Triangle Loop Trip 2022

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kmclemore
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by kmclemore »

ris wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:13 pm Kevin gonna try real hard to see you when we get back maybe in September. We have been in Montreal for this is our third night and tomorrow we head to Sainte Anne de Bellevue and then work our way to Ottawa by Monday or Tuesday. Just started meeting other loopers. Two are from Florida. Only one Mac person so far.
Our September will be a busy one, but we should be here the first two weeks. However, the last two I’ll be racing my ‘52 MG up in Ohio and then stopping into K’zoo to see relatives.
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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by ris »

We have been having so much fun kind of forgot to keep posting. We spent three days in Montreal left on the Lachine canal went to Saint Anne de Bellevue. Then proceeded up the Ottawa River to Montebello public marina where there is a really nice Gregor 26M. Spent three days in The city of Ottawa. Two days before 1 July celebration in Canada we headed down the Rideau canal system. The day we arrived at Merrick Ville to locks before we enter the law and right across from us was a 26 M and we locked up together. I think he posts on this website but I’m not sure maybe I have a picture I can post later. After 12 days on the Rideau canal system we are two days from Kingston Ontario. A week or two spent going from Ottawa to Kingston on the Rideau Canal is well worth your time it is beautiful. No need for a mast. The water and towns are all nice.
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Jimmyt
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by Jimmyt »

Sounds great. Looking forward to some pics.
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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by ris »

June 12 2022 We have a bit of wind as we head for Catfish Bay just south of Rouses Point for our last night in the US.

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The next morning we head about 5 miles to the Canadian Customs Dock. We had about 1.5 foot waves as we attempted to dock at the customs dock. A couple of folks helped us dock which is why there are no pics. My wife is listed as Captain so she deals with all customs and coastguard folks while I stay in the boat. We then head on up lake Champlain (north) as the lake turns into the Richelieu River. At St-Jean-sur-Richelieu we stop for the night as we want to start the Chambly Canal the next day. Some folks called that evening who we looped with in 2019 and they were coming through the next morning and wanted to see us before we started the canal. So we had breakfast and started the canal at 1300. Early in the season they only have 2 south bound and 2 north bound locking groups per day. A group of lock people travel with you as you go through the canal. There are 9 locks and 4 bridges that have to be raised. It takes about 3.5 hours to transit the canal. Our group was a 37 ft boat, a 28 ft pontoon boat made into a small houseboat and us, the Jill Kristy. This canal was made because there are several areas of rapids on the Richelieu River in this area. At times you are above the river and houses by 15 or 20 feet as you move through the canal.

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By the time we exited we were tired. The last set of locks is 3 locks in a row that are connected. The exit door is the entry door to the next lock. So you only move about 50 feet. At the bottom you come out on lake Chambly. We stayed here 3 nights. The next day we did the grocery, go to the bank for some Canadian money and pick up a roll of loonies for laundry. Loonies are $1 coins they also have toonies which are $2 coins. They have no $1 or $2 paper money. Also you can use a credit card almost anywhere even for a $4 purchase. Some small shops only take credit or debit cards. It was at Lake Chambly that we found out that we had to delay our arrival in Montreal by 5 days because of the road race. So we also did a bit of sight seeing. Chambly is a great little town. In Canada a lot of the towns are walkable and not spread out as a lot of towns in the US. We have bought a season mooring pass from Parks Canada so we can stay on any lock wall or parks Canada island if there is room. Usually no power or shower but there is always a restroom. About 1 in 10 of locks have power or showers. We swim in the canals and lakes for our showers. The picture below is the dock and lock wall that starts at the lock and goes out into the lake.

