Aug 4, 2015 | Flotsam
Before getting on with what we did today,
I have to comment on the Valleyfield Marina.
I did mention yesterday that it felt like a five star hotel…
Today,
when we were ready to leave,
we handed in our swipe key
and were escorted back to our Quai
…by golf cart,
asked if we enjoyed our stay
and were bid a safe journey home.
Very nice!
Boaters’ Notes
From Valleyfield to the Beauharnois Locks
there are two bridges that all boats have to pass
regardless of air draft
and there is a schedule….
…and these BFB’s
(our name for them – cleaned up a bit for you…
Big Fluvial Boats)
have priority…
But we, as small as we are,
have the pleasure of stopping traffic on two highways…
…for free…
There are two locks at Beauharnois
and we spent 3 hours transiting the two,
us and three other boats
because priority goes to the commercial vessels.
We took advantage of the time,
cracked a bottle of wine
and enjoyed some paté, cheese and bread…
so very thankful to be back in the land of really good French bread.
But on the far side of the waiting,
we sailed
a magnificent sail.
…our favourite friendly club,
Baie d’Urfé Yacht Club
on Lake Saint-Louis.
“Can we stop for the night?”
….and the answer is always the same…
“Sure”.
Aug 4, 2015 | Flotsam
We left our anchorage this morning
at a reasonable hour…
…crack of 09:30…
The skies looked a bit threatening
but the weather report for our location was favourable.
Rain and frisky winds were forecast
but we received no more than 10 minutes of rain.
The wind however was perfect…
strong,
at our backs.
By mid-afternoon we had reached Valleyfield
and decided to treat ourselves
as with our boat club it has the designation
of an Eco-Marina.
We love being independent and at anchor
but to have a secure dock space,
a place to deposit garbage,
real showers and washrooms
and above all
ELECTRICITY!
We can plug stuff in with abandon.
And my goodness they even have magnetic swipe cards
for each Quai…so very five star!
The first thing we did (after plugging stuff in of course)
was walk to get a few more supplies
to get us through until we reach our home base.
François even took me past where he attended CÉGEP
(high school/college level in Québec).
Back at the boat we dined on boat risotto…
(luckily there were some leftovers for
Arancini with Marinara Sauce for tomorrow)
…and with our supply of red wine replenished,
we enjoyed a little bit of cheese…
to go with a little more bread…
to go with a little more wine…
…while the sun set on another day…
as we drank a little more wine to go with that last bit of cheese,
and a little slice of bread…
and a morsel of dark chocolate.
