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July 2008 |
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31 July
-Saguenay to Sept Ile
After Lucien and Louise left us we upped anchor and continued to head down the St Lawrence toward the Gulf. We had very good weather and managed to sail most of the way to Sept Ile stopping each night at a different anchorage and spotting all sorts of wildlife along the way. Each day we saw whales, seals and porpoises which was very exciting.
Anse a l'Original was our first stop, a large bay which is fairly sheltered although the wind did pick up when we entered and made it a little rolly for a while.
Next stop was Rimouski, we were going to stay in the marina here but when we entered the water was so calm and there was a shallow wide anchorage noted on the chart so we anchored instead. We took the dingy over to the breakwater and anchored it and tied it off of the rocks then went to check out the supermarket and Canadian Tire! The wind had picked up whilst we were out and when we got back to the dingy with our shopping the waves were crashing against the rocks, it was lucky that we anchored the dingy off as it would have been destroyed if we had just left it tied to the rocks. It was really not a very good place to leave it in hindsight! I went with the shopping to wait at the marina and Stuart managed to get the dingy from the rocks without damaging it or himself and picked me up from there. We then had a very wet journey back to the boat which was bucking around like a crazy horse. The wind dropped off in the evening and we had a fairly peaceful night although we wouldn't recomend anchoring there to anyone!
Click here to see pictures of the journey from Saguenay to Sept Ile
Next off to, Port Matane, there is a marina here also, although it is prone to silting so we chose to anchoring in the commercial harbour. We called the harbour master to see if this was ok and the coast guard answered. He was very helpful and called the marina for us to see how deep their entrance was, it was 5.5 ft which we didn't want to chance so he called the harbour master for the commercial port and they let us anchor in there. The coast guard here seem to be a very helpful bunch. It was very sheltered in here which was a comfort as the swell had started to get pretty high out on the St Lawrence. We slept so well that we never even heard the 2 huge ferries leave the next morning.
Next stop Godbout, we had very little wind and no swell here but it is a very open anchorage which would probably be pretty unpleasent if there was any kind of weather.
Another days sail took us onto Ile Grand Caouis where we anchored on the west side inbetween the main land and the island. There is a better anchorage on the north side where you go through a fairly narrow channel and into a sheltered bay, but we got a bit scared of going too close to the rocks! The weather was very calm and the anchorage we were in was perfect for us. We took a walk on the island, which has one inhabitated cottage on it. The owners come past the boat later in the day and stopped to say hello and gave us a lobster that they had just picked up for dinner which was very kind of them.
The next day we headed off to Sept Ile and anchored off of the town next to the public pier. It was a pretty handy spot, we could leave the dingy on the pier, and take the bikes into town which had everything you could need.
We planned on updating our boat paperwork here, which also seemed like a good time to consider our travel plans. We originaly only planned to be out on the boat for a year but that turned into 3½ years, and the budget has been stretched to the max. We have decided it is probably time to head back to the UK some time soon.
We went to the Government Offices at the Post Office Buildings and spoke to the customs there and told them that we would like to leave the boat in Canada for a while, they decided that we could leave it here but would have to put a bond down the same as the marina did for us in the winter. Although we would have to lay the money down this time so we have had to fork over $3000 which wasn't fun and means we will have to come home sooner rather than later. We will get this back when the boat leaves the country, they have given us a year so we have some time.
Next we need to head over to Gaspe to take the boat out of the water for the rest of the summer and winter. The weather hasn't been right for heading that way at present (lots of fog and the wind coming from the wrong direction) so we have headed over to the islands and have been anchored off of Ile Manowin for the last few days.
We have had a really nice time here, on our first day of anchoring we had a large whale come into the bay with us, he circled the boat a couple of times then went away, then he came back again and did the same thing. He did this 3 times all in all, it was very exciting and the closest we have seen a whale so far.
We came over to anchor on the east side of the island to get away from the wind. Whilst attempting to anchor we saw people came out of one of the cottages, they waved us down and told us to use their mooring buoy and to come over for a drink! We took the buoy and went over to the island, where we met Ann, Louis, their friend Mario and their children. We were furnished with a beer and asked to stay for dinner! We had such a nice night, it felt as if we had known them for years! Ann's Great Grandfather brought a piece of the island back in 1905 and it has been in the family ever since. It's a really lovely place.
The next day they invited us to breakfast and for a visit to the bird sanctuary on the opposite island of Corossol to meet their friends who live there and to take a walk up to the old lighthouse. We enjoyed exploring the island, seeing the old lighthouse and surrounding abandoned village and meeting the people who lived there during the summer (the family of the last light keeper).
Click here to see pictures of Sept Ile and Ile Manowin
Next stop Gaspe, if there weather ever cheers up!
19 July
-Saguenay
We enjoyed our stay in Quebec City, the Marina was in a good location and the city is covered in cycle paths so it was very easy to get around. (We didn't let all the rain put us off!) They had also laid on a special bus service for the 400 years anniversary which was pay once and ride all day. The old town is very pretty and there were lots of activities going on for the anniversary. We managed to take Mano to the vet here too to get his blood taken for the rabies test, this then has to be sent to a special lab in America to be tested. Once this is clear we have to wait for 6 months then Mano should be allowed to travel back to the UK with us (via plane though, not on our boat). Fingers crossed that the lab they use is the correct one and we don't have to go through it all over again.
