27 August 2016 GASPE

     Marina de Gaspé

Marc-  We completed our journey for this season.  Lucy III was hauled by the marina staff who were most careful with our boat.  The whole process took about 2 hours including a lunch break.  John and Mindy came over to help and went out for supplies as well.  Unfortunately the rain started to come in a tropical like deluge once we had the blue winter cover on.  Wow did Autum and I get soaked.  The boat is now wrapped for the winter and we won't be back until Spring 2017.  I hope the winterization was complete.  I did use my usual 12 gallons of  anti-freeze in the engine, domestic water, and toilet systems.  All items were stored in the cabin that should be.  We left the main and mizzen up this year.  The blue cover only required a slight modification.  It will keep the water out of the cockpit at least.  I also left one gallon of antifreeze in the bilge.  We completed all by 17:00 and departed with our luggage in John And Mindy's car.  The rain stopped as soon as we left the marina.

This was a magnificent journey in terms of the nature we observed especially downstream of Quebec.  I have never seen so many whales that came by the boat and mountains that come right up to the coast.  Quebec was wonderful to visit as well.  The adventure will continue next year.

This map shows our basic route in 2016 but leaves out our side trip up the Saguenay River to Bay Eternity.  Next summer we hope to explore the region of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia just to our South.

25 August 2016: Riviere au Renard to Gaspe

Marc -  Departure from our marina at 07:00.  Our new Ontario friend Neil decided to do some battery charging on Sea Pearl, a very nice Bayfield 32.  Indian Summer and Lucy III departed with a favorable South wind of 10 knots.   This soon changed to south at 15 to 20 knots before turning Southeast at 15 knots as we approached Cape Forillion (this is the end of the Appalachian mountain chain).  We ended up motorsailing most of the way except for the first hour and an hour of favorable winds in Gaspe Bay.  Lots of wind changes in Gaspe from favorable South to calm to rain and even some lightning.  We did arrive at the Gaspe Marina and went to fuel up.  I must have overfilled the tanks as we have a fuel smell aboard.  Strange since there is no smell in the bilge.  The staff here is very nice and the facility is excellent.  There is even a supermaket and a Canadian Tire just around the corner.  Haulout is sometime tomorrow so we took off all of our sails and did some more prep. Autum did some laundry and I made dinner of Tomato soup and good old B & M baked beans with French bread and Marc's special tomatoes.  Lemonade was served for drinks.

I should not forget that John and Mindy came over to help us out with the boat prep and had lunch onboard.  We enjoyed great views of the National Park as we sailed around the peninsula.  I really hope that we get to see some of it tomorrow.  Haulout plans are currently for mid-day.

23 August 2016

Marc-  Today we were held up by gale force winds.  The local Harbormaster advised everyone against leaving the inlet since large waves were breaking on the reefs on either side of the inlet.  We were snug and secure at our slip and the little fishing harbor.  one deep draft sailboat went high up a low tide and moved to another part of the harbor when he could be moved.  No harm done.  Autum and I went for a hike in the hills and picked some wild raspberries as well as some interesting stones (even some quartz).  She is bringing some of the stone home to polish.  We had dinner with Richard and Gregoire at the local restaurant.  Very nice and reasonable.
During our long downtime Richard helped me adjust some of the boat issues:  radio and autopilot to start.

24 August 2016 Sailing ...SaIling

Marc-  Beautiful start to a sunny day with Northwest winds of 10 to 15 knots.  Great wind direction as we are sailing Northeast so we will be on a reach.  We motored our of the harbor of Madelaine through the surf and the reefs and set sail.  We soon shut down the motor and sailed all the way to Riviere au Renard under Main, Mizzen, and Spinnaker.  The next marina was nice and welcoming.  Mindy called and agreed to come meet with us for dinner. Autum cooked up some great Cod fish from the local fish market (very fresh catch of the day).  Most of this harbor is made up of very large fishing boats catching everything from shrimp to cod.  I picked up some tasty fries from the local food truck and also prepared some Spanish rice for side dishes to share.

24 August 2016 Sailing ...SaIling

Marc-  Beautiful start to a sunny day with Northwest winds of 10 too 15 knots.  Great wind direction as we are sailing Northeast so we will be on a reach,  We motored our of the harbor of Madelaine through the surf and the reefs and set sail.  We soon shut down the motor and sailed all the way to Riviere au Renard under Main, Mizzen, and Spinnaker.  The next marina was nice and welcoming.  Mindy called and agreed to come meet with us for dinner. Autum cooked up some great Cod fish from the local fish market (very fresh catch of the day).  Most of this harbor is made up of very large fishing boats catching everything from shrimp to cod.

