Link to today’s route: https://share.nebo.global/voyage/5eebfef3-467e-45fb-b522-a295e98ba0fc
Montreal and Saint Joseph’s Basilica on Mount Royal came into view pretty quickly after we left Sainte Anne.
We left the Ottawa River and joined the Saint Lawrence River along a major shipping channel. We had to have reservations for the two locks today unlike any other locks we’ve been on so far. Cargo ships take precedent though, so the reservation time is not always honored. We took Frank’s advice and planned to arrive well before our reservation, figuring it was better to wait at the lock wall we were going through rather than the one we were leaving.
Our reservation was for 4:00 PM but we were told to be prepared to move into the lock at 3:00 PM. We were in a holding pattern with about a dozen other boats for about 40 minutes before we started entering the lock at 3:40 PM. We rafted on the outside of two other boats. The boats in front of us were rafted four abreast.
Then we all traveled together to St Lambert Lock, arriving at the same time, but ended up in the same holding pattern for an hour and fifteen minutes while we waited for a cargo ship to lock through in the other direction.
The delay at the second lock meant it was dark by the time we had to make a U turn on the Saint Lawrence River and fight a swirly six knot current to the marina in Montreal. Peter had the engine at full throttle but we were only traveling at three miles an hour. I’m not gonna lie – we were both scared. Peter was struggling to keep the boat in the channel in such strong current, wind, and swirl. Looking back, we realize we were never in any danger, almost all the other boats we locked through with were making the same run and all of the reds and greens were lit up and flashing. The city lights helped our navigation too, but being in unfamiliar territory in the dark in those conditions was more than a little unnerving.
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