Richelieu - Chambly à Sorel sur la rivière Lawerence St

Blue Willow Waiting for Lock #9 to Open

After au départ Burlington nous fait la randonnée jusqu'La portion nord du lac Champlain à Rouses Pt. Ce qui est juste en deçà de la frontière canadienne. Très belle marina, et, (je pense) 100% titulaires de patinage canadien. Il était français parlé partout, mais nous avons fait en conversation avec un couple de gens. Leur mauvais anglais semblait être aucun obstacle majeur.

Okay, enough of that.....

We are in there somewhere

After departing Burlington we made the trek up the northern portion of Lk Champlain to Rouses Pt. which is just below the Canadian border.  Very nice marina, and, (I think) 100% Canadian slip holders.  There was french being spoken everywhere, but we made conversation with a  couple of folks.  Their broken english seemed to be no major barrier.

The next morning, we cast the lines and headed to the Canadian Border.  Two rather young border agents made the inspections of the Blue Willow, all was fine.  We had no NEXUS card, or CanPass, and our crossing took maybe 10 minutes.

Canadian Mooring Docks

Lock #9

Bridge just before Lock #9

Loved this home.
It had mortar that matched the roof color.

Our destination was Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu at Lock 9.  As you head north to Sorel Canada, the Richelieu River has a significant portion that is a canal, which is called Chambly Canal.

Tight in some places

Many Bridges of all types

Are the right arrows for us?

There is a huge counter weight
hidden by the tree

Tighter

There are nine locks, and many bridges.  Some bridges are non functional, others are left open, the remaining bridges need to be opened.  The rapids in the river, are too shallow and swift for any large boat, thus the canal.  We purchased a season pass for all of Canada's Locks, and Moorings.  We stayed at the lock 9 wall area above the lock.

Art in the Park

Daisy, not wanting to pose

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a very nice community, with nice parks, sitting areas, and an active community.  We saw so may joggers, bicyclists,  fishermen, frisbee players, etc etc it was contagious. I went for a nice bike ride, and it was fun.

Opening a gate

Opening a valve

Good pic of the lock #9 

Step Locks 1-2-3

Evening at the step locks

Lock 9 is the only electro-mechanically operated lock in the Richelieu system.  All the others are manually operated, and are VERY COOL.   Nice to see the youthful college kids scurry about opening valves, and gates, catching lines etc.  The system is very efficient.  The Canadian Parks staff could not be nicer, or more helpful.  Locks 1-2-3 are step locks,  The exit gate of #3 is the entrance gate of lock #2 etc.  We had fun going through.

The winds were up when we entered Lock 1-2-3, but we had no issues.  We decided to catch a marina, and get things cleaned up and reprovision.

Lunch menu:

Whats for lunch?

Poutine
Canadian, fries, with gravy,
and cheddar cheese

If you are still reading this..... Thanks.