Picture shows: Mooring field at Tadoussac; Quilcene is out there!


More pics at; https://photos.app.goo.gl/mqoydhtFbf7b2Csx6

and;
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PBPitP7ehAUmEuvd9

Soon after we arrived in Montreal we found ourselves in the middle of a heatwave. The temperature soared to almost 40C with humidex values of 45C! For a couple of days we just stayed on the boat with the fans on, only venturing out on our bikes during early morning to go to the local shops.

The heatwave ended with a spectacular thunderstorm and the air was cooler and clearer when we took the ferry from Longueuil Marina across the river to the Old Port Marina in the heart of the Montreal. It was apparent as the ferry punched through the swirling water that we couldn't have bucked the current to get there in Quilcene; the only boats in the Old Port were motor boats with more powerful engines.

We were a little disappointed with Montreal; wall to wall restaurant and cafe decking lined the narrow streets of the Old Port area, particularly Place Jacques Cartier and St Pauls boulevard, which is the oldest street in the city. Waiters hovered outside their establishments trying to attract customers, very off-putting!

However we wandered around and found the ' Music Space' in Place d'Armes where free jazz, folk, and regional music concerts take place around lunch time. It was relaxing to sit and enjoy an ice cream and be entertained. Some of the finest buildings in Montreal line this shady square including Basilique Notre Dame and Montreal's imposing oldest bank. We called an Uber car to take us to Chinatown for a delicious lunch then wandered back to the ferry via the lovely old market building.

Leaving Longueuil and Montréal next day we followed the shipping channels as the river wound its way north-eastward to Quebec City. We spent a couple of nights at anchor in the pretty Sorel Islands, before crossing the vast shallow lake of St Pierre, where buoys mark a dredged channel deep enough for us and the big ships!

With the river now subject to tidal influence, we had to use the ebb tide and currents to our advantage; in areas where the rivers narrows these currents are very strong and can normally reach speeds of up to 7-8 knots, and with the extra flow this year may be more!

The pilot book advises on the best time to leave ports and anchorages and we adhered to it religiously. A tidal stream atlas was also very helpful as we could see where, and at what time the fastest flow was expected. Nonetheless, it was with much trepidation that we approached the 'Richleau Rapids'; a narrow section where the navigable channel is only 0.25 nm wide and large boulders lie outside the buoys. We'd read about yachts attaining speeds of 12 knots through this section, and were concerned about controlling our course, especially if a large ship was also in the channel!

As it transpired, our timing was perfect, and despite seeing a few whirlpools outside the channel, our speed did not exceed 9.4 knots and we had no problems. You can imagine how good we felt to arrive safely in Quebec Old Port Marina with the rapids behind us!

A celebration was in order so after a welcome shower we hit the town for drinks and dinner!

Quebec City is wonderful: beautiful old buildings and pretty narrow streets that didn't appear to be overcome by tourism. Yes, there were lots of other tourists but somehow Quebec seems to have more class than Montreal! We took the funicular to the upper town and enjoyed great views of the city and river before following the winding streets back down to the old port where we lunched on moules and frites! Well what else in a 'French' city!

We spent six days in Quebec including another two-day heatwave; the marina was lovely with great facilities, they even have a swimming pool! ..although it is rather small and more suitable for cooling off in, and posing next to, than swimming! Next to the marina is a grain store with a row of tall white silos - which could be considered unattractive. However every night a light show was projected onto the silos (see Google pics); the changing colours represented the Aurora Borealis, it certainly kept us entertained as we guessed which colour would follow in sequence!

The next leg of our journey from Quebec to Tadoussac ran through the Charlevoix, an area of outstanding natural beauty with steep hills and dramatic scenery as we sailed past the Laurentian Mountains. The stopover en route is Cap a L'Aigle, or 'Cape of the Eagle', a tiny marina and the only port of refuge on the passage. It can be entered on any state of the tide, hence the 'port of refuge' tag.

It's a 72 mile hop from Quebec to Cap a L' Aigle and we'd been concerned that we wouldn't make it before dark. In the event our speed had been 10-12 knots in some stretches, and we were there in time for sundowners! ..and it proved to be such a delightful marina in a pretty setting that we stayed two nights.

Another feature of the Charlevoix is the abundance of whales. They say it is virtually impossible to transit this area without at least a few sightings, and sure enough we had our first sight of Belugas as we pressed on to Tadoussac. Saguenay Fjord meets the St Lawrence River at Tadoussac and the water depth at the confluence is over 1000ft. Conditions were much cooler here as the water temperature plunged from 26C at Quebec City to 8C! We were getting condensation on the floor of the boat, which was so cold that we had to start wearing socks!

The deep cold water and abundance of plankton at the mouth of the Fjord make it an ideal feeding ground for many species of whale. Belugas were numerous on the passage (although they didn't pose for me to take a picture!), and we saw a Northern Right whale blowing and diving as we arrived at Tadoussac. Our arrival wasn't without drama either! We'd had a very fast passage, exceeding anything we'd expected as we hit 14.4 knots in the current in one area! Hence we were a little early, and the last of the ebb tide coupled with a 25 knot wind combined to give us a very lumpy approach!

However, things quietened down once we reached the shelter of Tadoussac Bay, and with a sense of relief we picked up a mooring buoy - and had a calming cup of tea! Generally we prefer to anchor if possible but here the seabed shelves off to 200ft or more very close to shore making anchoring difficult - a mooring buoy gives us peace of mind at night and on visits ashore.

The following morning Kit launched the dinghy and we headed over to the marina to register and visit the town. Tadoussac is picture postcard pretty, lots of colourful houses, and an attractive large hotel with a red roof. Unfortunately it is a whale watching Mecca, and coaches and cars arrive bringing crowds of people to go out on 'whale watching' trips. I say unfortunately because many of these trips are in huge, fast, noisy rigid inflatables (RIBS). As many as 15 of these RIBS, and larger vessels too, race out at high speed once the tide turns and the whales feed at the mouth of the Fjord. I'm no killjoy but this is supposed to be a marine protected area and many of the whale species are endangered. There is a speed limit and no- one is supposed to chase or pursue the whales!

It seems unnecessary too because the whales come quite close in and you can watch, without disturbing them, from the rocks on the shore for free as they dive and feed. ...which many people do! Including us!

In fact we were also fortunate enough to be on Quilcene on the mooring when we heard a whale blow close by! A Minke whale had come into the bay near the mooring area and was diving and blowing close to the boat. We felt honoured! ..and I even managed to get a piccie, albeit a bit distant! (See google pics).

There was thick fog on the day we'd earmarked to leave, so our departure was delayed. Fog is another, rather unwelcome feature of this area as warmer air blows over the very cold water. We sat on the boat unable to even see the shore, but again we heard a whale blowing nearby and even glimpsed it through the fingers of swirling mist.

Sailing away from Tadoussac next day we were out on the river in sunshine but looking back could see the mist once again descending around the fjord entrance. We had a fine 52-mile passage to Rimouski on the south bank of the St Lawrence, but once again were hit by strong winds gusting at 25 knots on the final approach. Nothing is ever easy!!!
However the skipper handled it admirably again, and we soon reached the safety of the marina, where a helpful dock assistant met us and took our lines. ...and here we'll stay for a couple of days as a spell of strong winds and thunderstorms are expected.