July 12, 2024
Rouse’s Point is the northernmost point of Lake Champlain, and also the last U.S. port! There are two marinas here, one a Safe Harbor marina and the other an independently run marina. We prefer to support the few remaining independent marinas, so our choice was easy, Barcomb Marina.
We had an opportunity to get the boat washed in Burlington before we departed, so that took most of the morning – totally worth it! It was so refreshing to have a very clean boat to continue our journey!
I called the Barcomb Marina where we had a reservation to give them our arrival ETA, around 6:00 p.m. At the end of our 4+ hours cruise, we were nearing the marina. The approach was somewhat confusing, so we tried to contact the marina for some guidance. No answer on the radio or the office phone. The recording on the office phone supplied the cell phone of the owner – no response to our two calls – sheesh! So, we found our way in, picked the easiest slip, and tied up. It was not a very impressive place – tiny gas dock shack, no other building except for a restaurant/bar about 100 yards away. After we tidied up, we walked to the restaurant – they only had bar snacks to serve, so we walked the 10 minutes or so into town to a restaurant called “Frencheez”. We had a decent meal, then stopped at the Dollar store for some milk. Bar was closed when we got back, so we had a quiet night on the boat.
Next morning, Dan went to meet the owner and pay our bill – we had thought about staying two nights, but there was really no reason to stay there! The owner said his cell phone never rang last night (??), but that he was sitting in the bar watching us come in. He saw us walking up to the bar, and drove away. So much for supporting independent marinas…
That morning, we heard from the folks on Clementine, Brian and Dawn, that we had met back at Ft. Edwards. We have been one stop behind them ever since! They had spent one night at Barcombs (the horrible marina), and moved to the Safe Harbor. They left before us and we planned to see them at our next stop, St. Jeanne.
First stop, just one tenth of a mile or so away, was Canadian Customs. The Captain went in the building, and was out in about 5 minutes! Easy peasy. We put the Canadian flag in the place of honor on the starboard flag mast, on the bow of the boat. We were now officially on our Canadian adventure, finally, after three years of wanting to go!
The Garmin GPS system that Dan relies on, along with our paper charts, is not working properly. The marina owner suggested we might stop at Gosselin Marina, just a few miles up the river, for some assistance, as they are Garmin dealers. We did stop there, spent some money and time. The problem with the Garmin display is that our data ended at the Canadian border – we needed an update. They sold us a new SIM card, but, unfortunately, our older system would not accept it. What we can do, once we have come good internet connection, is download an update from the Garmin website….to be continued!
Next stop, St. Jeanne Sur Richelieu, to continue our journey on the Richelieu River. Right after St. Jeanne, the Chambly Canal begins, which was created to get boats past some rapids on the river. We paid Parks Canada for the season pass to pay for all the locks on the canals we will traverse. We arrived later than usual, but Brian and Dawn were waiting for us – we parked just ahead of their boat. We had a nice dinner with them, then walked around the town a bit. The recurring theme is HEAT! So hot. And, unfortunately, our generator has chosen this time not to work – so, we couldn’t even start the A/C to cool down the boat. Fortunately, it cooled down enough for us to sleep well.
Next morning, we were to pass under the swing bridge there at St. Jeanne, and start on the locks on the Chambly Canal. Brian and Dawn pulled out, expecting us to follow shortly. We couldn’t start the engines….! Yikes. The chief engineer, Dan, started to work the issue – in checking the batteries, he found one had run dry. Assuming the issue was the batteries, we started to try and get someone to come and give us a ‘jump’. Finally, after 2.5 hours, the truck came, but, his battery jump kit didn’t do the trick. In the meantime, Dan had scouted around and found an electrical outlet in the nearby park. We loaded the nearly new battery for the dinghy in our wagon, and started charging it. My job was to ‘babysit’ the battery and wagon so no one messed with it. Sadly, after waiting for hours, the fully charged battery didn’t do the trick either. By now, Dan had been crawling around the engines and batteries all the hot day, and we both were exhausted. So, time to give it a rest and get some dinner! We had a lovely dinner, and strolled back to the boat. On the way, we came upon a ballroom dance class in the park. Totally charming! We came back to the boat for an early night – absolutely no electricity on the boat – no water pump, no toilet flush, very little lights. Tomorrow’s a new day!
Dan had been thinking about our issue over night, and knew what he needed to do – there had to be a loose wire somewhere. I was standing on the sidewalk talking to the Parks Canada young man, and I heard the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard – our two powerful Hino engines started! It was indeed a loose wire, and that was all it took. After allowing the engines to run for an hour or so, we were off to the first lock!
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