Category Archives: 2010 – Down East Cruise

Ananda’s Down East Cruise in 2010

Thursday, July 29

We set out for the Beauharnois Canal at about 10:30am. The first lift bridge in the canal is about an hour from the Valleyfield Marina. It is a similar design to the ones we encountered in the Welland Canal. The abutment at each end of the bridge has a massive tower with equally massive wheels and cables to lift the entire bridge deck when ships go under. The bridge operator sits in a little control room in the middle of the bridge and he (or she) goes up and down with the bridge. Now that would be an interesting job with many ups and downs per day.

We encountered a few freighters along our way through the canal but traffic was pretty light compared to what we thought we might see. There were about 10 pleasure craft tied up at the first lock when we arrived and before we even had time to approach the dock the Lockmaster set the control light to green and gave us the signal to enter in to the lock.
Each lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway has a light control system that is pretty similar to automotive traffic lights. Several hundred yards upstream from each lock is the first control light. When it is solid red, you are not permitted to go past that point. When the light is flashing red, that is an indication that the Lockmaster will be soon giving boats the signal to advance in to the lock. When the light turns green, boats are then allowed to proceed in to the lock and follow the mooring instructions given by the lock staff.
Our first lock on the canal took us down about 50 feet. The second lock was just about a mile further downstream. When we arrived at it we were excited to discover that we could see the city of Montreal off in the distance. Our destination for this segment of our trip was within our grasp. The locking-down process was quick and smooth. Once the lock gates were opened we motored out of the final part of the canal and in to Lac St. Louis. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon and a beautiful sunny day. We could see many sailboats on the lake enjoying themselves. Up until this point in our journey from Cornwall, we did not have any opportunities to sail because of weather and/or narrow navigation channels. I was very excited to have come this far and very grateful to Tony and Fred for their help in accomplishing this. They had hoped to do some sailing along the way so we slowed down the engine, set up the sails and set a course for Montreal. The wind was blowing just right for us to maintain our course and we really enjoyed this little break from all the motoring we had done.
We sailed for a couple of hours and then figured we had better pack things up and head for the next canal that would take us safely past the Lachine Rapids and in to Montreal. There are only two locks remaining on the St. Lawrence Seaway and then we would be in Montreal. By the time we got through the last lock it was after midnight and only then did we realize that we had missed our intended marina destination. Thankfully, there was another marina just a couple of miles downstream. We motored quietly in to the basin and the marina office was locked up for the night. We had to stay somewhere so we tied up at the gas/diesel/pump out dock and headed for bed. Tony and Fred would head to the train station in the morning and I would make arrangements to stay in the marina for another day or two until my friends Chris and Joan Cavanaugh arrived. As I was getting ready for bed I looked out across the river and could see the tower for the Montreal Olympic Stadium on the other shore.

Wednesday, July 28

We woke up at 6:00am to a beautiful sunrise. Rob and Karen had already been up for a short while and in the daylight (and calmer waters) Rob had been able to identify the source of his engine trouble and get it running again! That was a great way to start the day for us all. Rob and Karen joined us on Ananda for a continental breakfast. We all discussed our plans for the day and prepared to weigh anchor. Our plans were to try to get in to the Beauharnois Canal, down river from Valleyfield, Quebec and Beeper’s plan was to try to do the same. We said our goodbyes and set out for the day. With us having to hoist our anchor, attend to some daily motor maintenance, etc., Beeper had about a 45 minute head start on us but we knew we would catch up to them soon.
We were underway for about an hour when we saw a familiar boat headed our way—Beeper! The marine weather radio was broadcasting strong wind warnings for the area between Montreal and Cornwall so Beeper was wisely headed for cover prior to the winds arriving. Ananda can travel considerably faster than Beeper so we decided to continue forward to Valleyfield and then make a decision about what to do. By the time we arrived in Valleyfield, the weather radio was broadcasting wind warnings for gusts up to 50 knots so we decided to head for cover ourselves. We broke off our course for the Beauharnois Canal and set out for a marina in Valleyfield. By the time we arrived at the marina the waters behind us were full of whitecaps and it was going to be a wild time for anyone who was out there. We were glad to be safely tied up to a dock and prepared to make the most of our situation. I learned an interesting thing from our French-Canadian host at the marina. While I was completing the dock registration paperwork for our stay, he commented that the bay was “full of sheep today” and that almost everyone stays in the marina on those days. I was puzzled by what he said and asked for a further explanation. He pointed out the window to all of the whitecaps in the bay and asked, “don’t they make it look like a field full of sheep?”.  The saying immediately made perfect sense to me and I think that that is much more colourful than simply saying whitecaps.
The Valleyfield Marina is huge, with dock space for approximately 750 boats. The majority of boats in the marina were sailboats and it was very cool to see so many masts in one location. The winds continued to howl through the night along with some pretty hefty rain showers—but we were safely tied up on a dock behind the breakwater and had no trouble resting up for the next day’s adventure.

