Question about transit time from Montreal (mouth of Ottowa River) to Clayton, NY.

Mischief Managed

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I am considering a clockwise Golden Triangle cruise starting and ending at Clayton, NY for Summer of 2017. I am planning for 6 days to get from Clayton to the Ottowa River. That should give me a bit of time to explore some of the ports on the route.

Once on the Ottowa River on the morning of the 7th day, I plan to just make good time at a 35 MPH downstream cruise, getting to Grand Isle in less than 4 hours. This seems like a very reasonable goal, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong...

Once at Grand Isle, I plan to immediately start traveling upstream on the St Lawrence toward Clayton. I expect to be delayed by the locks on the St. Lawrence, and cruise at 30ish MPH (speed over ground) against the current when outside of no wake zones. How long should the cruise from Grand Isle to Clayton take me? I'm guessing 1.5 days, but I really have no clue what to expect for delays on those locks...

Please bear in mind that the primary goal of this trip is to explore the Rideau Canal, then get back to Clayton the quickest way possible by boat without back tracking. I realize I will be blasting past interesting areas for exploration and I also realize that there will probably be long dull stretches of river boating.

I can cover 150 miles on a full tank of gas and still have fuel in reserve. I have done several 150 mile days of river/bay/ocean boating in the past and my boat is ideal for it. Thus, the distances and speeds are not an issue.
 

tpenfield

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Golden Triangle :noidea: It that like the Bermuda Triangle :D

You had some great pictures from your prior trip to the 1000 Island area. Although I can't help with the trip planning, I'm looking forward to following the journey through social media :thumb:
 

ericga

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The Rideau canal is 45 locks so in 6 days you won't be visiting much. 4h from Ottawa to Grand-Isle is optimistic and only achievable if you are lucky with the locks (Carillon and Ste-Anne de Bellevue). If you plan to get on the western side you'll have 2 seaway locks + 2 bridges extra.

Western side of Grand-isle to Clayton is doable in one day. Again, if you are lucky. The seaway locks are unpredictable as ships have priority. Leave early and give yourself one day buffer in case of long waiting time.

You are definitely going to miss several interesting areas. Even with the weather on your side, this is going to be an exhausting trip given the time you have.
 

Mischief Managed

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Thanks so much for the reply.

I based my 6 days on this excerpt from http://www.rideaufriends.com/documents/watson-guide.pdf:


"A one way trip can be done by a powerboat in as little as 4 to 5 days, but in reality you should plan at least 6 days each

way. A general rule of thumb is to assume 30 minutes for each lock and an average speed of 10 kph. So, with 202 km and
45 locks, that's 43 hours of travel time to get you from Lake Ontario to the Ottawa River. Insummer, the lockstations are

open 9 hours a day - so that's 4.7 days. Presumably you'll want some additional time to sightsee, shop, swim, fish, etc. So,
look at the maps, figure out where you want to go, and do the math. Don?t rush, give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the
scenery and relax."

We would love to spend more time, but we're not retired yet and don't have that option. The locks close at 6PM and open at 9AM in the Summer, so most of our on-shore exploration will have to happen when the locks are closed and that's not a problem. We will surely miss a lot of stuff, but this will not be our only cruise of the area, just the first... We have lots of experience with multiple long boat-days in a row in all kinds of weather, and frankly we find it the opposite of exhausting, except for maybe gale force winds...

The canal portion of this trip would be a breeze compared to some stuff we have already done. The long river cruises are something we have done a few times before. For instance, In ONE day earlier this year, we cruised Solomons, MD to Washington DC (that's roughly 125 miles and the first 35 miles were in 2 foot chop), got a transient slip, walked through some touristy parts of DC, toured the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Caught an IMAX movie, went out for an Anniversary dinner, walked back to the boat, took the boat back out for an evening cruise up to Georgetown, watched the sun set, and got back to our slip well after dark. This was day 4 of a cruise that had already covered nearly 300 miles around Chesapeake Bay and included visits to 8 ports (Perryville, Great Oak Landing, Annapolis, Rock Hall, Chestertown, Knapp Narrows, Oxford and Solomons). We can pack a lot of fun into a short time. It helps that we are both very ADHD and can't sit still.

I was not aware of the two locks on the Ottowa River, I'll have plan extra time for those. I'm guessing they won't be slammed with commercial traffic.

I'm not sure what you meant by: "
If you plan to get on the western side you'll have 2 seaway locks + 2 bridges extra." Is there another route that's easier/faster?
 

ericga

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I meant the first two seaway locks are at the entrance of the Bauharnois canal at Grand-Isle. If you plan to get on the west side of the island you have to go through the Bauharnois seaway locks + the two Valleyfield bridges.

