Navigator on the Loop: Crossing into Canada

Rouses Point New York was our last stop in the U S. We left early in the morning and checked through Canadian Customs by phone from the customs dock before the customs agent arrived at eight AM. Was that easy!

Almost immediately we were aware of some differences between out two countries. The first thing we noticed were the clothes lines on pulleys, many of which had clothes drying on them. In a lot of ways rural Canada is like I remember the U S back in the fifties growing up. There lifestyle seems to be a lot less hectic.

The Chambly Canal was beautiful for scenery although the water in the canal was pretty dirty. No swimming here! We are still not getting much warm weather yet, a lot of rain and cold for early summer. The locks in the Canadian Heritage Canals are almost all original having been built in the eighteen hundreds. They were built for Canada's defense against the aggressors from the south, meaning the U S. The war of 1812 is referenced more in Canada. If I remember anything of American history I sure don't remember anything of the War of 1812. Apparently we weren't too successful, at least that is the Canadian perspective.

The locks are almost exclusively hand operated. The lock doors are operated by a turn-style apparatus and the operator makes thirteen full revolutions to open or close each door. After the doors are closed the appropriate gates are opened to either raise or lower the water in the lock depending on our direction of travel. When the level of the lock is equal to the exiting level the opposite doors are opened and we drive out and onto the next lock.

The heritage canals are all run by Parks Canada and at our first lock we purchased an annual lock pass and an annual mooring pass. With these passes we have unlimited use of the locks and we are allowed to moor our boats on the lock walls overnight. Only a few of the locks have hydro, electrical connection for us Americans, and water. Although the passes were approximately $800 it is a great value and a convenience to be able stay right at a lock overnight. The hours of operation of the locks are rather short. They don't open until 9:00 AM and close at either 6:00 pm or 7:00 pm depending on the day of the week. We are accustomed to the locks on the Mississippi River being open twenty four hour a day. By timing our travels we attempt to complete our last lock close to the end of their day, stay on the far side of the lock overnight and leave early the next morning to be at the next lock when it opens.

We have found everyone in Canada to be very friendly and generally delightful people. The locks are staffed largely by students on summer break. The students seem to delight in talking to us to get our prospective on U S and Canadian affairs.

It is great work for them. The get a lot of hours in by working six days a week. They are paid for forty hours a week and the additional hours are banked and they continue receiving pay checks until their hours are all paid. They love getting pay checks after they return to school. Many of them return every summer until they graduate and have full time employment. One young man uses his time off to travel the world rather than attend college.