Boating Adventures

We’re anchored here in the town of Gaspe.  Long day, underway at 6 am and arriving here at 8 pm.  Flat conditions the entire way.

That’s a screenshot from this morning’s wind forecast.  It doesn’t get much better for cruising down the coast, and I wanted to get off the north side of the Gaspe Peninsula while the going was good.

Here’s a selection of Bill’s photos, whittled down from 163.  The scenery was interesting and at times spectacular.

Limited critter sightings.  No blue whales.  I spotted a pilot whale, and we saw lots of seals. 

We’re on a more relaxed schedule now.  Will get ashore tomorrow and then have a shorter travel day down through Perce and along the Quebec shoreline.

We’re tied up here.  If you look at satellite view things might get clearer.  Great spot.

This is the only photo I took today.  It’s my view as I write the daily blog.  Bill has walked into town(?) to get some exercise and find fresh food.  I’m really enjoying his cooking and companionship.  In addition to food he has also taken on the role of trip photographer.  So the following photos are Bill’s.

Today was an altogether pleasant day.  Sunny with a high of 19C, tailwind, and mostly following current.  We got underway at about 0645 and arrived here at about 1700.  I had planned to go about 20 miles further, but the tide was about to change and the wind was at about 20 knots.  It was a good time to stop.  Tomorrow looks like another perfect travel day, and we’ll get around the tip of the peninsula.

That sailboat in the photo was ahead of us and came in to anchor.  We may be traveling together tomorrow.  We haven’t seen many boats underway.

Today went according to plan.  We got in around 5:00 and anchored here.  North winds made for a bit of rolling so I was happy to have a short day. 

We filled up with fuel and water this morning, and Bill did a grocery run.  To come 646 miles since last filling up in Trenton used 348 l of fuel.  That’s a nice benefit of downstream cruising. Good to go for a while.

The weather looks good for getting around the Gaspe Peninsula in the next two days.

I’m not sure how to publish a post on two WordPress blogs at the same time,  so I published it there and I’m sharing it here.

Here’s the account of our biking and boating along the St. Lawrence from the Fit is a Feminist Issue blog.

Biking and boating along the St Lawrence Seaway (Bikes and Boats, the 2025 edition)

We’re anchored here.  Tomorrow morning we’ll visit the marina to refuel and reprovision.

Today was flat calm for pretty much the whole trip.  Bill saw whales this morning before rousing me, and after shadowing the pro captains coming out of Tadoussac we saw a big fin whale close up.  Cool.  Apparently there’s the occasional blue whale around here.  I’m always watching.  That’s on my bingo card. Here’s Bill’s video from the stop.

Last time I came this way 4 years ago I was pretty nervous about the next 250 miles.  Escapade was new to me.  It’s a harsh unforgiving shoreline, with strong variable currents that can kick up nasty seas.  So, as I sometimes do, I basically sprinted from here to NB.  It’s all here in the blog. 

This time I’m going to noodle as much as is practical.  There are small fishing ports every 30-50 miles.  The forecast looks good for the next couple of days. 

The picture above is my only one for today.  I was captured by the natural beauty.  Clouds, high ground, and endlessly changing water and wave patterns. Here’s one Bill just took.

We’re eating well, and Bill is comfortable and enjoying the trip.  It’s nice to share the experience. Next port is Matane, about 50 miles away. 

As Susan mentioned, we did a crew swap in Montreal on Thursday, and Bill and I left Thursday afternoon.

Thursday night we anchored here, and on Friday we stopped in Berthierville to pick up some parts.  Then on down the river.  Friday night we stopped here past Quebec City, and yesterday we got to Tadoussac.

I was hoping that Bill would see some whales here, and we weren’t disappointed.  Saw belugas on the way in, and fin whales were swimming among the anchored boats.  One came by us and Bill captured it on video.

All good aboard.  We’ll be continuing east on the south shore of the big river.  The biggest challenge so far is current, which runs both ways due to tidal influence.  This affects speed over ground as well as wave shapes and sizes.

These are my pics.  I may add some of Bill’s at some point.

On Thursday afternoon past, Samantha, Sarah and I headed home, leaving Jeff and new Escapade traveller Bill in Montreal.

En route, Sam announced that Guelph’s overnight low was predicted to be 13. It seemed hard to believe, given that it was 30 in Escapade’s galley (aka my bedroom) the night before. Between the heat and local noise (2 loud alarms went off between 0230 and 0300), it made for a fitful night’s sleep.

Although the heat meant I didn’t sleep much and I sweat buckets most every day, it was another great experience aboard Escapade. I biked three days and felt more comfortable and confident each time I got on my bike. I swam pretty much every day and was most appreciative of Sarah’s purchase of floaties, and of Jeff’s consideration in finding anchorages with good swimming. Jeff even got in the water which I would not have believed without seeing it firsthand.

I had never boated or biked that part of the St. Lawrence and thought the scenery pretty spectacular. I also found it a good mix of spending time together (biking, chatting and playing cards) and apart (quiet reflection watching the sun come up)

Here are the last of my favourite photos.

We have been having a pretty great time over the past 3 days, biking, swimming and travelling down the St. Lawrence River.

Here are some of my favourite photos so far….

It’s been a while since I’ve been somewhere completely new and unfamiliar.  Today we left Brockville and headed down the river.  I’ve never been this way by boat.  Came through Iroquois lock with no major delay or issue.

We’re now clearly in a big river, with Canada on one side and the US on the other.  We’re anchored here for the night in reasonably calm conditions.  It’s fun watching the ship traffic.  Guess I should get used to it for a while.

Biking and boating is working well.  Tomorrow I’ll unload the cyclists and meet them downriver later in the day.  The following day they’ll boat with me through the next two locks.

Here are my pics.  Susan will post more.

Susan here, back aboard Escapade, this time with Samantha and Sarah here too! We came aboard early this morning at Ganonoque. The plan is to head east with biking, swimming and card games along the way. In the meantime, here are some sunrise pictures from this morning.