Saturday July 30: Saint Anne de Bellevue, Quebec

We were up early and moving by 7 so we could make it to the Carillon Lock for the first down lockage. The guidebooks all advise to stay away from this lock on the weekends as it is very busy so we figured the earlier the better – especially since we just discovered that Monday is a holiday in Canada (in the back of our minds we knew Victoria Day was the first Monday in August but just didn't really think about it). The early leave time worked well as we arrived about 10 minutes before the lock was ready for us! It's a very different lock: there is a floating dock inside the lock that you just tie to and then just wait until the dock drops – along with your boat – very EASY way to lock :-) Looking back into the lock you can see the stairs that provide access for the lockmasters to access the floating dock.

Saw a number of huge churches right along the waterway – seemed kind of strange to me but apparently it's quite common here. We are now totally in Quebec (instead of riding the Ottawa River down the dividing line of Ontario and Quebec). The river has become very wide and mountains have begun to appear on the north shore. The farther downriver we go the wider the river until it is really now just a series of relatively shallow lakes.

The second lock of the day was our destination: St Anne de Bellevue, Quebec. Also a place the guidebooks say to avoid on weekends, especially holiday weekends! But Steve was confident that we could find a spot to tie up for the night if we got in early enough – right again :-) This lock also had a floating dock and the number of boats crammed in was quite amazing as you can see by the picture. Timing was great once again as we basically just pulled up as the lock was being loaded – down 3 feet – and out. There was our place – right under the bridge! Shade for the rest of the day :-) Of course we also got to hear the very loud trains all night but it was a good tradeoff. A quick ride down the main street – mostly restaurants. Too bad neither of us know any French :-) Steve was off on his bike for a grocery store – you can see him on the bike ramp which went up to the bridge. He made it all the way :-)

The tie up walls below the locks were packed – it might have been better than Bobcaygeon as far as people/boat watching. A constant parade of boats through the locks. A trawler like ours is pretty unique up here as the we have seen only a few. Most of the boats are newer SeaRays and the like. We did actually cross paths with Bama Belle (Charlie and Brandi) – the boat we traveled with on the overnight Gulf of Mexico crossing. Small world – we last saw them on the Hudson River.