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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

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So on the 16th of Jun we traveled 35 miles down the Richelieu River to the lock at St. Ours. This lock is an island on one side of the lock. We spent 3 nights here visiting in the evenings with loopers that stopped for the night. In the picture below the lock is on the left and the dam is on the right. We tied up at the end of the island in the foreground.
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After our 3rd night we went north to Sorel and headed upstream on the St. Lawrence to the town called Parc Nautique Contrecoeur. This was a 30 mile trip but as the crow flies we were about 5 miles from where we started. The wind was stronger than expected from the NE and we were headed SW into the 1.5 mph current on the St. Lawrence. This means the waves got tall and steep. We were going with the wind and would surf down the waves going from 5.3 mph to as high as 10.2 mph. When the anchor on the bow entered the next wave as we surfed down a wave we decided to head right next to shore, about 50 feet off the shoreline in 8 to 15 ft of water and the waves were only a foot to 1.5 feet. That was a relief as there is no where in this area to get off the river. It took a little over 6 hrs to make this trip. When we docked at a small marina it was a big relief.
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The next day we headed to Montreal to the marina in the old port area. There is about one mile or so of river where the St. Lawrence channel is very narrow and the current heading upstream goes from 2 mph to about 5 mph. Some of the trawlers that only go 8 knots look like they are not even moving. We went to 4500 rpm to get up to 5mph. That is some stiff current. We spent 3 nights in Montreal visiting a history museum, eating some smoked meat poutine which was very good, just having a good time and doing the laundry. We left Montreal on 23 Jun and entered the Lachine Canal that lets you go through the edge of Montreal instead of heading up the St. Lawrence and going through two large locks which handle all the sea going ships that travel on the great Lakes. The Lachine brings you out where the St. Lawrence meets the Ottawa River near where Star Scream keeps his boat. He was sick and we could not meet up but he still offered us his slip in his home marina. Thanks for the offer but we did miss seeing you again. That night we stopped in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue at the lock wall. We are now traveling up the Ottawa River toward Ottawa. The picture below is a lock on the Lachine Canal. This canal has floating docks in the lock. You do not see floating docks in hardly any other locks. You can also see it was a rainy day. As a side note you must be able to get under a 8 foot 4 inch bridge in order to do the Lachine Canal.

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On the 24th of June we left St. Anne traveled 37.4 miles to Hawkesbury and going through a lock called the Carillon lock which is a vertical lift of 65 feet. As you can see the boats are rafted 3 wide in this lock. There are 6 more boats behind us.

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OverEasy
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by OverEasy »

Hi Ris!

Boy you guys sound like you are having a great and fun adventure! :) :)
We really enjoy your travelog installments! :) :)

That picture of the multistory lock is intimidating to say the least!

Hope all continues to go well for you on your travels!

Best Regards
Over Easy 😎😎🐩🐈
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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by ris »

We just entered Georgian Bay yesterday. I wanted to post two pics of Macs we met. The first pic is a mac we met as we entered a lock just before Smith Falls on the Rideau. He was in the lock and we pulled in right beside him and his wife. We thought they would come on into Smith Falls but we did not see them again.

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The next Mac we met on the Trent/Severn Waterway between locks 15 and 16. We spent time checking out each others boats and we had supper together. They had recently purchased the boat and it had the original cushions in very good shape as the PO kept them inside and did not use the boat much.

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We so enjoy meeting up with other Mac folks.
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Jimmyt
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by Jimmyt »

Great post! Thanks!
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OverEasy
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by OverEasy »

Wow!
Yer really cruising along!!!

What great sights to see AND more fellow Mac26X and Mac26M travelers to share the experience with!

Best Regards
Over Easy 😎😎🐩🐈
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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

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We met up with our friends from Coboconk Canada in Hawkesbury on June 25th. We traveled with this couple and others all the way to Ottawa and then down the Rideau Canal. We visited the Montebello Hotel, the largest log structure in the world. The building contains 4,000,000 cubic feet and was built with 10,000 western cedar logs in the 30's. It is impressive. We then traveled on toward Ottawa arriving the morning of the 27th of Jun. To enter the Rideau Canal from the Ottawa River you have to enter a flight of eight locks. This set of 8 locks takes about 2 to 2.5 hrs to transit and lifts you 79 feet from the Ottawa River to the northern end of the Rideau Canal which is in the center of the city of Ottawa.

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The Rideau Canal is 125 miles long with 29 locks that takes you form Ottawa to Kingston Ontario. You can canoe, kayak, paddleboard or boat this waterway. If you can only do one or part of one waterway in Canada this is my favorite. You can tie to lock walls or anchor out each night. You have to buy a pass to go through the locks and a pass to stay on the lock walls. There are 6 or so lock walls with power but most only have a restroom and a place to get water. Below is a pic of us tied to the lock wall at Merrickville with our two friends who traveled with us on the boat for 5 days and 4 nights.