Tuesday, July 27

Today was the day for Ananda to move on to the next phase of our adventure. I had several more locks to transit between Cornwall and Montreal and was required to have at least 3 people on board to complete each locking procedure. Tony Oosterman from Goderich Yacht Club and his long time friend Fred Schuurman agreed to come with me from Cornwall to Montreal. Tony and Fred drove their car from London to Cornwall and parked it at the train station. Ren picked them up at the train station and brought them to meet me at the Long Sault Yacht Club, which is just above the Eisenhower and Snell locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway. It was about 2:30 when we connected up. Quick goodbyes between Ren and I along with promises to see each other again soon.
Tony and Fred and I motored about 5 miles over to the Eisenhower lock entrance and were hopeful that the Seaway Authority could put us through quickly. When we arrived around 4:00pm we found about 15 other boats rafted up to the pleasure craft dock which was really only suitable for 2 – 3 boats. Pleasure craft are a pretty low priority to the Seaway Authority compared to freighter traffic, and, as a result, some of our fellow boaters had been tied up at that spot since 11:00am that morning waiting for permission to pass through the locks. The prospect of getting through before dark was not encouraging. We had just nicely got tied up to a pier wall when the Lockmaster finally called “the fleet” on the radio and gave us all permission to enter the lock. This was one time that I was not complaining about having to move right after docking!
There was only one other sailboat in the crowd so when we entered the lock we were instructed by the Lockmaster to tie Ananda up to the first floating bollard and to have the smaller sailboat raft up to our side. As it turned out, this smaller sailboat, christened “Beeper” was out of Kingston, Ontario and bound for Halifax. Her crew, Rob and Karen were a young couple from Nunavut, in Canada’s far north. They were on a summer holiday and adventure. We spent about 30 minutes moored in the first lock before the stepping down process began so we all had time to get acquainted. Rob is an electrician by trade and Karen is a reporter. They are also both musicians—Rob plays the bagpipes and Karen sings and plays guitar. She has also made a few CDs. By the time the lock was at its lowest level we had had a great visit and were ready to continue our conversations at the next lock which was just about a mile downstream.

When we arrived at the Snell lock we were informed that an upstream bound group of pleasure craft were being “locked up” and that a freighter was just behind them. As a result we would have to wait about an hour before we could be “locked down”. Our little armada just slowly circled each other in the basin beside the lock entrance rather than going through the process of tying and rafting up to the tiny pleasure craft dock. Finally the freighter was passed through the lock and it was our turn. By the time we finished the locking process it was after 8:30pm and dusk was coming fast. Our plans to make it 20 0r 30 miles further downstream were dashed and we decided to find a place to anchor just below Cornwall.We bid farewell to our new friends Rob and Karen and hoped that we would see them again on our trip to Halifax. As it turned out, we were going to see them much sooner than we thought.

Fred and Tony and I motored past Cornwall and found a nice little anchorage a few miles east of Cornwall. It was closing on 9:30pm and we were all hungry and tired—ready for a quick supper and bed. We were just about to drop our anchor when we heard a “Mayday” call on the marine VHF radio. Karen and Rob on Beeper were in trouble. Their engine had quit in the middle of the channel and they were drifting towards the shore. The Canadian (Montreal) Coast Guard responded to their call for help and gathered more detailed information about their situation. Once they had exchanged the information I radioed the Coast Guard and told them that I knew Beeper and was close enough to help them quickly. We then radioed Karen and Rob and made arrangements to find them. So much for dropping the hook and supper—that would have to wait because we had new friends in trouble and boaters need to help each other whenever they can. It was totally dark now so I contacted Beeper on the radio, confirmed their general location and then we established a light-signaling procedure to help us find each other.
After about 20 minutes of motoring upstream we found their boat. They had drifted out of the main shipping channel and had wisely dropped an anchor to keep them from running aground. We motored up beside Beeper, informed Rob and Karen of how we would tow them and then set about to get them tied up to us and in to a safer area. Tony handled the helm while Fred and I worked with Rob and Karen to secure towing lines. Once that was done we headed back down river towards the anchorage that Ananda was almost ready to stay at earlier. By the time we got to the anchorage it was after 11:00pm.

