July 15, Day 32 - St. Ours to Montreal

We departed St. Ours at 8:00 a.m. We knew we had a long day ahead of us. As we left, there was some sun, but it was pretty chilly. We had the enclosure totally closed up … even the front panel. Linda had on a sweatshirt and a jacket. Just didn’t seem like the middle of July. We finished the Richelieu River and entered the St. Lawrence at Sorel. The landscape changed dramatically from scenic and rural to very industrial. We were also fighting a bit of a current in the St. Lawrence (but not as much as would come later). There was very little boat traffic, either commercial ships or pleasure boaters. As the day wore on, it did get a bit warmer, and we soon opened up the front window and Linda took off her winter jacket. The scenery also changed to more homes and less industry and, as the weather warmed, there were a lot more pleasure craft out and about.

As we neared Montreal, the current really got strong, probably about 6 knots. We were struggling to make way in the right direction. As we entered the harbor we were only doing about 2 knots. Fortunately, that only lasted for a couple of miles until we reached the protected basin at Quai King-Edward.

We called the downtown Montreal marina (Port D’escale du Vieux Port de Montreal) for our slip assignment. As we came to the dock, Anne and Ralph were there to help us with our lines. It’s nice to have good boat help. Not only that, they invited us to a “typical French dinner” on their boat that night.

After getting settled in we wandered over to their boat and they treated us to pate’, cheese, fruit, French bread and wine. A wonderful dinner. There were French pastries for dessert. Yum, yum.

The Old Port where the marina is located is in a very vibrant area and there was a lot going on. There was some kind of street festival with lots of different entertainment venues. One of them was a couple on a sailboat that performed acrobatics while hanging from the halyards of their boat. Very entertaining.

Shortly after this, we called it a night. It had been a very long day but, for the most part, very enjoyable.

Entering the St. Lawrence Seaway

Lots of industry everywhere

Hydro-electric power plant

Look ---- we have blue sky. It didn't rain today!!!

Strange looking seacraft. We decided it was mapping the bottom of the sea.

One of the few ships we saw today. Not much traffic

and .. another church. As you can tell by now, this area is full of churches.

A windmill spotted on the riverbank

Approaching Montreal

Amusement park at the entrance to Vieux Port

Crossing under the bridge. The current was very strong

Clock tower on the left. This was our landmark for getting to the marina

View from the clock tower (this video actually taken the following day)