RIVIERE-AU-RENARD & GASPE - July 12 & 13, 2016

I know we’ve been going to lots of small villages and towns that many of our readers don’t know. Below is a photo of where we’ve been in the past week as we have cruised along the south shore of the St. Lawrence / Gaspe Peninsula. I hope this helps put the geography in perspective. The numbers on the photo match up to the communities below

    0.  Tadoussac and the Saguenay Fiord

1. Rimouski
2. Matane
3. Sainte-Anne-Des-Monts
4. Riviere La-Madeline
5. Riviere-Au-Renard
6. Gaspe

We departed Riviere-La-Madeline at 0800 under a sun cloud mix and a light 8 knot south west wind from behind his, providing a very pleasant ride for this 45 mile run. Locals had advised us there were far more whales along the Gaspe this year so we were pumped, keeping a close watch for any sightings. The other thing we are watching for are the Transat sailing race boats, who got started in Quebec City yesterday (Sunday). We were told they were making their way along the south shore of the St. Lawrence and would probably pass us today. 

Our destination for today is Riviere-Au-Renard, a village originally settled in 1790 by French Canadian and Irish families. How did those Irish families end up here you ask? 

The famine ship “Carrick of Whitehaven” sailed with 187 aboard in March 1844 from Sligo, Ireland, its passengers fleeing Ireland’s famine for Canada. The Carrick had a smooth crossing of the North Atlantic and she entered the St. Lawrence, nearing their destination without incident. Suddenly they were hit by a vicious storm from the north and due to ice in the rigging, the crew were unable to shorten sail before the ship was blown on the rocks close to a little settlement at Cap-de-Rosiers, near the tip of the Gaspe peninsula. 118 of the crew and passengers drowned with only 48 rescued by local fishermen. Eighty-seven bodies washed ashore were buried in a mass grave over which an imposing monument in the shape of a cross, was erected in their memory. Many of the survivors from that tragedy settled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including Riviere-Au-Renard, and their descendants can still be traced by their distinctive Irish surnames. 

En route to Riviere-au-Renard, we began to experience ocean swells for the first time and much earlier than we’d expected. The swells likely originate way out in the Atlantic and roll through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and right on up the St. Lawrence River. Surprisingly, with two foot “wind waves” from behind us and larger ocean swells from in front of us, it was a very comfortable ride.

Riviere-au-Renard is the largest commercial fishing port in Atlantic Canada. There was a very large fleet of fishing trawlers, a fish processing plant and a large fleet of trucks coming and going. Through the afternoon, there was a 20 knot + wind roaring through the harbour. Locals were very helpful with our docking at the recreational boat docks which share a large basin with the commercial fishing fleet. It was very interesting to walk the commercial pier and see all the activities that are the life blood of this village.

Marina clubhouse 

Fran shopping at the fish processing plant 

Fish processing plant


Walking the commercial fishing pier with Lee


 Afterwards, we walked some of the village, stopping at the fish processing plant to buy some fresh ocean perch and salmon. Later, we were excited to watch four of the Transat mono hull sailboat racing fleet roar past with their enormous spinnakers flying. In late afternoon, the wind died down and the sun was hot enough for me to put on shorts for the first time in about 10 days or so. After dinner, their was a local singer putting on a concert by the marina clubhouse with her lovely voice carrying over across the docks. 

The Commercial Fleet

Wednesday July 13, 2016

Once again, weather is calling the shots for us, with a high wind forecast for later in the day. We are up at 0420, watch the sun rise at around 0430 and are off the dock by 0500 under perfect sunny skies. Our route today took us out and around the Forillion Peninsula (a National Park) and back up into the Baie de Gaspe to the town of Gaspe. I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a dramatic set of cliffs from the water, and as we passed by them, the lighting conditions were constantly changing encouraging us to take more and more pictures. 

Forillion Peninsula with Encore in front

As we entered the Baie de Gaspe, the water turned dead calm setting us up for a feast of nature for our eyes. First we saw and followed groups of three and five humpback whales, minke whales and many porpoises. All were easy to spot with the calm water, but not so easy to photograph. It took us a good hour to transit the length of Baie de Gaspe and we spent the bulk of that time with binoculars glued to our eyes following the activities of the whales and porpoises. What a thrill. 

Humpback whales

Jacques Cartier stopped at Gaspe on June 24, 1534 and took possession of the area, erecting a wooden cross with the King’s Coat of Arms on it. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, British officers and soldiers acquired free land in the area and they were later joined by many Loyalist settlers. Gaspe quickly became an important commercial fishing centre for cod. 

In 1934, the Federal Government commissioned and installed a 32’ high, 42 ton granite cross cut from a single block of grey granite extracted from a quarry in the Portneuf region of Quebec to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jacques Cartier arriving here. During World War II, 3,000 soldiers were stationed at the Gaspe naval base to patrol and protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence against German submarines.

