St. Blaise-sur-Richelieu, Quebec to Burlington, Vermont

Tuesday, August 8 -- Marina St. Tropez to Burlington -- 55 miles 

This was another grey day on the water, only with rain showers more often than not, so we spent most of the time riding in the cabin. Given those conditions, we took hardly any pictures, although the scenery was nice. More scattered cottages and longer stretches of natural shoreline than the previous two days. We got underway just before ten and tied up at the fuel dock in Burlington just after two. The sky cleared briefly after we arrived, but we had rain again when we went into town for dinner. 

The buoy in the photo below marks the US/Canada border in the Richelieu River. The ruins are of Fort Montgomery. The first fort at this locations became known as Fort Blunder. It was started in 1816 by the Americans to protect the northern end of Lake Champlain (remember that we fought the British Canadians aggressively during the War of 1812), but when survey work was done the fort was found to be just north of the 45th parallel and hence in Canada, so all work was abandoned. An 1842 treaty between the US and Great Britain that resolved several border issues between the US and Canada, including the southern boundary of Quebec, ended up moving the border slightly north of the 45th parallel in many places, including the location of Fort Montgomery. The US went to work on building a new fort in the same spot in 1844 and it was completed in 1870. The fort became obsolete not long after it was built, was no longer in use after 1900, and was sold in 1926. Most of it was demolished in the mid-30s with the stone work used for fill in building a nearby bridge over the river. The fort is now private property, with local preservationists hoping to save it. 

Ashley and Janet found us great places for cocktails -- the Hotel Vermont -- and dinner afterwards -- Bleu Northeast Kitchen. She got reconnected with her car and she and Griffin stayed at a Best Western out near the airport. We had a wonderful time cruising with them.

P.S. Here are some cruise statistics that the captain compiled during quiet time this afternoon. Since we started our trip on May 22nd (the day we left Chicago), we have logged 2,662 miles (including 94 miles backtracking to Bainesville, Ontario to "check in" to Canadian customs) and gone through 42 locks in 51 days. The other days were spent in various "shore excursions", including two trips back to Naples and one to NYC. During our 51 days cruising we slept ashore only 3 nights, anchored out 6 nights, and only had 3 layover days.