Link to today’s route: https://share.nehttps://share.nebo.global/voyage/da56bf4d-c708-403a-89a2-3b675a7f2456bo.global/voyage/da56bf4d-c708-403a-89a2-3b675a7f2456
A Parks Canada staffer came just before 9:00 AM to tell us what to expect for the flight of eight locks we were about to ascend on the Chambly Canal. They threw us lines at the bow and stern and we cleated them to the boat. We were the only boat moving up which was just as well since there wouldn’t have been room for more than a small bow rider with us.
A group of day care kids watched us lock through and Peter tooted the horn for them as we left. One little boy called out, “Bon voyage en bateau!”. The cutest.
Just as we were finishing rising in lock #8, we were told a 20′ wide catamaran was approaching so we waited in the lock for them to pull over as there wasn’t room in the canal for us to pass.
Since the first eight locks were a flight very close together, we saw some of the same staff as we ascended. They went ahead of the boat in golf carts or cars.
There was a stretch of about an hour after the flight of eight and the ninth and last lock on the Chambly Canal.
We didn’t stop after the Chambly Canal in Saint-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu which we enjoyed five years ago because we had a maintenance issue we needed to have addressed, so we passed it up in order to get as many miles in as possible. Our first stop back in the U.S. was Rouses Point NY. Peter had all our information already entered into the U.S. Customs app, so we were expecting just to indicate in the app that we had arrived and wait to be approved before disembarking. However, the U.S. Coast Guard had other plans for us. Their boat with four agents pulled a long side of us and sounded their siren just after we crossed the border, even after we had already acknowledged and greeted each other. They asked us if we had checked in on the app. When we said we had planned to do it as soon as we arrived at Rouses Point, they told us to pull over at the customs dock instead. Another three agents helped us dock, and we waited for the four on the boat. So in total there were seven agents standing on the dock; we had to assume at least a few of them were trainees. Three of them boarded the boat in their big, black combat boots and walked through to the v berth (it’s boat etiquette to remove your shoes when you board someone else’s boat, but I guess that doesn’t apply to the Coast Guard). I had some chicken defrosting on the galley counter which, since we had bought it in Canada they had to confiscate. Having discovered the chicken, they proceeded to inspect the fridge/freezers upstairs and down where they also confiscated my flavor bomb cherry tomatoes. Peter knew how upsetting that would be to me, but what could we do? It all seemed so wasteful, useless, and ironic considering that the Canadians actually have a system to inspect their poultry and produce and the U.S. has just started recovering from the cyclospora outbreak, etc. All and all they were courteous and professional, and a couple of them were even receptive to Peter’s jokes about how he better not see them popping the cherry tomatoes in their mouths instead of dumping them, but it still felt very invasive. As we pulled off the dock I called out for them to enjoy our dinner.
Leave a comment