Thursday, July 7, 2016

Hi all,
Snow Goose is back on the Loop June 2016, but our blog has moved to https://travelswithsnowgoose.wordpress.com/. We hope you will check us out there.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

#16 The Rideau Canal, 1000 Islands and going home August 26 - September 11, 2015



Ottowa's Rideau Canal in winter, a skaters paradise. We were tied at the last streetlight on the right this summer
After five peaceful days on the Ottawa wall, in the quiet center of downtown, we were joined by Maine friends, Ruth and Wick Johnson. Wick and Ruth were fellow travelers on our Croatian adventure and happily signed on with us for the trip through the Rideau Canal to Lake Ontario.
Nightly light show on the Parliament Building, the history of Canada in 30 minutes.

Ruth & Wick preparing to explore the town at Smith Falls
Opened in 1832, the Rideau is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America. It was built to provide an alternative route to the St Lawrence in the event that the obstreperous Americans tried to take over Canada after the war of 1812. The canal is 123 miles long with 49 locks, and goes through 16 lakes and two rivers. It was a major engineering feat, for which the man responsible, Colonel By, got no credit during his lifetime because cost overruns caused him to be recalled to England in disgrace. Now lots of things are named after him. Over 1000 Irish and French Canadian laborers and their families died during the six years of construction, mostly from malaria and other diseases.
Fishing along the canal. You can see the falls the canal avoids in the back
Now the entire waterway is a UNESCO World Heritage site, managed by Parks Canada. Each lock is a miniature park, perfectly tended with flowers and manicured lawn. At every stop we saw people picnicking, fishing, biking or just sitting and watching the boats.
Narrow passage through Clear Lake
Lock keepers house at Old Sly's Lock
Swan from the kayak at Opinicon Lake
In between the locks we went through beautiful lakes and rivers with nary a road in sight. We found local orchards and local art galleries, cute towns and restaurants of uneven quality, including one with a waitress who may have been related to Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi.
Lock at Smiths Falls
pretty tame beaver
We got pretty good at the lock drill, except for the time I temporarily cleated the line that was around the cable used to keep boats fixed to the wall while in the lock- and then forgot about it. This is not a problem while the boat is being lifted to the point where the boat cleat is even with the top of the lock wall, the line slides up the cable as the water rises. But in some locks the water is filled to the top of the wall, which means the cleat on the boat rises above the wall, and if the line is tied down the boat starts to get pulled over. There is the potential for a hole ripped out of the boat...

Lock tender and his dog. Note cables used to keep boats next to wall in lock
Wick noticed the boat was starting to tilt, but at this point the line was too tight to uncleat and we were madly rushing about for a knife to cut the line. The ever-alert Parks Canada lock tenders acted before we did, and let some water out so we could untie the line. I was mortified. I asked the lock tender if this happened often, she smiled kindly, and nodded, “it happens”.

The marina at Westport, on the Upper Rideau Lake. Everywhere is getting quiet at the end of the season

Davis Lock, isolated at the end of a country road but a favorite of campers, bikers and boaters


While walking to an art gallery
Locks 47, 48 and 49, at Kingston Mills, the last set before Lake Ontario
Ruth is pressed into service to get Joel a bit more presentable for the City of Kingston
Approaching Kingston we just missed the bridge opening, and it would be a two hour wait for the next one. So we decided to squeeze under the other bridge, purportedly a 17 footer (no one in official capacity will tell you the clearance, for liability reasons I suppose). We could tell we weren’t going to make it on the first try by taking down the usual antennas, so we backed up and unscrewed more stuff from the top, and ever so slowly inched our way under, with maybe three inches to spare.
Our unscrewed antennas and plenty of scratches on the underside of the bridge
Kingston is a nice city, with lots of good restaurants and shops.
Some excellent eating in Kingston
Ruth and Wick took a rental car back to Ottawa and Joel and I headed east to Gananoque Ontario, “Gateway to the 1000 Islands” where we awaited our angel friends from Hallowell, Cathy Murray and Mike Waters. They are angels because they offered to drive our car, along with their own, from Hallowell to Ontario which is easily a 10 hour drive.
The Murray cottage on  Charleston Lake
Cathie's family has a cottage at Charleston Lake, which is a short drive from Gananoque and we had a chance to visit with some of the mighty Murray clan and enjoy lunch and the beautiful lake shore spot.

