Adventures of the Jubilee

Tadoussac to Gaspe'

7/26/2008 - Tadoussac to Rimouski -- 58.1 miles

We left the Tadoussac marina about 8:15, roughly one hour before high tide, with an eye to the smoothest possible ride over the tide rip area.  We also wanted to catch as much of the down-stream tidal boost as possible for our roughly 56-mile run.  Other than a bit of salt-fresh water trubulance as the two mixed outside the Saguenay mouth, our ride out was smooth as could be. 

Rounding the entrance buoys under a clear sky, we pointed the bow NE toward Rimouski.  The wind was favorable, from the SSW, but up and down between 8-10 and 20 knots.  The 8-10-knot periods were too light to keep our ground speed up (only about 4 knots apparent), while we shut the engine down when the wind piped up again.  Wind up, motor down.  Wind down, motor up.  A little crazy but it worked.  About an hour out of Rimouski we again saw Belugas, but like before, still too distant for a decent picture.  I guess part of this is just luck.  Our friends on Odyssee (see next paragraph) happened to encounter a large group of Belugas near Taldussac and simply cut their engines and drifted while the whales swam and fed all around them.

While going to the fuel dock at Rimouski we heard someone shout "Bill & Judy".  It was Chuck Gorgen on Odyssee, who we had met at Crylser Park and again in Quebec City.  Chuck and Claria were long time residents of the Twin Cities, and Chuck raced sailboats against Gordy Bowers, Bruce Nicolle, and others on Minnetonka years ago.  They now live in North Carolina, but spend a lot of time on their Hatteras, having done the Great Loop (Illinois to Mississippi to TennTom, to the Gulf, around Florida, up the ICW, Hudson, Erie Canal and Great Lakes to complete the loop).  This year they were doing the Down East Circle, which is basically our path from Kingson on, except that the loop is started by going up the Hudson and Erie Canal.  Unfortunately, just as the heavy weather set in last week they were anchored at Parc du Bic, about 8 miles west of Rimouski.  While rolling at anchor in the heavy seas, unbeknownst to them saltwater was forced up one of their engine exhausts and into one cylinder in one of their twin engines.  When they started that engine the next morning the other cylinders kicked over, forcing the piston up the water-locked cylinder and blowing a hole right through the block wall!  They're presently searching for a replacement engine, but for now their circle route plans will need to be on hold 'til next summer.  Luckily it happened near the very competent full service marina and yard at Rimouski.  Bummer.

After we got fuel and docked, Chuck and Claria invited us over for sundowners with another US couple doing the loop, Sherri Smith and Nick Morgan on Sweet Time, a Krogen Trawler.  It was nice having informal conversations with Anglophones again.  Hopefully we'll catch up with Nick and Sherri again along the way, or if not along the way, perhaps in their home port of Annapolis for the Boat Show.

We understand that Rimouski is a great port to re-provision, but having stocked up in Quebec City our larder was again filled to the gills.  This is reportedly the last stop until Gaspe' for diesel at the docks, so we filled up before leaving ... $6.40 a US gallon.

7/27/2008 - Rimouski to Matane -- 48.4 Miles

Trying to time the tidal currents, we planned to leave about 8:00 am but didn't toss off the dock lines 'til about 8:30.  We wished Chuck and Claria well (we saw Nick and Sherri leave around 7:00 am -- they were going to try to travel about twice our planned distance today), and as we prepared to cast off another 4 or 5 people magically appeared to assist with our lines.  That's the way it's been in these last days in Quebec ... really friendly people everywhere.

Per Environment Canada there's a wind warning in effect today.  Like the folks at NOAA, Environment Canads's management apparently doesn't let their people look out the window.  This is what we saw through the haze after leaving Rimouski.  We guess that's better than finding 35-knot winds during a forecast for calm.

The marina at Matane is reported as more of a small boat harbor.  It's located just off the Matane river, and per the cruising guides has a maximum least water draft of only 6' (what we draw), tighter dockage, and questionable depths on entry due to river silting.  Instead we chose to anchor near the ferry connecting this section of the Gaspe' with either Baie-Comeau or Godbout, both about 30 miles across the river.  While the twin bridges just above Quebec were the last bridge connections across the river, the Matane ferries are the last ferry connections.  The commercial harbor offered a clear, very deep entry and 360 degree protection, if less appealing surroundings.  In the commercial harbor were a fish processing plant, a shipyard still laying hulls here, and other industrial structures. Since the town center is a bit away from the harbor, we hadn't really planned to explore here anyway, so we stayed on the boat at anchor and grilled some steaks.

7/28/2008 - Matane to St. Anne des Monts -- 48.3 Miles

Our night in Matane was peaceful.  Only one of the large car ferries seemed to be running, and during the night one came in, docked, loaded and left again.  Except for seeing the ferry docked when we got up in the night, and seeing it gone again before 7:00 am, we wouldn't even have known that the nearly 300'-long ferry had come and gone.

With the anchor, chain and mud we raised up two fist-sized sea slugs.  Obviously we're not anchoring in Lake Superior anymore!  Outside it was more of the same from yesterday, except for further reduced visibility and flat calm except for a slight swell.  As a precaution we fired up the radar and chugged on through three smaller sailboats from the marina who seemed to be fishing or forming a convoy to motor to the other side.  A fourth came out a bit later and is heading our way.  We'll have some cruising company for a change!

It was on this stretch of water that we crossed an imaginary line of demarcation between the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  Drawing a line perpendicular from the south shore to Port des Monts, the official demarcation point on the north shore, our trusty GPS says we've traveled some 640 nautical miles (736 statute miles) on the river since approaching Wolfe Island opposite Kingston, Ontario, 22 days ago. Another milestone passed.

Lest we forget, for those traveling this way or anyone else simply interested in a good read, we would highly recommend the book River Song by Phil Jenkins.  We learned about the book from Mila Cerveny (see earlier postings this year and last as met with Karel and Mila twice along our way).  We were unsuccessful in getting a copy through Amazon or other sources before we left home (sold out and waiting for reprinting), but while in Kingston we found a copy in a local bookstore.  Singer-songwriter, historian and author Jenkins traces the history of the river from the days of the First Nation peoples to today, and writes in a wonderful off-beat style that keeps one turning the pages as the river passes by.  Beyond simply being an enjoyable read, it helped provide significant additional background on the long and rich heritage for the areas we traveled.

We were pleasantly surprised by St. Anne des Monts.  It had a population of only 7000, but it appeared to be a tourist magnet and commercial hub for the area.  Two excellent groceries and an SQA (Provincial liquor store) are within walking distance of the marina (continue about 3 blocks past the Catholic Church).  The marina itself was squared away and extremely friendly.  One of the workers there drove me to a hardware store and an auto parts store in his pickup, in my quest for an unusual size of metric bolt (no luck).  The park adjacent to the marina was filled with wooden sculptures, some whimsical, some serious, along with an extremely creative play area for children. 