23 August 2016

Marc-  Today we were held up by gale force winds.  The local Harbormaster advised everyone against leaving the inlet since large waves were breaking on the reefs on either side of the inlet.  We were snug and secure at our slip and the little fishing harbor.  One deep draft sailboat went high up out of the water on a low tide and moved to another part of the harbor when he could be moved.  No harm done.  Autum and I went for a hike in the hills and picked some wild raspberries as well as some interesting stones (even some quartz).  She is bringing some of the stone home to polish.  We had dinner with Richard and Gregoire at the local restaurant.  Very nice and reasonable.
During our long downtime Richard helped me adjust some of the boat issues:  radio and autopilot to start.

22 August 2016

Marc-  Today we went another 50 miles Northeast to Riviere Madelaine.  It started out gray with a favorable current and light wind.  Soon however it turned to steady rain and virtually no wind with very poor visibility.  Autum and I were protected in Lucy III's enclosed cockpit from the elements.  Unfortunately the autopilot did not work so we steered all day until we arrived at the Madelaine Marina to a welcome from 7 other boaters.Very nice s

mall fishing village.

Matane to Saint Anne des Monts: 21 August 2016

Marc- Departure at 08:00 to take advantage of the outgoing tide and to leave while there is still water in the river here (only 6.2 feet under the boat when we left).  We enjoyed an excellent Southwest breeze of 15 to 20 knots with some higher gusts.  We sailed along the coast under genoa alone doing 7 to 7.5 knots.  At about Les Mechins the wind diminished and we set all sail.  At Cap Chat (Cape Cat) the wind switched to Northeast at about 5-10 on the nose.  We quickly dropped all sail and started the engine.  We followed the coast rather closely in shore to avoid the incoming tide (it changed at Les Mechins).  Lucy III was the first to arrive today at the marina and we were welcomed to the dock that is part of the Exploramer complex. We toured the Exploramer Aquarium seeing shrimp to cod:

Apparently the Provincial Police were looking for a boat that had capsized and the wanted our info.  The Sûreté du Québec Officers in full gear appeared later to question us several times.  Very nice people.  It appears that someone following us from shore near Cap Chat had seen our boat heeling over under full sail with an American flag.  When the wind changed we dropped all sail suddenly and both Autum and I were on deck with bare poles.  The viewer had thought we had capsized and were in need of assistance.  All ended well.  The officers returned to explain the misunderstanding and to report that all were safe.

Autum caught dinner, Mackeral, and Gregoire cooked it up for a wonderful dinner.

 Loon

 Cap Chat 

Rimouski to Matane 20 August 2016

Marc-  08:00 departure for Matane.  We started out with no wind but the last two hours were a terrific sail with southwest winds of 15-20 knots.  Arrived at 16:30 and we were welcomed by the staff.  Then we were off to the local restaurant for a Shrimp (Crevettes) and pasta dinner.  Matane is famous for its Shrimp complete with a fleet and a processing plant.  Excellent dinner with Richard and Gregoire while watching the Rio Olympics.  The engine ran fine but is not returning to idle when coming into port.  I am thinking that a spring may have broken or something.  I later discovered that the cable lock had become loose.  I tightened this up with a little help from my friend Richard (he is amazing at diagnosing problems).

18-19 August 2016 Tadoussac to Rimouski ( with overnight at Moose Cove).

Marc-  We departed Tadoussac at 16:00 for tide current reasons.  The sail out of the mouth of  Saguenay River was fast and furious with gusts up to 25 knots out of the North.  Only a few whales were sighted (pod of Belugas and a large blue Whale).

 I had only set the genoa but we soon discovered a significant decrease in wind speed once out in the wide St. Lawrence River.  All sails were eventually set to a Northwest breeze blowing 15 to 20 knots until about 20:00.  The plan was to anchor over in Moose Cove in the Ile du Bic provincial park.  We did find the anchorage alone on schedule at 23:00 and anchored with a full moon.  Steph woke up and came to help me set two anchors.  I stayed awake for about an hour to make sure the anchors were well set.  The GPS showed minimal variation in our position.  Another sailboat sailed in during the night and anchored far off.  I assumed that the green hulled sailboat was Indian Summer but knew better when they weighed anchor heading west at 07:00.  We later discovered that Richard and his crew had proceeded on to Rimouski Marina arriving at about 03:00.  All were well.   They paved the way for our arrival.

