Day 8 – Happy Canada Day!

We left Prescott late morning and first passed under the Ogdensburg – Prescott International Bridge. No matter how many times you pass under a bridge, and no matter how much clearance you know is above, every sailor is convinced that they will hit the bridge with their mast! Well, we didn’t.

Thanks to a nice wind, we had a quick sail to the Iroquois lock, the first of 7 locks on the way to Montréal. Some call it a “fake” lock because the level only changes a few feet (it’s a current control lock). We were able to book and pay for the lock online. The logistics were pretty easy. We didn’t even have to tie up to the lock wall. The officer in charge had us hover in the middle. We’ll have more intense locking experiences in a few days.

We motorsailed another 20 nautical miles to anchor in a quiet bay at Long Sault, ON. Here, Jon and Cheri joined us and showed us the proper way to celebrate Canada Day! With fireworks in the background, we had a great time eating, drinking and playing our favorite music too loudly.

The evening was topped off by a violent rainstorm and tornado warnings (yikes)! The new enclosure was amazing, but another questionable Beneteau design decision was not. That is, rainwater landing on the deck is channeled aft through the cockpit. So while we had shelter from the rain, a few of us got wet butts.