This is comming to you from scenic, no, very scenic, Tadoussac. We consider our first leg to be done. Nothing is broken, neither spirits nor equipment (nautical or human). Our next leg will be to get the boat to Percè.
We left Quebec very early Wednesday and sailed through a sunny day with following winds. We prefer this to smashing face on into rain and wind and high waves with an overrevving motor. The sailing was uneventful but the scenery was not. Isle d'Orleans is quite a sight with residual farmland descending the hills from time to time between the outsized estates that still remain. Very nice to see and probably a great place from which to watch the river go by for a while. On we sailed attempting to get to Baie St Paul (actually Isle au Coudre) for a rest. There was no usable dock at the island so we pushed on north into a moonlit night watching navigational beacons go by and wondering how mariners got anywhere in one piece in the past, without beacons. We docked in St. Simeon, with great finesse in the moonlight, at a private dock at 0130 intending to sail to Tadoussac today. We were gone on the tide by 0530 before anyone knew we had transgressed territorial boundaries. We made it into Tadoussac by 1230 according to plan, exactly coinciding with their low tide. Otherwise, we dont have enough power in the sails and/or the motor to combat the ebb flow out of the Saguenay River. Has it been mentioned yet that tides on the St Laurence can be up to 17 feet and they create very disturbing water conditions.
Oh yes, today's sail was also something special. The tidal currents do wierd things in some places causing rips and races that make the river look like a giant washing machine. Four foot waves in all directions rocking and spinning the boat unpredictably. Quite a ride, and no real danger when far enough from shore. Oh, another thing. Everyone knows that there are whales around here and we saw a few Minkes a bit off and a seal very close to the boat, however, did you know how playful the Belugas are? How about a group of about 10 Belugas from 12 to 15 feet in length following us for about 20 minutes? They swam beside and behind the boat bringing their heads out of the water occasionally as though as to have a good look at us. Antics included nibbling on our tiller repeatedly while swimming upside down, coming out of the water to taste the rudder of our motor 6¨above the surface and finally going under the boat and blowing rasberries on the hull. Way more of a show than we could ever have expected. I doubt if anyone of the thousands of tourists that leave in the tour boats get anything close to what we got.
We are planning to get to Rimouski tomorrow afternoon after crossing on the morning tide.
We are experiencing some connection problems with Dons computer, so this is comming to you from an internet café in town, hence, there are no pictures. Next time we hope.
Thats it for now.
donandjohn.
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