There are a number of good restaurants along the road adjacent to the water, but all the books, and all the people we met, said to go to the Poissonnerie Du Quai right behind the marina.  We did.  They were right.  The fish comes right off the fishing boats here, flopping themselves into their pans (see photo of a fishing boat taking on a truck-load of shaved ice to keep the catch fresh while out working the banks).  Halibut, Turbot, Cod, Sole, Lobster, you name it, all beautifully prepared and reasonable. You can also purchase fresh seafood there.  When we left at close to 9:00 p.m. their two dining rooms were still 2/3's full. The word is obviously out!

The harbor that evening had several other boats heading east-bound, including the Krogen 38 trawler Sweet Dreams with Nick and Sherri from Annapolis who we had met in Rimouski two nights before.  We joined them on their boat for sundowners before dinner that evening.

7/29/2008 - St. Anne des Monts to Riviere au Renard - 90 Miles

After dinner on Monday night we were able to secure a WiFi signal where we learned from the Environment Canada web site that they were now projecting two more calm days but a very strong easterly after.  We scuttled our original plans for some leisurely harbor hops between some northern Gaspe' harbors with questionable easterly protection, and instead decided to try for Riviere au Renard tomorrow, some 90 miles down the road.  That would position us for Gaspe' the next day before the easterly set in.  And should the easterly set in early, Riviere au Renard should provide excellent protection from just about anything.  The alarm set for 4:00am, we were off the dock at about 4:45am, just before official sunrise.

Our prior two days along the Gaspe' were in fog and mist, so we couldn't fully appreciate the shoreline.  Today was much better, although still a bit hazy (as it probably is around here much of the time).  We followed the picturesque shoreline 2 miles offshore.  The high hills of the shore were steep-to and wooded, with another anse (cove) every 3 or four miles.  Each anse seemed to be backed by a river valley leading down to the sea, with the hills of the river valley slowly receding into the haze. Hugging the shoreline was a highway with the occasional car or truck heading east or west. 

Today we reached another milestone in our travels.  About 10 miles east of Anse de Mont Louis we finally started heading south after touching the north-most point of our travels:  49 degrees 17.8 minutes north.  By contrast, New Brighton, Minnesota, our home town, is about 45 degrees 4 minutes north, or about 250 miles south of today's turning point, and Bayfield, Wisconsin, Jubilee's Lake Superior home, is about 46 degrees 48.6 minutes north, or about 90 nautical miles south of today's turning point.  To date, the furthest south we've traveled is our storage point for last winter, Sandusky, Ohio, at 41 degrees 27.2 minutes north, or about 460 miles south of today's turning point.  We won't pass further south than Sandusky until somewhere around Newport, Rhode Island, this coming September. 

We doubt that this "turning point" milestone will make the rest of our trip a downhill run, but it surely feels good to finally have a little southing in our heading for a change.  Now to do something about that easting still ahead of us.

Near this turning point we passed a nearly 2000-foot high series of hills, with their north-most faces almost sheer rock down to the road and water below.  This wall of rock was punctuated every so often by the occasional water cascade. Spectacular!

About 2 hours out of Riviere au Renard we started seeing whales.  Several sightings.  Both solo and small pods.  Most likely minkes.  We also approached a nasty threatening black cloud that yielded little rain, but seemed to make one of our GPSs continually lose signal, jumping fixes all over the place.  After about 1/2 hour things settled in again, but it was nice having the 2nd GPS running, which for some reason didn't seem to be affected.  Oh, and in that same area we started encountering fishing floats with a big fishing trawler working the area.  We were certainly being kept on our toes this afternoon.

The total 90 miles took us only about 12 1/2 hours today, thanks to an average 1-knot boost from the Gaspian current that runs eastward around the peninsula about 2 miles offshore.  On a day like today that's like cutting 10 miles, almost two hours, off our travel time.

The large basin at Riviere au Renard gave us plenty of protected anchoring space surrounded by a typical Gaspian fishing village.  Nick and Sherri on Sweet Time anchored with us.  Tomorrow we're both off to the town of Gaspe'.

7/30/2008 - Riviere au Renard to Gaspe' (and 7/31 lay day) -- 35.4 miles

Unlike the past few days, Wednesday morning brought no fog, no haze, and, as the morning progressed, mostly clear skies, although there was no wind for our departure.  As a good omen, a few whales met us as we left the harbor and steered for Cap Gaspe'.  Deck showers were in order as we motored on a glassy ocean. 

The Gaspe' peninsula was, in a word, impressive.  The cliff on which the Cap Gaspe' lighthouse sits is reported to be about 1000' high, with equally impressive sheer rock cliffs leading up to it for the prior 4 or 5 miles.  See accompanying photos.

Upon rounding the cape a perfect NE 10-15 knot sailing breeze started swooping down from the cliffs above for an hour's hull speed even reach, and later a leisurely quartering sail on our way up to Gaspe'.  It was nice to be under sail again.  Life on the water is good today!

Into every life some rain must fall.  Wednesday afternoon and Thursday became fix-it and clean-it days on the Jubilee.  The key start on our engine had been giving us intermittent trouble lately, and at Gaspe' we were asked to hold outside the marina on a mooring until they knew if they could accommodate us.  2 hours later when they called us into the marina, the engine refused to turn with the key on "start".  After reviewing the service manual and tracing our starter-related wiring we called Mack Boring, the Yanmar importer for the US from whom our engine was sourced.  They provided some suggested approaches for tracing the problem, but to get into the marina before they gave away our tie-up we jumped the solenoid.  That evening we also figured out a pesky roller furling problem we'd been having, and fixed that too.

First thing Thursday morning Bill went up to the mast-head to tidy up our furler fix, check that no cotter pins had been snagged by the problem aloft, and to replace some partially unlaid chaffing tape at the masthead.  After that, another call to Mack Boring provided additional diagnostic pointers on our starting issue, and an hour later the starting problem was solved!  We were making progress.  While all this was happening, Judy did several loads of wash to catch up from the last few weeks on the move.

Later on Thursday while returning from the local IGA we met Alfredo & Nicoletta Giacon of Jancris, a 56' sailboat hailing from Venice, Italy, who joined us on Jubilee for a glass of wine.  We first saw Jancris in St. Anne des Monts.  They were also in Riviere au Renard Tuesday night.  Alfredo and Nicoletta had circumnavigated on Jancris a few years earlier with the World ARC Rally led by Jimmy Cornell.  More recently they've cruised Brazil and the eastern and western Caribbean before sailing up the US East Coast and, this year, doing the Down East Loop.  Alfredo had recently written a cruising guide to Turkey which he plans to be signing/selling at the Annapolis Boat show, so we expect we'll likely run into them again along the way to Annapolis.

It does seem as though we're encountering more world cruising boats in this area.  The boat moored immediately in front of us at Gaspe' sailed here earlier this June from La Rochelle, France.  We had run into them in Tadoussac, and again at St. Anne des Monts.  They plan to depart on their expected 20-day offshore non-stop passage back across the pond to France in a day or two, seemingly making transatlantic hops as easily as most of us decide to drive to the grocery or cleaners.  And earlier in June the marina here at Gaspe' was host to approximately 30 cruising boats who had sailed transatlantic from France in honor of Cartier's first voyage to this area in the 1500's, and of course Quebec's 400th anniversary this summer.  Gaspe was the French cruising contingent's irst landfall, and we understand the marina was simply abuzz with activity as one by one the 30-some boats arrived from France.  All that certainly makes our little voyage seem pretty tame.

