A group of Canadian and American boaters heading to Burlington, Vermont for an annual convention offered up a unique visual opportunity on Quebec waterways.
Fifty pleasure boaters in 14 antique vessels are making the four-day trip via rivers, canals and lake waters.
“We started in Montreal on Sunday and we came down through Sorel Tracy, then on to Beloeil,” explained trip organizer Kathy Muller from Sunapee, New Hampshire.
Global News caught up with the group at the Chambly Canal locks Tuesday as they made their way to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, from where they’ll head to Burlington via Lake Champlain Wednesday.
“This is a pre-event trip for the international boat show in Burlington,” Muller said.
Among the group are Montrealer Louis Bougie and his son Phil Bougie from Ottawa.
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The elder Bougie said the trip has been a blast.
“(They are) super people to be with and I’m traveling with my son,” he smiled.
The trip was organized by the the Antique and Classic Boat Society.
Many of the boats have been restored or even completely rebuilt, like the Bougies’ 22-foot Runabout.
“We built it from scratch,” Bougie told Global News. “We made our own boards and my son did a good job of painting and varnishing.”
“The engine in this boat belonged to his grandfather,” Bougie explained, “and he had it rebuilt. The maximum speed is what, 50 miles an hour? It goes pretty fast.”
Muller pointed out even older boats, like ones built in 1929.
“There are two beautiful Elcos, one 46 feet, one 38 feet,” she said.
The one she’s on, piloted by her husband Bo Muller, is a restored 30-foot 1934 Hutchinson, one of the largest in the group.
Along the 20-kilometre Chambly Canal onlookers marveled at the sight of the antique vessels, a rare sight in these parts.
“They need to pass through the canal because they cannot pass in the Richelieu River since there are rapids,” explained Louis-Philippe Riel from Parks Canada.
The boaters say they are just glad to share their passion this way with the public.
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