We left Gananoque, a very cool town, to explore some of the Admiralty Islands for the two nights we had Cathie and Mike with us. It was beautiful weather, and Labor Day weekend, so there were tons of boats out. The first night we anchored at Beau Rivarge Island, a Park Island, where camping is permitted. It was being well used.
On Beau Rivarge Island with Cathie & Mike
Exploring Beau Rivarge
 The second night we went to a larger island known as Thwartway, or Leek Island. We were able to use a park mooring- no charge since we had our annual mooring pass, and shared the harbor with just  a few other boats. Lots of swimming kayaking and exploring. There aren’t really trails the island, but the woods have a clear understory which made bushwacking pretty easy.
Thwartway Island was used as a place of psychic recovery for WWII veterans, we found remainders of the farm & buildings
Family obligations called the Murray Waters so we said farewell and set off in search of a winter boatyard for Snow Goose. We tried Alexandria Bay, NY where we went through customs using a phone booth at the town dock, but didn’t see what we needed.
On our way down river to Alex Bay
So we turned around and went back up the St Lawrence to Clayton NY and settled in at the French Creek Bay Marina. Its a bit funky, but the people seemed very knowledgeable and competent, and they have been there a long time. Mike still had our car, and he and Cathie’s brother Brendan were kind enough to drive across the bridge to the US and deliver it to us once again.

So, we spent couple of days packing, said our goodbyes to Snow Goose, and had a very beautiful drive back to Maine.
One last sunset for the season

Signing off until next spring,
Sarah & Joel

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Post #15 Oh Canada! Montreal to Ottawa August 16 - August 26



Montreal from bike path
Joel has quite a few family members in Montreal so we didn’t want to miss a chance to see them. The extra special treat was the opportunity to see the family matriarch, Lanscu.
Lanscu, Joel, Sarah & Sinai (age 94), who is living in his own apartment with a wonderful Nepalese man as his care taker

Lanscu lived in Montreal for many many years, but a few years ago she moved to back to Israel to join a long lost love. That story is is another tale, a great love story worthy of novel. But for us, we were just glad she was visiting Montreal while we were coming through. We didn’t see the whole mishpocha but it was great seeing those we did.
Joey, Irving (94), Bobika, Joel, Lanscu, Stanley & Anna. Steve was there too, I missed him somehow.
Sarinka, with Joel's hat, at the Cavendish Mall  (social center for numerous elderly ladies) . She has a very lovely Phillipina  taking good care of her
Brother Nat was waiting for us at the Port Vieux when we returned from dinner in Cote St Luc. We spent the next day wandering Montreal.
Vieux Montreal in the morning with Nat & Joel
We had a great bike trip along the Lachine canal and back along the St. Lawrence shore where we could see the Lachine Rapids, those the canal was built to avoid. Now the canal is strictly for smaller pleasure boats. Parc Canada, again, does a wonderful job making this a very pleasant experience for boaters and bikers alike.
Lachine Canal & bike path
Nat moving the world with a lever. This is lovely sculpture garden at Parc Rene Levesque at the end of the Lachine

We watched surfers in the Lachine rapids, looked dicey to me
Snow Goose is too big for the Lachine, so on leaving Montreal we needed to go where the big shipping boats go, across the river in the canal that makes up the St Lawrence Seaway. There are two locks in this stretch, and pleasure boats are not on their list of priorities (and the lock workers are not nearly as charming). The wait might be as long as three hours to get through. We were lucky and waited only about a half hour, along with a handful of other cruising boats at each lock. Then we were out in the middle of the river, zigzagging across to the north shore and our destination for the day, St Anne de Bellevue.
The wall at St Anne de Bellevue
We docked along the wall which also serves as the town promenade, (included in our seasonal mooring pass) which was lined with open air restaurants, reminiscent of our tie ups in Croatia. Nice town with lots of good places to eat and a grocery store within an easy walk. Again, it was wicked hot, and Nat and I couldn’t help ourselves from taking an outdoor shower off the boat (with bathing suits of course!) We didn’t get too many stares. The town has live free music at one end of the promenade, and there was a nice singer song writer from New Brunswick that we listened to as we ate our pizza at a nearby restaurant.

