ocking I presented our passports and after answering a few questions we were released and on our way. I was surprised at how easy it was. We had more questions driving in to British Columbia in 2008.So we motored north and soon reached our first lock of the Canadian Historic Canal system at St Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Having learned to tie up at the designated mooring space at every lock that is not open, we secured to a canal wall in downtown St. Jean. This first lock was right after a bridge that had to be lifted first, except that after the lock master told us to get ready and come the bridge didn't open. A short repair was required. At least we sp
ent an interesting 45 minutes talking to a couple also waiting that had shipped their 40+ foot boat over from England on a large yacht transport ship. They intended to do the Great Loop also. Their starting point was in Florida.
As the Chambly Canal passes through the countryside, in many places the water is within a foot or two of the surrounding roadway. The canal had a few spots that were narrow like the Bridge opening shown.
The historic canal locks are usually completely hand operated. In the picture the lock tender is opening the lock door by turning a handle. The last downstream lock is usually emptied through doors in the lock door which are raised and lowered manually using the mechanism shown in the picture.
Fort Chambly, located in the town of Chambly, was built to protect the Richelieu River (shown to the left of the Fort). The River was an important artery for transportation down to Lake Champlain. The first fort on this site was a wood fort built by the French in 1665. A total of four forts were built on this site with the current stone fort 
being completed in 1711. The British took over the fort in 1760 after having defeated the French in the French & Indian War. The Americans occupied the fort in the winter of 1775-1776 during the unsuccessful campaign to defeat the British forces in Canada. This fort is a partial reconstruction, but has some interesting features like the tapered firing slots that allowed a musket inside the fort to be pointed a a wide area. (picture)
We stayed one night tied up at the canal wall in Chambly Quebec. I have a vague recollection of Chambly from a business trip many years ago to an Ansell-Edmont plant in Cowansville, Quebec which is about 40 miles away. Chambly is between Montreal and Cowansville. On Friday June 19 we sampled the local cuisine at Le Fourquet Fourchette and had an interesting menu of early native American dishes (New France). I sampled Caribou meat in a pie and Kaye had pork loin. The Caribou tasted very similar to regular beef.
On Saturday, we left Chambly. The last three locks of the historic canal were a flight of three, located right next to where we were tied up. Since it was Saturday there were many spectators out to watch boats locking through. We had many comments and questions about our boat, where we were from, and where were we going. Some were in French but most people could speak some English. In the Chambly Canal the lock operators handed a small a bow and stern line to us and secured it to a bollard on top of the lock wall. We used these lines to control the position of our boat in the canal.
being completed in 1711. The British took over the fort in 1760 after having defeated the French in the French & Indian War. The Americans occupied the fort in the winter of 1775-1776 during the unsuccessful campaign to defeat the British forces in Canada. This fort is a partial reconstruction, but has some interesting features like the tapered firing slots that allowed a musket inside the fort to be pointed a a wide area. (picture)
We stayed one night tied up at the canal wall in Chambly Quebec. I have a vague recollection of Chambly from a business trip many years ago to an Ansell-Edmont plant in Cowansville, Quebec which is about 40 miles away. Chambly is between Montreal and Cowansville. On Friday June 19 we sampled the local cuisine at Le Fourquet Fourchette and had an interesting menu of early native American dishes (New France). I sampled Caribou meat in a pie and Kaye had pork loin. The Caribou tasted very similar to regular beef.
On Saturday, we left Chambly. The last three locks of the historic canal were a flight of three, located right next to where we were tied up. Since it was Saturday there were many spectators out to watch boats locking through. We had many comments and questions about our boat, where we were from, and where were we going. Some were in French but most people could speak some English. In the Chambly Canal the lock operators handed a small a bow and stern line to us and secured it to a bollard on top of the lock wall. We used these lines to control the position of our boat in the canal. Above Chambly was the Richelieu River and a couple more locks but these were somewhat larger than the Chambly Canal locks.
No comments:
Post a Comment