Day 118 - Thu 23 Jul 2015
Docked - Tadoussac, QC

[photo: some of the natural beauty looking over the rocky point up towards the Saguenay fjord]

We both got a lot of good rest overnight and I was awake well before 0600 to a mostly gray sky with temps in the low 50s. I took Clyde onto the dock while the people traffic was non-existent, but he wasn't happy about it, so we came back aboard. I actually put the heat on for a short while to bring the cabin temp up from 55F to 64F, at which point it felt comfortable to me. Diane was still snuggled under the covers.

When she awoke, we had a nice hot breakfast and planned the morning activities. We first walked up the main road into the town and explored the many boutiques, bistros, restaurants, hotels and B & Bs. Despite reading about the town in a cruising guide, we had no idea it was quite this nice. We checked out the newer of the 2 grocery stores and were pleased with what we saw.

We then had to retrace our steps for a bit until we found the head of the trail leading up into the mountain overlooking the town. The wooden steps were similar in steepness to the nicer steps up to the top in Old Quebec and Diane winced at the thought. We took the Loop trail that went up a ways, and then looped while ascending and descending around to view the town and bay. It was somewhat strenuous, but not all that long, so it was fine exercise.

With that under our belts, we trudge back up the sidewalk to the grocery store and picked up some fresh provisions, including some local pate for lunch with the fresh bread we purchased. While Diane stowed the new provisions, I stayed on the dock to help the dockmaster, Sean, bring a few powerboats alongside our dock. They were appreciative of the extra help. For lunch, Diane nibbled on practically nothing after the nice breakfast, but I enjoyed some local pate, cheese, and fresh French bread.

We rested for a while and then took a walk out to the point with the binoculars. We were there only minutes when I saw what I believed to be Zendo coming in with a small, gray zodiac approaching them. The zodiac seemed to tie up to them with Zendo in neutral. I feared it was a Parcs Canada boat giving them a violation for too much speed or closeness to whales. That question would have to wait, but they eventually got underway again towards the dock.

When we saw where they were coming, we walked over to help and somehow the dockhand (not Sean) sensed that we knew them. When we said, "oui" they asked us to tell Zendo to reverse and go over to where we were docked. Well, Jon did a fabulous job spinning around in the tight space and got out of there. He then had to reverse about 5 boat lengths down a very narrow fairway and raft up to us. Actually, we didn't know that is where they were to wind up, because there was a big space in front of us, but that was already taken by a boat returning to that spot.

Again, Jon did a wonderful job of boat handling and got rafted to us with no drama. We chatted a bit and then they set off to do the southern walk around the point while the sun was still shining. After that, things got entertaining. Because the high season here is just over 4 weeks, this place gets packed at this time. With the docks full, they are rafting boats against others. We watched a sailboat raft up against that of someone we had met, take their large dog ashore across both boats, and then disengage shortly after returning. We later found out the inside boat was leaving at 0500 to go up the Saguenay River (due to the tidal currents), and the rafted boat wanted no part of moving at 0500.

Unfortunately, the captain did not account for the wind or his boat's behavior in reverse and scraped along the boat behind him. Fortunately, numerous inflated rubber fenders kept the damage mainly confined to his ego. That boat then made a circuit to come into our narrow fairway and had to turn 180 degrees with almost no room to spare. Fortunately, there were at least 6 helpers to avert disaster. I know I sound too critical, but I realize that I have also had some close-quarter maneuvers that I wish I could 'do over.'

Jon came over after their walk to invite us over to Zendo for cocktails and appetizers. We had a long and interesting chat about many things over wonderful cheese and pate appetizers and finally got around to tomorrow's plans. We both want to travel up the Saguenay Fjord a ways to see the raw beauty and perhaps spot some additional whales. Despite what our cruising guide had suggested, the local knowledge that Jon gleaned was that we could leave here about 0930 and head W up the river with no problem.

Our goal would be to visit Baie Eternite from the river and then backtrack 6 nm to Anse-St-Jean to spend a night at the marina. It only makes sense to take just one boat, so that will be decided in the morning. In the meantime, it started raining off and on at about 1800 and it looks to be a gloomy night. At the risk of being melodramatic, it seems horrible that you have 4-6 weeks of peak boating season here and much of it is spent with rain and fog.

Jon and Lynn let me a book written by a couple who traveled this region in a small sailboat a number of years ago. I will see how far I get tonight.