Jeff – Page 35 – Boating Adventures

New Glasgow

I like this place already. I’m anchored here essentially in the middle of town.

Today was flat calm. I traveled about 1/2 – 1 mile offshore in about 30 feet of water. It’s all mud here. Around Caribou and in to Pictou for supper ashore, then in to here at dusk.

I dinghied ashore here and had a drink, then brought a donair back to the boat for a second supper.

I’m taking a break. It’s hard to stop, but I’ve been underway for three weeks straight. I’m not moving tomorrow.

Interesting fact – New Glasgow is one of the three biggest towns in Nova Scotia outside of Halifax.

When I leave here I have a choice of routes:

1) east through the Straits of Canso then (most likely) turn right to head towards Halifax.

2) north to follow the coast of Cape Breton to enter the Bras D’Or Lakes from the north. Then south to the St Peter’s Canal.

A couple of days ago I was thinking of beelining for the eastern shore. But now I’m leaning towards heading north. Part of this is weather related of course. I haven’t looked carefully, but the next few days look very good for the run north, which is a bit more exposed and treacherous.

Hello Nova Scotia!

I went under the Confederation Bridge yesterday, and switched from travel mode to exploration mode. The yellow line at the right is my path since anchoring last night. I’m underway now heading for Pictou, following the shoreline.

The trip east along the south shore of the Northumberland Strait was uneventful and uninteresting. I stopped in Shediac for dinner, then anchored for the night here.

Yesterday I went into Pugwash without stopping, then tied up at Wallace Harbour, but the restaurant there was closed for the day. Continued on to anchor near Tatmagouche near dark.

Today I went up the Waughs River and got as close as I could to Tatmagouche, but didn’t go ashore.

Next stop is Pictou/New Glasgow later today. I’m running low on food and drink and need to stock up.

Around the Gaspe

I’m anchored here for the night in light south winds. There is a fishing port very close by where I’ll get fuel in the morning.

So, quick version: I left Rimouski, drove 257 NM in 28 hours, stopped here at Miscou Island for a long snooze, then traveled 65 miles to here today. Clear and calm for the first segment, overcast and a moderate headwind today. Smooth sailing.

Pics, in chronological order.

Chasing the High

Things are unfolding according to the plan I made going to sleep last night.

I woke about 1100 to a thick fog, headed in to the marina, and filled up with fuel and water and pumped out. My first pit stop since the Rideau Canal. As I was there the fog lifted. I’ve been plodding down the coast since. It’s flat calm, sunny and clear. The forecast is for more of this for the next 36 hours around the Gaspe Penninsula. So I’m settled in for a long run. Will stop Tuesday evening or when the weather turns.

So far I’ve been a mile or two from shore in 30-50 feet of water. But just ahead I’ll be hitting the canyon where it goes from 100 – 1000 ft deep very quickly. Will be watching for critters as I follow the wall.

Rimouski

I’ve had a couple of good travel days. Last night I stopped in Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay River. Anchored in the harbour and dinghied in to the marina, walked up the hill to get a few groceries, and had a meal ashore.

Tonight I’m anchored here in calm conditions. Nice evening.

I saw a few whales today, several groups of beluga and a couple of humpback. Hard to get pictures.

I thought I might stay around the Saguenay for a couple of days, but the weather has been good and it looks like I’ve got a couple of days of calm settled weather ahead of me, so am trying to make miles while the going is good.

I need fuel and a pump out so will visit the marina here early tomorrow then head east.

Lots of pictures. Here’s yesterday’s

And today’s

Meeting the Ocean

I just dropped anchor here off the southwestern tip of L’Isle-aux-Coudres and ran upstairs to take pictures in all directions.

I don’t know if the pictures do justice to the scenery. I’ve been reminded of New Zealand a few times today by the clouds hanging at mountaintop height.

This is definitely a mixing zone. I came out of the ship channel and into the more shallow middle of the river when the current turned against me an hour ago. It was like a washing machine on gentle. Little waves with no discernable pattern.

I’ll probably stay here tonight. It’s exposed at high tide but at low tide has exposed marsh on 3 sides. It’s high tide now. Weather forecast is for fair weather and no wind for the next few days, so I shouldn’t have any trouble getting to Tadoussac in the next day or two.

