Saint Lawrence River

[Roger Long]

Is there anyone here who has traveled the Saint Lawrence between Sorel-Tracy and Kingston who I could discuss the trip with? We're optimistic that the border will open in July and thinking about a cruise north. I've got to get some cruising guides but would like to get some first hand general impressions. First question: Is current an issue westbound?

 

[CaptTom]

We went the other way in 2016 on our Down East Loop trip. But one thing we found invaluable was Capt. Cheryl Barr's book The Down East Circle Route. It includes "playing the current" tables on which you can look up the best start times for any start point and destination.

 

[Lou_tribal]

Current is more an issue from Quebec eastward but still is there against you. Instead of going to Kingston by the St Lawrence, cross Deux Montagnes lake up to Ottawa River, go to Ottawa, and down to Kingston by the Rideau Waterway, you will enjoy the scenery a lot.

L

 

[Bacchus]

Roger
I've done the St Lawrence to Lk Champlain and from Lk Ont and to Chrysler Park both ways. Only significant current is entering old Town Montreal below the dam and in some sections around the 1,000 Is.
I have some cruising notes on my Bacchus website and happy to discuss more details.
if interested send me a PM and I can give you email & phone for easier discussion.
I see you are listed as Albany... if thats your start and you have the time a loop cruise to Lk Ont via NY canals and Rideau to Ottawa to Montreal and return via Lk Champlain would be a highly recommended route. You can get the best of the St Lawrence on E & W ends and experience the Rideau which superb.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. RL. I second what Mr. L_t said. Do the Rideau Canal. Beautiful, historic, scenic, World Heritage site with many interesting villages and towns along the way.


I fail to understand why so many bypass that route. Yes, it will take longer but well worth the effort IMO. Having boated extensively on both the St. Lawrence AND the Rideau, the St. Lawrence is, frankly, boring.


That being said, the water is already low in the Rideau for this time of year. Best to check with Parks Canada for navigational depths before committing to travel upstream on the Ottawa River.

 

[Roger Long]

Thanks all. Our original (pre Covid) plan was Erie canal, Lake Ontariao, Rideau, Chambly, Champlain, route. We did a big Erie Canal trip last summer and were thinking seeing Lake Champlain, which we love, twice would be better than another Erie run. However "boring" has really got my attention. Montreal to Lake Ontario is a long run to have that word attached to it.

 

[Jeff F]

Thanks all. Our original (pre Covid) plan was Erie canal, Lake Ontariao, Rideau, Chambly, Champlain, route. We did a big Erie Canal trip last summer and were thinking seeing Lake Champlain, which we love, twice would be better than another Erie run. However "boring" has really got my attention. Montreal to Lake Ontario is a long run to have that word attached to it.

The boring section is 100 miles and three seaway locks. You can entertain yourself by ship watching/avoiding. If you go north to Ottawa much of the Ottawa River trip is equally boring IMO. Which is not to say bad, just not as interesting as the rest of the trip.

If you've got the time the Ottawa/Rideau route won't disappoint. But take a few days to go downriver into the Thousand Islands when you hit the lake at Kingston. That's a must-do section whichever route you take. If the border remains closed a return trip from Albany to Alexandria Bay via Oswego would be also a great trip if you haven't done it before.

I'm heading down to Montreal now from Ottawa, and plan to go up the Chambly to wave across the border. Not really anticipating a July opening, but hard to know. Maybe we'll meet along the way.

 

[twistedtree]

Assuming there is some sort of loop involved, I would suggest Kingston to Sorel rather than the other direction so you are running mostly with the current rather than against.


Also highly recommend the Rideau/Ottawa route.


From Kingston you can spend a few days in the Thousand Island area, then return to Kingston and the Rideau rather than continuing down the St Lawrence.


Another advantage to the Rideau route is that you bypass all but two of the big commercial locks on the St Lawrence. I thought the big locks really sucked. You can end up waiting for a very long time - like all day - and it makes trip planning and stopping points very difficult.

 

[BandB]

Here is an excellent resource on currents, tides and other.

https://www.marinfo.gc.ca/e-nav/stl-stl/stl-glf3-en.php

Typical current is about 2.3 knots per sources I found and that's about what we experienced. We haven't done the entire route as we went from Lake Ontario to just north or Kingston in 2016 and then we came around and south to Montreal in 2018.

As with all the St. Lawrence, commercial rules and is the emphasis and that can impact locking in terms of delays. We found the travel fine. A bit like the Mississippi River but less current than we experienced there.

Sorry we have the area we haven't traveled so can't help you on it.