We had two locks the next day as we started our voyage up the Ottawa River. We were back in the warm and friendly Parcs Canada domain, and these locks have floating docks inside so they are very easy, just tie up and wait. The Carillon Lock was the second, at at 65 feet this is the highest lock in Canada, so very impressive and a major tourist attraction.
Nat, as we go up the Carillion
We stopped at the Golden Anchor Marina in Hawkesburg for the night and ate aboard. A pleasant stop with good showers, working WiFi and a pump out, all the necessities. In the US pump outs are usually free or cheap but in Canada they cost between $15 and $20. Our hypothesis is that Americans need the free incentive to do the right thing, but Canadians would never pump overboard so marinas might as well charge the true cost.
This is just the yacht club at Montebello
We couldn’t pass up Le Chateau Montebello, purportedly the largest log structure in the world and now a fancy Fairmont Hotel and Yacht Club. It was an amazing structure and a great place to bike around, lovely woodland trails and landscaped views, a picturesque woodland chapel and granary.
Part of Montebello structure
We ended up in the town of Montebello, close by, where we had a nice Italian dinner. Nat and I were seduced by the sound of Quebecois music at a nearby pub. Joel headed home, but we stayed until closing. They were fantastic!
Le Diable a 5, Fabulous!
Not a word of English anywhere, but the music was all that was needed. The band members were mostly related each other, including a set of twins, and occasionally members of the older generation in the audience joined in on stage. No CD’s  to be had and I can't find them on social media under this name. They go under another name on Facebook but I lost it, darn it. They are very much in the tradition  of Vent du Nord for those that know this music.

We had planned to make it to the bottom the Ottawa Locks the next day, but in the late afternoon the engine started to overheat. We anchored while Joel descended into the engine room to try to find the raw water intake. He did find it, but couldn’t open it sufficiently, so we pulled into the Kitchissipi Marina for the night. Wonderfully kind and helpful people at the marina, and had we needed professional help for the engine they would have found it for us, even on Sunday morning. Fortunately Joel was able to figure out how to open the drain and clean it of gobs of river mud and shells. It just needed its six month cleaning.
View from the top of the Ottawa Locks
It took us an hour and a half to ascend the eight famous Ottawa Locks. Because was a beautiful Sunday this was a major tourist attraction with lots of questions from kids and adults as we slowly rose to the middle of Ottawa. We tied up along the leafy, lovely wall and after a dock side lunch decided to descend the locks by foot, and catch a water taxi across the river to Hull and the Canadian History Museum.

View from the boat wall, downtown Ottawa
 Who should we meet on the way but friends Betsy and Todd Remage-Healy, formerly of Hallowell, now of Peaks Island.
Betsy and Todd- serendipity!
Betsy and Todd gave Nat a ride to Montreal on Monday morning, and Joel and I stayed on the wall in this most beautiful city.

We had docktails with Leslie and Flint who completed the loop several years ago with a 41’ trawler. These days they live on a 26’ C-Dory, and when its not in the water its behind their truck on a trailer. They go all over the country visiting family and friends. Last summer they did the western National Parks, staying in the boat, at campgrounds, and plopping the boat into water when available - i.e Lake Powell. When they travel they always have network of fellow square dancers to connect with. Leslie has had 2 knee replacements, but she is still dancing at age 70. They spend 6 winter months in Marathon FL, on the boat.
This sculpture is next to the canal, close to the boat. good company
Last 4th of July (this was the week we were back in Maine) we had dinner at Nat & Julie’s and other friends and we spent some time going around the table sharing what the Declaration of Independence meant to us. This was a thoughtful and meaningful exchange. At some point, before we got too serious, Nat made the observation that perhaps it wouldn’t so bad if we had lost to the English, Canada being exhibit A. I must say, there is something to that. This is a very lovely country.

The National Gallery, great exhibits and this is downtown Ottaw

August 26 is our anniversary. We have been married 36 years, and lived together for seven before that. Its been good, and we have so much to be grateful for.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Lake Champlain continued, and on to Montreal July 31 - August 16


Our daughter Hannah joined us in Burlington on the last day of July, fresh from the Newport Folk Festival, spending some time at a friends camp, and a doing some paying work organizing a panel of entrepreneurs in Boston.
Dad & daughter at Revolution. Great vegan food
Joel, the Buddha and Bernie have a moment of meditation while waiting at Revolution
The next day her canoeing companions showed up and we had a chance to vicariously participate in their adventure down the Missisquoi River.
The Missisquoi River
 We signed up for delivery and pick up which allowed us to see some of interior Vermont by car.


