Croil Island to Grenadier Island, Thousand Islands, Ontario, Canada

 We woke up to a sunny Monday morning and saw trumpeter swans as we left the anchorage at Croil Island and cruised past it as we reentered the Saint Lawrence Seaway headed towards the last Canadian lock at Iroquois. We saw S/V North Dawn on AIS ahead of us and saw her go through the lock as we were 5 miles behind her. This lock is unique in that it only has a four foot change in depths so that as you enter the lock and they close the rear gate, you continue moving through the lock and the front gate opens without you having to tie up. We wished they all could have been this way as this was the grand finale lock for us on the Saint Lawrence Seaway. We continued up the seaway to Brockville where we were planning to anchor. We were dodging a small sailboat regatta as a ship came up behind us and we started to turn off dodging a tour boat and then went around an anchored boat and jet skies and saw that the anchorage was narrow and a thoroughfare to the Brockville Harbour so we turned around and headed back out behind the ship. We continued up the seaway as the ship went to port and we turned to starboard along the small boat channel staying in Canada as the ship channel goes into New York as the border of the two countries is in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River. We looked for an anchorage within Parks Canada Thousand Islands Park and stopped off Grenadier Island at Duck Island Shoal anchorage. There were two other sailboats anchored here so it looked like a great spot for the evening before Canada Day Holiday on July 1. We watched fireworks on the other shore as it got dark and then were awakened in the middle of the night with hard rain. We planned to spend the holiday here out of the boat traffic.

Pulling anchor at Croil Island

Canada geese and some new birds we had not heard before

The first trumpeter swans we've seen

More interesting markers

Gates opening at last Iroquois Lock

Looking back and gates close

And looking forwards the gates are open, no tying up

Rookery in Thousand Islands

Many island homes

Kayakers crossing our path

Fireworks out our porthole window

On Tuesday, we heard a honk as we were eating breakfast and it was the Canadian Border Patrol checking to see that we had cleared customs since the other side of the river is in the United States. Glenn pulled out his customs number and the customs officers were very friendly and were gone in a flash circling around the sailboat and then were gone. We had two sailboats and a motor boat anchor in front of us and raft together but they were quiet and left early in the afternoon. Glenn spent the day troubleshooting the wash down pump and generator and got both of them working. There are twenty Parks Canada parks that have dockage or moorings in the Thousand Island between us and Kingsport. We are having a difficult time finding a way to navigate there using the charts and Parks Canada app map.

Our friendly Canadian border patrol

Our anchorage off Duck Shoal and Grenadier Island

Beautiful sunset on Canada Day

Valleyfield Marina to Croil Island, Louisville, New York

 We got an early start on a cloudy, windy morning with an offer of help by a cruiser passing by on the dock. We got through the long winding entrance channel outside the marina to pounding waves coming right at us. That made an uncomfortable ride for the first hour and then the wind calmed down below 10 knots and it was a pleasant but cold cruise towards the two American Locks of Snell and Eisenhower. We got to the small floating dock at Snell and were helped by the sailors already tied up.  S/V North Dawn was behind us and hailed us but she ended up anchoring as we were waiting on a down bound ship to transit. These two locks did not have scheduled times. We followed the sailboat in and we were instructed to tie up to number 3 floating bollard with a midship line which was much easier to do. We tended the line and the bollard moved us up like in an elevator. It was another no stopping to enter Eisenhower lock and we did the same tie up and quickly moved through. We turned off the Saint Lawrence Seaway behind Croil Island and had the anchorage to ourselves even though across the river was a campground and plenty of boat traffic on this section. We had great birdwatching and the sun came out and we were in shirt sleeves shedding our sweatshirts and polar fleece jackets we started the day in. We celebrated our first anchorage since leaving Vermont with my new portable charcuterie board. It was a great afternoon and a quiet night.

Parasailing outside marina channel

A variety of navigation aids

Waiting on ship to lock through for our turn

A long ways up

Looking back as they closed the gates

Canada geese eveywhere

Tugs along the walls

Canadian police were out stopping boats

It's happy hour!

