Today was a maintenance day. I changed the oil and filters while Sue did laundry. We also filled up with diesel. 174 liters. Not sure what that is in English. The translator is still on the fritz and keeps telling me it’s 174 liters. Come on Microsoft, you can do better.

While working, I was watching boat after boat being hauled out. The boating season is over in Rimouski and more boats are on the hard than in the water.

Today felt like a nice October day in Chicago. The sun is bright, but low. The air is cool and dry, but you fell warm in the sun. Panic was setting in and I had to keep reminding myself it’s still August.

Today’s Wednesday, and I’m starting to think it universal: Wednesday night is international sail boat race night. And, Rimouski is no exception. Of the sail boats still in the water, most were out racing tonight. Sue and I marveled at how many coats the crew were bringing with them. I doubt Shackleton brought as much cold weather gear to explore the Antarctic, which has me worried. I packed for Florida, not Siberia.

While Sue was doing laundry a local was talking to her. He wanted to know where she was from and where we’re heading. He chuckled and told her last year someone from Chicago came through town on his way to Florida. He was back in town a few days later. He gave up, turned around, and had his boat hauled out. He had it put on a trailer to be shipped. Seems it was too cold and rough. Now, that was in September, but he kept telling Sue it’s cold, have lots of clothes.

He also told Sue the Madeleine Islands were paradise and we should stop. But, he said there is no English. I was planning on stopping on our way to the north coast of Nova Scotia and into the Brad d’Or Lake, but we decided to take a pass. It’s cold and we need to make our way south before we end up on the back of a delivery truck. Also, everyone speaking French is okay as long as they can also speak English. Rimouski is teaching me it’s harder when they don’t speak English. Dinner was tough. Using the translator to type in a menu and then pointing at what you want.

We’re leaving tomorrow. The tropical storm that hit Nova Scotia has broken up. Winds will be light the next couple of days but sailable. We’ll be working our way east. If all goes well, our next planned stop will be Summerside, Prince Edward Island. From talking to folks there’s not much English between here and PEI. We’re actually pushing it in Rimouski. At NAPA, I kept trying to get Shell Rotilla oil, 15W40. I finally got it, but it was one of the worst Pictionary games I ever played.

Here are more photos.

Before we left I was investigating different language translators available for the iPhone.

I knew we’d need French and Spanish for our trip.

I decided the Microsoft Translator had the best features and the price was right… Until today.

Both bathroom doors have the same sign posted

The Microsoft Translator has a feature where you use the camera to take a picture and it uses OCR and then translates it. I used this feature on the sign and got the following

I told Sue we’re supposed to leave the doors open. She looked at me funny and told me to look up fermee.

I used the same translator and sure enough, fermee is closed. Hmmm…

I thought the OCR might be off, so I started to type it all into the translator.

“Bien vouloir garder la porte” is keep the door open. Add “fermee” at the end and the translation magically changes to “keep the door closed”. It looks like the OCR missed the key word.

Bottom line is be careful depending on automated translators.

During our last passage from Quebec City to Rimouski, we moved from 78 degree fresh water to 52 degree saltwater. I found out the hard way: We were in an area where the winds were focused by the mountainous landscape, which created larger waves. One of them crashed on the side of the boat and gave me a good splash. It was salty and cold, just what you want at 3AM.

The wildlife also changed. I was surprised by multiple beluga whales swimming past the boat. And, we saw numerous seals frolicking around. Not what you normally see on Lake Michigan.

Sorry, no pictures. It’s not from a lack of effort, they’re really difficult to film.

While in Quebec City, I met a young man who just purchased a sailboat in Toronto. He’s trying to sail his boat back home to Halifax before he has to return to work on the 4th.

I was hoping we could buddy boat all the way to Halifax, but he was on too tight of a schedule and couldn’t be held back by two seniors.

He left a day before us and was planning on stopping in Rimouski only for fuel and then to keep on trucking.