42 Ton granite cross to commemorate 400th
anniversary of Jacques Cartier's arrival in Gaspe

Gaspe is home to a factory that produces blades for the massive windmill turbines that we see all along the St. Lawrence River and elsewhere. Tourism is also a major contributor to the local economy with thousands arriving each year to see the Forillion National Park, to fish, go whale watching and enjoy the Gaspe area. 

Downtown Gaspe

Today also happens to be my birthday. I received calls from our daughters and some grand children. Fran also prepared the most wonderful seafood crepes ever and the crews of Wings and Encore joined us for dinner to help celebrate the occasion. I also received many emails and Facebook birthday wishes. What a magnificent way to spend a birthday. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Birthday dinner celebration

SAINTE-ANNE-DES-MONTS AND RIVIERE-LA-MADELINE - July 10 & 11, 2016

As we head further north-east down the south shore of the St. Lawrence, gradually tides will become less of a factor. Related tidal currents are down to about 1 knot and the tidal range is about 7 to 9 feet. We departed from Matane at 0800 heading for Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, about a 46 nautical mile trip. While the wind was a very light 5 to 10 knots, we were immediately surprised by the size of the waves that were hitting the port (left) side of our bow and concluded they were from stronger offshore winds. While the boat handled the waves well, they made for a rather uncomfortable ride for us for the next 6 hours. 

Our main entertainment was watching the shoreline and the various villages and their churches pass us by. As we approached the community of Cap Chat, their enormous wind farm came into view. What is unique about this farm is one extraordinary large, vertical axis turbine. It is the largest of its kind in the world, standing 110 meters tall and its two advantages are:

• It’s generator and gear boxes are at the base, making it much easier to service & maintain
• It doesn’t have to point into wind to operate

The reason we don’t see to many of this style of turbine is that the constantly changing force of wind on it’s spinning blades causes poor performance and reliability. As we motored past, this wind turbine stood still….

Verticle Axis Wind Turbine

Arriving at Sainte-Anne-des-Monts was a great relief and we were all anxious to get off the boat and take a walk. Oddly, after so many hours on a boat rolling in the waves, when you get onto solid ground, you still feel the boat motion for some time afterwards.

Sainte-Anne-des-Monts’ economy is primarily driven by tourism and fishing. After we arrived, the girls went grocery shopping at the local Metro while Lee and I took a tour of the “Exploramer” (explore the sea) that is based at the marina. It has a wonderful display of 21 aquarium tanks containing fish and other marine organisms, all from the St. Lawrence River, with bilingual explanations of each. We saw some extremely ugly fish that I’d never want to see on the end of my fishing line. There is also an extensive exhibition on sharks and the related issues of pollution, illegal fishing for the asian market for shark fins and collateral deaths from long line fishing. Later, Lee and I we met up with the girls at Metro to help lug the groceries back to the boat. 

Jan had made a reservation for all of us at a wonderful seafood restaurant that we’d heard was very popular. I’d seen the building and thought it rather nondescript, but when we arrived at 1800 hours, the parking lot was full and the place was packed. We were getting menu explanations from a very helpful waiter when we spotted a terrific looking dish two neighbouring customers were served. It turned out to be a Seafood Gratin containing lobster, shrimp and scallops. That was it - five of us ordered that and the sixth had fresh salmon. What a feast we had at our table - chowder, caesar salad, seafood gratin, sugar pie and coffee. 

After dinner, Lee and I walked out on the pier to check on the more than 40 people fishing off the public / commercial dock. There was a lot of enthusiasm and energy going into the fishing, but we only saw one person who had caught a fish. 

Fishing trawler with its haul of shrimp

Where the real work is done on the trawler

Monday July 11, 2016. We woke to a lovely sunny morning and were off the dock promptly as planned at 0800. In no time, the fog rolled in and while we were all less than a half mile apart, we could only “see” each other on our radar screens. The wind was 18 to 22 knots from the south west and almost directly behind us. As we motored along, the waves gradually got bigger and the boats developed quite a corkscrew motion that was not uncomfortable. The unsung hero of days like today on the water is our autopilot. You set a course and let the autopilot steer the boat. If all is well, your autopilot is a strong member of the crew, tirelessly steering the boat and making corrections with the rudder to keep you on your course. Believe me, on a day like today, the autopilot can steer the boat better than any person could. If you had to hand steer in these conditions for 6 hours, you’d be awfully tired.

The fog finally lifts

Early on in the morning, Fran spotted two whales. The first we believe was a minke whale who surfaced only 50 feet off our port (left) side and dove. The second we believe was a pilot whale who was about 100 feet off our port side and crossing our path, so we immediately stopped the boat to avoid any chance of collision. Once again, what a wonderful treat.

