Sorel to Chambly

Sunday, August 6 -- Sorel to Chambly -- 47 miles plus 4 locks

We got a late start today -- almost 11am -- because our new passengers needed their rest. But this was not a problem because we didn't have far to travel to our destination -- the town of Chambly, at the northern end of the ten-mile long Chambly Canal that bypasses rapids in the Richelieu River. This historic canal (opened in 1843) is now operated by the Canadian National Park Service. When heading north (upstream) it starts with a set of three locks in sequence that raise a boat a total of 35 feet. The locks are all hand-operated by park personnel, all of whom were bilingual and very friendly. (If the last photo is studied carefully, one can see the two lock attendants on either side of the lock cranking the gates closed.) We all agreed that traversing these locks was the highlight of the day.

It took a little over half-an-hour to pass through the three locks. There were lots of people watching our passage, which was fine, but also rather odd, as there was no waving or chatter. It was like we were part of a museum exhibit. We docked for the night against the wall immediately upstream of the last lock, which was convenient for walking into town and to Ashley and Griffin's "flotel". The photos below show the collection of flotels out at the end of the pier at the Chambly Marina, and the insides of A&G's particular unit. They said these accommodations were fine, although there was some rocking early on due to all the Sunday boat traffic on the Chambly Basin.

Speaking of boat traffic, the Richelieu River was chock full of boats during almost our entire ride. Everyone was out on their boat on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, including lots of crazy jet ski riders. The traffic and the wakes were pretty much nonstop.

Despite the boat traffic, we did enjoy some lovely rural and village scenery, with many spectacular steeples along the way. Here are the churches at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu (which for some reason wasn't painted silver) and Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu (right across the river from St. Antoine and properly painted). The chain-driven ferry connecting the two towns shows in the upper photo.

Here are the churches at Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu and two photos of Sainte-Hilaire-sur-Richelieu. These are apparently just simple, one steeple towns. Mont Sainte Hilaire in the background is a nature preserve owned by McGill University, which protects "one of the last remaining remnants of the primeval forests of the Saint-Lawrence valley" according to Wikipedia. The mountain is striking because all of the surrounding countryside is flat, as the fourth photo attempts to show.