Gerry took one of the bikes off and rode the eight miles into the Champlain Custom’s office to pick up his NEXUS card. This was an interesting exercise. The process is nearly identical to the TWIC program (security check, photo, fingerprints, interview), but the two agencies share none of this information.
He didn’t really need the NEXUS, but back in January, he thought he did and paid the $50.00 to start the process. When accepted into the program, he found out that he had to go to a border crossing to actually complete the processing. That is why he made the appointment at Champlain, NY and why we needed to be at Rouses Point on Monday. Still don’t have the card, which will be mailed sometime within the next 4 weeks. Oh well, got to try out the Harley (folding bike with a little motor) and it made us get all of our documentation together to cross into Canada.
We finally left Lake Champlain (Rouses Point) about 12:30 and headed into Canada. Just as we crossed the border, it started to rain. We pulled up to the Canadian Customs dock during the heavy rain and got tied up with the help of the officer. Gerry was rushing to get the stern line to him and slipped on the wet deck. Tore up his right shoulder when he fell. That prompted sympathy from the customs officer – for a minute or so – and the “I just knew he would do this sooner or later on this trip!” look from Linda.
We gave him the liquor inventory and he asked about weapons. Gerry told him we had a BB gun on board. Whoa – we have to check that out. He had to call HQ to get a reading on the BB gun. Finally got approval to move on. No tax on the liquor – every bottle was open except one bottle of wine. No problem there.
We didn’t have the charts for the rest of the trip up the Richelieu, so just stayed in the middle of the river and went for it. Linda drove most of the way while Gerry iced down his shoulder. We considered calling Jimmy to come get the boat (he is used to this when it comes to Gerry’s accidents), but got past that after the initial dose of advil started to kick in.
We had a few anxious moments when the depth sounder said zero, but it was because of all the grass in the river. It is really thick. Lots of fish down there and very clear water. We pulled in to St. Jean about 3:45 and Gerry had a glass of wine to go with his advil and ice to reduce the swelling in his shoulder. Seemed to work and we headed for the local pizza joint for a quick and cheap dinner.
After dinner, walked down to the lock and chatted with the lock mistresses. Very friendly folks who gave us the timetable for the morning and some great literature on the Canadian lock systems.
We hope to make it to St. Ours tomorrow and then on to Montreal. It was kind of a hectic day so off to bed early.
Management at Lighthouse Marina seem to have a sense of humor when it comes to their pumpout station
Gazebo at the end of the pier at Lighthouse Marina
The marina was full of sailboats --- most of them Beneteaus
Rouses Point Bridge ... the end of Lake Champlain
Fort Washington (aka Fort Blunder)
Signage at the border going into Canada
The Customs House
Arriving at St. Jean
Cool street lights
Art work in the little park by the public docks
Typical street in St. Jean
Church across the river (with a hint of a rainbow)
Lockhouse at Lock 9 (we will be going through this tomorrow morning)
Mainship coming through lock
Monks Vineyard on the wall at Bridge 12
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