Montreal

[Kyle]From our anchorage just out of the shipping channel at Longieuil, we made the up-current bash to the Montreal city center at Marina Port d'Escale.

We were a bit worried about this short leg. The marina reputedly gets few sailboats because the currents are at about the same speeds at which most cruise under power. Begonia is of course generally slower than most under power, so I wasn't confident we could even make it without resorting to flogging our poor motors at "Break Glass in Case of…" speeds. There are marinas that are easier to access by boat (Longieuil, for instance), but they are otherwise inconvenient to the main part of Montreal. The one that initially appeared to be our best compromise (a yacht club) told us their transient rate was $6.50 per foot per night ($237 plus 15% tax!)

"Is this Bubba's Taxidermy? I'm sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number" -click.

Possibly due to plenty of supply, combined with lack of demand from sailboats, staying right in the middle of downtown would be significantly less expensive, if not exactly affordable, but then you have to factor in that having everything right there saves the cost of getting busses and rides everywhere.

Seventy hours before our expected arrival, Maryanne called Marina Port d'Escale about availability. They gave no hint of how full they actually were, but said they would be happy to take a reservation with a one day deposit. Maryanne explained that we weren't sure we could make it, due to the current, and asked what would happen if we don't show up. She was told the reservation could be cancelled free of charge up to Seventy-two hours prior. After a bit of back-and-forth, she finally got them to verify that they would only charge us for the first day if we don't arrive; not ideal, but worth a shot. Well, I guess we'd better give it a shot, then.

The current wasn't too bad. I had planned three hours for the two-and-a-half mile trip, but found that by keeping far into the shallows at the edge, we were able to avoid most of the current with the exception of the pinch-point under the Jacques Cartier bridge. An AIS-equipped public ferry overtook us that was apparently using the same strategy. We followed their route exactly until reaching the shallows just upstream of the entrance to the protected old harbor. From there, it was just a third of a nautical mile across the main flow of the St. Lawrence to the still water beyond.

To help visualize how much water flows down the St. Lawrence, remember that it includes all of the water that goes over Niagara Falls, plus the rest of the 64,000 square kilometer Lake Ontario drainage basin. As we turned to cross this flow, we were going a little bit sideways and A LOT of backward. The eddies at the far edge slewed us around a bit, and then we shot back forward, half a mile behind the starting line of our crossing. Whew, we made it! AND the trip only took an hour and a half.

We needed to pass under a bridge, and cross a 7kt current to get to the marina - but it was much easier than we feared

The vieux-port (old harbor) at Montreal is fantastically well-protected. This is because of Montreal's cold winters. (Maryanne and I were here once when the outside temperature was -28C, -20F) Ice flowing down the river buckles and piles up in big chunks, which accumulate until the next thaw. To protect the city, the harbor walls are three stories high. Information boards at the top have photographs of people playing on ice that has slightly tumbled over the edges onto the street.

In the summertime, this makes the wharves look comically too big for anything smaller than a cruise ship. Even the superyachts in the marina, which is accessed by a long ramp, look like toys in a big bathtub. Our masthead wind instruments caught some of the breeze above, but the rest of the basin is flat calm all of the time. It was easy to swing Begonia up to the dock in a slow-speed hockey stop and come to a rest with an inch of air between it and our fenders. Then we could take our time stepping off and securing our lines.

With Montreal now literally at our doorstep, we couldn't help but start an immediate program of tramping through as much of this beautiful, historic city as our time would allow. Our immediate area at the vieux-port has miles of waterfront promenade backed by leafy green spaces and then several pedestrianized blocks of the historic old city, which teemed with boutique shops and outdoor restaurants, each with its own smell beckoning us to stop and rest a while. Although we thought our first foray was going to be a modest reconnoiter, by the time we were done, we had put miles and miles on our legs darting from one appealing scene to another.

We were soon off exploring the city in glorious sunshine

Notre Dame Basilica

Canal side walk

The next day, wanting to do something a little more ambitious, we set off for the summit of Mount Royal, homophone to the bustling city below. The climb was steep and the day was the hottest of the year so far. We weren't the only ones. It seems that nearly every local's fitness routine includes bounding up the 339 stairs of the Grand Staircase two at a time to get to the top.

Once we were there, we couldn't just turn tail and descend back home. There is lots of lovely parkland up there, so we decided to loop around to the back and find a different route to the boat from there. After several more detours along the way to look at shiny things, we had clocked up just over fourteen miles by the time we had stepped aboard for good.

More sightseeing on route to Mount Royal

The climb to the top of Mount Royal started off inocently enough, but boy, there were a LOT of stairs to get that view from the top

Later that day we enjoyed simply roaming the streets and enjoying the evening ambiance of the city

We were foot weary enough the next morning that we promised each other we were going to make an effort to take it easy. We decided to go to St. Helen's and Notre Dame Islands, which were in the middle of the St. Lawrence just across from the marina. There is a ferry that leaves from the marina, but we were feeling spry enough at the beginning that we decided to walk there via the Jacque Cartier Bridge. From the marina, the bridge doesn't look too far, but since it is so far up, it is necessary to walk 2k or so in the wrong direction to get onto the bridge, and then another 3k to get across.

The trek to and across the Jacque-Cartier Bridge

The geodesic dome was built as part of the American Pavillion for Expo '67 (one of the great world's fairs). It turned out way too slow and expesive to build with the planned nuts and bolts, so they welded it instead, then were stuck with it in place (too expensive to remove) so it was 'gifted' to the city of Montreal. A fire in 1976 lost the outer covering, and it is currently home to an environmental museum which we thought would be interesting but was mostly geared to school groups. It did have some nice art exhibits and plenty of microscopes to play with.

When we got to St. Helen's Island, we found most of it was closed off for a Formula One race the coming weekend, leaving the Montreal Biosphere as the only attraction that was accessible and open. We paid the fee to go in and almost immediately realized why we were the only ones there. Despite being in the middle of what was the world's largest geodesic dome when it was built in 1967, the museum itself consists of about half a dozen small exhibits that culminate in a nearly empty room with a view of the inside of the dome's frame. We tarried as much as we could, but after just over an hour, neither of us could think of anything else to do to get the value out of our overpriced tickets, so we set off for home.

We had the ferry as a backup plan, which sounded okay, but we weren't exhausted yet, so we decided to walk. Not wanting to spend another forty minutes trudging along the walkway of the Jacques Cartier Bridge alongside the noise and fumes of heavy traffic, we decided to go a few more miles out of our way to the the next, less busy bridge up-river and make a long circuit that would take in new areas we hadn't yet seen.

It wasn't all great. We ended up going through a long stretch of warehouse district with no shade or benches to give us a break from the sun or the walking, but by the time we arrived home, with bellies full of delicious restaurant fare, we were pretty satisfied that we had taken in as much of the city as we could have without resorting to buses or taxis. Montreal is a beautiful city. We were glad to finally get to spend some time enjoying it in the heat of summer.

[Maryanne]If we'd had another day (or two) in Montreal we'd have visited the Botanic gardens and the site of the 1976 Olympic Stadium where there is a 5 ecosystem biodome that we thought would keep us well occupied.. but alas, we had to move on.. so there is always something for next time.

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We stayed in the Old Port which is run by the local port authority: Port d’Escale Marina