On the sail today, I started checking the weather again. River life had me spoiled, because on the river, you really don’t need to worry about the winds.

We’ll, I noticed a huge named storm about to slam into Nova Scotia. Yikes. Good luck to Danial and his crew on Moonlight Mistress. He seemed be be a very competent young man and I’m sure they’re doing just fine.

Sue and I won’t be leaving Rimouski until Thursday. The forecast is showing tough conditions on Saturday. We’ll probably make a run for it and try to find a hiding stop before the worse comes. If it’s all down wind, we’ll just ride it out. When the wind is behind you, the faster you go, the nicer the conditions are.

I also screwed up when I left Quebec City. I last filled up on Diesel in Alexandria Bay New York. I had enough to make it to Rimouski, under normal conditions, so I didn’t fill up.

That was a big mistake. I should have taken on at least 20 extra liters. At one point, we had a counter current at 3knots. I was worried the entire time about fuel.

Let’s just say it caused a lot of angst, that wasn’t worth the $20 bucks I save. When you have a chance to take on fuel, DO IT. Especially if you are in more remote errors.

Here’s a picture of the Rimouski Marina at dusk.

During our last passage from Quebec City to Rimouski, we moved from 78 degree fresh water to 52 degree saltwater. I found out the hard way: We were in an area where the winds were focused by the mountainous landscape, which created larger waves. One of them crashed on the side of the boat and gave me a good splash. It was salty and cold, just what you want at 3AM.

The wildlife also changed. I was surprised by multiple beluga whales swimming past the boat. And, we saw numerous seals frolicking around. Not what you normally see on Lake Michigan.

Sorry, no pictures. It’s not from a lack of effort, they’re really difficult to film.

While in Quebec City, I met a young man who just purchased a sailboat in Toronto. He’s trying to sail his boat back home to Halifax before he has to return to work on the 4th.

I was hoping we could buddy boat all the way to Halifax, but he was on too tight of a schedule and couldn’t be held back by two seniors.

He left a day before us and was planning on stopping in Rimouski only for fuel and then to keep on trucking.

On the sail today, I started checking the weather again. River life had me spoiled, because on the river, you really don’t need to worry about the winds.

We’ll, I noticed a huge named storm about to slam into Nova Scotia. Yikes. Good luck to Danial and his crew on Moonlight Mistress. He seemed be be a very competent young man and I’m sure they’re doing just fine.

Sue and I won’t be leaving Rimouski until Thursday. The forecast is showing tough conditions on Saturday. We’ll probably make a run for it and try to find a hiding stop before the worse comes. If it’s all down wind, we’ll just ride it out. When the wind is behind you, the faster you go, the nicer the conditions are.

I also screwed up when I left Quebec City. I last filled up on Diesel in Alexandria Bay New York. I had enough to make it to Rimouski, under normal conditions, so I didn’t fill up.

That was a big mistake. I should have taken on at least 20 extra liters. At one point, we had a counter current at 3knots. I was worried the entire time about fuel.

Let’s just say it caused a lot of angst, that wasn’t worth the $20 bucks I save. When you have a chance to take on fuel, DO IT. Especially if you are in more remote errors.

Here’s a picture of the Rimouski Marina at dusk.

We’ve enjoyed our 3 days in Quebec City, but it’s time to move on. Our plan is to leave near high tide and try to catch the favorable currents to the town of Rimouski. It’s going to be an overnight sail.

Some of the highlights were a fireworks show Saturday night.

We got the bikes out and explored some of the trails along the St. Charles River and the St Lawrence River.

We also enjoyed walking (not biking) around the old town. Very steep and narrow cobblestone roads. There are also an abundance of street performers. The ones in the larger squares were excellent.

Here is a picture of the lock between the river and the marina. I’m glad I didn’t have to try and squeeze into that. Today, it’s empty.

I thought I was done with locks until we come home in the Erie Canal. I was wrong.

