Arrived in Tadoussac

We left Quebec on Saturday morning aournd 10:30. This is 2 hours before high tide. One guide warns you have to go 72 miles but I found an anchorage at ActiveCaptain.com (from this day forward I am going to reference it as AC). The anchorage is only 42 miles away, but it is in the south channel, called the Old Sailing Ship Route. The channel is not marked, so you need to watch your charts for any shoals, but it is pretty open. We had 15-20 knots from dead astern and were surfing the largest waves I have seen on the St. Lawrance, 7-8 knots of boat speed. I was talking to my father about how we may even makie it an 86 mile day to another anchorage. We figured the Ebb tide would give us another 2-3 knots in some areas. An hour later, we were hammerred with multiple thunderstorms with wind gusts up to 50 knots. We sailed double reefed into our 46 mile anchorage with a steady 35 knots of breeze from the NW. The anchorage was quiet and great holding with up to 2 knots of current. Overnight, the wind turned to the NE at 25 knots and was hitting us from the beam. Hard to get used to the boat laying to the current and not even a 25 knot wind can turn you. Very uncomfortable anchorage. I gave it a 2 star in AC. I read a whole book while staying awake for the anchor watch, but should have chosen a different book. This one ends with a wooden schooner bashing apart on the rocks.

Next morning was an early start with the wind still blowing 25 knots out of the NE. Single reef and going to windward we made good ground against the flood tide. 2 hours later, it shut off. We had to motor sail a total of 15 of of the 35 miles today. Sailing at 6 knots through the Traverse Saint-Roch, we hit 10 knots SOG. We spent the night at Cap-a-l'Aigle. the women couldn't speak English and would not respond on the VHF to my bastardized version of the marina name. But, everyone at the dock was friendly and helpfull.

We motor sail at 4 knots. With the generator running, we don't draw any power from our batteries. We have officially used 5 gallons of gas in the past 2 months.

The next day brought another light air day to Tadoussac. We left an hour before high tide and had to motor sail for another 15 miles of the 35 mile day. We had enough wind to sail at 4-5 knots most of the day and enjoyed being surrounded by Beluga whales. We saw hundreds. As we ghosted into the bay channel, we had pitot whales surfacing all around us. We would here them blow and look to see them diving. Great experience.

If you ever come here, the Tadoussac Marina does not take reservations. We had 15 boats motor past us and had no slips when we arrived. They let us raft to a resident boat and gave us a slip in the morning. Most of those boats motored past us the day before. I guess the art of sailing is dead in the St. Lawrence. We hit the Saguenay River at the exact time required to avoid currents. Being in such a hurry, they would have had to motor against the rivers current.

Me in Front of Gremm

Gremm creation, a non-profit organization. It was founded in 1985, it is dedicated to scientific research on the marine mammals of the St. Lawerence and education for conservation of the marine environment.

Marina with the beach.

Marina

Tadoussac Hotel