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Underway at 8:30 for the trip around the rapids in St Lawrence Seaway towards Montreal.  The first lock, St Catherine was a quick trip, but the second, St Lambert was a slow process.  We waited 1.5 hours to get through.  Finally done, we arrived at Port D'escale du Vieux Marina in old town Montreal at 3 pm.  It had been 6 hours, but only 30 miles.  The harbor in old town is like most other harbors.  We're looking forward to touring the town, we've heard it's amazing, tomorrow. 

Bill "fixed" dinner last night as he took us out to a great local restaurant.  This morning I fixed breakfast to start our day.  Carey did laundry.  Then all three of us headed for a walking tour of Montreal.  An absolutely beautiful city, from the restaurants to the Basilica of Notre Dame and the statue of Paul de Chomedey, the founder of Montreal.  We're off for a pizza then will return to the boat and get ready to start our trip down the St Lawrence to Sorel and the Richelieu Waterway. 

Underway at 10 am in a light rain we made the 44 mile trip to Bellerive Marina, 8 miles down the Richelieu Waterway.  The trip down the St Lawrence was a river trip, cool in the clouds and rain.  It was pleasant but not particularly pretty.  Some views are below.  We turned into the Richelieu at Sorel, a manufacturing city.  Carey was driving and watching the waterway carefully.  The marina we stopped at is a trailer park and marina; very quiet, clean and pleasant.  Carey fixed a great meat loaf dinner and we're now buttoned up inside the boat as a thunderstorm passes over us. 

Easy underway at 10:30 am for a 30 mile trip down the Richelieu to Chambly.  We left the St Lawrence yesterday and traveled the Richelieu River.  Tomorrow we start the Chambly canal to reach Lake Champlain.  We'll travel to the bottom of the lake, then travel the Champlain canal to the Hudson River.  Should be a great trip.  It has been cloudy and cool but we are now expecting more sun and higher temperatures.   The views on the river were great.  Sophie just relaxed as Carey had given her a bath before getting underway.  I enjoyed coffee as we traveled the waterway.  Every town we've passed in Quebec has a Catholic Church with its tall steeples, but the ones we saw today were the most spectacular.  Ending the day, we traveled the first 3 locks of the Chambly system.  They were very small locks and we only had about 4 feet clearance as we passed into the chamber. .   

We're back in the US, moored at Gaines Marina, Rouses Point NY, after checking in with US customs.  This morning we toured Fort Chambly, walked the pretty streets of Chambly, and had a great breakfast.  Finally underway at noon we traveled the last 6 locks of the Chambly canal and then joined the Richelieu River for the last miles to the US border.  A trip in a cloudy and rainy day.  The Chambly canal is about 50 feet wide, has very small locks, and has some tight passages thru the bridges.  We finished the trip at 6 pm.  After cocktails we went into town and found a cafe that served food and a bar that served drinks.  We got take out from the cafe and ate it at the bar with a drink.  A great evening.  Tomorrow we're starting our exploration of Lake Champlain.

Bill and I took a walk through Rouse's Point this morning.  Although the town appears to be having some problems staying viable there were some beautiful old homes along the waterfront.  We fueled here.  This was first refueling stop since leaving the states from Alexander Bay.  Luckily we did not have to buy fuel in Canada as it is about 60 cents higher than the states. After refueling we got underway we made the easy 21 mile trip to Burton Island State Park, docking just before a heavy rain cooled the afternoon.   Later, it cleared and Carey fixed a great lamb dinner.  The park is filled with French Canadians on their summer holidays.  Bon fires and fireworks were the evening entertainment from the group.  Very relaxing.

After a good breakfast at the campground "kitchen" Carey got us underway in a very tight harbor for our 26 mile trip to Burlington.  Lake Champlain was flat as we started and it was an easy trip through the "gut," a small passage that took us into the western part of the lake for our trip to Burlington and the Boat House marina.  The USCG issued a thunderstorm warning about 1 pm so we moved the throttles up on the boat and arrived in Burlington just after 2pm.  We tied up and relaxed.  Tonight the three of us are going to dinner to celebrate Carey's and my second anniversary.  Good day, and from the forecast it appears we'll lay over here until the predicted storm passes. .  

Still here as weather was predicted to be bad.  It wasn't ... just cloudy and rainy ... but we had a good lay day.  Last night we had a pleasant surprise when we went out for Carey and my 2nd Anniversary dinner.  Barny and Ginger had called Bill and arranged to have a bottle of wine purchased for us.  As Barny was arranging this event, I inadvertently answered Bill's cell phone and Barny cleverly declined to tell me who was calling.  I did not recognize his voice.  We thank Barny and Ginger for the wine.  It was great, as was the lobster and crab legs.  This morning we ate breakfast at a local diner called Henry's, toured the down town area, and did some shopping at Wal Mart.  Always one of those around.  I did a little calculating and felt good that we made 1.5 nautical miles per gallon while in Canada and did not have to pay their high prices for fuel.  So far the highest price we've paid for fuel is $5.85/gallon ... still high but not the $6+/gallon we've expected.  Late in the day we watched several long canoe boats being propelled by 16 people with paddles, working to the sound of a deep base drummer in the bow and a lone oarsman standing aft.  Don't know what the boat is called, but fun to watch. 