Portable charcuterie board

La Ronda Marina to Valleyfield Marina, Salabery-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada

 We got an early start as we had reservations for four of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Canadian locks  in the Montreal/Lake Ontario section that are on a time schedule for up bound traffic. We were very close to the first lock at Saint Lamber so we were the first to tie up at the floating dock followed quickly by four other boats and another boat that remained standing off at the entrance for a schedule 9 am opening that was then posted for 10:20 am.  We watched one ship to upbound in our direction followed by another ship down stream which caused our delay. As soon as that shipped passed we had the green light. The lock tenders throw ropes down the fifty foot walls expecting you to catch one for the bow and tie up and then one for the stern before you shut off your engine. They also directed two boats to raft up in front of us and two rafted in front of them.  Once you leave the lock there is no stopping for the six miles to the next lock at Cote Sainte-Catherine scheduled for 11:00 am but of course we were late for that. It was the same set of lock tenders as we went through the lock. We then had to make tracks for the next two lock with Lower Beauharnois at 3 pm and Upper Beauharnois at 4:00 pm. Only one boat Sea retirement from South Carolina continued on with us as the other boats turned off into the Rideau Canal which we had come down last year. We made it to the lock a little after 3 pm to wait with three sailboats and one motorboat for a ship to lock through. We were the first to enter the lock and had turbulent water as well as tosses that I missed both times so it was not a good way to start. We made it through that lock and then on to the next lock which I had better luck catching the ropes but Glenn had a worse time as he was trying to catch the stern since the wind was keeping us off the lock wall. We were glad to get through as the rain started. We stayed on the fly bridge with our rain capes until the rain got so strong we moved to the down below helm. Three of the motorboats made the lift bridge together and the bridge tender wanted to wait for all the boats. We requested that he contact the sailboats and since he could not see them and they did not answer his radio call he opened the lift bridge for us. We followed Searetirement who had a faster cruising speed and a full enclosure out of the rain to Valleyridge Marina. The rain cleared for us to get into the slip and we had great female dockhands. We had plans to go out to dinner but the rain started up again and we were too exhausted to move. 

The first lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway near Montreal

Dropping off pilots onto the pleasure boat dock

The trawler in front of us at the dock waiting on ship to pass

We watched ships come and go ahead of us

The parade to next lock in pair

We slept in the next day and it was still raining so we stayed another day but we had to move slips for another huge catamaran. The rain stopped by lunchtime and we had a great lunch at a nearby pub on their patio and then walked the town stopping by the Metro Grocery for provisions. We walked back by the old canal that was now a marina where you could tie up to the floating docks on the lock wall. We had two different Canadian couples invite us to their social club and to provide a ride to the grocery store but we were happy just to have happy hour on the flybridge.

The view off our bow at slip in Valleyfield Marina

The huge cat that needed our slip

The race boats

Walking about town

Great little pub for lunch

Mexican poutine

Old canal now a marine along the dock walls

Bridge over to the park and canal back to marina

The sunset view from our second slip

Bellerive Marina, Saint-ours Quebec to La Ronda Marina, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

 We scrubbed the decks before we left the marina for our cruise out the Richileau River into the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Most of the huge tanker ships were at anchor. We followed one sailboat at a distance and only came across one sailboat and motorboat headed the other direction until we came closer to Montreal. The ferry traffic picked up and we waited for a container ship to pass us thinking we were going to cross paths getting to the marina. We could not raise the marina staff on the VHF radio so we struggled in the current to get tied up. We never saw anyone after we called them on the phone and said we were staying put. So we barely got a WIFI signal up at the bistro and enjoyed a beer on the fly bridge watching the two roller coasters on either side of the boat basin. We plan to get an early start to the first of the six St. Lawrence Seaway Locks.

From rural to residential to industrial in a short stretch on the river

The riverfront near Montreal

At La Ronda Marina off our starboard side

Another roller coaster off our port side

Great birdwatching with over dozen species off our stern in the marsh

Canada geese dipping down feeding