July 20: We will continue our passage up the St. Lawrence River, only now, in unfamiliar waters once we pass Sorrel. Our float plan to Quebec will be a 2-day trip with a stop-over at the Marina de Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers) on the St Lawrence. We departed Montreal right on schedule, at 0800 hours for a planned "trawler speed" cruise of 8-to-8.5 knots of approximately 72 miles. It was a delightful cruise; weather was great, and no issues or surprises.
We arrived at Trois Rivieres at 1500. The entrance into the marina harbor was interesting. Thanks to Donna's homework the night before, the tidal turbulence of 4 knots directly at the narrow entrance was as described in the guide book, so we followed the prescribed approach into the marina from the North. The name of the marina may sound inviting; however it was not quite so ... its a bustling venue with mostly smaller vessels. The fuel dock, a necessary stop, was full of boats all needing fuel, gasoline; however, we need diesel, and there was only one diesel pump, so we had to wait trying to keep our boat at idle and stationary in a tiny space for about 30 minutes until they cleared the fuel dock for us. After fueling we were assigned our slip; there was no assistance or help offered to tie-up at the dock. Our assigned slip was located directly across from a paper mill ... the noise was awful and continuous, but we would only be there for about 12 hours with a planned departure of 0430 hours.
This next leg is about 68 miles. It was going to be a tad challenging and the winds needed to be favorable because we were going to have other issues that required timing -- ergo our 4:30am departure -- tides, currents and rapids ... yeah, the Richelieu RAPIDS! The last 25 miles of our cruise into Quebec City is an area known for some turbulence and currents, and crossing at high tide is important. We've never done rapids before ... so this was going to be an interesting day for the crew.
 |
| After leaving our slip in total darkness, it was welcoming to see sunrise at 5:15am |
We passed a tanker freighter and a ferry in the seaway, both headed in the opposite direction, but it suddenly occurred to us "what if" this happens in the rapids where the channel is very narrow , deep, and surrounded by rocks and rapidly moving waters. As it turns out, this was a non-event. However, as we navigated the rapids we noticed that our speed suddenly "jumped" about 4-5 knots. We were running at 1810 RPM which generally gives us a SOG (speed) of about 14.5 knots. Now our GPS was showing our cruising speed at >18.6 knots ... now that's really cool and a fuel saver. The rapids were relatively gentle, no bumps just a lot of whirlpools that grabbed the rudder and pulled on the boat ... the Kaptain had both hands firmly on the wheel.
YEA ... arrived Port of Quebec at 0925. Our plan is to stay at the Marina Vieux Port du Quebec. Entry into marina is really interesting; its actually two harbors – an inside harbor (marina part) protected by a Lock; and an outer harbor protected a breakwater that provides protection from the river.
As we passed through the breakwater into the outer harbor, we radioed the lock master requesting a pass-thru. She said it would be about 10 minutes, as she was loading the outbound vessels into the lock. So we idled in a staging area for about 15 minutes, waiting for our Green Light to enter the lock. We saw the lock empty and discharge about 7 boats. After the last boat left the lock, suddenly the lock doors started to close -- the lock master forgot we were waiting! Karl quickly again radioed the lock master, who appologized and said she would reopened the doors. Wow, were we lucky ... usually, once lock doors initiate the closing process it is not reversed, and a boater would have to wait another full cycle ... which can take up-to an hour. The marina monitors the radio for conversations with the lock master and called us by radio to advise our slip number and also said she would have two dock hands waiting to assist us at our slip.
As we passed through the breakwater into the outer harbor, we radioed the lock master requesting a pass-thru. She said it would be about 10 minutes, as she was loading the outbound vessels into the lock. So we idled in a staging area for about 15 minutes, waiting for our Green Light to enter the lock. We saw the lock empty and discharge about 7 boats. After the last boat left the lock, suddenly the lock doors started to close -- the lock master forgot we were waiting! Karl quickly again radioed the lock master, who appologized and said she would reopened the doors. Wow, were we lucky ... usually, once lock doors initiate the closing process it is not reversed, and a boater would have to wait another full cycle ... which can take up-to an hour. The marina monitors the radio for conversations with the lock master and called us by radio to advise our slip number and also said she would have two dock hands waiting to assist us at our slip.
 |
| Our home sweet home ... for the next 10 days! |
No comments:
Post a Comment