The last few travelling out the St. Lawrence River crossing over to the Gaspe' Peninsula we have encountered a wide variety of weather, wind and wildlife.
When we left Quebec City a high fog shrouded the old city above us, but looking east we had good visibility.
We passed the famous Montmorency waterfall which is 30 meters taller than Niagara Falls. We imagined what it would be like driving on the highway above the falls back and forth to work every day.

As we travelled further east, a thick fog settled over us. We could see the bow of the boat, but little past that. We turned on our fog horn so other vessels would know we were there. From time to time we would hear other fog horns indicating a nearby vessel that we could not see in the fog, but radar indicated they were passing far to our starboard. Then as quickly as it appeared, the fog dissipated and we could see for miles around. The weather was now much colder and would travel in and out of the fog all day.

When we arrived in Cap L'Aigle (Cap a leg) we were in a heavy fog and used the VHF to radio for assistance in docking. Just before we arrived, the fog lifted revealing an opening in the craggy cliffs soaring above us and the tiny marina inside. The weather outside was warm if a little windy, but inside the boat cabin, the freezing cold water around us made it very chilly. We employed our portable heater which is a champ in heating the boat and producing a remarkable amount of condensation inside. Baking a casserole and enjoying a nice bottle of wine made the atmosphere inside Big Frisky nice and cozy.

Leaving Cap L'Aigle was exciting. The waves were high with the tide and were swelling into the marina. We met the waves head on, some of them crashing over our bow as we charged out into the river. As we got settled into the waves and currents, the winds proved to be good for sailing to Tadoussac. We spent most of the day encompassed in a fog but the Prince Shoal Lighthouse well marked the entrance to the Saguenay River. We decided against sailing up the river for some whale watching as it was cold, rainy and foggy and we were pretty cold and foggy ourselves.

The weather cleared after our dinner of homemade pizza, and we took the dogs for a walk around the rocky outcropping overlooking the Saguenay River. We saw no whales there either/

The morning dawned beautiful and sunny and by now we were used to cold floors on Big Frisky. We got up early to take a little cruise up the Saguenay. Keeping a sharp eye out for whales, we saw a pod of beluga whales, their white heads easily seen coming to the surface on the placid water. We did a slow turn as requirements inside the marine park protect the endangered belugas from boats coming too close. Coming down the river we were slowing to allow the crossing of the car ferry, when Kurt pointed out a Minke whale surfacing a few times before diving deep behind us
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No sooner than we were out of the river, we spotted a raft of sea lions, or rather they spotted us, because they followed us, surfacing and checking us out. While we were watching the sea lions at play, we were hailed on the VHF radio by the captain of The World, the largest privately owned yacht on the planet. We looked up saw we were heading straight for each other. The captain radioed to suggest we pass starboard to starboard thus giving us an excellent view of this famous vessel. Aboard the world are 168 permanent residents who collectively decide their year's itinerary in a perpetual circumnavigation with a goal of visiting the most spectacular sights in the world. Well, on this day, they got to see Big Frisky up close.

We crossed the St. Lawrence to Rimouski then on to Matane. The Canadian weather service had been predicting gale force winds in this region and we were happy to get safely into Matane and tied up to the dock before they began. We could hear the wind howling overnight in what were the biggest winds we have encountered so far. The morning brought no relief from the winds which were so high we had to carry the dogs across the docks and up the hill to the park for fear they would blow off into the water. The floating docks were rolling beneath our feet with every step. A good day to settle in to projects that kept us in one place most of the day. After a quick taxi ride to the fish market and grocery store, I settle in to baking and food prep that I normally don't have time to indulge in, even baking a couple dozen white chocolate macadamia nut cookies to serve at our dinner party that night.

We left Matane for an overnight passage to Saint Anne Des Monts but made with the tide, currents and wind we made much better time than expected. At the 1am watch change we made the decision to modify our destination to L'anse a Beaufil 35 NM further on the south side of the Gaspe Peninsula. The passage was uneventful with the exception of the Katabatic Winds we experienced. We would be sailing along and all of the sudden it got very cold and the winds changed direction to blow from the shore. Sometimes it would kick up waves that would wash against the boat. Unnerving at first, when we recognized what it was, we were fine. As the sun rose I could see the spectacular light house at Forillion Parc. Rounding the point we came sailed between Perce (pierced) Rock and Ile Boneventure, natural habitat for the gannet bird. The majestic birds soar high above the water then dive straight down with their long narrow beaks to snag the fish they love. They also take advantage of bait changes in the lobster pots, sometimes grabbing the live bait right out of the hands of the fishermen.

We arrived at 9 am, plenty of time to explore the fishing harbor which includes the Pit Caribou microbrewery. The harbor master, who is a lobster fisherman, drove us to a wonderful seafood dinner and regaled us with many facts about the lobsters here. They are about 1-1.5 lbs and are delicious to eat. This area at one time was famous for cod with two processing plants and a general store in town. But the cod were overfished and the processing plants shut down. Enterprising fishermen turned to the "homard" the lobster. To protect the valuable lobster industry, fishing season is between mid-April and mid-July. Most fishermen have at least one other job, like our server at the restaurant and the workers at the microbrewery. The cod fishing plant is now a lovely art gallery and restaurant with beautiful gardens and views. The general store is now a museum restored to its 1928 state with fascinating artifacts and interpreters with excellent English.

Our next destination is Summerside, Prince Edward Island, a Canadian Province. This is our last day in Quebec and as we leave we feel so blessed to have seen and experienced such an amazing adventure and spend time with the fiercely independent but friendly people who make this special place their home.