Quebec City has a 10 foot tide. The marina isn’t deep enough to lose 10 feet and keep the boats afloat. So, they installed a lock to hold the water in during low tide. You have to lock in and out of the marina, except during high tide, when they keep the doors open for about 2 hours.

There was a Holland America cruise ship parked at the entrance to the marina. As I was trying to enter I was fighting a strong current, and the cruise ships gun boat was heading for me. I thought I might be to close and he was coming over to shoo me away. Nope, the cruise ship was pulling out and leaving a mess of a wake. Timing is everything.

Even though I was in a tight channel, I was able to get a fair amount of sailing in today. It was blowing about 25 on the tail. I had just the Yankee out and with the aid of the current I was doing 10 knots.

Later in the afternoon, the winds started to die down. I can’t believe I’m saying this but when my speed dipped under 7 knots, I was ready to fire up the motor.

We’ve had dinner and we’re off to explore Old Quebec.

We left Montreal this morning on our way to Quebec City. Between the freighter traffic, the tight channels, and the current, we thought it best to break the trip up into 2 days.

Montreal is the busiest ports I’ve ever tried to navigate through. I was worried my AIS might crash trying to track so many targets. To make matters worse, all the radio chatter was in French. I hugged the right side of the channel and did the best I could to stay out of the way.

Tonight, we anchored in the town of Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers). We pulled into one of the three rivers to get out of the current. We’re on anchor near a band shell with live music. I also got to watch the dragon boats practice as I was cooking on the grill.

Tomorrow, we’ll get up early and head off to Quebec City. If you don’t arrive at high tide, you have to pass through a lock to enter the marina.

Unfortunately, high tide is at noon tomorrow and I don’t think we’ll be able to make it. The anchorage is tight and I’d prefer not to leave in the dark.

We’ll see how it goes. It’s all part of the adventure.

We’ve been enjoying our stay in Montreal so much that we decided to stay another night.

This morning we walked Steven to the train station. From there, we rode our bikes to the Atwater Market. A large indoor and outdoor food market. Numerous vegetable stands, butchers, bakers, cheese mongers and fish mongers. It’s foodie heaven.

I probably over bought on the sausages and pates, but how could I resist. Forget your typical brat or Italian sausage, I’ve got duck sausages for the grill. I also bought about 6 different pates.

The other thing I really like about the city are the bike lanes. I can beat any car getting around. The bikers also obey the traffic signals. They stop at read lights and slow down at stop signs. There’s so much bike traffic that Sue and I got caught up in a bike traffic jam during the afternoon commute.

Another cool aspect of the city are the number of parks. And, it seems that each park has some form of entertainers. Mostly musicians, but I’ve also seen balloon clowns. I’m still looking for mimes and Jerry Lewis impersonators.

Okay, let’s talk about the pink elephant in the room. French is the primary language. All signs, labels on foods, menus in restaurants, postings at the marina are in French. Everyone you meet will greet you with bonjour, or some derivative.

So what? It’s no big deal. When they say bonjour, I reply with hello and we switch to English. As for menus and signs, I’ve been here 2 days and I’m impressed with the number of nouns I know already. Hey, Once you know canard, do you need to know anything else? To be honest, I struggle with their use of the metric system more. Try ordering at the deli using grams, it’s not easy. If someone tells you it’s 24 out, you’d pack your heavy winter coat, right?

Of all the cities we’ve visited so far on our trip, this is by far my favorite. If you get a chance, make it to Montreal, stay in the old city, and DON’T rent a car. Rent a bike instead. Get a glass of wine, sit back in a park and listen to the music. And yes, the bums constantly hitting you up for money also understand English, Kay?

We finished the two remaining locks and one surprise lift bridge. It’s a train bridge that’s always up, so it gets ignored. When we came upon it, a train was on it.

Initially, I wasn’t planning on staying at the Montreal Yacht Club. The reviews warned about the strong current getting to the club and the tight quarters once you get there. They also said it was a perfect location to see the city. And, the reviews were spot on.