At mid day, we passed a point of land called “Gros-Morne” which happens to be the most northerly part of the Gaspe Peninsula and the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. It is also the most northerly latitude (49 degrees 15 minutes north) that we will reach in our Down East Circle Route. Since the start of our travel down the St. Lawrence River at Kingston, Ontario, we’ve been heading in a north east direction. June 21st is of course the summer solstice marking the longest daylight hours of the year, after which the daylight hours start to get shorter. For us however, the sunrises kept getting earlier and earlier the further north we got. That is, up until tomorrow. This morning at Sainte-Anne-des-Monts sunrise was at 4:34am. Tomorrow morning at Riviere-de-Madeline, sunrise is at 4:32am. After tomorrow, we start to move in a more south east direction and our sun rises will be later and later and hopefully the temperatures will start to get a little warmer. 

Wings in the trough of a wave

Our destination today was a tiny village called Riviere-la-Madeline. It is a small village of 373 people with a beautiful lighthouse, a tiny marina behind a large break wall and a lovely grouping of the most picturesque homes you’d ever want to see. We had called ahead for reservations and a group of six enthusiastic locals met us at the dock and helped us tie up. Three large boats arriving all at once was a big deal and we were sure made to feel welcome. We were “checked in” by the owner of the marina restaurant, who is also a teacher, the mayor of the village and the harbourmaster. The village is a photographers dream with steep hills on the south side and the St. Lawrence on the other. 

We enjoyed a walk along the shore and up a hillside lookout with views of the St. Lawrence, the marina and the village. We had a wonderful dinner of seafood chowder (shrimps, scallops, salmon and more) and a lobster clubhouse sandwich at the marina restaurant which has a great view of the marina and the St. Lawrence. Once again, the end of a magnificent day.

Lighthouse at Riviere-la-Madeline

Crab pots being tended to

Very small fishing boats

Views around Riviere-la-Madeline

The village

Special equipment for Quebec winters

TADOUSSAC TO THE SOUTH SHORE OF THE ST LAWRENCE - July 8 & 9, 2016

Friday July 8th, we raised anchor by 0600 for our 53 nautical mile cruise to Rimouski on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. While overcast, drizzly and a little foggy with a dreaded north east wind against the ebb tide, thankfully the wind forecast was for only 10 to 15 knots, meaning the waves would not be too bad, making for an acceptable crossing. For this leg of the trip, we and Wings were joined by two other 37’ Nordic Tugs - Lee & Barb on “Encore” and John & Laura on “Mirto”. 

As soon as we left Tadoussac, we began to see beluga whales in groups of two or three. During the next hour, we saw about 15 whales as they congregate to feed at the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence rivers. Distance and timing made our attempts to photograph the beluga’s a failure, but watching them with binoculars presented us with a magnificent feast for the eyes. They are such a wonderful mammal to watch, but it is hard to find the right words to describe it. We certainly felt extremely fortunate and privileged to witness them in their home environment.

As we got out into the St. Lawrence, we noted the air and water temperatures dropped to between 5 and 6 degrees celsius, so we had our cabin heater on full blast to keep our pilot house warm and cozy. As we made our diagonal crossing, the north shore gradually disappeared and eventually the south shore came into view. At this point, the St. Lawrence is about 20 miles wide and each mile you head down stream, the width grows quite quickly. Also, this area of the St. Lawrence marks the beginning of the formal shipping lanes out the rest of the river and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Atlantic. Fortunately, Wings, Encore and Mirto all have AIS (Automated Identification System) integrated into their electronics that allows them to see information (ship name, length, beam, speed, course) on other vessels equipped with AIS. As the large ships cruise along at speeds up to 20 knots, great care is needed in crossing the shipping lanes. Our timing was great as we crossed well ahead of the closest up bound and down bound ship traffic.

Rimouski is a fishing port that shares its basin with recreational boats. Trucks on site were working with fishing trawlers to quickly handle their fresh catch. Unfortunately, this part of the harbour is not open to the public as we’d loved to have seen their operations.

We enjoyed stretching our legs on an hour walk in the neighbouring area, while picking up a few groceries, followed by a great happy hour with the crews of Wings, Encore and Mirto. John and Laura are leaving their boat at Rimouski for two weeks while John returns to work at their home in Maine before continuing their journey. Hopefully we will meet up with them later on.

Fran & me with crews of Wings, Mirto and Encore

There was one Quebec based tall ship in the port with a crew of about 15 young adults aboard, similar to Toronto’s “Pathfinder” brigantine program for youth. Unfortunately I missed taking a photo.

