Uncategorized – Page 38 – Boating Adventures

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.

Chambly

I just said good bye to Miles and his friend Joe. They joined me here in Chambly Saturday mid day, and we traveled up through the Chambly Canal. I’ll write another post about that. I’m anchored here for tonight.

I left Montreal Friday late morning. It had been blowing from the NE and was pretty grey and cool. The trip down to Sorel from Montreal was uneventful and not always pleasant with wind against current.

Sorel is pretty industrial from the water. I thought I had been there before, but now am quite sure I haven’t been. I was happy to be on the Richelieu River and kept going until I got to the St Ours lock, where they allowed me to go through solo. I stayed the night at anchor here and cruised up to Chambly Saturday to meet Miles and Joe.

Tomorrow may be a lay day. I really need to do some work on the boat to prepare for sea. Fastening down and stowing things properly, getting groceries and water, etc. This may be as good a time and place as any. When I leave here it’s to the St Lawrence to head east.

Montreal Old Port

It’s been a fun and interesting couple of days.

Samantha and Sarah were driving from Northport to meet me yesterday, but when we tried to meet at the seaway lock we found fences and locked gates between us. And it was raining and we didn’t have time to meet elsewhere and make the scheduled lockage. So we changed plans, and I went over to Lachine to meet them there. I’m glad I did. Neat spot. We stayed the night at the Parks Canada dock at the top of the Lachine Canal.

Today we were underway about 0800, and arrived at the bottom of the Lachine Canal about 1700. We’re too big to go down the Lachine, so had to cross Lake St Louis and go through the two seaway locks on the south side of the river, then a brief run back upstream to the old port.

We were able to come up through the bottom lock to stay the night at another Parks Canada dock. Nice spot, right next to a nice patio restaurant where we had dinner.

Lots of pics below that Samantha and Sarah took.

Tomorrow I’m heading downstream to enter the Richelieu river at Sorel. Miles is joining me for a few days on Saturday, and we’re going to cruise the Chambly Canal.

Montreal

I arrived at the top of Sainte-Catherine Lock this evening and anchored here for the night. Samantha and Sarah are coming tomorrow for a short visit and we’ll go through two seaway locks to get to the port downtown, and stay at the bottom of the Lachine Canal for a day or two.

There’s a bit more going on around here. Currents and ships. It feels like a seaway. It’s a contrast to the kicked back Rideau and Ottawa River

After sitting out bad weather for a couple of days I came through Carrilon Lock. They gave me some grief over being solo, but let me through. I knew of that policy for the Chambly Canal but hadn’t realized it’s a provincial rule.

I had hoped to spot some birds at the bird sanctuary just down the river, but saw only three terns and three geese while passing.

After that it was fun to come south under route 40 and then 20. I spent last night at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. After a couple of nice meals ashore I headed down to Lac Saint-Louie today.

While I was finishing this post a big bulk carrier came out of the lock behind me. I like watching these guys.