The current was horrible. I left the final lock, turned the corner to head upstream and came to a stop. Then, I looked at shore and saw I was actually heading backwards. I cranked the motor to near maximum and was able to make 1 knot over ground. I noticed the through water speed was 7 knots. That’s a huge 6 knot current. And, I had a mile to go.

Once we got to the club, it was one of the tightest marinas I’ve ever been in. Bow thrusters and nudging forward and back finally got me into the slip. To make matters worse, We had 20 knot winds on the nose.

We docked, showered up, and headed to old Montreal for dinner to celebrate Steven’s birthday.

We found the excellent outdoor restaurant called Jardin Nelson. Great French Canadian food with live jazz. And yes, I had canard confit, one of my favorites.

We both like being in Montreal and have decided to extend our stay here. We’ll see how long…

I was concerned about not speaking French, but it’s not a problem. Look confused and they start speaking perfect English.

Here are some more photos

The bridge and lock schedule worked as planned. We got through the second bridge a little early by riding the coattails of the Federal Yakina, a 650 foot freighter. It just meant we had to wait longer for our locking.

We’re at anchor just outside of the the last 2 locks. If tomorrow’s schedule is the same as today’s, it’s going to take all day to get through them both.

We do have a reservation at the Montreal Yacht Club for two nights. We’re looking forward to unlimited hot water and power.

We’ll be saying goodbye to Steven in Montreal. He’s going to be catching an Amtrak back to Chicago. 24 hours on a train to undo a month of sailing.

We have 4 locks left to exit the Seaway and set our own schedule.

The seaway is designed for commercial traffic and they seem to tolerate pleasure craft. Because of this, we are the lowest priority, and may wait at a lock for hours before they let us through. If you’ve noticed, we’ve only been making 20-30 miles a day, and that’s why.

Tomorrow we’re going to try and make it through 2 lift bridges and 2 locks. We’re anchored off the town of Les Coteaux a couple of miles from the Valleyfield bridge. The bridge opens at 9AM for pleasure craft. I’ll be there.

Next, I have to make it to the St. Louis bridge which opens at 11AM. That shouldn’t be an issue since it’s only 5.3 miles away.

If, I can get through the St. Louis bridge early, by piggybacking of a commercial ship, I might be able to catch the 11AM transit at the Beauharnois locks. There are two of them back to back so no waiting in between. If I don’t catch the 11AM transit, I have to wait until the 3PM transit.

And, I get to do it all over again the next day for the final two locks.

Ouch, I’m getting a headache doing all the permutations.

Our plan is to get a slip for a couple days at the Montreal Yacht Club.

Here are some pictures from today.

Yesterday we made it through 3 of the 7 locks on this part of the seaway. We also left the US for the final time. We won’t be back until we reach Maine.

The river is fast and we’re making good time. To reach the marina we’re staying at I had to go upstream for 3 miles. That’s when you really notice the current. It took almost an hour to make that trip.

Our goal today is to go through Lac Saint-Francois and anchor near the Valleyfield lift bridge. If we catch the 9AM lift, we should be able to do the 2PM Beauharnois locks.

We’re also nearing Quebec and we’re hearing more French. I have high hopes we’ll be able to get by on the Microsoft Translator app installed on our iPhones. I’ll let you know how that works out. Any French speakers want to go on an trip from Montreal to Halifax?

I loved the 1000 island area of the St. Lawrence River. I’d highly recommend it as a vacation destination, weather it be by boat, car, or plane.

We haven’t been in a cruising area since the North Channel, and I think we all missed it. The last time we anchored was on Club Island in Georgian Bay. In Erie, we had 2 stops: the Put-in-Bay freak show, and Cleveland. Lake Ontario was worse, we only stopped in Toronto.

The 1000 Island area had plenty of anchorages, dingy docks, and nooks and crannies to explore. The only issue I had was the cost. It is expensive. Docking costs were high. Booze in New York isn’t as bad as Canada, but it’s close. Restaurants, groceries, everything seemed higher in price.

