Canadian Locks

Sunday June 25th – Tuesday 27th. We left the marina in Ile aux Noix early in order to get a spot ‘on the wall’ in Chambly, on the canal. We had been through the NY locks two summers ago so we are not complete newbies at locking, but the Canadian system is different. We must shut off the boat, use their lines rather than ours and two people are required to man the lines so the Captain has to leave the bridge.

If you recall, we were in the Richelieu River when we entered Canada. At that point it was nice and deep. In this area it is shallow and hence the Chambly Canal system was built (1843), allowing us to bypass the shallow part of the river (about 12.5 miles) and then join back to the Richelieu when it deepens again. While the water is deep, it is quite narrow and the Captain needs to keep his head in the game. We were lucky not to have anyone pass us in the opposite direction. The smoke from the northern wildfires was noticeable on our travel day but then it cleared up.

We got a very nice spot on the wall in Chambly with three other Loopers and enjoyed docktails to kick off our stay here.

The town is extremely cute, everything in close walking distance and there is a very long greenway where we road our bikes two days. We have had some rain everyday but apparently not like there has been at home. On to the Chambly Basin tomorrow…