I proceeded to the fuel dock to top off the tanks and for a pumpout.  All seemed to be going well until we discovered that the attendant was pumping diesel fuel into our #1 tank. We jointly came up with a plan to pump out the tank and to replace the fuel filters.  I drove out to the various Auto Parts stores in town with the Staff finding just what we needed.  All was cleared up at about 14:00 and we were assigned an overnight slip.  Sara and Stephanie took the bus after getting to the mall.  I picked up a Bell Sim card for $10 at the mall.  The girls and Richard's friend Cornel took the 16:00 bus to Quebec.   They would then drive to Montreal with Cornel.  Richard and Gregoire had Autum

 and I over for a nice chicken dinner cooked on a marina grill,  We brought the wine and the appetizer (french bread and a delicious tofu spread).

18-19 August 2016 Tadoussac to Rimouski ( with overnight at Moose Cove).

Marc-  We departed Tadoussac at 16:00 for tide current reasons.  The sail out of the mouth of  Saguenay River was fast and furious with gusts up to 25 knots out of the North.  Only a few whales were sighted ( pod of Belugas and a large blue Whale.)  I had only set the genoa but we soon discovered a significant decrease in wind speed once out in the wide St. Lawrence River.  All sails were eventually set to a Northwest breeze blowing 15 to 20 knots until about 20:00.  The plan was to anchor over in Moose Cove in the Ile du Bic provincial park.  We did find the anchorage alone on schedule at 23:00 and anchored with a full moon.  Steph woke up and came to help me set two anchors.  I stayed awake for about an hour to make sure the anchors were well set.  The GPS sowed minimal variation in our position.  Another sailboat sailed in during the night and anchored far off.  I assumed that the green hulled sailboat was Indian Summer but knew better when they weighed anchor heading west at 07:00.  We later discovered that Richard and his crew had proceeded on to Rimouski Marina arriving at about 03:00.  All were well.   They paved the way for our arrival.

I proceeded to the fuel dock to top off the tanks and for a pumpout.  All seemed to be going well until we discovered that the attendant was pumping diesel fuel into our #1 tank.  we jointly came up with a plan to pump out the tank and to replace the fuel filters.  I drove out to the various Auto Parts stores in town with the Staff finding just what we needed.  All we cleared up at about 14:00 and we were assigned a overnight slip.  Sara and Stephanie took the bus after getting to the mall.  I picked up a Bell Sim card for $10 at the mall.  The girls and Richard's friend Took the 16:00 bus to Quebec.   They would then drive to Montreal with Cornel.  Richard and Gregoire had Autum

(gray seal in the sun)

 and I over for a nice chicken dinner cooked on a marina grill,  We brought the wine and the appetizer (french bread and a delicious tofu spread).

18-19 August 2016 Tadoussac to Rimouski ( with overnight at Moose Cove).

Marc-  We departed Tadoussac at 16:00 for tide current reasons.  The sail out of the mouth of  Saguenay River was fast and furious with gusts up to 25 knots out of the North.  Only a few whales were sighted (pod of Belugas and a large blue Whale).

 I had only set the genoa but we soon discovered a significant decrease in wind speed once out in the wide St. Lawrence River.  All sails were eventually set to a Northwest breeze blowing 15 to 20 knots until about 20:00.  The plan was to anchor over in Moose Cove in the Ile du Bic provincial park.  We did find the anchorage alone on schedule at 23:00 and anchored with a full moon.  Steph woke up and came to help me set two anchors.  I stayed awake for about an hour to make sure the anchors were well set.  The GPS showed minimal variation in our position.  Another sailboat sailed in during the night and anchored far off.  I assumed that the green hulled sailboat was Indian Summer but knew better when they weighed anchor heading west at 07:00.  We later discovered that Richard and his crew had proceeded on to Rimouski Marina arriving at about 03:00.  All were well.   They paved the way for our arrival.

I proceeded to the fuel dock to top off the tanks and for a pumpout.  All seemed to be going well until we discovered that the attendant was pumping diesel fuel into our #1 tank. We jointly came up with a plan to pump out the tank and to replace the fuel filters.  I drove out to the various Auto Parts stores in town with the Staff finding just what we needed.  All was cleared up at about 14:00 and we were assigned an overnight slip.  Sara and Stephanie took the bus after getting to the mall.  I picked up a Bell Sim card for $10 at the mall.  The girls and Richard's friend Cornel took the 16:00 bus to Quebec.   They would then drive to Montreal with Cornel.  Richard and Gregoire had Autum

 and I over for a nice chicken dinner cooked on a marina grill,  We brought the wine and the appetizer (french bread and a delicious tofu spread).

Tadoussac : 16-18 August 2016

Marc-  16 August 2016:  We arrived at Tadoussac for refueling and information before sailing on to Bay Eternity at 10:00.  Whales were everywhere.  I especially enjoyed seeing the beluga's and some swarm right up to the boat.  We also saw minke whales.

