Saguenay and St Lawrence River

External Since: Sep 09, 2005 Posts: 11

Hello Martin!

claripuck.RemoveThis@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hello Jean,
>
> My First Mate (wife) and I are planning to trail our 20ft Reinell
> cruiser to Chicoutimi at the head of the Saguenay,

Don't for get to give the First Mate her proper rank, which is Admiral
for most of us! Wink

launch there on
> 7/16/06,
> arrive at Tadoussac July 21 (my birthday & also Alice's) remain there
> for 3 days or as long as need be for good weather.

OK, you'ro going downstream! Good. It will be easier for you to
enquire about the conditions in Tadoussac, prior to leaving and pass
the hard place soon enough so the forecast will stay reliable for long
enough. I say that because, on our entended legs, Murphy makes always
for a fair forecast to turn sour with the hours! And it is harder to
figure the sea from a remote marina when you cruise the other way around.

We then plan to
> proceed to Saint Simeon (where we hope to get gas) then on to Port de
> Refuge de Cap a L'aigle where we intend to spend the night.

There is no pleasure craft facility in St-Simeon to my knowledge.
There are only pontoon reported available to pleasure crafts, good to
wait for the right tide, no more. You will find gas in Tadoussac and
Cap-a-l'Aigle. If you can't reach Cap-a-l'Aigle in one fuel tank, you
mill have a shorter run in reaching Riviere-du-Loup, on the south
shore. Marina is silted but they have a waiting dock, near
the ferry dock if you arrive at too low a tide. The sea, on the south
shore is much gentler and the prefered way to us all. Also, we don't
see much pleasure craft traffic on the North channel between CAA and
TAD, only mountains and it must be a lonely place to be in trouble.

Cap-à-l'Aigle to Ile aux Coudres is a very short run we make in few
hours at 8knots. Very pittoresque place but you must arrive with
sufficient water OR wait for it at anchor in the "Mouillage des
Francais", which is by the way the very place Jacques Cartier anchored
when he stopped there to explore and celebrate de first mass in the
continent. My father come from there and am cousin with 1 person out
of 3 there is related to me. Say Hello on my behalf and someone may
pay you a drink! Wink

>From Ile aux Coudres to Quebec, you have two choices: Take the North
channel along "les Caps" with the commercial traffic or the South
channel and the Traverse St-Roch. North passage will leave you with
St-Laurent, Ile d'Orleans, Bacchus marina as nearest fill up. South
passage will make you
pass in front of Berthier-sur-mer and St-Michel de Bellechasse first.
Whichever route you choose, avoid going with SW winds. NE means
generally bad wheather but, as the old captains of this place: You
will get soaked, but not shaken!

The Saguenay fjord is the southernmost real fjord in the world. There
are also nice place to see on the way down and, as I plan to go there,
my shore leave choices would be the Anse-St-Jean Yacht Club and Vile
Labaie. There are also numerous little marinas where you can stop in
between like Anse-de-Roche and Ste-Rose-du-Nord.

If you are in need of a cruising guide, the one I use is only made in
French but the "Guide des Marinas Guide" published by the AMQ
(Association Maritime du Québec) is a bilingual honest substitute and
also very good. You can download last years edition in pdf format at:

<http://www.nautismequebec.com/redirect.cfm?locationID=guideMarinas&lang=fre>

Click on the red link "cliquez ici" to download it (6megs)

To finish, in Quebec city, Old port marina will permit to visit the
Old city by foot and is a short walk from the "Gare du Palais" the
train/bus station also. I don't know about the train but there must be
several bus departures a day toward Chicoutimi. There is a lock to
pass to enter the "Bassin Louise" though. But its proximity to
everything makes it worthed. Else, there are several other you will
find in the above mentinoned marina guide.

Hope this helps a bit. Don't hesistate to ask any further questions.