An important marina/port service to recreational boats on the Great Lakes is getting regular pump outs. We are required to have a holding tank for our sewage and on the Great Lakes, all marinas have pump out services. After Quebec City, pump out services are few and far between. We are finding that even when a cruising guide says a marina offers pump outs, it is not always accurate. From talking with boaters from Maine and Rhode Island, it seems the east coast boaters in both Canada & the US face a similar lack of pump out facilities. My humble opinion is, if we are really serious about the health of our oceans and environment, this situation should be fixed. Rimouski as an example, has about 150 recreational boats plus its fishing fleet. With no pump out facility, they all follow the federal regulation (you must be 3 miles off shore) allowing them to pump their holding tank overboard. Bear in mind, those holding tanks also include chemical treatments to control the odour of its contents. The number of boats along our combined Canada & US coasts is staggering and I don’t understand why everyone seems comfortable with all this sewage being dumped in our oceans.Thanks for listening and if you are so inclined you can write your elected officials to tell them you are concerned. Ok, that’s enough of my lecturing for now.

Saturday July 9, 2016

Our next port of call is Matane, Quebec. It has a rather shallow entrance to its marina and we’ve read you must enter at mid tide or above to have enough water. After studying the tide information and figuring out our cruising speed to time our arrival after 1530 hours, we determined we should depart Rimouski at 0900 hours. A light cloud cover and 10 knots of north east wind should make for a comfortable cruise. Cruising the south shore provides great views of the hilly shoreline and a steady stream of villages, each with one or more prominent, tin covered church steeples shining like a beacon. The shoreline is also home to enormous wind farms with their stately wind turbines reaching high into the sky and their blades seemingly turning slowly while automatically turning towards the wind from whatever direction it is coming from. Surprisingly, the tips of those blades are moving at about 90 miles per hour. In one short look ashore I counted 150 wind turbines.

Wind turbines on south shore of St. Lawrence

Today, once again we were going east with an ebb tide and an opposing north east wind. We’d been told, if the north east wind is 15 knots or less, it will be fairly comfortable. Well, for about two hours the wind speed picked up to 15 - 17 knots and you could certainly feel the difference. The waves were steeper and very close together making for a tiring motion. The boats certainly handled the waves well and we made out fine, but were relieved when the wind reduced to 10 knots later in the afternoon.

Wreck of the Empress of Ireland (a history story for this section of the St.Lawrence).

The Empress of Ireland was a 14,500 ton ocean-liner commissioned in 1906 for Canadian Pacific. She was 174 meters long and 20 meters wide and could cross the Atlantic in six days at a speed of almost 20 knots. Her four decks accommodated 1,550 passengers (300 first class, 450 second class and 800 in third class and steerage. On May 29, 1914 The empress had completed her exchanging of mailbags at Rimouski and was preparing for her 94th crossing. She dropped off her “pilot” (ships transiting the St. Lawrence are required to have a pilot to take control of their navigation) at Pointe-au-Pere station and they were gathering speed and heading for open water. Fog was exceptionally thick on the river. Shortly after 0130 the 3,500 ton Norwegian ship Storsand, caring a cargo of 11,000 tons of coal, heading upriver, rammed into the starboard side of the ocean liner at mid ship. The Storstad penetrated nearly 6 meters into the ocean-liner’s hull. The Empress’ skipper directed the captain of the Storstad (via megaphone) to go full ahead in hopes of keeping the huge hole plugged. Inevitably the two ships separated resulting in the ocean-liner taking on 270,000 litres of water per second. Though close to shore, beaching was impossible as the ship was inundated immediately. She listed sharply tipped over on her side and slipped below the cold water within 14 minutes. Dawn revealed the horrifying sight of hundreds of bodies stacked on wharves and beaches. The final death toll was 1,012 lives,  many of which were never recovered from their watery grave. In a sense it was more horrifying than the sinking of the Titanic or the Lusitania because it happened in the middle of the night when most passengers were asleep giving them no opportunity for escape. The Empress of Ireland continues to hold the record for the largest number of passengers lost on a liner in peacetime.

Empress of Ireland

Mr. Frank Toner

One lucky survivor of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland was a ships stoker named Taylor. He had also beat death aboard the Titanic. After the sinking of the Empress, Taylor then shipped out on the Lusitania, which as we all know was torpedoed off the Irish coast. Having survived all three major shipping disasters, Taylor gave up his seagoing career for other pursuits ashore. There is some debate as to the facts of this story, for which I am unable to fully confirm, but it sure sounded good.

The town of Matane was given its name by Samuel de Champlain in 1603 and it quickly became a trading post for the exchange of European goods for furs with the Mi’kmaq First Nations people. Matane is known for its fish processing of shrimp, crab and salmon.

When we arrived in Matane, it was almost 1600 hours on a Saturday afternoon. Fran, Jan and Barb all took off to a local fish market to see about buying some seafood. I was delighted to see Fran found some scallops, small shrimp and salmon sausages. We BBQ’d the sausages and had the shrimp on our salad. What a fine way to finish up another successful day on the mighty St. Lawrence River.