St. Lawrence and Gaspe' Wrap-Up

As we post this the forecast easterly has blown its way into Gaspe', bringing wind, rain, and lots of wave action down the channel.  Tonight may be among the roughest nights we've experienced at a dock.  Our float lies outside the marina breakwater, and even though the bay around the town is relatively small and sheltered, the wind fetch here is still over 2 miles.  Plus, no doubt, big rollers from the larger bay are coming through the opening and into the inner bay about 3 miles out from the city.  For tonight we'll sleep amid-ships in the underbunk, rather than in the forepeak which is presently bucking up and down from the waves. 

After this unsettled weather calms down we'll resume heading south for a couple of days, and then east via the Northumberland Strait to P.E.I. and Cape Breton Island.  Since leaving Lake Ontario at Kingston on July 6th, we've traveled 831 nautical miles, or a little over 950 statute miles (see chart snap below).  That brings us to a total of 1,314 nautical miles (roughly 1512 statute miles) since leaving Sandusky this year.  That said, we still have a long road to travel.  Stay tuned as the journey continues to unfold.

 

Quebec City to Tadoussac and Baie Eternite

7/19/2008 - Levy/Quebec City to Cap a l'Aigle -- 78.8 Miles

We started our long day with the alarm set for 4:30.  We were a little slow getting going, but after breakfast we untied and were on our way by 5:45 am, only about 15 minutes later than we had originally planned.

We continue to make heavy use of Captain Cheryl Barr's outstanding book, Down East Circle Route, which not only provides details on the harbors along the way, but also includes aids for planning to take maximum advantage of tidal currents.  We may be repeating ourselves from a prior posting, but don't even consider making this trip without her book on board.

We left Levy during the last couple of hours of flood tide, which meant losing about 2 knots, sometimes more, to the upstream current until we were a bit below Quebec.  Slowly the tide turned and we got a boost the rest of the way to Cap a l'Aigle.  During the early part of this segment we met the tall ship Caledonia from Halifax, presumably on their way to Quebec for tours during the big anniversary year.  Canadians as far back as Lake Erie were telling us about all the tall ships we should be seeing this year, in honor of Quebec's 400's anniversary.  They were right.

We chose the southern channel for much of the day because it's said to be much more scenic than the northern channel.  It's also the old sailing channel, not used by today's big freighters, so there's far less traffic.  We saw only a handful of sailboats going up-stream near Quebec City, and one or two power boats along our way.  There are also a couple of rapids areas on this route where at times one will see 5-6-knots of current shooting you through a narrow passage between rocks and tidal flats.  Thanks to Captain Cheryl's recommended timing we did get a little current boost in these areas, but no harrowing experiences.  This is the part of the trip Bill had been most concerned about thus far, and it turned out to be extremely easy.

Unfortunately we were in overcast grey skies all day, with some light rain at the end.  The steep bluffs of the lower St. Lawrence begin here, but pictures in today's wet, gray, conditions just didn't do things justice.  We did see two big ski areas with what looked like lots of black diamond runs.  In Cap a 'Aigle we learned that the skiing is excellent in this area ... lots of good snow from evaporation from the bay below, moderated temperatures, and long runs, apparently make for much better skiing conditions that the Laurencians further inland.

As we approached Cap a l'Aigle we started to notice a slight foam in our wake ... it looked like we had finally arrived in Salt Water!  Once in the marina a quick taste confirmed it.  

We both agreed that Cap a l'Aigle was the prettiest place we'd been to in a long time.  And friendly.  Two local boaters met and helped us dock.  Another stopped by to handle our lines and see us off in the morning.  At the head of the harbor a big waterfall cascaded right down into the marina basin, and another smaller cascade was coming down right next to the marina building.  We were told that from here on out the scenery just keeps getting better and better and the people friendlier and friendlier. There was an excellent white table cloth restaurant above the marina, but we chose to take showers and eat on board ... it had been a long day.

7/20/2008 - Cap a l'Aigle to Tadoussac -- 42.1 Miles

Today we had a shorter distance to go, another tidal boost downstream, plus the need to enter the mouth of the Saguenay river near slack tide to avoid the tidal rips in the area.  All this computed to a very civilized 10:00 am departure.  After breakfast we checked a couple of our friends web sites.  Tom & Rose on Sojourn have been in the Tobago Keys near Trinidad.  Hammerbergs are up in Long Island Sound working their way down east.  Jim Hawkins and Ellie Adams have just returned to Newfoundland from a short, cold, and buggy visit to Labrador (we hope to meet up with them somewhere near Cape Breton Island).  Berdies are in the North Channel working their way out the lakes to Montreal this year.  And Pribyl's, having crossed the pond to Ireland and the Med a couple of years ago, are presently taking part in the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally (EMYR).  So far they've visited Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and, most recently, Egypt!  We have links on the left column of our web site for all of these cruisers.  For an especially good read about the Eastern Med, make sure to click the link for Artemis, Al & Sally Prybl's boat, and then click on their Log Book.

Our friends Claus and Rachel on Kayana are back from the Bahamas and on the US East Coast where unfortunately they took a direct lightening strike this past week.  It took out all their electronics and their refrigeration ... not good, but they are safe and sound and electronics can be replaced.  Lightening is a frightening thing on a sailboat, but luckily there are almost no stories of people getting injured or killed because the masts and rigging are all grounded to underwater plates which carry the strike into the water.  People on board the boat, unless hanging on to the mast or wire rigging, are typically within the "cone of protection" from lightening, and won't themselves be struck. 

About 10 minutes after exiting Cap a l'Agile we sighted our first whales ... Belugas leisurely feeding their way up-stream (see white spec in the photo ... sorry, we haven't gotten better whale shots yet)!  We didn't expect to see whales until Tadoussac, so we considered this a very good omen.  Initially calm, the breeze slowly built allowing us to get a little sail boost as we motor-sailed downwind toward the mouth of the Saguenay.

As the day progressed our tidal boost progressed also ... until about 3 or 4 miles upstream from Tadoussac where we started a big time up-hill climb against up to a 4-knot current.  The tide had turned on us.  20-20 hindsight we should have departed an hour earlier and simply waited at the other end for slack tide on the Saguenay river bar.  We saw Belugas galore on the way in, plus one other larger dark whale that had a gaggle of rubber whale watch boats nearby.  We weren't close enough or fast enough for pictures. 

Tadoussac is a beautiful spot, albeit they expected us to dock our 42' boat plus dingy on the davits in about a 46' spot.  We did it, but our inflatable on the davits did touch the flagstaff of the boat to our stern.  Getting out should be easier.  Tomorrow we head up the fjord-like Saguenay river to Baie Eternite.  We were a little late at the Saguenay to catch the tide properly to get all the way up there tonight.

7/21/2008 - Tadoussac to Baie Eternite -- 30.2 miles

We're still getting used to tides.  On the lowering tide Monday morning one of the local commercial boats had pulled up on the sand beach near our dock and waited for the tide to head out leaving them hard on the sand for some work on the bottom.  As the sandbar opposite our dock got closer and closer, the ramps up to the marina office and restaurant got steeper and steeper ... a real climb.

