Montreal

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

045-30.360 N
073-33.000 W

Ahoy, or should I say "Bonjour" from Montreal!

We actually made it to Montreal! The slog to the marina in up to 6 kts of current was everything that had been described in the guide book. Luckily the current wasn't a constant 6 kts against us, but at times it was and we got down to making just 1 kt over ground. The currents really push you around, so it took a lot of active steering to keep us moving in a semi-straight line. It easily took us an hour to go 1.5 miles, but we made it.

The marina is well sheltered from the currents, but not from the wind. The staff, who all speak English, had me back into a slip and due to the cross winds, lets just say that it wasn't my best docking...but no paint was lost. However, the slip was far too short for BlueJacket and we had to move to a larger slip and I got to back in again. I did much better, but it still wasn't pretty. However, after watching other boats dock, I didn't feel bad. The marina is in a large basin surrounded by high walls lined with shops where all of the tourists departing from the small cruise/tour boats go. You end up feeling like you're living in a fish bowl. On the upside, you're right in the middle of Old Montreal. The main promenade that leads to city hall is right across the street. You couldn't be more central.

The old part of Montreal is just beautiful with ornate architecture and winding little streets. One of the things that impresses me, is just how tall this city is, even in the older sections. You're constantly looking up, and I mean way up, to see the whole building and the details at the top. I tried taking video of the city, but decided that my video camera didn't have a wide enough angle lens to do an adequate job, so I just went back to still photos, and I must say that I got some very nice shots.

We ended up being here longer than expected and as a result we really got to see a lot of the city. We wandered a majority of the streets in the old section and have explored their China Town and McGill university and lots of other place. We also met up with Kim & Guy Rodomista, who used to live right down the street from us, but now live in Montreal. It was wonderful seeing them again and they showed us places that we would never have seen by foot. Sadly they're splitting up, so it was a very bitter sweet reunion.

The reason that we ended up staying in Montreal for 5 days was that my inverter/charger kicked the bucket. It charges the batteries when connected to shore power or the generator and provides 120V from the batteries. It has steadily been dying since I left VA, and was now at the point that it was basically useless. After doing a lot of research, I decided on unit from Victron Energy as I refuse to buy any more units from Xantrex, who has basically bought up all of the competition in the US and has sent the production to China where the quality is crap. Of course it died over the weekend, but I was able to get a unit on Tuesday and spent the day installing it. The bad news is that it cost list price compared to $500 less in the US, but it's installed and running well.

One of the things that has amazed me is the prices for things. The Canadian dollar is 2% higher than the US dollar, but most things cost a lot more here. Dinner entrees at most restaurants are $30+ and wine is $50+. At an average restaurant, you can easily spend $150 for 2 people without even trying. Then there's 13% tax that gets added onto everything and if you live here, you're paying 55% income tax! Wow!!!

Today we'll start our journey to Quebec. It's 134 miles, so we're breaking it into 2 days. Thankfully we've got the current with us all day, but tomorrow we have to "play" the currents as we'll be back into tidal areas.

-- Geoff & Sue

Log ID: 1250