Gros Pelerin Island
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 27 Jul 2007 07:56
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47:45.04N 69:41.73W
We got a taste of what it's like to sail against
the current with opposing winds (opposing the current, not opposing us) on
Friday (7/27) as we made our way down the river against a flood
tide. [Non-boater translation: a flood tide is an incoming
tide, which in the case of the St. Lawrence river, causes the water
to flow upstream instead of down.] We did pretty well, but wind
against current makes for a bumpy ride.
The first picture below is proof that we were
sailing (and not just pretending to be a motorboat like we did most of
the way from Montreal to Quebec City). The picture doesn't do it justice,
but the color of the water at that point in the river was a true taupe-ish
brown. So odd to see after the nice and clean dark green we were used to
in the Thousand Islands area.
We left Quebec City on Friday at 7:30 am and
arrived at our anchorage next to Gros Pelerin Island at 9 pm
- making for a long day. The second picture below shows our
anchorage as we approached it in the moonlight. Can't see much in the
picture, but that's pretty much what we could see as we anchored. The
night proved even more interesting when the wind kicked up to 18 knots
(20ish mph), and again opposed the current (the tide was coming in), creating
waves that pounded the boat until sometime in the early morning when the tide
started to go out and the current switched around such that it became
one with the wind (meaning the wind and the current were going in the same
direction which is a happy thing for an anchored boat with people sleeping in
it). I'm not sure how to describe it, but when the waves were hitting the
back of the boat (which is where our bedroom is) the noise and motion was kind
of like being inside a washing machine during the wash cycle. Not
that any of us has ever been inside a washing machine during the wash
cycle, or any other cycle for that matter, but if we were, it's probable that
the feeling would be like what we experienced last night. We can't
really complain - one bad night out of 27 so far is
still pretty darn good.
We left the anchorage at Gros Pelerin Island at
6:30 this morning (Saturday) in the fog. The third picture below
shows the foggy island as we headed out. This area is a bird sanctuary and
is very beautiful according to what the guidebooks tell us. However -
what you see in the two pictures below (moonlight and fog) is about all we
saw.
Anne
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