Thursday, May 10

Departing Canadian Customs Shack

Plattsburgh Marina - Lake Champlain

Cool, overcast, occasional rain ...... the normal as of late.

Entering Canadian waters

As we pulled out of the Plattsburgh Marina this morning there was a flurry of activity, it appears everyone wants their boat put in.  Sound familiar?
Plattsburgh, N.Y., is only an hour drive from Montreal and many Canadian sailors keep their live aboard sailboats at this marina.  Lake Champlain truly is a cruising paradise, especially so once the water and temperature warms up.  Too bad we probably will never have another opportunity to return.
Late morning we crossed into Canadian waters, entering Quebec Province.  This is marked on Lake Champlain by a simple white marker, nothing like the state welcome signs that you see lining our highways.
Customs was a no-brainer (unlike what you endure at the airport).  The agents were friendly, helped us with docking & had us on our way in a matter of minutes.  We are finding there are benefits in cruising
off-season.
Soon we entered the Richelieu River where navigational buoys were few and far between, thank goodness for GPS & depth finders.  Eighteen miles later we arrived in St. Jean Sur -Richelieu, the largest city on the Richelieu River.  That's not saying much, it feels like we are out in the boonies.
Very friendly place, but they talk funny!