Our plan was to leave Tadoussac around noon, at low tide, to benefit from tidal currents for our 30-mile journey up the Saguenay.  Just around the island from the marina the rubber whale watch boats were congregated near a large whale lazily surfacing and diving, paying the whale boats no attention while foraging for the 1-2 tons of food these whales reportedly eat each day.  Further up-stream we saw Belugas similarly enjoying their lunch.  Unfortunately we have not been able to get close enough to the action for good pictures, but the sightings are exciting none-the-less.

The Saguenay is as close to a true fjord as we could imagine.  The banks on each side are steep-to, and in many cases sheer rock faces drop straight down to the water and beyond.  Spectacular.  And the river is deep ... up to 900' in spots.  For most of the trip up our depth sounder didn't detect the bottom.

The tide offset the current for most of our trip up, and provided a good boost in many segments.  We had a modest wind at our back up the channel, however not enough to keep our speed up before the tide turned, so we motor-sailed all the way.  Our Saguenay trip signaled a weather change we had expected from Monday night's mare's tail clouds.  The weather report was forecasting NE for the next 3 days, and wind against current and tide is not a fun place to be (builds a short steep chop).  Timing for our side trip up the Saguenay couldn't have been better, as we'd want to delay continuing NE on the St. Lawrence for the wind change anyway. 

Speaking of tidal effects, the charts indicate strong tide rips at the mouth of the Saguenay during max ebb.  Although the mouth of the river appears wide, in fact it is fairly shallow on both sides with a narrower channel between the red and green buoys.  That channel carries only 90' depths, whereas the river reaches depths of up to 900' slightly up-stream.  The result is a maelstrom for one half mile at the entrance where all this water funnels into the relatively narrow and shallow channel.  One definitely wants to plan this crossing at or near slack water.  The marina manager mentioned that in stormy conditions with high winds exacerbating the effects of current, he's seen steep 18' breaking waves in this area, while at the same time in the shallower areas on either side the water appears calm.  We'll try to plan for slack water, thank you.

7/21-24 - Layover in Baie Eternite - 6 miles

Monday the 21st was a milestone day.  We saw whales in the morning, experienced a magnificently beautiful trip 30 miles up the Saguenay, and then took a mooring at what "they" say is the most beautiful bay on the river, Baie Eternite.  "They" are right!  In addition we celebrated Bill's birthday with steaks on the grill, accompanied by a bottle of wine given us by Ron & Bonnie Dahl before our 2007 departure from Bayfield, sipped in pewter wine glasses given us by our neighbors Paul & Betty Brat that same spring.  Attached to the wine bottle was the following note: "Wishing you a safe voyage & new horizons.  Do not open until reaching salt water.  Fair winds, good health & laughter.  Ron & Bonnie".  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Paul, Betty, Ron & Bonnie.  It was so touching to be moored here in this magnificent cove while still feeling such a warm connection with friends back home.

The 21st was a milestone for Bill in several other ways.  As a first-year baby boomer, his full pension kicked in with his birthday, as well as Social Security.  I guess Bill can now say he's fully part of the AARP generation.

All in all ... what a day!

Our Tuesday and Wednesday in Baie Eternite were mostly without rain, although generally overcast.  On Tuesday we checked out the visitor center and checked into the park (mooring balls $15.00 a night).  The center had an excellent permanent display room covering the glacial origins of the fjord, which in total is about 100 miles long.  As noted earlier, water depths in the fjord reach 900', while the steep-to banks on either side rise equally high and higher.  We learned that since the last ice age carved through here, about an equal amount of sediment has been deposited on the floor of the fjord, making the valley from tip of the bluffs to bottom of the glacially-carved rock floor almost 3000 feet!

We also learned why this portion of the St. Lawrence is such a haven for whales.  Below Tadoussac the nutrient-rich, colder, saline, and thus denser/heavier waters from the Gulf of St. Lawrence flow upstream under the lighter fresh-water river current heading downstream at the surface.  At Tadoussac the bottom rises abruptly to 90 feet, forcing that nutrient-rich salt water to the surface, along with its smorgasbord of tasty morsels.  The resulting marine restaurant brings both whales and multiple other varieties of sea creatures to the Tadoussac table in droves from literally hundreds of miles around. 

On Wednesday while the NE was still blowing on the St. Lawrence, the rain in Eternite Baie held off for a 7k pilgrimage to see the Notre-Dame-Du-Saguenay.  The path seemed to be, literally, a stairway to heaven as we trekked from sea level up almost 1000 feet, and then down again to about 600' where the Virgin watches over the Saguenay. 

How and why did she get here?  In 1878 a merchant named Robitaille fell through the ice of the Saguenay with his horse and buggy.  He managed to get out of the freezing waters but still nearly died, attributing his prayers to the Virgin for saving his life.  In her honor he commissioned a sculptor to create a wood statue about 25' high and covered with painted lead sheets.  The statue then had to be taken apart into 14 pieces to bring it to its ultimate perch on Cap Trinite ... not an easy enterprise as we can attest.

There were several overlooks along the path, like the attached picture where we checked on Jubilee lying at anchor approximately 600' below. 

We had planned to depart Baie Eternite on Thursday to take advantage of Friday's anticipated southerly wind shift on the St. Lawrence, but after a quick side-trip to view the Virgin in the rain and mist from water level we pointed our bow down-river into rain, mist, fog and strong upstream winds.  Upon rounding Cap Eternite we were finally able to pick up marine VHF weather, where we learned the NE'er had been stalled an extra day with strong NE winds now forecast for Friday too.  We decided to turn back to Baie Eternite for one more night in it's relatively calm protrection.  If you have to hang out a few days this is the place to do it, complete with devine protection from wind and sea if you're into those things.

Joining us in the Baie early that afternoon was the 150' Machaela Rose, hailing port Southhampton, England.  We had seen this yacht in both Montreal and Quebec City, where rumors were floating around that she was Paul McCartney's boat (recall that he played a concert there last Sunday).  Paul McCartney or not, it looked like we were in good company, particularly should we need to ask for a bag of ice or a cup of sugar.

7/25 - Baie Eternite to Tadoussac -- 29.8 miles

We left Baie Eternite at 8:00am, near high tide at Tadoussac, which gave us a .5 to 1.5-knot current boost all the way down to Tadoussac and shortened our journey by almost an hour compared with the trip up.  With a 10-knot wind on the nose all the way, today was all motor and no sail, but the sky is clearing, the NE'er seems to be clearing out, and we're on the move again!

The Machaela Rose passed us about half way to Tadoussac.  What a beautiful yacht.  Unfortunately as it passed by we only saw what appeared to be the paid crew on deck, washing windows and generally keeping things spotless.  Unfortunately no Paul sightings, if by chance it really is his boat (if it is, it was chartered ... Judy since found on the internet that it's one of the top 100 most sought after charter yachts in the world, having circumnavigated twice and having had a number of distinguished charter guests on board including George & Barbara Bush).  When we docked at Tadoussac we saw them anchored in the Bay again.  Perhaps we'll get a chance to meet at the grocery store ... they probably need some eggs and bread too.

