Long days short nights:)

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Tadoussac to Rimouski

We said our goodbyes to Joann as she headed off for the bus station driven by a local Samaritan.  It was almost like Driving Miss Daisy except this was a Frenchman hailing by the name of Michele in a little red car barely big enough to fit her bags.  From there, it's off to Quebec City to catch a plane.  With her bon-voyage at 8:30 am, we first thought that we may have to stay an extra day as our typical start times were 6 and 7 due to ensuing tides and heaven forbid we leave Joann standing on the curb waiting for little Michele!  But the tide currents are waning now and we can start at 9:00 am to catch the ebb current building 1 hour after high tide.   Now it is the two of us until our friend Bob joins us near Bathurst on the 16th of August.   This will change the dynamics on the boat with less leisure time.  The winds are forecasted to be 10-12 all day and we might have an opportunity to do a spinnaker run down the Seaway.  Now in the channel and crossing the rip tide where the Saguenay meets the St.Lawrence we can see the winds are building.   They crept up to 30 knots in the afternoon and waves are averaging 4 feet.   Going down wind was awesome though, it was wing on wing for a large part then full main only.  The boat felt balanced and we were surfing along between 6 and 8 knots.   With the winds a steady 25-28 we decided it was time  to reef the main as we were cruising not racing and the rule here is not to carry more sail downwind that you can carry upwind.   So now with 2 reefs in, we were still doing 6 knots.  It was a great day for sailing although now the water temperature is down to 10 degrees and its time to dawn the flannels.  Along the way, we were accompanied by a visiting dolphin for 20 minutes.  We never expected to see that. We had a few more beluga sightings and harbour seals keeping a watchful eye.  Some 53 nautical miles later, Rimouski is our stopover for the night.  We were greeted by the very friendly harbour master, Roger, "Welcome to Rimouski the Gateway to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence and where summer is but a thing on the calendar!"  Needless to say the heater was on again to keep the dampening sea breeze at bay.  The Rimouski Yacht Club had a delightful seafood restaurant but you needed reservations so we straddled up to the bar in our western ways for a pint.  Then we settled for cuisine à la Summer Wine, made it an early night and planned for the next few days.   

Rimouski to Matane?

This trip was not the twin to the day before.  Wind, ok we started with 15 knots out of the west, but it was not long lived.  Pretty soon it was down to 3, 2, wait for it, no wind - the water was like glass. But we saw some wild life including harbour seals and a pair of Dolphins bathing at the surface enjoying the sun and sights of "To and Fro" passing by (you may remember we named our large orange mooring balls).  Well it's only 3:45 and we have reached our destination already.  With a pending forecast in the next couple of days to be easterlies we decide to press on to our next spot, Saint Anne des Monts.  Our new eta is midnight but this will allow us to put a day in the bank should we need a withdrawal later on and after all, the water is like glass...   As the sun sets and night falls upon us, the stars directly above us are encased by the shoreline cloud.   We are on half hour helm shifts now so we can maintain our energy for the evening but of course dinner is elegantly prepared underway.  This was a magical night with the calmness of the water and moonless starry night.  But it gets better, we notice the white glowing trail coming from the back of the boat and realize its the phosphoresensce in the water stirring in our wash.   It stayed with us all the way to harbour, which we eventually found in a stealth like manner so as not to wake the neighbouring boats in this shanty town.  It's off to bed with another 50 miles to go tomorrow.