Lots of pics, in chronological order from today’s travel.

Quebec

I’m anchored here just above the old city reading about tidal estuaries. Will stay here overnight.

I woke today to a brisk easterly wind, grey and cool. High tide was at 1000 and I was sitting in the pilothouse at about 0930 drinking coffee and thinking of getting underway when a smaller trawler came past and headed downstream. So I upped anchor and followed.

It wasn’t that bad. Short steep waves on the bow, but Escapade plows through that without too much bother. I had a 2-3 knot current helping. It’s nice to be making 10 knots burning 4l/hr.

I had pretty much decided to pass Quebec and anchor off Ille d’Orleans, but the current reversed just as I was going by this anchorage. I was sort of expecting it, as the tide had changed in Quebec about 90 minutes earlier, but it went from 2 knots downstream to about 1 knot upstream pretty quickly.

The tidal range here is 13 feet. I don’t think I’ve boated anywhere with that range. Weird and novel. The downtown marina is inside a lock.

Tides look good for a mid-morning departure tomorrow. I’m going to skip the old port marina and carry on downriver. Heavy rain forecast for overnight, clearing later tomorrow. No big winds forecast.

I didn’t meet any ships today. I wondered if they time their passage through the Richeleau Rapids, but none have come by since I stopped.

Batiscan

That was a long nice day. I got underway about 0900 and anchored here at 2030. Weather was perfect. It’s especially nice traveling east late in the day with the sun behind.

The area around Sorel is interesting. There are many islands that have been created by river channels. Some of the channels have been blocked at the top to manage flow. I was going to take the north branch that runs by Berthiaville, but some locals I chatted with at the St Ours lock suggested the southern branch instead. Lovely diversion, including a stop for takeout lunch at a waterfront restaurant.

From here on down it’s tidal, so I’ll try to take advantage of currents. It was nice having a 2+ knot current on my tail most of the day.

I was somewhat deliberate taking pictures, as it was relaxed navigation.

Also of note is that I finally tweaked the autopilot to give faster more accurate response. It’s a 20 year old Simrad unit, but now works well.

Richelieu River

After a line of thunderstorms went through around supper time I pulled anchor in Chambly and cruised downstream to anchor here. Return trips are always more relaxed. Plus the obnoxious pleasure boaters that were out on the weekend are gone now. So I enjoyed the scenery.

I can’t believe the behaviour of boaters here. We were in the middle of a wide section of the river on Sunday when a 50′ cruiser passed from astern at 18 knots. I could have jumped between the boats. Asshole. Saturday I had someone in a 40′ come roaring towards me on full plane while I was in a narrow buoyed dogleg channel. He slowed just before we met and we came very close to colliding. I actually clipped a red buoy with my stern trying to stay clear. I was not more than a minute from being out of the narrow section.

Humid weather is gone and the weather looks good for a few days. Cool and clear. Next planned stop is Quebec City.

Chambly Canal

Here’s Joe’s account and pictures.

My trip on the Escapade

Our trip began at the first port in Chambly, Quebec. We started the evening by climbing 6 locks upstream on the Richelieu River. As the evening progressed we decided to dock near lock 6 for the night. For dinner we ate some delicious frozen pizzas cooked directly on the boat! Sunday morning we continued to climb the remaining 3 locks and stop at a local restaurant for fish and chips. After lunch, we continued boating until we hit the border of the United States. After we left the canal, Miles and I went for a ride on the dingy. we had some grilled cheese for dinner and played a game of wizard. The second night, we anchored in the middle of the water to rest. Day 3 we set course around 9:30am back to the port at lock 1 in Chambly, Quebec. At lock 9 we docked for lunch again and got some burgers and poutine. After lunch on day 3 we continued back the chambly and returned to the port at lock 1 by 4:30pm. In conclusion, the whole trip was very relaxing and an incredible learning experience. My favourite moments of our outing were hanging out on the roof of the boat and riding around on the dingy. Very fun and exciting trip overall!

Joe Richardson

Jeff’s notes: I’m glad we did it, and understand why they require crew. We had a well oiled lock team on the return trip.

I had my attention focused on driving the boat mostly – the channels are narrow in many places and the locks are 22 feet wide and we’re 15. No problems but not much time for taking pics. I did get some of the dinghy ride.