August 12 – Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
45°24′13″ N 73°57′8″ W

Today was our second day in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. August 12 is also Angela & John’s wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary to you both.

We started the day with breakfast at a small restaurant that was right beside where Santosha was docked.

I had “threatened” Levi that I would cook him a special fried Spam & egg breakfast but decided that since it was his last day on the boat he should get a reprieve. Plus I wanted Angela & John to have a nice start to their day. There will be other opportunities in the future to treat my crew to Spam.

We had a relaxing breakfast & then moved Santosha to the other side of the canal beside a shade tree. Relocating also gave me space to set up the Honda generator & charge up the boat’s batteries. This side of the canal was like a charging station as about 5 other boats also deployed their generators.

It was pretty quiet along the canal so Mr Jet Boat made a few runs along the rapids to liven things up a bit.

Today was also a day of departures & arrivals. It was the last day of Angela, John & Levi’s holiday with me. Later in the afternoon they headed to downtown Montreal for a few days of sightseeing before flying back home to Western Canada. We had a lot of fun together but now it was time for them to move on to the next phase of their adventure. I wonder if downtown Montreal will be too quiet for them after all the excitement yesterday & last night?

My friend Ed Creaser from Saint John, NB arrived early in the evening. Ed will travel with me back to Ottawa – and a bit beyond – if time permits.

This was a reunion for Ed & I as he spent a couple of weeks with me last summer helping to bring Santosha up the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW). On that trip Ed joined me in Myrtle Beach & came all the way to New York City. We had a great time & I am looking forward to more of the same this year.

Ed & I had a relaxing dinner at a German schnitzel restaurant beside the canal and discussed our cruising plans over a nice cold beer.

Tomorrow we will head for Montebello. We will be going against the current on the Ottawa River so it will be interesting to see how much that affects our speed.

Cheers!