Locks Two and Three

We left Ste Ann's at about 0945 this morning, after picking up a few things for the boat. I guess that this is part of boating... always needing something or other. One of the things was liquid gold, an essential. We followed the chart closely and dodged squalls through following winds until we got yelled at, for the first time, at Kanawake as we entered the seaway. We were told to put our sails down.

Ste Catherine lock is something else. We were given ropes and told that we were going down... we didn't realize how far down. At the bottom of the lock, our mast head was well below the wet line of the wall. We got yelled at again at the St lambert Lock... something about trying to leave before we were told. At Ile Notre Dame we heard a Guatemalan folk group and then watched people playing at La Ronde. Fittingly, that's when our wild ride started. Winds were blustery and permitted us to maintain a broad reach with the gunnel at the water. Did I mention reach... with no tacking? The mixture of wind and the St. Helen's current had us hitting a high speed mark of 12.2 knots, with the baby jib and a reefed main!!! For land lubbers, to calculate experienced speed in a sailboat, use this formula: Miles per hour thrill equivalent = Knots x about 60.

After following the shipping channel for a while, we spotted a quaint town Verchere a few kilometers past Varenne. Happily, it has a government marina and we got out of the wind for the night. Coffee at a local restaurant finished the day.

Tomorrow, no locks, but we will pass a few rivers. Let's see what the weather brings... We are hoping to get past Trois Riviers... the town, and with any luck and our now seasoned seamanship skills, we expexct that no one will yell at us.