There is only one route via Ottawa river - St Lawrence.

Carillon lock - Park Canada - Can take long time as it is 60-70ft high
Ste-Anne de Bellevue lock - Park Canada - a joke but can get really busy
Beauharnois lock 1 - Seaway
Beauharnois lock 2 - Seaway
Valleyfield Bridge 1 - Seaway
Valleyfield Bridge 2 - Seaway
Snell lock - Seaway
Eisenhower lock - Seaway
Iroquois lock - Seaway - You can go under the bridge instead if you have enough clearance

Below would be a good plan if you leave early in the day:

1 day Ottawa - Valleyfield (it is going to be more than 4h)
1 day Valleyfield - Clayton
1 day buffer

You have several options once in Valleyfield including marinas, the old canal, park Sauve dock or anchor in the bay. ​If you think you can't make it to Valleyfield on day 1 my suggestion is to stay overnight at Ste-Anne de Bellevue lock.
 

ericga

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Few options and tips for you on this route. I can't list them all as there is too many.

Chateau Montebello - Realy nice but bring your wallet. You'll need it.
Hawkesbury - Cheapest fuel around. Gas is expensive in the area.
Oka beach - Good place for a swim. There is a nudist area so you've been warned.
Ste-Anne de Bellevue lock - You can tie to the wall. ~20$/night no power if you don't mind the train. Few restaurants close by.
Dowker island - Overnight anchorage in the east side bay. Stay well in the middle.
You can take the route between Dowker island and Ile-Perrot to the seaway. Follow the markers carefully in the area.
Valleyfield - Park Sauve docks 20$/night no power. Old Canal 1-2$/ft with power. Nice area and restaurants nearby. Anchoring in the bay is also possible. Gas available at the marina. Again follow the markers and beware the underwater cement wall.
Baie-des-brises - nice place for a swim. Very busy on hot days.
Raymond island - Restaurant/bar on the island.
St-Zotique beach - swim.
Summerville beach - swim
Cornwall marina. Gas & restaurant
Robert Moses marina (US side)
Long Sault parkway - swim
Chrysler park marina - Gas. Watch your steps (you'll understand if you stop)
Toussaint island - Overnight anchorage between the two islands.
Cardinal - There is a wall in the old canal where you can tie up for the night
Prescott marina - Really nice place. Everything you need close by. Gas.
Brockville municipal marina - Wall ~2$/ft with power. Gas & restaurants.
Brockville islands - Several dockage areas . 1-1.50$/night no power

If you are from Clayton you probably know the interesting areas from there.

Notes for seaway lockage:
You'll find a machine to pre-pay for the lockage at the seaway waiting docks. Credit cards usually accepted otherwise you have to pay the exact amount cash.
You are not allowed to stay overnight at the waiting docks.
Have 4 ropes (2 long ones) and fenders on both sides.
Carry a sharp knife in case of emergency.
You'll need two telescopic poles.
They may ask all people on board to wear a safety vest (including pets).
Check marinetraffic.com or other ship tracking sites. You'll save time.
You can call the lock in advance and ask the approximative time the next pleasurecraft lockage is expected.
 

Mischief Managed

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Thanks for all the tips, that kind of insider info is extremely valuable to me and if I do this trip I will definitely be using it.

I appreciate the advice on the seaway locakage.

I actually live in New Hampshire, I chose Clayton as a starting/stopping point because I know it well and might be spending a few days there with friends on either end of this trip.
 

ericga

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Here is a guide with more info on the seaway locks:

http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/pdf/pleasurecraftguide.pdf

The biggest issue is planing your next overnight stay as the waiting time is unpredictable. If you are lucky you can go trough all of them in one day easily. I remember one time waiting 6 hours for one. That's why I recommend planning an extra day and prepare a plan B just in case.
 

Old Ironmaker

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By boat or ice skates? Sorry couldn't help it. Before I finally got a real boat I always thought we would be doing trips like this. Then I found out my boat is too small. Plus I found 6 snakes in the boat one morning after taking the cover off. No way no how I'm sleeing on the water now. I thought maybe a bigger boat. Then when coming into port I saw a huge snake maybe 20 feet long make it's way up a swim ladder into a good size cruiser up and under the zipped camper top. No way no how. It might have been 3 feet but it doesn't matter.
 

ericga

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Mar 4, 2012
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Ordered it two weeks ago and received it 3-4 days after. Consider getting the discovery pass at the same time.
 
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