Jean Dufour
Montreal, Qc

External Since: Feb 12, 2006 Posts: 5

Thank you Jean for sharing your knowledge about the Saguenay/St.
Lawrence waterways. It will undoubtedly make our trip more enjoyable.
We were sort of looking forward to cruising under the mountains on the
northern route but if you think the southern route is more appropriate
we will probably do that.
That means we would head from Tadoussac directly to Rivier-du-Loup,
spend the night, then an overnight at Cap a`l'Aigle, and then stay the
night at Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.
We plan to gas up at Marina de Montmagny or Havre-de-Berthier-sur-Mer.
If we can get reservations we were hoping to spend the night at Club
nautique de L'ile Bacchus so we can do some bicycling around Ile
D'Orleans. Then of course on to Port de Quebec.
We went onto the web site you recommended and printed everything that
was relevant.
It will be very helpful. It is a great sight. I wish we knew about it
two years ago when we did the Golden Triangle (Kingston to Ottawa to
Montreal and back to Kingston on the St. Lawrence).
Please let us know if you would like us to forward the spread sheet my
wife did for this trip. If you want you could pass it on to someone
else.It covers the north & south route and it includes just about
everything. We will never attempt to cruise anytime the local people
don't recommend it.
Thanks again for your help.
Martin
Jean Dufour wrote:
> Hello Martin!
>
> claripuck.RemoveThis@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > Hello Jean,
> >
> > My First Mate (wife) and I are planning to trail our 20ft Reinell
> > cruiser to Chicoutimi at the head of the Saguenay,
>
> Don't for get to give the First Mate her proper rank, which is Admiral
> for most of us! Wink

>
> launch there on
> > 7/16/06,
> > arrive at Tadoussac July 21 (my birthday & also Alice's) remain there
> > for 3 days or as long as need be for good weather.
>
> OK, you'ro going downstream! Good. It will be easier for you to
> enquire about the conditions in Tadoussac, prior to leaving and pass
> the hard place soon enough so the forecast will stay reliable for long
> enough. I say that because, on our entended legs, Murphy makes always
> for a fair forecast to turn sour with the hours! And it is harder to
> figure the sea from a remote marina when you cruise the other way around.
>
> We then plan to
> > proceed to Saint Simeon (where we hope to get gas) then on to Port de
> > Refuge de Cap a L'aigle where we intend to spend the night.
>
> There is no pleasure craft facility in St-Simeon to my knowledge.
> There are only pontoon reported available to pleasure crafts, good to
> wait for the right tide, no more. You will find gas in Tadoussac and
> Cap-a-l'Aigle. If you can't reach Cap-a-l'Aigle in one fuel tank, you
> mill have a shorter run in reaching Riviere-du-Loup, on the south
> shore. Marina is silted but they have a waiting dock, near
> the ferry dock if you arrive at too low a tide. The sea, on the south
> shore is much gentler and the prefered way to us all. Also, we don't
> see much pleasure craft traffic on the North channel between CAA and
> TAD, only mountains and it must be a lonely place to be in trouble.
>
> Cap-à-l'Aigle to Ile aux Coudres is a very short run we make in few
> hours at 8knots. Very pittoresque place but you must arrive with
> sufficient water OR wait for it at anchor in the "Mouillage des
> Francais", which is by the way the very place Jacques Cartier anchored
> when he stopped there to explore and celebrate de first mass in the
> continent. My father come from there and am cousin with 1 person out
> of 3 there is related to me. Say Hello on my behalf and someone may
> pay you a drink! Wink

>
> >From Ile aux Coudres to Quebec, you have two choices: Take the North
> channel along "les Caps" with the commercial traffic or the South
> channel and the Traverse St-Roch. North passage will leave you with
> St-Laurent, Ile d'Orleans, Bacchus marina as nearest fill up. South
> passage will make you
> pass in front of Berthier-sur-mer and St-Michel de Bellechasse first.
> Whichever route you choose, avoid going with SW winds. NE means
> generally bad wheather but, as the old captains of this place: You
> will get soaked, but not shaken!
>
> The Saguenay fjord is the southernmost real fjord in the world. There
> are also nice place to see on the way down and, as I plan to go there,
> my shore leave choices would be the Anse-St-Jean Yacht Club and Vile
> Labaie. There are also numerous little marinas where you can stop in
> between like Anse-de-Roche and Ste-Rose-du-Nord.
>
> If you are in need of a cruising guide, the one I use is only made in
> French but the "Guide des Marinas Guide" published by the AMQ
> (Association Maritime du Québec) is a bilingual honest substitute and
> also very good. You can download last years edition in pdf format at:
>
> <http://www.nautismequebec.com/redirect.cfm?locationID=guideMarinas&lang=fre>
>
> Click on the red link "cliquez ici" to download it (6megs)
>
> To finish, in Quebec city, Old port marina will permit to visit the
> Old city by foot and is a short walk from the "Gare du Palais" the
> train/bus station also. I don't know about the train but there must be
> several bus departures a day toward Chicoutimi. There is a lock to
> pass to enter the "Bassin Louise" though. But its proximity to
> everything makes it worthed. Else, there are several other you will
> find in the above mentinoned marina guide.
>
> Hope this helps a bit. Don't hesistate to ask any further questions.
>
> Jean Dufour
> Montreal, Qc