August 6
From my previous blog, our plans were to sail up the Saguenay River to Anse-St-Jean. We timed our Tadoussac entranceway to get the currents pushing us up river. By the time we turned North at Tadoussac a weather system to the North of us gave us strong winds on our nose,
cancelling our favorable currents. We were only going at 2 knots. At that speed, and pressure on the engine, our plans were no longer feasible. We slept in Tadoussac.
We entered our slip in Tadoussac in time for Happy Hour. Yeh! Walking along the boardwalk we discovered a beautiful little chapel dated 1790, at the top of an escarpment, overlooking the bay and marina, surrounded by a cemetery with tombstones dating back in the early 1800's. Obviously, there is a lot of marine history to learn and appreciate. There's also this location's landmark, the Tadoussac Hotel, built in 1864 by wealthy citizens of Montreal and Quebec City, before Canada even existed. Entering the hotel or sitting on the front lawn, you can easily imagine couples richly attired in long dresses, tails, top hats and lacy parasols.
From Tadoussac on the North shore of the St. Lawrence River, we crossed the river to Le Bic Provincial Park, a resting anchorage before Rimouski. When we left Tadoussac at 6:00am, we encountered porpoises and seals. How exciting to sit on deck, coffee in hand, the sun rising in front of us, pointing here and there the sights of fins and seal heads. We had calm seas so these sights were easily captured. Seals often came near the boat, looked at us, sometimes left or followed at a distance. At Le Bic, a calm and shallow bay with a craggy shoreline. Seals are aplenty and so curious. Daniele and Richard took the opportunity to walk the shore and witness a community of seals sunbathing and drowsing after their feast of crabs.
Rimouski for 2 nights. We arrived just before 9:50am in the rain in a cloud of sailboats tacking back and forth in front of the marina entrance vying for the best position for a race start at 10:00. As we were motoring and they were sailing, they had a right-of-way. Frank was zigzaging through them to avoid collision.
Rimouski is vibrant, has large and safe bicycle/walking path along the beautiful shoreline. Its people appreciate the short summer season by celebrating the outdoors life: sailing, biking, walking, fishing, camping, outdoors cafes and bars, parks for picnics and games, etc. We did our 15,000 steps yesterday. Oh! Now we've entered the fresh fish and seafood world! Yeepee! To celebrate this beginning, Daniele and I bought several dishes for a seafood buffet dinner from Poissonnerie Gagnon, a mere kilometre East of the marina. Accompanied by a light pinot grigio, the feast was heaven on a plate.
It's noon now. We just left Rimouski for Ste-Anne-des-Monts, a 20-hour sail, Daniele's and Richard's first all-night sail. The winds are light; the sun is bright, a good first experience for them. Tonight, we'll stagger the shift rotation so each of us spend time together, 2 at a time. I'll explain in more details in my next blog. Enjoy this beautiful weekend!
