August 9, 2010

It turned out that the winds didn't die down enough when the tide was high enough for us to get to the pump out and fuel dock in Cap-a-l'Aigle. Bob, Norm, and Michelle, however, did come over and help us get Eos turned around so we would be facing out when we took off. The marina is quite small and the turning room didn't allow us to do it under power so it was a matter of letting the aft drift out, pulling the bow around and letting the current and tide that was coming in the entrance just push her around.

The fellows had other plans for dinner so Bill and I ate ours on board and then went to bed at 0900 because it was necessary to leave at 0600 in order to catch the tide right when we finally got to Tadoussac. If the tide is going out then the current and tide from the Saguenay River runs 7-8 knots. That means just motoring in one place and we have to go up the river a few miles to get to Tadoussac.

We were up and on our way at 0610. We were almost completely cast off when Norm wandered over to give us a hand with the aft line. As Bill told Norm one of the sad things about the cruising life style is that you meet people along the way that you would like to get to know better and perhaps become good friends with. But when you move on you simply have to say good-bye, wish them the best and hope that maybe someday you will meet up with them again.

We motored the whole day in fog that gave us only a mile to maybe a couple of boat length's of visibility. We passed one ship which we couldn't actually see but we heard her fog horn and saw her on the radar and the chart. We ran our fog horn a couple of times as well. It was only in the high 50s and cloudy most of the time but even when the sun finally broke out for good there just wasn't enough heat to dissipate the fog. We did see one whale as we neared Tadoussac! Our first sighting. What a thrill to see one live and right there rather than in pictures and movies. Hopefully, we will see more as we continue out to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

We got to Tadoussac at 1230 with the tide in our favor but not so the spaces at the marina. They told us we would have to anchor in the bay and they would see if some of the boats left and if they could find room for us. Luckily as we neared the marina and the bay the fog lifted completely so we had no trouble seeing other boats anchored in the bay and could make sure we had good swing room near them.

As we watched smaller boats approach the marina and start rafting up with boats already docked there, I was sure that they wouldn't find space for us. Sure enough, we got a VHF call saying they were sorry but they couldn't accommodate us but that they hoped we would be able to visit them again another time. So we really made sure we had enough chain out to be secure for the night and settled in.

We are having to run the Kubota to generate some power so it is rather noisy right now. I have plugs in my ears and have had them there all through fixing supper, eating, and cleaning up. It will take about 2 hours for us to go from 70% to 90% battery power when we will just call that enough and turn the engine off.

We had thought we would go up the Saguenay river to Eternite Bay but have decided to pass on that. The winds were such our last day in Quebec City and in Cap-a-l'Aigle that getting to the fuel and pump out docks was not going to be easy so we didn't do it. In retrospect we should have tried it in Quebec City but we didn't. So instead of going to Eternite Bay tomorrow we are going to head out to Rimouski which is one of the last places to really provision and fuel and pump out for several days as we come around the top of the Gaspe peninsula. It is too bad we aren't taking this side trip but it will weather permitting allow us time to wander into the Bras d'Or Lakes on Cape Breton Island.

Luckily our WIFI booster can get us connected to the marina's internet even hanging out here on anchor so I can post this blog.