Quebec Vermont border at East Richford
Supplies for the week
They put in at East Richford, which is right on the border with Quebec. We watched a serious cyclist try to make Canadian customs by racing past the US customs station and over the bridge, but the sirens went on and the bull horn came out to let him know the Canadian side was closed and that he would have to go six more miles to another crossing- he was not happy, having been 120 miles that day already. The customs house was lovely, it used to be a bustling crossing until the interstates came, now the grass is coming up in the road crack. Between canoes and canoeists getting dropped off, and the flying cyclist, it was probably a pretty exciting day for them

The trippers launched at about 4:45 pm, a bit later than they had planned, but they had great weather and not too far to go for the first day.
Nat petitions the River Gods, while Hannah enumerates the hazards to come
Amazing light on our dock at Lands Landing
Zach's. We couldn't get in for dinner, he only seats14, but we had a nice lunch
Back on the boat we headed back to Valcour Island, and then to Ladd’s Landing Marina for a couple of nights. It is right between North and South Hero Islands. and this is great biking territory, quiet rides, mostly flat, great pastoral vistas and lake views, It is also a very sweet friendly marina. and a delightful stop at a rural cafe with an energetic solo chef.

Six days later we reunited with the minivan and set off to the mouth of the Missisquoi at Lake Champlain to pick up tired but happy campers, who had a great time and against all odds, missed getting rained on the whole time.
Nate, Thalassa, Hannah and Nat who against all odds, missed rain all week
We all had drinks aboard and dinner at the Farm House. This is a terrific bunch. Nate is an animator who lives and works in Portland, part of the up and coming creative economy of Maine.  Thalassa  has spent the last three summers documenting the life of one of the last grave diggers in Maine, which has allowed her to stay with his family and to dig graves with him. This will eventually be part of her MFA from RISD. Nat is working for Hilary Clinton ’s campaign at a national level. He does a lot of integration work among the different divisions of the campaign, including recruiting talent across the board. I feel quite cheered after listening to the insider perspective. Hannah is learning la lot about business in the age of the social  entrepreneurs and enjoying her work as the program manager for Mergelane, an accelerator program for women owed businesses.

Alas our plans to travel to Montreal with Hannah were thwarted as her “expedited” passport never arrived.
Biking the Causeway at Mallets Bay

Got lost walking at Shelburne Farms, but we didn't mind a bit
We also did swings and yoga in Rouses Point
Hannah's sunset kayak cruise
But we enjoyed ourselves in Rouses Point, where we played, Mallets Bay, where we had a great bike ride, and Shelburne Farms with a beautiful walk and tasty lunch. We also met John and Cathy on Serenity who had just completed The Loop and where enjoying the summer at their home port in the Champlain Marina.

When Hannah left so did we, north once more up the Richleau River and the Chambry Canal into the St Lawrence River. The canal is delightful, and very well tended by the friendly and charming staff of Parc Canada, which is exceedingly well run and adequately funded.
Town along the Chambly
Chambly Canal
Hand cranking the lock gates
We had the mooring wall pretty much to ourselves in the sweet town of Chambly. Our seasonal lock and mooring pass covers these tie ups


The last 3 locks of the Chambly pour one into another, three steps into the lake


Mt St Hilaire from the Richleau River
I confess to having been a bit apprehensive of The St Lawrence River, visions of dodging huge container ships in a raging current, and right at the end of the Richleau that looks to be the case.
Looming container ship on the St Lawrence

But on our day of  travel, Sunday, it was lovely, with very few big ships, and tons of speed boats, jet skis, kayaks and tubers. The scenery was pastoral for the most part, much of it undeveloped. The current was another matter, as we knew it would be. We had cruised down the Richleau at 8.5 knots, but we started up the St Lawrence at 7 kts, and it diminished all day, to a low of 1.5 kts as we entered Montreal, with much turbulence and eddies. Fortunately this was for a short stretch and was expected. Once in the marina, right in the middle of Vieux Port, all was calm.
We had plenty of time to watch the rides on Ile de Sainte Helene as we were only going 2 kts
Next up, Visiting with Joel’s Montreal family and welcoming brother Nat aboard.
Cheers and fond regards to all
Sarah & Joel