots. The wording on the sides indicated it was some sort of cruise line boat. Very pretty boat but it threw out one of the biggest wakes we have experienced!
Then came a variety of big ships. Note how calm the river is - it was a very nice day! Ships and ships:
After this series of ships, we saw very few.
Then, yes, we spotted another silver roof of yet another church. We wondered what they made the roofs and steeples out of that shone like they did:
As we grew closer to Montreal, Quebec, we noticed three things - the shoreline became industrial, the pleasure boats began to swarm by the hundreds, and the wakes built up a serious chop in the (rather large) river. However we were having a good time, and we didn't really care!
This is one of several cargo ship loading facilities near Montreal:
.. and the skyline of Montreal in the distance. We were traveling roughly south, and the sun was not in a good position for photos, sadly:
Although we bought a complete set of navigation charts and cruise guides for the Great Loop from a prior "Looper", our set did not include the trip up through Montreal, Ottawa and the Rideau Canal. We discovered this in the Richelieu Canal. Our target stop for the night was a marina we were told sold all the charts we would need. It was called the "Porte de Plaisance de Longueuil". You should have heard Bill mutilating the French pronunciation of THAT phrase on the radio as he called them!
It turned out to be a very large marina with friendly staff and a berth for us for the night. We were also able to pump out our holding tank (using our new adapter). The marina office was very impressive and also housed a popular restaurant. And, yes, the office had all the charts we needed; THAT was a load off!
The local village of Longueuil (pronounced, roughly, "Lon-GAY") was a total delight! They had a lovely church:
.. and the central park in town with a monument to Longueuil, the daughter (niece?) of a city leader during the 1800s who lead the defense of the village against the British in the war of something-or-other. The name of the town was change to honor this teenager
We ate supper at a recommended Italian restaurant called Pinocchio's and had genuine Italian pasta like Bill experienced in Italy in the 60s. Really great! The whole town was reminiscent of a quaint small European town. Lovely!
On the way back to the boat, Ruth took some twilight pictures. The marina office from a different angle:
..a silhouette of the Montreal Olympic Stadium:
.. and the marina with the hundreds of boats. That's the St. Lawrence River beyond the trees on the jetty:
We were happy the day had gone so well. We had good weather, good cruising, success with the charts, a delightful dinner and much more! It would be a good sleep tonight!
Position tonight: N45 32.423 W073 30.976
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