Day 56: Marina de Sorel to Yacht Club Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada (39.5NM, 5.5 Hours)

We were up early this mooring to prep the boat for the trip to Montreal.  Our big concern was maximizing fuel efficiency while driving into  the 7 - 10 knot wind with higher gusts, and a 1 - 3 knot current steadily against us — not to mention handling the boat around the anticipated commercial traffic in the seaway.  The wind was pushing us hard into the dock like the day before yesterday.  Clause arrived in time to assist our departure from the dock.  We took on fuel and did a pump-out before entering the seaway.  By 8:50am we were under way to Montreal.  As we passed the mouth of the Richelieu River we saw a distinct color change in the water.  Muddy green water from the Richelieu mixing with the clearer green water of the St. Lawrence River.  Once passed the Richelieu we started feeling the effects of the wind and current. We set the engines RPMs at 12000 to get over 7 knots.  We used Clause’s recommendation to put the green buoys on our Starboard side. The difference in speed was amazing.  Inside the green buoys we averaged over 7.7 knots.  In the channel we saw 6.2 knots.  Speaking of the wind, it was around 65° this morning and the wind made it cold.  We had the flybridge all closed up to stay warm.  Linda cleaned the inside of the Strataglass trying to make the view better.  It didn’t help.  The St. Lawrence River is not as beautiful as we expected nor as deep; except for the ship channel.  The channel, too, seemed narrow.  In route we passed several large cargo ships heading down river to Quebec.  We had been told the bridge in Quebec over the St. Lawrence River limited the size of ships due to

Only Little Big Ships can go from Quebec City to
Montreal

height.  There were many small Canadian power boats and Sea Doos scooting at their top speed up and down the river.  We saw two yachts from the United States heading down river at a leisurely pace.  At one point we saw two kite surfers screaming along the water.  As we approached the tip of Ȋle Stainte—Hélène (Staint Helen Island) we followed a ferry toward Old Montreal.  Suddenly our speed shot up to 10 knots. But, that didn’t last long.  Once we passed the tip of the island our speed dropped to 4 knots.  Yup, 12000 RPM - 4 knots and we were still making headway.  Just as we entered the protection of the Yacht Club Montreal’s jetty Brian put the engines to idle so not to speed into the little harbor.  We were tied up at 2:25pm.  We were greeted by Ralph Azersky, a fellow looper here at the marina.  He has been here a few days while his wife, Linda, flew to New York for a baby shower for their daughter.  During our discussion he explained that Montreal is hosting an international fireworks competition this week.  The competition began June 28th and the fireworks are shot on Saturdays and Wednesdays.  Italy, Spain, Canada, United States, France, and Australia are in the competition.  Each team has their own feature night. Tonight is Australia’s turn and their theme is “Strictly Pyro - The world of Baz Lurhmann.”  (Baz Lurhmann is an Australian

Austrailian fireworks
display at Montreal's
International Fireworks
Competition

film director.)  Ralph came over a few minutes prior to the start, and we enjoyed the most spectacular views from our flybridge — where we saw both the high level fireworks over the bridge as well as, the low ground fireworks under the height of the bridge.  Brain and then Ralph crawled on top of the lania for added advantage to video a few minutes of the fireworks. It was at least a 30 minute treat of exceptional displays, with many combinations we had not seen previously.  Shortly afterwards, Ralph departed and we buttoned up for the upcoming rain.   We invited him back to watch the fireworks with us.  At 9:50pm we tuned our FM radio to a local radio station that was broadcasting the music for the fireworks. The fireworks started punctually at 10:00pm and lasted for 45 minutes.  The timing of the bursts of light and colors were spot on to the rhythm of the music.  This was a great treat.