We motored all the way up  the fyord, Riviere Saguenay, until picking up a mooring at 14:00.  Beautiful place on a great mooring.  Water warm enough to swim in.  we walked up the river trail after checking into the SEPAQ visitors center.  There were groups of hardy people climbing the stone cliff above us.

17 August.  Great climb to the top of Cape Eternity and the Statue of the Virgin Mary.  I will try to post some photos.  It was a 3 hour climb plus stopping for lunch.  Incredible viewpoints.

Marc-  It has been an exciting 24 hours. Our trip from Baie D'Eternite was a great reaching sail for most of the trip with only the end being under power.  We even saw a gray seal sunning itself on the rocks.

We arrived here last night at 19:00 and refueled and pumped out.  The water tank was refilled again.  Somehow the pressure water pump stopped and needed repair.   Richard and Cornel came to the rescue and fixed the pressure switch.  I did pick up a back-up pump in case of other problems.  Today we did breakfast at the Hotel Tadoussac courtesy of the Marina pass and some additional cash.  Very nice buffet brunch.  Next we walked some of the local trails and visited the Whale center here.  Our visit to the aqua Culture center was short as they were closed today.  We were able to see a large number of tanks inside.  Autum and I went to get a few more groceries.  She was a trooper carrying more than her share back to the boat.  The Plan is to depart at 16:00 to take advantage of the tide but this will get us to our destination near midnight.

Quebec- C'est pour Tout le Monde:

Marina Port de Quebec:  15 August 2016.

Sara-  We left Quebec City at 3 A.M. I motivated myself to get up with the promise of a spoonfull or three of nutella. The morning was drizzly and dark and I couldn't remember where I'd left my glasses or my raincoat, but otherwise felt surprisingly ok. All Steph and I had to do was untie the boat and push off and hop on before crawling back to bed. Dad stayed up and navigated into the dawn.

Earlier that night we saw something extraordinary: fire breathers and acrobats, actors and trumpeters! I had gone on a jog around the marina (and snuck onto a realllyy cool old abandoned cruise ship, by the way) when I heard pounding music, an irresistible beat... I ran towards it until I joined a crowd, jogged further and found a stadium! The show had already begun. Lights flashed, women and men leaped and twirled... I texted Steph to come with Autumn and Dad, then pocketed my phone, leaned in and whooped and clapped my delight at the fabulosity before me.

Rewind to the previous night: I got off the bus from Boston and met up with the fam at the marina, Bassin Louise. "You found us!!" Steph exclaimed, racing in for a hug. Smiles and hugs all around: Mom, Dad, Autum... I lit candles and Dad turned on his red lamp and we huddled in the cockpit and caught one another up on our lives. "I wanna go back into the city," Steph eventually said. I agreed and soon (ish) we were off!, scrambling up cobblestone streets as fireworks boomed above us. "It's like we're in the past... in a war," Steph mused. Then up the funiculaire-- The fireworks lit the water pink! And then our destination: The green, sloping-roofed Fairmont hotel, Steph's dream home. And inside: the wine and cheese bar. I'll just say that it's beautiful and that you should go. I got a beer and Steph got a New York Sour. All she had to say about it after was: "It had egg white in it... but we got free popcorn!"

Quebec- 13 August 2016

Marc-  A full day to visit Quebec.  Today we went to the wonderful farmers' market next to the marina and filled up on fresh veggies.  Sue and the girls did all of the shopping.  There is also a supermarket, METRO, nearby that we found.  Uncle Fernand and Aunt Rosette came over to visit with us.  It was  great to see them again.  We walked around town and found a nice Creperie for dinner with Richard.




Quebec- 14 August 2016

Marc-  Another day in this very nice marina in a classy city.  We spent much of the day touring art galleries and the main museum.  I wanted to show the kids my family furniture form the Dube sculpture specialists.  Unfortunately the items are in storage and not currently on exhibit. Mom flew back to Boston after lunch via Montreal.  Air Canada took care of her return.  In the evening we went to see a free concert/performance/etc.... Sara wrote about above.  Lots of fun to watch and listen.

Quebec-  15 August 2016

Departure at 03:00 to take advantage of the tidal currents to Cap a L'Aigle.  Rain and darkness to start out and a cool breeze on the nose.  What more could we ask for?  Fortunately the Wendy Room (alias the cockpit enclosure) kept me warm and dry.  We took the passage North of L'Ile D'Orleans which saved us 1 hour.   Daylight arrived at 05:00 as a grayness.  The gray included periods of fog until we passed L'Ile au Coude at 10:00.  Finally sunshine;  and the best was the welcome sightings of Beluga whales !  We did see several groups.