After a day of squalls and heavy winds out of the southwest, we woke up early to get a jump on the day. Before us was about 35 nautical miles (nm) (6000 feet to a nm) across Lac St. Francis to the Valleyfield Bridge and the Canal leading to Beauharnois Locks #4 and #5. We had been told that we had a long day ahead of us and that we could wait an hour or longer for the several bridges to be raised and the locks to open for us. Along the way, we found new friends. Of course,