Montreal to Ile du Grenadier, 48 nautical miles sailed, 4 locks
Last night's Colt 45's did a number on Magnus and I had a hell of a time waking him up for the first lock, which we reached shortly before it opened to receive the pleasure boaters assembled there - us and five powerboats. The St. Lawrence Seaway is a major shipping route from North America and there is an endless stream of freighter traffic. Pleasure boats are permitted to use the locks, but are considered a nuisance like houseflies, earwigs, or roaches as the scant fees we pay to use the locks ($25 per lift) is bus fare compared to the thousands laid down by the monster tankers. Thus, when using the St Lawrence Seaway it is best to brace oneself for delays.
Today we hoped to get through four locks, all of which are on the Canadian side of the border, which generally cuts through the middle of the river system. Next would be two locks on the American side then one final one on the Canadian side which would then put us at the level of Lake Ontario - 243 feet higher than where we began.
The lock was massive. We were last in and snuggled up to the rafted powerboats ahead of us then caught the two long ropes the staff far overhead hurled down. It was very much the same, if not identical, to the locks in the Welland Canal, which we have transited in the past. The fill went well and we managed to keep SeaLight off the wall and unscuffed. The powerboaters took a long time to get themselves untied then crawled out of the lock at a freshwater snail's pace.
By the time we reached lock 2 it was clear the scheduled 11 am opening for pleasure boats was not going to happen, as a huge freighter was on his way in from upstream. The powerboats had taken up all the space on the courtesy dock so Magnus and I floated around in the bay while we waited. When the ship finally exited it was already looking very tight for us to be able to make it to lock 3 for the 3 pm opening, and it didn't help that the powerboaters were again taking their time and goofing around. They didn't even start untying their lines until the freight had completely cleared the channel so it likely took twenty minutes for them to dawdle into the lock and get secured to the wall. After the lift they waddled their way out and proceeded to hang on the right side of the channel after being told by the lock staff to stick to the left to avoid another incoming ship. Well, the incoming freighter let loose with a volley of angry horn blasts which threw them into disarray; one started doing 360's, one headed straight back towards the last lock, one just floated there stunned, and the other two idled every so slowly out of the way. More wasted time. When they were all finally pointed in the right direction they started moving then really hit the gas leaving us behind in the watery dust going at sailboat speed. Fortunately, when we had reached the top of lock 2 and were handing the ropes back to the lock master, she asked if we were going through the next lock.
"Yes!" I said. "Are we going to miss it? There's not enough time for us to get there for the 3 pm opening."
"No problem," she said. "We've already contacted lock 3 and told them of the delay. They will hold the lock for you."
"Thank god, we were worried we were going to miss it and be stuck there until tomorrow."
"You'll be fine."
We reached lock 3 at 3:15. Our powerboat buddies were nowhere to be seen and the lock doors were shut tight. The bastards left without us! We pulled SeaLight up to the courtesy dock and tried to figure out what to do. I called the lockmaster repeatedly on the radio, several different channels, but no response. We waved our arms at the control booth far in the distance. I tried calling the powerboats on the radio, no response there either, not that they'd do anything about it considering they knew damn well we were behind them and trying to make the lock. I tried calling the St. Lawrence Seaway general number, but each menu option led me to either robotic recordings, voicemail, or more menu options. Finally, in desperation I chose the option for Marine Emergencies.
"Hello, this is lock 3," a human voice answered.
I was flabbergasted. "Lock 3? Really?"
"Yes. How can I help you?"
"We're SeaLight. We arrived at 3:15, we're at your courtesy dock and were scheduled for this opening. The lady at lock 2 said you'd wait for us. What happened? Didn't our powerboat friends mention us?" I blurted out in a panicked string of words.
"Nobody told me. I waited until just after 3 but didn't see anybody. Sorry."
"What are we supposed to do? I don't understand. Lock 3 promised. And a promise is a promise. Right? Right?"
"Hmph," he grunted. I'd played the promise card. I never play the promise card, but it was the only card I had left. "Well, I supposed I could have the summer students open it for you."
"Oh thank you! Thank you blessed lockmaster. Your mamma raised a good boy."
"Stand by on channel 68. I'll let you know when to come in."
And with that, we got a lock opening all to ourselves. And because lock 4 was only half a mile away and staffed by the same team, we got our own fill for that one too. I just love it when tragedy turns to victory.
With that, we were back in the St. Lawrence and had only two more obstacles - lift bridges. The information on the Seaway website on protocol for these two bridges was extremely confusing; it said they opened just twice per day on a schedule, but it also opened on demand, but it also did not open on demand. As we were trying to figure this out I received a cryptic message from our buds Jonathan and Marcel in Hibiscus saying they were at lock 4 and something about bridges and meeting them at the second one. I had no idea what Jonathan was talking about nor how Hibiscus could be here....unless he stole our spot in the lock?
Well, despite a dozen calls on the radio to the first bridge, they would not respond, but they did open it after a while. After a bunch of miles and hitting three submerged trees (if we'd hit a submerged tree back in Lake Ontario we would have lost our minds; now, it's a series of crashes on the underside of the boat, a bored glance to the stern to see what object pops up, then a simple sigh), we came within view of the second bridge and we could see Hibiscus in the distance. Again, I could not figure out how the hell they got here. As we watched Hibiscus we saw the second bridge opening to let a freighter pass. Hibiscus was going for it to catch the opening. As the freighter passed through, Hibiscus came up the inside looking to squeak through. But no, the lift bridge operator must had seen him and wanted to have a laugh so dropped the bridge at double speed and blocked his access. The cruelty of it!
We finally reached the bridge and eased up to Hibiscus for a visit. Well, it turns out they had been with a group of powerboaters yesterday and the exact same thing happened to them, except they arrived at lock 3 at 3:05 just in time to watch the doors closing, then were unable to contact the lockmaster and had to wait an entire day. That's how they slipped into our spot. We felt terrible for them but it did allow us to catch up and have a little visit on the water.
The bridge was receiving calls from both of us, on all channels, as we tried to contact them to ask when we would get an opening, but it sat there closed with very little traffic as we floated around in front of it. At about 6:45 it finally opened and we were able to pass. They sailed onto the nearby town of Valleyfield and we were thinking of joining them for a final round of beers, but realized we'd have to backtrack then make up the miles tomorrow, which was already going to be a very long day. So we pushed on another hour or so and found an anchorage in the still shadow of Grenadier Island
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