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Russ
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by Russ »

Wonderful pics. Thanks for sharing!
--Russ
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by OverEasy »

Hi Riss

Sounds like you are having a GREAT TRIP!!! :) :)

Best Regards
Over Easy 😎😎🐩🐈
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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by ris »

We had guests on our Mac for 4 nights after we left Ottawa and traveled down the Rideau Canal. In order to make the cockpit benches more sleepable we added this board that fits from the driving seat to the driving console.

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We also have 2 cushions that fit in this space that makes it a cushioned area from the back of the driver seat to the console and it is the same height as the bench cushions. This makes the shoulder and arm area much wider so your arm doesn't keep falling off the bench cushion. But after 4 nights and 5.5 days we were glad to get down to just two people on the Mac. It was a lot of fun introducing people to boating especially on the Rideau which is very pretty.(posted this before on regular forum) We have also slept in the cockpit with this little mod and it sleeps just fine. This works in Florida were it can be warm even in the winter. There is also a 12 volt plug in the console under the wheel where I plug my cpap or you can charge your ipad as you drive as we do since we use Agua Maps for our chart plotter.
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ris
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by ris »

We launched the Mac on 31 May in Ft. Edward and arrived back there on Sept. 15, 2022. We traveled approximately 1,500 miles in 104 days. This was 280 engine hrs. We passed through 192 locks. I must confess that as we traveled back down the Trent Severn Waterway from Georgian Bay we were getting a little tired of passing through locks.
A short synopsis of the trip: Ft. Edward on the Champlain Canal to Lake Champlain, Richelieu River, Chambly Canal, St. Lawrence Seaway, Montreal, Lachine Canal, Ottawa River, Ottawa, Rideau Canal, Kingston, Bay of Quinte, Trent Severin Waterway, Georgian Bay, Parry Sound, then turn around back down the Trent Severin to Bay of Quinte to Kingston, 1000 Islands then crossing Lake Ontario from Cape Vincent NY to Oswego NY, Oswego Canal to the Erie Canal then east to Waterford NY on the Erie. Then up the Champlain Canal loading the boat on the trailer in Ft. Edward NY.
We had a wonderful time. Sorry but we fell behind in posting our adventure. Next boat trip will start and end most likely in Georgian Bay and the North Channel in 2024.
Our Honda BFP 60A performed flawlessly. The motor now has 2,036 hrs on it. We used around 200 gallons of gas costing about $1800 Canadian. Our 175 watt solar panel worked great keeping us supplied with power. The MPPT solar controller is a Rich Solar 20 amp. We had our Engle fridge and a much cheaper fridge freezer and never had a problem with power. We could go 3 completely cloudy and rainy days on anchor before we would need to run the boat motor for charging the batteries. We usually traveled after a couple of days on anchor so we only ran the motor for 1.5 hours once as the charge got down to 62%.
Our 2.3 hp Honda dinghy motor did a fine job.
We gave away our dinghy at Orillia marina as it was 7 years old, and we had pulled it around 9,000 miles. It weighed 95 lbs and took up too much room when storing on the boat is why we gave her away for a free dinner and 6 butter tarts to someone who had just bought a boat and needed a dinghy. Our next one will be smaller and hopefully weigh around 40 lbs or less.
If you did not go up the Trent to Parry Sound and back you could save going through 88 locks, and about 45 or 50 days. The trip minus the trip up the Trent is called the "triangle loop". Even at a leisurely pace you could do the trip in 50 days. Or you could break it into segments.
We really enjoyed this trip and met several Mac folk. Even spent a couple of days with two of them. We simply enjoy the clean waterways and nice people of Canada. We also enjoyed the cool weather of the Canadian summer especially if you compare it with the summer in central Florida.
We will now spend the next 3 weeks traveling slowly back to Florida using our Mac as a camper.

Richard
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Jimmyt
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Re: Triangle Loop Trip 2022

Post by Jimmyt »

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a blast!
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