We made it to Tadoussac and we've seen whales, so we're feeling good! We leave today to go up the Saguenay fjord, hoping the forecast of east winds proves accurate. Here's what we've been up to the past week.

Sunday July 2 Fog, a ferry collision (not involving us) and Cap-à-l'Aigle

It was a groggy 4am departure from Club Nautique de l'Isle d'Orleans. After helping with the undocking I crawled back into the v-berth while Andy remained at the helm. I woke up a few hours later when he cut the engine in preparation for hoisting the sails.

We are starting to see ocean creatures - in the distance two black backs and fins surfaced a few times, probably harbour porpoises. And sea birds, today a common murre.

Photo: Before the fog hit. Coastline is becoming more rugged.

The main event today was fog, thick fog. We haven't sailed in fog before and it is very unnerving. We have AIS (Automatic Identification System) on the boat which uses radio frequencies to send information about Heartbeat's location, heading and speed to nearby ships also equipped with AIS, and receive similar information from nearby ships and display them on our electronic charts. The big freighters always have AIS, and some pleasure craft like us do. Smaller boats probably don't. We were pretty confident we were 'seeing' the big ships, but not any smaller ones. We got out the manual air horn and were blowing it for a while but then we stopped. It's loud! Instead we kept constant watch, and we haven't been seeing many other pleasure boats anyway.

Side note about radar: We don't have radar, but we do have radar reflectors up on the mast shrouds. The big ships all have radar, so between that and AIS we knew they would be aware of us. If we do more sailing in foggy places like this, we will think about getting a radar system. But it is not a panacea, because...

While in the fog we heard an incident on the radio, full of static, but could make out the words 'man overboard' and 'mayday'. Later the coast guard gave the all-clear and said all persons had been rescued. This was sobering and we were on edge for the next few hours.

Once ashore at Cap à l'Aigle marina, we heard that it had been a collision between a ferry and a powerboat, and we passed that spot about 30 minutes after the incident. We saw nothing in the fog but we did notice a ferry (on AIS) not moving, just hovering in place which seemed odd at the time. Here is the Radio Canada news article, in French but with photos. There will be a Transportation Safety Board inquiry that will take months but I'll be interested to know what they find and recommend.

The sun came out, or maybe it was always sunny on land, and I was entranced by Cap à l'Aigle. The marina is at the base of a steep hill with a waterfall and small beach, and the shore is starting to look more tidal, with seaweed clinging to the rocks.

Photo: Andy at Cap à l'Aigle marina

We walked up the hill and into the village and stumbled upon a lovely garden with trails through the woods, waterfalls, a lookout, and various sculptures.

Photo: Andy interrogating Mother Nature at the Jardins de Cap-à-l'Aigle

Monday July 3 Belugas, more fog, and Îles du Pot a l'Eau-de-Vie

We saw belugas! What a treat. Andy spotted them first, white flesh rising and falling back into the water. There may have been 5 or 10. It was hard to know where to look as they popped up in a wide range of places. They were at a distance, but the most surprising was one right behind the stern. I saw a white patch and at first thought it was wash from the boat. But Andy confirmed and he got a good look at it - it was a beluga, a few meters underwater and not a meter behind us. It was there less than 30 seconds, and the entire encounter with the pod lasted a few minutes as they were generally traveling in the opposite direction and we left them behind. We were under sail which was nice and quiet.

Other wildlife we're seeing a lot is razorbills. I am learning how to tell them apart from common murres as both are black on top and white on the bottom. The razorbills have plump chunky bodies and bills, and when flying they look like little torpedoes, symmetric from front to back. They fly in groups of 2-5 in straight lines over the water in seemingly random directions. Sometimes they were on a beeline for the boat and then veered at the last minute. Apparently there are colonies of them on the group of islands where we anchored for the night, Îles du Pot a l'Eau-de-Vie (Brandy Pot Islands).

We heard birds, gulls in this case, so we knew the island we'd anchored next to was there, but we generally couldn't see land because it was FOGGY again.

