July 6… out of the marina by 8…AIS shows no freighters coming or going from the lock area….Saint Lambert Lock…up 18 feet…we are there by 9…followed by three other boats…We’ve been warned to not use the credit card machine as if it doesn’t issue the receipt, you pay twice.  You use the special phone at the lock wall to call but the lockmaster says they are doing maintenance on the bridge and we’ll have to wait about an hour…oh, then just another 45 minutes or so…finally…almost 11 and we get into the lock. By this time there are five of us…we are rafted to a 39’ Meridian who speaks English…we are all secure and then here comes a sail boat, ever so slowly…so we wait for him.  This lock charges $30 …cash or charge…so once at the top we wait for everyone to settle up before going.  The next ten miles is in a canal around Montreal to another big commercial lock, St Catherine. We meet a big sea going freighter in the narrowest part (of course) and figure that he is the reason we finally got our lift…they needed the lock ready for him.  At St Catherine Lock, they are waiting for us…and the sail boat…up 32’ this time…and another $30. But it is Canadian money, which today is about 80 cents to the dollar. We go cheaper than they do.

We opt to go on another 23 miles into the mouth of the Richelieu River to the town of Saint Anne-de-Bellevue..There is a 3’ lock there and plenty of lock wall in this town for 35 boats. We find space on the town shore side and tie up…we are on a boardwalk that appears to be main street St Anne…lots of restaurants, people, boats, jet skis….and it is hot. No AC/electric tonight.  We get lots of advice from locals about where not to eat…Klondike!!! And according to them, the pubs at our end are among the best. We pick one…and then think why??? We fix better and cheaper on the boat. What were we thinking??? The party never stops…we are still hearing folks walk by at 3 AM…and it’s hot…not one of our better nights.