Rob and Karen were not going to be able to get any help with their engine until morning so I suggested that they raft up to Ananda for the night and then we would tow them over to a marina so they could find a mechanic to help them. By this time we were all pretty pumped up from the excitement and starving too.  I asked Rob and Karen if they had eaten and they said “no” so I invited them to join us for supper—on the condition that they entertain us with some music. As the optimists say “if life gives you some lemons, then make lemonade!”.  So, what else do you do in a situation like this other than fire up the BBQ at midnight and have a party! Karen sang us several songs from her CD and then Rob played his kettle pipes which are essentially a mini set of bagpipes. Then the two of them played some duets. It was absolutely awesome and we all had a great time. After the music we all sat down to BBQ’d chicken, potatoes and some fresh yellow beans from Ren’s garden. By the time we were done eating it was after 1:00am. The excitement of the day was now catching up to all of us and we headed off to bed. What an adventure!

Monday, July 26

I stayed in the Chrysler Park Marina the night before and had connected with my good friend Ren Arbuthnot. Ren and I used to work together for the Ministry of Environment at the WWTP in Cornwall back in the late 1970’s (now I am really dating myself). During my time there, Ren was a great mentor & taught me a lot about my work—skills that I still use today—and skills that helped me advance in my career. I moved to western Canada in early 1980 but Ren and I still kept in touch over the years—with occasional visits when I came to the Cornwall area to see my dad, etc. When Catherine and I got married, Ren was my Best Man.

Ren came up to the marina and we went for a short sail down the river—pretty much following the same route that I had taken the day before with my MacKinnon cousins. We had a great time reminiscing and catching up on each other’s lives since we last saw each other.  A few hours’ visit was simply not enough so Ren agreed to stay onboard overnight and that allowed us to celebrate our reunion even longer!   

Sunday, July 25

I spent the morning getting ready for a Scottish invasion from Maxville, Ontario. I pulled the anchor just after 1:00pm and headed for Chrysler Park Marina which was just about a kilometer west of where I had spent the past couple of days. My cousin Heather Macintosh arrived with six other family members and we had a mini MacKinnon family reunion on Ananda. Heather (nee MacKinnon) & her husband Evan (all my fellow BlackBerry addicts will be interested to know he works for RIM—I tried to hide my iPhone from him but he saw it, so I showed him that I had a BlackBerry too J); their son Kyle and his girlfriend Candice; my cousin Brian MacKinnon; his wife Patsy and their daughter Laura.

It was great to catch up with everyone and to share some memories about our parents and how our lives had intersected over the years through the events in their (and our) family lives that brought us together. My dad and his brother Alex were a lot alike in some ways and yet ended up leading very different lives. Both of them were quiet and thoughtful and while my dad went on to become a Presbyterian minister and lived in several parts of Canada, my uncle Alex stayed on the MacKinnon family farm and raised his family in the same house that dad and Alex were raised in. I can remember going to the farm as a small kid and being so fascinated by all the wonderful things that were there.

As a “townie” all I knew about milk was that it came from a glass bottle that was kept in the fridge. I remember my uncle Alex showing me how a cow was milked and I thought the cow was peeing in the pail! City slickers, what can you do with them, eh?
Anyway, back to year 2010. The wind was blowing just right so we went for a sail and several cousins tried their hand on the wheel as we sailed eastward on the St. Lawrence River.
Its very interesting how gender dynamics work. When we left the marina people were spread all over the boat but by the time we had turned Ananda around and headed back to the marina, the men had all gravitated to the stern and the women were all up on the bow. This seems to happen every time there is a group of people on board. I’ve concluded that the men like to be where there are wheels and levers to play with while the women are simply content to stay forward have us out of their way for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was great to be able to get together for a visit. Too many times over the past several years the catalyst for seeing each other has been a funeral of a loved one. I was glad that we were able to connect and wear lifejackets instead of suits!