So what is a cruising day like?  We'll use today as an example.  Up before 7:00 for an 8:00am departure.  4-hour trip to Tadoussac.  Check in at Marina.  Get ready to change oil in the Yanmar, but find we had used part of that gallon oil container I thought was full.  Walk to town and up the hill to buy 5 liters of oil.  Return and change oil (you have to "suck" the oil out through a small hose pushed down the dip-stick channel on marine engines, as most marine engine installations have no way to access the drain plug in the pan).  Walk the used oil back to town and up the hill to the municipal recycle center.  Return to boat, clean up from the project, check emails, pay some bills on the internet, shower, and walk across to town again for dinner.  Return from dinner around 9:30 and do this week's blog post. 

Bottom line ... no Mai Tai's on deck chairs today.  Tomorrow will be another long haul day, timed of course around the tides.

That dinner this evening, btw, was fantastic.  We had checked out some restaurants on our prior trips up town, but hadn't checked out the over 150 year old Hotel Tadoussac, which "looked" a bit over the top for our wallet.  On the way to town this evening we decided to check it out.  Two of their three restaurants were pretty pricy, but a 3rd, an outdoor patio affair, was great, with a fantastic singer accompanying himself on keyboard to one French cafe' song after another.  It seemed that half the restaurant knew all the words to all the songs.  Our evening ranked right up there with New Year's Eve in Strasburg, France, or another Sunday afternoon 15 or 20 years ago spent in a cafe on Montmartre.  Great time!

We have about 100 miles left on what is still considered the St. Lawrence "River" before it formally becomes the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  The line of demarcation is far from clear, but for all practical purposes when we leave here we'll be beyond the point of navigating from one river buoy to another, and into generally deeper, wider, waters.  Tomorrow will be an early start, before high tide, to head to Rimouski on the south side of the channel, our first harbor along the shores of the Gaspe'.  Stay tuned.

Montreal to Quebec City

7/15-2008 -- Montreal to Trois Rivieres - 75.4 Miles

We awoke at 6:00am to clear skies and a moderate NW breeze, perfect for our trip roughly half way to Quebec City.  After negotiating the almost 6-knot current just below Old Montreal (this time with the current we were running up to 12 knots over the ground), we rolled out the headsail and motor-sailed in the 6's through the water, with an average 2-2.5 knot current boost, later in the day being able to cut the engine for a few hours.  It was a pleasant day to be on the river, and a total change of pace from the bustle of Montreal..

Below Montreal we noted a significant increase in freighter traffic.  Apparently a number of ships, especially container ships, only travel as far as Montreal.  When we passed Montreal's container ship dock, there were several salties tied up to load and unload.  (see photo of Judy's Mom's ship, the Lorraine)

For our readers who are boaters we'll digress to rave about our new AIS (Automatic Identification System).  All ships over a specified tonnage worldwide, at least commercial ships, are now required to have active AIS transponders on board.  Some others including larger pleasure craft also have done so.  These transponders continuously broadcast streams of information including vessel name, type of vessel (e.g. cargo, passenger, etc.), position, heading, speed, turn rate if turning, length, beam, destination, estimated time of arrival, digital selective calling information (i.e. MMSI#), etc. 

This spring Bill installed a passive AIS receiver from Milltech Marine.  The receiver sends the encoded AIS sentences through either a serial or USB interface to our navigation PC, which runs our Fugawi navigation software.  Fugawi displays detected ships directly on the chart display in a way that graphically shops ship position, heading, anticipated course and recent track.  A detailed pop-up menu also provides a row with the above detailed information for each ship.  Included in this information is a calculated Closest Point of Arrival (CPA) and Time of CPA (TCPA) based on ours and each upcoming ship's current course and speed.  We really appreciated this much more accurate way of determining if we might be on a collision course so we can react ahead of time. 

Our AIS input signal splits off our masthead VHF antenna, so we have a pretty long receiving range and sometimes have had six or eight or more ships included in the pop-up list.  We've found our AIS indispensable for determining expected contention on locks, thinking about how/where we might be passed and sometimes adjusting our course and speed accordingly, or for just knowing who's out there. 

We wouldn't say AIS is a replacement for Radar ... AIS only detects larger commercial vessels.  As one might expect, naval warships don't broadcast their positions.  And of course, AIS also doesn't see land, navigational aids or small boats, but it's the big commercial ships one often has to worry the most about.  The combination of GPS, a good chart plotter or PC Nav system, AIS and radar provides capabilities we couldn't imagine back in our earlier days of sailing when we sailed around Isle Royale in fog, navigating only by dead (deduced) reckoning (time/speed/distance manually plotted on a chart).

We arrived at Trois Rivieres a little after 4:00, and were fortunate to have been assigned a slip next to a very experienced Quebec sailor (Whitby 44) who spoke excellent English.  We spent about 45 minutes with him going over the possible stops we selected between here and Gaspe', hearing some cautions from him on a couple of the harbors we were thinking of, and learning of several other overnight mooring options we might consider along the way.  There's nothing like local knowledge.  Regarding his experience, he had also rounded Cape Horn on a 14-day expedition sail aboard a 70' Aluminum sailboat.  Judy was pleased that Bill didn't also ask for harbor suggestions in Tierra del Fuego.

Our night in Trois Rivieres was pleasant, but we tried to knock off a little early as our next day would require an early start.

7/16/2008 -- Trois Rivieres to Quebec City - 69.3 Miles

The alarm went off at 4:30 am for our planned 5:30 am departure.  We've now entered the realm of tides, and need to start thinking about the effects of tides and tidal currents. 

The tidal range for Quebec City on the 16th was about 12 feet.  We wanted to arrive at Quebec City about 1 hour after low tide, which on this day was about 1:30 in the afternoon.  This timing would give us the maximum boost from the ebb tide current as we traveled downstream.  If it had been later or earlier in the day we would have been opposing a flood tide and thus fighting the tidal current.

We then estimated our current-boosted travel speed, looked at the distance to Quebec City, and determined that we needed to leave about 8 hours before low water at Quebec, thus our 5:30 am departure.  We were heartened to see two other boats leaving Trois Rivieres at almost exactly the same time ... our computations must have been right!

For tidal planning, our Fugawi navigation software also does the trick and eliminates the need to carry and use extensive paper tidal tables.  We just click on a charted tide station on the Navionics vector charts we use, and click Tides.  Up comes a pop-up with tidal ranges for that specific location for any 2-day window you chose, along with detail on tide height every 30 minutes during the day (see accompanying chart snap).  Where current stations are present on the chart, one can similarly view the tidal currents in the area.  Kewl ... and very useful.

Along the way we knew we would also be traversing the Richeleau Rapids, a narrow channel between river banks that turn into mud banks at low tide.  The accompanying chart snap provides a "Fugawi view" of the rapids area, with the areas that dry during low tide shown in green.  Note just up from the rapids the chart showing a Canadian Coast Guard cutter about to transit the rapids area upstream.

We then checked a Canadian Fisheries Oceans Tidal Currents Atlas for the area to determine what to expect at this point in the tidal cycle, about 3 or four hours after high water in Quebec (see photo of the page in Atlas for our time of transit). 

The chart showed a maximum current of about 3-4 knots downstream.  It can run as high as about 6 knots, or actually run backward, up-river.  Again our timing was perfect, as we rode through running up to 10.5 knots over the ground in smooth water and only a few fairly gentle whirlpools to contend with.  At other times we understand the transit can be, shall we say,  "exciting".