Sue and I were talking about it and we decided the 1000 Island area is more refined than the North Channel, but we’d both prefer the North Channel.

My other complaint… we’re in the 1000 island area. I thought EVERY restaurant would be pushing their 1000 island dressing as the best. Similar to Key Lime pie in the Keys. I love 1000 Island dressing and I often make it from scratch. Not a single restaurant we went to had 1000 island dressing. Not even the Kraft crap.

It seems every island in the 1000 Island areahas a house on it. Anything from castle to shacks.

Some of the channels are tight. It’s never fun sharing them with large freighters.

Our next stop is Montreal. I don’t speak French and my biggest concern of the trip is not being able to communicate. What I’d give for a French speaker aboard. But, I’ll do the best I can with Microsoft Translator.

One of the best descriptions I’ve heard of cruising is “doing boat work in exotic locations”. Our visit to Clayton New York was no different.

Our refrigerator and freezer had been pulling too much power and something had to be done about it.

I went to the Island Packet user forum to see if anyone else had this problem and how they fixed it. What I discovered was EVERYONE was having this problem. It was a poorly designed fridge and was very inefficient. I never noticed because I day sailed. In the evenings, I’d return to my dock and unlimited power.

Scott, another IP 380 owner in Milwaukee, tried to warn me about it. He keeps his boat on a mooring ball and doesn’t have the unlimited AC power. He described the symptoms that I never had. I chalked it up to his boat being a year older and IP figured it out by the time they built mine. Nope!

While in Cleveland, Sue and I rode our bikes to Home Depot to try to find some 1″ insulation board. Our plan was to add more insulation, dry deck to the bottom for better air circulation, and build a lid for the freezer section.

The the insulation board I was planning on buying is sold in 4×8 sheet. I was planning on renting a Home Depot truck to drive it back to the boat.

When we got there I saw they also sold it in 2×2 pieces, which is perfect for us. We ended up buying 4 of the 2×2 pieces and used twine to tie them to Sue’s backpack. She looked like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle riding her bike back. I wish I would have taken a picture but I had my hands full trying to ride with the other bits we bought to fix the fridge.

We didn’t have time to do the fix in Cleveland and it would have to wait until our next multi-day stop, which was Clayton.

Here is a picture of Sue working on the insulation

The other maintenance we needed was a fender board. We got lucky that we could raft up to another boat in the Welland. They had fender boards and I saw how important they were. So, my other task in Clayton was to make a fender board.

A block from the marina was an Ace Hardware. I thought this was going to be easy. Nope, they don’t sell any lumber. Steven and I walked 2 miles to a lumberyard so I could buy a 2x6x8. Why didn’t I ride the bikes? I had no idea how I’d get the board back on the bikes, and it wasn’t a Home Depot, so no rent a truck.

Again, I got all the parts, but I didn’t have time to build the board. Plus, Clayton is a fancy place. I didn’t think they’d appreciate me setting up a wood shop and running power tools while Richie Rich was having cocktails.

I waited until we were on anchor tonight and fired up the generator. Fender board: Done.

Yesterday we left Toronto for an overnight sail to eastern Lake Ontario. The winds were on the light side but enough for us to turn off the motor and have a relaxing sail. It was calm enough that I got out the grill and cooked sausages on the way.

Initially our plan was to stay in Kingston Ontario but in route we found out that our friends Barry and Linda were in Alexandria Bay. A-Bay was a little too far and costly for us so we compromised and got a slip in Clayton New York. They were there to greet us when we pulled into our slip. We made it out for dinner and drinks.

If anyone else wants to meet up, let us know, we have some flexibility in our schedule.

We’re going to be staying in Clayton a couple of days. I need to work on getting more insulation in the freezer and refrigerator. I also need to build a fender board to protect my boat from the remaining lock on the St. Lawrence. The locks were not designed for delicate fiberglass boats.

Our next stop will be Montreal.