At each of the two
American locks, you descend about 45 feet. We passed through the Eisenhower
Lock with 5 power boats who were rafted up together in front of us. Unlike the
Canadian locks where they pass you lines, at the American locks you tie up to
floating bollards. As the only sailboat, we were attached to a bollard by
ourselves.
As we exited the Eisenhower and motored the half hour to the
Snell lock we could see a thunderstorm approaching. A squall watch had been
issued. We were held at the Snell lock for commercial traffic.
The five power boats and us circling slowly waiting for the lights to turn green to signal we could enter. While waiting, the thunderstorm approached with a vengeance. Luckily for us, we only saw wind gusts of 15 knots in the protected canal between the two locks. The lockmaster at Snell later told us they had registered 40 to 50 knot gusts on the other side of the Eisenhower lock. Twice the lightening and sound of thunder was instantaneous, but the storm moved over fairly quickly. It did rain very heavy for 15 to 20 minutes. We turned on our navigation lights to ensure we were more visible to the other 5 boats circling in the small space. About an hour later we were able to lock through Snell, by which time the rain had almost completely stopped. By 12:30pm we were through the Snell Lock and headed back into Canadian waters.
The afternoon turned sunny and the wind remained light. The
rest of the day was relatively uneventful except for a small plumbing issue. Around
mid-afternoon, Jay was doing the dishes and the galley sink refused to drain.
The calm water made it easier for him to dismantle the drain, clean out the
blockage and reassemble the drain. The five power boats and us circling slowly waiting for the lights to turn green to signal we could enter. While waiting, the thunderstorm approached with a vengeance. Luckily for us, we only saw wind gusts of 15 knots in the protected canal between the two locks. The lockmaster at Snell later told us they had registered 40 to 50 knot gusts on the other side of the Eisenhower lock. Twice the lightening and sound of thunder was instantaneous, but the storm moved over fairly quickly. It did rain very heavy for 15 to 20 minutes. We turned on our navigation lights to ensure we were more visible to the other 5 boats circling in the small space. About an hour later we were able to lock through Snell, by which time the rain had almost completely stopped. By 12:30pm we were through the Snell Lock and headed back into Canadian waters.
By 5pm we arrived at Salaberry de Valleyfield and anchored in
the harbour. We took the dinghy to shore for a few provisions. Two years ago
the town also opened part of the old canal and there are docks on both sides. We tied to the town dock and it was just a
short four blocks to the grocery store. Several restaurants and shops were also
within easy walking distance. Now, as the sun sets, we are enjoying the lovely fountain,
lit by coloured lights, here in the bay.
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