The approach to Quebec City was dramatic.  First to our port were the Plains of Abraham high on the bluff above, the location of a short but fierce 1759 battle in which the British won control of Quebec and changed the course of Canadian history.  Just beyond that battlefield, also high on the bluffs above, was La Citadelle, the massive fortification to protect Quebec and control the river below.  Just beyond is the impressive Chateau Frontenac hotel, built in 1893, perhaps the most notable landmark of the city.  Our guide books described rooms there as "from $230 on up ... way, way up." 

Shortly after passing the Chateau Frontenac we reached the destination for our first two nights in Quebec City, the Port of Quebec Marina which is situated right at the foot of the old city. 

Interestingly, this marina has its own lock, which assures a constant water level for the boat slips independent of tidal activity outside.  Locking through was simple, as the small lock had floating docks on either side where one ties up during the docking procedure.  Since we arrived around low tide, the lock raised us about 12'.

 

7/17-18 -- Exploring Quebec City

In a word, we loved Quebec City.  The area is dripping with historic sites, and we visited as many as we could.  After a guidied tour of the Citadelle, we explored the narrow streets of upper and lower old town, ate at sidewalk cafes, visited historic cathedrals, toured the Hotel du Parlement (Quebec's parliament building), and generally played typical tourist along with thousands of others. 

We particularly enjoyed Lower Old Town, below the bluffs, with it's narrow winding streets, cafes, art galleries, and unbelievably impressive wall murals like the one pictured here depicting modern tourists strolling through the history of Quebec.  The combination of perspective and the size of the murals made the wall so life-like one was literally tricked as to what was real and what was mural.  We wanted to almost step "into" the picture (note Judy talking with Jaques Cartier).

All of our dining wasn't white tablecloth.  We had to try the famous Quebec poutine while here.  Poutine is an interesting combination of French fries liberally sprinkled with cheese curds and then smothered in brown gravy.  It was OK ... but perhaps an acquired taste.  We'd opt for some Florida Key's "junk fries" any day (fries covered with melted cheese and chili).

The city was in full celebration of the 400'th anniversary of Champlain establishing a permanent French settlement and fortification here in 1608.  In addition the Quebec to St. Malo, France, Trans-Atlantic (Transat) sailboat race was to depart from here on Sunday, and later on Sunday Paul McCartney was to be performing a free-to-the-public outdoor concert on the Plains of Abraham to an anticipated crowd of 200,000.  Many had booked weekend marina slips weeks or more in advance, so there was no room for us to stay Friday night.  Instead we left at 8:00 Friday morning for a short trip 2 miles up-stream to the marina at Levy on the south bank of the river, from which we then took our bikes about 2 km to the ferry dock for a quick trip across the river and more exploring. 

The night before we moved the boat to Levy we were treated to the most amazing annimated light show we'd ever imagined.  For Quebec's 400'th anniversary this year (founded in 1608) an extremely creative, 1-hour, annimated show on the history of Quebec was projected from the city onto a huge grain elevator complex approximately 3 city blocks long,  Huge speakers were set up in the city, and most people watched from spots in lower old town.  However, we had front row center seats on our boat in the Marina, right in front of the elevators at the center building section where most of the action was projected.  We couldn't possibly capture the show with a camera, but to give you a sense of the scope of this world's largest-ever screen presentation, we did take a picture of the elevator building.  What can we say?  Wow!  Simply stupendous!

For the sailors among you (non-boaters might want to skip to the last paragraph of this post), the energy and activity around Port du' Quebec for the 3000 mile Quebec to Malo Transat race was something to behold.  Three classes were racing:  Open 50's & Class 40 monohulls plus a 50' racing trimaran class.  The 36 competing boats, reported to run about $1.5 million each, represent the latest, fastest, highest tech sailboats ever designed, sailed by some of the worlds best distance sailors.  See attached photos, plus additional shots on the Quebec-St. Malo Transat photo page.  Judy suggested we remind everyone that any photo on the blog or in blog photo albums can be seen full size by simply clicking the photo.

While almost no one, particularly the press, pays any attention to sailboat racing in the US or Canada, sailboat racing at the international level has a relatively high profile in Europe, especially France, the UK and Italy, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.  On Thursday we were able to get right on the docks among the flurry of activity around the boats.  Television interviews were being conducted, divers were in the water inspecting and cleaning boat bottoms, crew were aloft on the sticks fixing spreaders or replacing halyards, new electronics were being installed, sponsor insignias on the hulls and sails from the last race were being removed and replaced with new sponsor decals for this race (a quick look at the number of sponsor logos on the boats tells you as much as anything that people in Europe really follow these events).  Each boat had a placard in front of it with a photo of the skipper, some information about the boat, and a sponsor (some cheese company must have paid a lot to heavily sponsor this race ... virtually every placard included a little advertisement for some type/brand of cheese). 

In all some 28 boats were competing, the monohulls crewed by 4 and the multihulls crewed by two.  These are not comfortable boats for living.  No teak or comfortable berths are to be found down below.  These are no nonsense race boats stripped to the bare essentials for racing.  An oft-told joke about crewing race boats like these is that the toothbrush handles are cut off to save weight.  We doubt that's true, but we do know of one skipper who confiscated a Sony Walkman from a crew member because he didn't want excess stuff like that weighing down the boat or slowing down the crew!

We might also mention that while the Transat race was starting, the single handed Transpac (San Francisco to Hawaii) is already underway.  Single handed racing means the boats are sailed solo ... only one person aboard.  Many of us Lake Superior boaters know Eric Thomas from Barker's Island Marina in Superior, Wisconsin, and have had him do work on our boats (we certainly have).  This summer Eric took time off to truck his Olson 30, Polar Bear, to the Bay Area, and he's presently mid-way toward Hawaii right now (one of the leaders, btw).  To check Eric's progress click http://www.sfbaysss.org/TransPac/transpac2008/race_tracker/position.html

Getting back to the Ocean 50's like the red one pictured above in the Quebec-Malo race, we were struck by the fact that it was a boat much like this, only larger (an Open 60), on which Englishwoman Ellen MacArther won a recent single handed non-stop around the world race a few years back, including rounding both Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope.  What an incredible woman!  (not to mention her many male competitors).  To think that in the big seas and high winds of the southern Pacific ocean's Roaring 40's and 50's (high latitudes) Ellen had to climb to the top of the mast to make repairs while the boat was sailing itself is something almost beyond comprehension to us mere mortals.  She actually had to do that twice!

Our days in Quebec City were wonderful, but time marches on and so must we.  Saturday morning called for an early start to play the tides for our long hop to our next stop.  More on that in our next installment.  See you then.

Upper St. Lawrence to Montreal

6/2008 - Kingston to Clayton, NY -- 18.9 Miles

There was no wind Sunday morning for our motor around Wolfe Island to Clayton New York.  Technically, as we approached Wolfe from Kingston, we were now into the Thousand Islands area.  The Thousand Islands is one of the few areas that "understate" its tourist attraction.  The actual island count is reportedly something like 1800, but we think we only saw 1,243 of them.  The Kingston-Clayton leg was just the frosting on the 1000 Islands cake (see home at right on Wolfe Island's Quebec Point).  Our next day would take us through the thick of the islands.

