Canada! And the Chambly Canal

         The first thing we did on Sunday morning, was call the Canadian number for Nexus travelers to check in to Canada.  We had found out the ArriveCan app (which was to have replaced CanPass) is no longer usable for marine entry, and Nexus card holders were urged to report entry between thirty minutes and four hours of entry.  (It would take about two hours to cruise from Nichols Point to the border.) We had expected to be told where to go and in case no one showed up, an entry number to post in the window would be issued.  This has been the case for us other times we’ve entered Canada by boat, although last summer it was all done through their phone app.  But this time we spoke with a young man who seemed completely baffled about why we were calling, even though his first question was whether or not we had Nexus cards.  He didn’t understand where we were, what we wanted, and what we expected of him.  He kept asking what marina did we plan on checking into?  Dan started researching both through their website and on Navionics possible marinas.  The first one we asked about was Quai Richilieu, which on Navionics states is the Canadian Customs Dock.  He had never heard of it, asked for a spelling, and eventually told us “That is not an official point of entry.”  He could not verify any official points of entry, and the one on the Canadian Customs website listed a marina in the Chambly Basin, over fifty miles from the border.  As we all grew a little frustrated, the young man finally told us to just show up at a dock and ask for entry.  

Border Buoy, Lake Champlain/Richilieu River

We decided to check out Quai Richilieu, situated just over the Canadian border.  This is nothing but an official point of entry.  You tie up at the dock, take your passport and boat document up to the little building at the head of the ramp, answer the standard questions of the purpose and length of your state and whether or not you have firearms, alcohol, or cannabis aboard, and they welcome you into the country.  The whole procedure took less than five minutes, and that included tying and untying from the dock.  It couldn’t have been simpler or easier. 

Officially in Canada, we headed to the small riverside town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richilieu and tied up at the floating dock just before the bascule bridge that leads to Lock 9, the southern end of the Chambly canal.  We could have entered the canal that afternoon, but since we’d already been traveling for about five hours and the Chambly canal takes at least another three, we decided to stay overnight here and enter the canal in the morning.  This gave us a chance to buy a season pass for the Canada canals - lockages and moorings - and have a good walk through town.  We were told that during the week they only open this lock twice - once at 9 am and once at 1 pm, and that the 9 am slot was already reserved by the Canadian coast guard vessel Île St. Ours, which was docked nearby.  The locks are too small to fit any other boat in with the Coast Guard vessel, so we would have to wait until the 1pm locking.  We didn’t really understand why they couldn’t lock us both through (CCG first and then us in a second locking) but we didn’t question it.  

Going through the bascule before the lock

Entering the lock.

In the morning we followed the Île St. Ours through the bascule bridge, and then docked next to the lock and went up to watch the CCG lock through.  The locks on the Chambly are all hand operated - people crank the doors closed and crank the water lever out. 
        

Île St. Ours in the lock.

Cranking the doors closed on the lock.

        The lock tenders are all very friendly, and they had many questions about the Great Loop and Maine and what the English words were for the front and back ends of the boat.  We learned the French words - prou (bow) and poupe (stern).  We locked through at 1 pm and began the three hour transit through the Chambly canal.  Once in the canal, you must keep going through to the end.  No one is allowed to spend the night in the canal, and stopping to sightsee is discouraged. There are a total of 9 locks and several bridges that need to be opened.  The locktenders leap frog their way along to prepare for you.  We passed one southbound sailboat in one specific area, otherwise were were alone in the canal.  It’s very narrow, and much of it doesn’t allow for passing. 

See how narrow!

            I imagine when the season really gets busy (they said peak season is end of June through end of August) these people are very busy scheduling boats through - telling some of the cruisers where to pull over to one of the docks on the side to wait for their turn to lock or for someone to pass.  Certainly no more than two vessels can fit in those locks!  

Flight of three locks.

At the north end of the canal are two ‘flights’ of three locks each.  Each lock leads directly into the next lock as you drop down to the level of the Chambly basin.  Over the course of nine locks you drop down about 80 feet, but much of it seems to be happening in the last two flights of locks.  And just like that, we were out of the Chambly Canal and into the Chambly Basin.  

Tonight we are anchored near Fort Chambly, which was built to defend the French settlers against the Iroquois Nation in the mid 1700s, and overlooks the Richilieu Rapids.  (The Chambly Canal was built to bypass the rapids and allow for commerce between Montreal and Lake Champlain.)  We were hoping for a good sunset, but the sky is clouding over as the much needed rain comes in, hopefully helping to put out those wildfires.  

Fort Chambly