With the inclusion of tides in our planning, we need to set our departure time to take advantage of tidal flow, since from this point we’ll be experiencing currents in both directions. Failure to take tide into consideration could result in having to spend a lot of time fighting a current vs. getting a speed boost by “playing the tides” correctly. We left Quebec City at 0730 on Thursday. Since the lock remains open for several hours around high tide in order to fill the basin, we were able to cruise right on through without locking. An early morning bike ride for one last look at beautiful Quebec City and a search for an ATM to stock up on cash! In all our touring of the past few days we overlooked that detail!
The cruise takes us past the beautiful Montmorency falls, eastward to the start of the Laurentian Mountains, and back into salt water as the St. Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The water temperature also changes dramatically; when we left Quebec City, we saw water temps near 70, at Cap-a-l’Aigle the water temp is 41.6. The air temperature has also dropped significantly, from temps in the high 80’s to 58! So we’re one day in shorts and tee’s, sweating, the next, jeans & sweatshirts with the heat running! Off this morning at 1025 to catch the current to Tadoussac, a short run of just over 30 miles. A by-product of warm humid air and very cold water, fog is our companion for today’s cruise, so we’ll be keeping a sharp eye on the radar and the fog horn will be in operation!