Easy underway for a 21 mile trip to Westport on the western shore (New York) of Lake Champlain.  Learned a lesson today as we left Burlington; stopping for pump out found diesel at $5.10 per gallon after paying $5.85 yesterday in New York.  Of course we filled up but only needed 40 gallons ... wished I'd realized Vermont has lower taxes than New York the day before when I put 267 gallons of diesel in the boat in a New York marina..  The views along the shoreline of the Lake here are beautiful.  The town of Westport is small, clean and neat.  We're enjoying it and will finish our trip of the Lake tomorrow and start a couple day trip through the Champlain Canal down to the Hudson River,

Birthplace of the Navy, Whitehall, is our stop today after traveling 39 miles from Westport.  We traveled the lower portion of Lake Champlain, which is more like a river than a lake.  Bill drove most of the morning than took a short nap before we did the first lock in the Champlain Canal.  The canal connects Lake Champlain with the Hudson River and is 60 miles long.  Some of the bridges provide  clearances of just 17 feet; we met one with 17.5' today and got through without scratching the radar dome. 

Last night on a walk after we tied up, Bill found a fish fry at the American Legion, which we enjoyed.  We then stopped at the town park for a music concert that was part of the summer schedule here.  This morning we were off for a walk around town and breakfast at a local's diner.  Great breakfast for just a few bucks.  Carey and Bill also found an attic store to browse.  We then toured the local museum that touted the town as the birthplace of the US Navy.  It all happened in 1775 when Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold used 12 ships, built or refurbished in this town to attack the British Fleet coming down Lake Champlain. Finally underway at 1130 we headed down the Champlain Canal, a 60 mile stretch of canal and river with 11 locks that will take us to the Hudson River at Waterford NY.  We did 20 miles today and stopped at Ft Edwards at a free town dock.  The canal is functional but not particularly pretty.  We're enjoying a quiet evening on the boat. 

Still here.  We did not think we'd find room at Waterford on Sunday and Ft Edwards was a nice stop.  We stayed.  Bill did a lot of walking around town and took a short nap.  I worked on some end of month finances, while Carey completed a few chores.  We found time for a good breakfast and fairly good chicken dinner at a local restaurant.  A relaxing day.  The town is a little tired with most of the homes needing some tender loving care.  However, the people are great and friendly.  We're enjoying our stay.  

Up early today to ensure we have an opportunity to get a berth at Waterford.  By 7:30 we were through the first of 6 locks for the day.  32 miles and 6 locks later we arrived at Waterford and got a berth, just before the rain arrived.  During the transit we waited for a lock or two at the lock wall and passed under the lowest bridge of the canal, just 5 inches above the radar.  Most of the locks are located near dams and some have power generation plants.  It is amazing how much water flows through this area and the use they make of the water flow. 

We're back at Waterford, and now headed for Colonial Beach, VA.  We've traveled 1300 miles so far and have gone through 98 locks.  The last lock of this trip will be tomorrow morning.  We've been traveling for 70 days so that's just over 18 miles per day, an easy trip. 

We're in Catskill after a 35 NM trip from Waterford.  We went to Don and Paul's for a great breakfast, then got underway.  The trip did not start great.  Backing out of the pier at Waterford I came closer than I wanted to the boat behind, due a very strong current.  Luckily we missed the boat.  Then we came up to the first bridge.  Bill and I had put up the dinghy davit and wifi antenna last night as I read the bridge heights for the rest of trip were at least 27 feet.  The first bridge we approached was 22 ... ouch ... one foot short of the wifi antenna.  As I backed and filled, Bill had to take down the wifi antenna.  Luckily the davit was just 20 feet.  We then went through the last lock of the trip, number 99.  Bill play acted a strained pull against the rope, when actually it was a quiet lock through.  Finally, a half hour later, while relaxing with a cup of coffee, the Albany NY sheriff's boat pulled up and said "halt." They had US Customs on board and said they wanted to inspect the boat.  It turned out to be an exercise where they were stopping all boats on the water for the day.  We went through a customs/border patrol documentation inspection for 30 minutes as we drifted down the Hudson.  We passed and were finally underway for Catskill near 11am; an hour and 1/2 after getting started.  The rest of the trip was uneventful.  Carey did laundry after we arrived at Catskill and Bill and I toured the town to find a liquor store ... we were out of wine.  We found the wine shop as well as enjoying the cat sculptures mounted on the streets around the town, most of them next to the town hall.  A great day that ended with steaks and baked potatoes cooked on the grill.   

Easy 36 miles down the Hudson to Marlboro Yacht Club where we moored and visited with friends Gary and Jen, Sue and Rich, and Darren.  We'd stopped here on the way to Ottawa and enjoyed a return visit tonight.  It's now 10 pm and time to go to bed.  Bill will sleep well as he pruned the tomato plant today as well as drove most of the way down the Hudson.  Hopefully we'll have ripe tomatoes before we get home.  The tomatoes on the plant are growing quickly.

No pictures as it was a hot and hazy day.  Beautiful trip down the Hudson past West Point and beautiful mountains.  We dropped the anchor in Haverstraw Bay about 1 pm and relaxed after putting the dinghy in the water.  We're relaxing on board after the 27 mile trip and planning our trip into a marina in Brooklyn near Coney Island tomorrow. 

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