Photo: Sun breaks through the fog, at anchor in the Brandy Pot Islands

Photo: My new boots bought in Quebec are keeping my feet warm and dry, I love them. They are short like me! Compare to Andy's in the background.

Tuesday July 4 Arrival in Tadoussac

The fog was with us again today. In the morning during breakfast we heard a boat motor and dashed out to the cockpit to blow our air horn a few times. It was a boat coming to service the lighthouse inn on the other side of the Pot du Phare island and did not come close to us.

It was glassy calm all day, and we motored to Tadoussac, arriving as planned with the flood (rising) tide. Andy had spent hours doing tide and current calculations and thanks to his thorough research we had no issues with the famed turbulence that can occur at the mouth of the Saguenay where it joins the St Lawrence during an ebbing tide.

Tadoussac is a wonderful place to visit - wide sweeping bay, the grand old Hotel Tadoussac with its red roof, pretty village streets, older summer homes up on the cliff. We walked around the short Pointe d'Islet trail in the afternoon and then succumbed to the lure of the patio at the microbrewery.

Photo: Tadoussac Bay, Heartbeat at anchor in the distance

Photo: Microbrasserie Tadoussac - flight for Andy, Yuzu fizzy drink for me

Wednesday July 5 Tadoussac

Photo: Hotel Tadoussac in morning fog

Photo: Tying up Boatex

Today we hiked the start of the Sentier du Fjord to Mont Adéla-Lessard via Lac de l'Anse a l'Eau and l'Anse a la Barque (where we fittingly saw a tall ship). I find all these French names hard to remember, so full of possessives.

Photo: Andy at l'Anse a la Barque at low tide

In the afternoon we visited the Petite Chappelle missionary church from the days of New France. Tadoussac had been a trading post from 1600. This wooden chapel was built around 1750. The interior is a mix of plain wood walls and pews, and a glorious carved altar painted white and gilded gold, with a starburst cross on top.

Photo: Petite chappelle de Tadoussac

After dinner we walked along the beach to Pointe Rouge and then up on the slanted layered rocks which glowed magically in the evening sun.

Photo: Pointe Rouge at dusk

Thursday July 6 Tadoussac

We decided to move off anchor today and onto a mooring ball, because of forecast winds on Friday. The winds didn't materialize, but the peace of mind was worth it. We weren't sure the anchor would hold as we're in such deep water, 55 feet at high tide. We'd let out a lot of scope and felt like we were taking up half the anchorage with our wide swings.

In the village we walked the Sentier de la Coupe, a small hill overlooking the ferry terminal on one side and the bay on the other. The vegetation is very northern - flowering purple heather, stunted spruce trees, exposed granite.

Photo: Saguenay Fjord and ferry terminal

Photo: Beluga whale sculpture outside Marine Mammal Interpretation Centre

In the evening after dinner it was quite chilly (down jacket chilly) when all of a sudden a hot strong wind whooshed in down the hills and onto the water. It felt like a hair dryer! It lasted around 30 minutes and then quieted down after the sun had truly set.

Friday July 7 Tadoussac

We stayed a extra night in Tadoussac because the winds were forecast to be westerly today (not good for traveling west up the fjord) and easterly on Saturday.

Photo: Heartbeat on a mooring ball in the morning fog

With the mooring ball we also have marina privileges so we rowed in for a hot shower. Decadently, we dried our wet towels in the dryer as things have not been drying well on the boat due to the fog and humidity. Simple things like warm dry towels become luxuries on a boat!

Photo: Andy at the boulangerie

In the afternoon we visited the lobby of the Hotel Tadoussac with its old photos of bygone days, 1800s onwards, and then walked along the top of the cliffs to Pointe Rouge and back along the beach. We saw 2 or 3 belugas in the distance from the height of the point, flashing white in the sunshine and blue water.

Photo: Sand patterns on the beach

I hope everyone's summer is going well - much love from Danielle.