We were lucky to get a slip at the Clayton Yacht club, a small but very nice and extremely friendly club across the bay from town.   

Our main reason for visiting Clayton was to see the Antique Wooden Boat Museum there, reportedly the largest of its kind in North America.  The Thousand Islands have always been a haven for the rich and super-rich, and some of these vessels were their boat toys. 

One of the "boats" at the museum was George Boldt's "houseboat".  The houseboat was a two story affair, but had no power to move itself.  Boldt had a tug that he used whenever he wanted to move it.  Servant's quarters, the kitchen, etc., were on the lower deck, with Boldt's apartment, entertaining areas, and guest rooms on the 2nd level. 

On the other end of the size spectrum we came across the 1957 Boat of the Year, a Fiberglass runabout made by Herter's in Waseca, MN!  Their advertising copy was something to behold.  The exact model name was "Herter's Chrome Fiberglas Duofoil World Famous Walk-Through Deluxe Model Flying Fish Runabout".  To see more of these beautiful boats, click the Antique Boat Museum photo album on the left column of our main blog page for more pictures. 

Another of Clayton's claims to fame is Thousand Islands salad dressing.  In the early 1900's a Sophia LaLonde created the dressing which her husband, a fishing guide, served on the salads for his shore lunches.  She later gave the recipe to a family who owned a hotel in Clayton.  From that hotel the recipe was given to George Boldt (more on the Boldt castle in the next segment), who owned the Waldorf Astoria in New York and the Bellview Stratford in Philadelphia.  The rest, as they say, is history.  We picked up a bottle of the authentic stuff at the original hotel where it was served (see photo).

7/7/2008 - Clayton to Prescott Sandra Lawn Harbor -- 40.7 miles

We were now, truly, in the Thousand Islands.  It seemed like every rock in the area (and there are lots of them) had one or more homes on it, and many, many of those homes were mansions or larger by any standard.

Our entire trip today was made under sail downwind.  It was a pleasant and spectacular way to travel through the heart of this turn of the century elegance.

Best known of the literally thousands of estates along the way is the Boldt "Castle".  Passing the castle makes one feel like they're traveling down the Rhine in Germany.  It's hard to imagine the logistics of building a structure like that on an island in upstate New York.  Interestingly it was never fully completed, as Boldt stopped building in the early 1900's when his wife passed away.

About 10 miles down the way is the Singer Castle, almost equally impressive to the Boldt Castle.  One thinks of the millions of families, ours and your grandparents and great grandparents included, who likely had to scrimp and save to pull together enough cash to buy a sewing machine.  This home is one of the "over the top" results of all that scrimping and saving by the common people of that era.

We were now starting to really feel the affect of the St. Lawrence currents, generally averaging 1-2 knots but at times as high as three in the narrower cuts.  Sure does help in shortening those long jumps on the water.  After a wonderful cruise through Thousand Islands wonderland it was good to tie up and bring ourselves back to reality.  We enjoyed the Sandra Lawn Prescott Marina (see below), and would recommend it to any coming through this way.

7/8/2008 - Prescott to Crysler Park Marina -- 24.3

This stretch brought our first lock on the upper St. Lawrence, the Iroquois.  This is a leveling lock which typically drops boats somewhere between a few inches and 3 or 4 feet.  The purpose of a leveling lock is to maintain the remainder of the seaway at a specified depth, with an adjacent dam used to manage the river level.  We dropped a grand total of 4", and paid $25.00 for the privilege.  Glad they don't charge by the inch.  If they did we wouldn't be able to afford the next 6 locks, most with roughly 40' drops.

Up to the Iroquois we had to motor or motor-sail, but as we exited the lock the wind picked up, the headsail went out, and we were able to kill the engine for the rest of the trip to Crysler Park Marina.

Initially we decided to stop here because the long jump to the next place we wanted to stop would have entailed an extremely long day.  However, we also knew this area was home to "Upper Canada Village", a 1950's reconstruction of an 1860's-period river town.  We're glad we stopped to see the village.

Much of the Upper Canadian Village park consists of relocated and restored homes, barns, and businesses from a town that was flooded a couple of miles from here when the St. Lawrence seaway was constructed.  Over 500 buildings in total were saved and relocated, with the older and more historic buildings ending up here.  In addition, a few other historic structures were brought here and restored from other communities around the area.  Each building in the recreated river town was staffed by period-dressed interpreters who were attending to whatever might have been happening in that building: making brooms, sawing lumber, making furniture, farming, making cheese, going to school or church, making shoes ... etc.  It was very informative, and very well done (sorry - no pictures, we forgot to bring the camera).

Adjacent to the village is Crysler Farm battlefield & interpretive center, where during the war of 1812 800 British troops turned back a force of some 4000 US troops heading to take Montreal (see photo).  This battle, and one other, were cited as the two decisive events that now require us to have I-68's to clear between two countries, rather than simply cross between states :-)

For those cruisers who might decide to stop here, Upper Canadian Village is walkable from the marina, but it's a fairly long walk, especially on a hot day like we had.  We probably should have taken the bikes out.  If you're not up to the walk, the marina will shuttle you for a small fee.

7/9/2008 - Weather Day at Crysler Park Marina

Wednesday morning we woke early for a long day through the two US locks and on down to Valleyfield, but the forecast was not good.  Instead we decided to sit out the rain at Crysler Park, where we took the opportunity to remove our stove, disassemble it, and replace the defective thermocouple that was keeping us from using all three top burners (we had ordered the replacement part before we left).  While the stove was disassembled we also found and fixed a problem we've had with the piezo ignition since we bought the boat in 2000.  That, plus some heavy duty cleaning while the stove was out and disassembled, has given us an "almost like new" stove and oven!  Rainy days have their benefits.

7/10/2008 - Crysler Park Marina to Valleyfield -- 48.6 miles

Thursday morning brought clear skies coupled with a westerly wind to push us down-river.  The breeze was light to start, so we had to motor-sail the first segment to the US Eisenhower and Snell locks.  Each lock dropped us about 40', for a roughly 80' drop toward the Atlantic.  Four more Canadian locks to go and we'll be near sea level.

For the Eisenhower and Snell locks we tied to floating bollards, so no line adjustments were necessary after securing our mooring lines ... only a little fending off with boat hooks and a little reverse with the engine to keep us straight, given the  breeze trying constantly to push our bow in. 

The first lock keeper suggested we run a single line from bow to stern and over the bollard in the middle.  Cheryl Barr's excellent cruising guide, the Down East Circle Route, suggests one bow line looped around the bollard and back to the bow, and another similar line run from the stern around the bollard.  We used Cheryl's recommendation for the Eisenhower and the lock keeper's recommendation for the Snell.  For those following in our wake, both work, but Cheryl's recommendation works much better, particularly if there's any wind.  Cheryl knows her stuff.

Exiting the Snell we motor-sailed and sailed through a winding stretch of the river, and then flew with just the jib up all the way across the 18-mile-long Lac St. Francis to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.  When we arrived we knew were definitely in Quebec.  We felt like we were in Paris again (although Valleyfield, a farily small city on an island, is no where near as sophisticated as Paris).  Parlez vous Francais? 