We had a nice surprise when Andre and Sylvain turned up at the yacht club and took us to dinner at the revolving restaurant in town! Very posh! We weren't expecting to go to dinner though, we thought we would take them back to the boat so Stuart was wearing shorts and flip flops!! It turned out that there was no dress code which was lucky!
Andre stayed on the boat with us this night, after we stopped in town to watch the huge projection 'Moulin a Images' in the old port. The next day we went out sailing, it was the first good sail we have had for a long time. Its much easier when you can go where the wind takes you and you don't have to travel in a specific direction. Sylvain also came out on the boat with us after work for a small evening sail which was nice.
We stayed in Quebec City for just over a week then headed off a little way up the river and anchored behind Ile D'Orleans near the Montmorency waterfalls which we took a day to visit. Next we carried on up the St Lawrence using the current to our advantage so making pretty good time, our next stop was Cap a L'Aigle. We took a spot in the marina here as there is no where to anchor, the people were very friendly and all the boaters rushed out to take our lines as we entered and to have a chat. Its a very pretty place, very rocky, its feels strange to have the boat next to quite so many rocks!
Click here to see pictures of Ile Aux Coudres to Cap a L'Aigle
We had internet access here so emailed friends and family, next thing we knew we had an email from Lucien and Louise (Andre's parents) saying they were packing their bags and they would come and find us tomorrow in Tadoussac!! We had invited them to come and stay on the boat at anytime on our journey, when we were in Lacolle, Lucien was very enthusiastic but I think they then got a little worried about it and said that they probably wouldn't come. Andre must have gone back home and convinced them that it was a good idea, so on the spare of the moment they decided they had nothing to loose and went for it! This was great news although we were a little worried that we wouldn't make it, anyone who knows the waters around the Tadoussac entrance will tell you that it can be pretty dangerous under the wrong conditions. But as luck would have it the wind was predicted to be going with us and not too strong. The trick of getting from the St Lawrence into Tadoussac from this direction is to enter an hour and a half after low tide, the currents are too strong for us to enter at any other time and if the wind is strong against the tide you can get severely bashed about in the over falls.
We caught the 3pm tide and got into Tadoussac at 10pm with no problems, all very calm although there was a tug and a barge moving about in the bay with lights all over the place. Its difficult to fully picture an anchorage in the dark and we didn't want to get anywhere near the tug so we made a quick decision to tie up in the marina. We got told off for not calling before we entered, which we should have done but the decision was so quick and we were so near the marina, busy putting lines and fenders out that we didn't have time. The guys was really nice when we got talking to him though and helped us move the boat to a different spot.
The next day we met up with Lucien and Louise and we decided it would be nice if they could join us on the boat for a trip up the Saguenay Fjord. They had a trial night on the boat in the marina, then another trail day where we had to wait to find the cat who had done a runner in the night! We found him then next evening in the woods behind the marina, he was having a great time playing in the dirt and trees! The trouble that cat has caused!!
Click here to see pictures of Tadoussac
We finally set off up the Saguenay, spotting Béluga whales on the way but not getting many pictures as they are a bit sneaky like that! We spent a week going up and down the Fjord, the scenery is amazing and we had great weather for sailing. We stopped off at a different anchorage each night, Ile St Louis, L'Anse St Jean, Baie Eternite and Baie Ha! Ha!
Baie Eternite was beautiful, you are surrounded by impossibly high steep cliffs covered in trees. The National Park supplies mooring buoys to tie up on for $15 a night which makes life a little easier. Its not so easy to anchor in the Fjord as in a lot of places the water is 50 meters deep right to the edge and goes down to a depth of 278 meters in places. The beaches that there are seem to be very shallow then drop off quite steeply so when the tide goes down it is quite shocking to see how close you are to the beach!! In some cases it looks as though you could jump straight onto land from the boat.
We didn't have very good weather here but we didn't let that stop us taking the hike up to the statue. It was a very nice walk and has been maintained extremely well by the National Park, there are wooden stairs taking you up all the steep parts and nice rest spots. Even a big wooden cabin near the top where you can shelter from the weather with a wood burning stove to warm up. Its always an incentive to get back down quickly when you know that there is a cafe at the bottom that sells beer! It was nice to put our feet up at the end with a local beer in hand!
Click here to see pictures of the Saguenay
We came back into Tadoussac at the end of the week and on Lucien and Louise's last day we got up at 5am and went out onto the St Lawrence to do some big whale spotting. Unfortunately it was tipping down with rain and very cold, it was very exciting when we spotted our first big whale though. We think the ones we are spotting are the Fin Back Whale and there are lots of them, along with very curious seals who popped their heads out of the water and stared at us. Probably wondering what we were doing out on such an awful day! The weather finally got the better of us and we headed back into Tadoussac when the current allowed. We then said our good byes and dropped Lucien and Louise off at their car, we had a lovely time together with lots of laughs, a few mini traumas (cat loss, anchor problems etc, etc) and a lot of good memories. The Saguenay has been my favorite part of our Canadian sailing so far.
We left Tadoussac a couple of days after seeing Lucien and Louise off and are now heading up the St Lawrence toward the golf.
