As the habour master at Lord Reading Yacht Club, Mark Edwards is in charge of everything that floats.
But with low water levels that's not as easy as it sounds.
"This is a beautiful sailboat," said Edwards while gesturing at one vessel. "But its draft is 5'9". Right now that boat cannot leave the harbour."
The harbour entrance is only five feet deep at the moment, well below the average.
The evidence is obvious close to shore, with waves just lapping the bottom of retaining walls around local lakes and rivers.
Several municipalities in southern Quebec are asking homeowners not to water their lawns since water levels are near historic lows.
The low water levels are mostly because of a lack of rain and a milder winter with less snow than normal.
Since June 2011, Montreal has seen almost 300 millimeters less precipitation than the average.
Andre Plante of the Quebec Produce Growers Association says the majority of farms are coping because they have irrigation systems, but admits some rain would be nice.
"If we don't have rain for the next six or seven days that's going to be a problem," said Plante.
On May 30, water around the Port of Montreal was 114 cm below average. Since then the waters in the Montreal area have dropped another 80 cm.
Water levels in the St. Lawrence can be controlled by dams upstream, but right now there is not enough water to share.
"We have below average water levels on all of the Great Lakes currently," said Ron Caldwell of the St. Lawrence Seaway Board of Control.
"The Great Lakes have been relatively dry in recent weeks."
This is causing concern for vessels navigating shallower waters, and some boats may need to be removed from harbours onto dry land, before they end up sinking aground.