If Valleyfield lacks sophistication, we'll surely get that tomorrow, in Montreal.

7/11/2008 - Valleyfield to Montreal -- 48.6 Miles

We learned on Thursday night that the St. Lawrence Seaway web site (www.greatlakes-seaway.com) posts expected pleasure boat lock opening times for each lock at around 7:30 in the morning.  Checking it we discovered pleasure boats were being let through the Beauharnois lock at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., so we and another boat hurried and got out of Valleyfield ASAP.  Unfortunately we missed the 9:30 opening by about half an hour because there are bridges along the way that seemed to take forever to open, but the lock said it would be about an hour.  We started through about 11:50, over 2 hours later.  During the day there were delays at other locks as well.  Each time we came to a lock we had to tie off at the pleasure dock and call in.

In between locks we motored in virtually no wind, following the buoys down river much like playing a videogame (except you can really lose if in some places you stray to far outside the reds and the greens).  To the left is a sample of what we were steering to all day these days. 

Note to those following in our path ... most of the credit card machines for paying lock tolls were not working.  We met another boat that had gone through the Welland about 2 weeks after us and the credit card machine was not working there either, although it had worked for us.  Moral of the story: make sure you have enough cash on board to cover all locking fees. 
 
We were delayed at the last lock almost 3 hours.  We arrived at the lock a little after 6:30 pm,  and didn't receive clearance to enter until almost 10:00.  In all this time they didn't lock any boats through in any direction.  We have no idea what the delay was for.  Frustrating.  After exiting that lock at around 10:30 pm we then had a night run down-stream through the city to the turning buoy and then up-stream (we should perhaps say up-rapids) to the marina basin in the heart of old town.  It was quite a ride.  We poured the coals to our turbocharged Yanmar and were running at or over hull speed through the water (a little over 7.25 knots), but for a long time doing only 1.7 over the ground.  The boat we were sailing with actually saw a period of 1.1 on their GPS.  Bill was too busy keeping the boat on course in the eddies and currents to watch the GPS readout much of the time.  Doing it at night made for a little added excitement.
 
That said, as soon as we cleared the Clock Tower at Old Town Montreal we were out of the maelstrom and in calm, flat water again.  What a difference.  Marina Port d'Escale in Jacque Cartier basin has 24-hour staff on duty, and two young women met us to help us tie up in the dark (two others simultaneously were helping our buddy-boat friends on Wind Walker IV), and this was at midnight!  I guess it's not unusual for them to have late arrivals here, given canal schedules.
 
After the long day (Up at 6:30, underway shortly after 7:30 am, and in route 'til after midnight), we met on Wind Walker for a well deserved scotch with the three guys bringing their boat down from Detroit (owner Ned plus two friends, Marv and Craig, as crew).  We closed their boat down at 2:00am.  Great folks. Ned, plans to get the boat to Norfolk by the end of October to do the Caribbean 1500 (Norfolk, VA, to the Virgin Islands non-stop) this year.

7/12-13 - Exploring Montreal

We loved Montreal.  Judy had never been here, and Bill's last visit was for Expo '67 (the 1967 World's Fair) between college graduation and starting work at Sperry Univac.  While we were there the tall training ship Belem from France was in port and giving public tours.  As marina residents we got to go directly onto the boat without standing in the over one-hour waiting line ... $2.00 a foot dockage does come with some privileges.  Saturday turned out to be as beautiful a day as one could imagine, and Saturday night Montreal was gearing up for an International Fireworks competition.  With all these stars in alignment the old town was simply teaming with people.  In addition to the few pictures here, check out the Montreal photo album on the blog.

Just across the street from our Marina was Place Jacque Cartier, a two block long and very wide pedestrian street lined chock-a-block with restaurants.  Numerous street performers were continually working the crowds in the middle.  It seemed like the place never slept.  When we crashed a little after 2:00 am on Friday night the city was still buzzing.

Bill had a generous portion of mussels for lunch in an outdoor cafe off Place Jacque Cartier.  Mmmm.  Judy was so envious she ordered mussels for dinner that evening, but she must have gotten 4 or 5 dozen!  What a feast!

For cruisers passing through this way, there's an excellent IGA in a condo district about 10 blocks walk from the Marina.  We used the opportunity to pick up a few stores for the ship's larder.

Saturday night it seemed as if all 1.7 million Montrealites were in the old town for the fireworks display.  They even shut down a major highway bridge over the St. Lawrence so pedestrians could walk out on the bridge to watch ... the best seats in the town.  We barely got out of our restaurant in time for the light show, so our viewing position wasn't primo ... but the show was still good, even from our vantage point.

Sunday brought rain, but between showers we toured the Ramezay House (residence of the first administrative head of Montreal), and then took the metro (subway) to Ile St. Helene, one of the two islands where Expo '67 was held.  The US Pavilion, a Bucky Fuller-designed Geodesic Dome, is now known as Biosphere, an ecological exhibit space geared for all ages.  Very well done.

The rain on Sunday put some kinks into plans we had to visit the Jardin Botanique of Montreal and the Marche Atwater.  We decided to stay over one extra day.

The Metro took us directly to Parc Olympic, built for the 1976 Olympic Games.  Some of the Olympic artifacts remain, including the medal winner's podium where Judy received her Gold medal today (unfortunately there were no flowers for her to hold in the air, and the torch behind her must have been snuffed out by the prior day's rain)! 

The stadium, originally built for the Olympics, is a lesson in how not to build infrastructure.  The design is beautiful to view, but the stadium has had its problems.  First the 65 ton stadium roof, which took two years to complete after the Olympics was over, never opened and closed properly.  To add insult to injury, winds ripped the supposedly bulletproof Kevlar fabric.  The roof was removed for good, and replaced with a permanent fabric roof that does not open or close.  The tower lost its hoist function, but remains as an observation deck.  Later, during a football game, a concrete beam collapsed over horrified spectators, but luckily no one was injured.  To add insult to injury, the only sports team regularly using the stadium, the Montreal Expos, moved to Washington D.C.  The stadium's fate at this point (after its $1.5 Billion construction cost) is most likely demolition.  Let's hope Minneapolis does better with their new ball park.

From Olympic Park we spent about 3 hours at the botanical gardens next door.  It was one of the most beautiful and expansive gardens we'd ever visited.  There were several themed gardens in the park, but we enjoyed the Chinese and Japanese gardens best of all (see attached photos).

After the Jardin Botanique we took the metro across town to a busy indoor-outdoor food and flower market called the Marche Atwater.  We were pretty well stocked up, but for those following in our footsteps we'd recommend shopping here for cheeses, meats, and fresh vegetables before going to a conventional grocery like the IGA.

On the way back to the boat we stopped at a large downtown indoor mall where Bill topped the day off by getting his hair cut (pun intended), and we picked up a couple of other things.  Our 3 days in Montreal had been good to us.  We'd highly recommend a visit to the city by either land or water.  Rest assured you won't regret it.  We could spend several more days here, but time is marching on and we have some large distances to travel.  Our next short segment (expected to take two long days) will bring us to Quebec City.  See you there!