Mile 394: Cap-a-l'agile

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Cap-a-l'agile Current Location: Port de Refuge Cap-a-l'agile Date: June 1 Mile:  394 Locate:  1) Ramble On, 2) Ramble On Locate:  1) Finnish Line 2.0, 2) Finnish Line 2.0

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Early morning departure from Ile-d'Orleans

Leaving Club Nautique de l'Ile Bacchus 

Still winds and clear skies for our 5:30am departure.  Much discussion about tides, currents and departure time lead up to this point. 

All of the guides had stern warnings about where NOT to be when the tide turns.

Narrow point in the shipping channel

The shipping channel goes south of Ile-d'Orleans then back to the north side of the river through some islands.  At times it is quite narrow before opening up with wider channels.

Final remnants on snow!

The geography here is quite different with the Laurentians starting to show on the north side of the river.  Large cliffs are common along with ski hills and some very dramatic  views.  At times, no sign of humans and at others, houses an villages scattered along the hillside or on the shore.  Certainly some of the best scenery so far, and a beautiful day to enjoy it with.

Do the math!!!  = 7

Red arrows = 7 knots

Our route would take us on the narrower north side of Isle-aux-Coudre.  This would let us catch a bump in the current from the ebb tide that would shoot us around the island and back out into the river.   As you can see from the current chart, the speed varies widely at different points in the river so planning where you will be as the tide evolves is very important.   We pulled into harbour for the day just as the tide was turning, and crabbed into the entrance with a 2 knot flood tide just starting to pick up steam.

Isle-aux-Courdre boat yard

Tidal rip in otherwise calm water

We also experience our first tidal rips of any significance.   When two tidal flows pass each other without truly mixing, you get distinct lines of surface turbulence in the water accompanied by debris and foam.  And as we found out, it pays to be on the right side of the rip as it can make a couple of knots difference in your speed!

Whales!

By far, the biggest excitement of this leg was when John called on the radio to tell us he sees whales in the distance.   Like excited school children, we all located our cameras and got up on deck to see.  

Pod in the distance

With what would have surely been lost in the white caps had there been more wind, was a pod of belugas in the distance.   In the end we were treated to at least two pods of whales that went right by both our boats.   

They don't show their tails often

Right in front of the boat

As one pair approached, we let the boat slow, and a pair surfaced just in front of the boat, only to disappear and reappear at our stern.  We've got hundreds of pictures of white splotches in the water as their time at the surface is about equal to our reaction time to take a picture.  Our hope is that the Saguenay will have even more to offer.  

Leak in my muffler

For Ramble On, today was also the day of discovering of where the one remaining leak was coming from.  I had done a bunch of potable water plumbing this spring, and sorted out the minor drips that resulted, but we still had one bothersome water puddle that I couldn't quite identify the source of until today.   It only appeared while underway.

After narrowing down and eliminating the other possible sources, it turned out to be the water-lift muffler.   I was hopeful it was the totally inaccessible drain plug, I puller the muffler off once at dock, and quickly determined that it was not the drain plug, but the whole bottom of the muffler was cracked, and full of pin hole leaks.

The picture shows the bottom of the muffler were I had cleaned, sanded and gouged out the cracks.  Fortunately, it's made of fiberglass, and also fortunately, I brought along a West System epoxy repair kit.

The damage looked quite old, and the manufacturer claims this type of problem is almost entirely due to overheating (lack of cooling water through the exhaust). In either case, a couple of layers of glass and epoxy should keep us in business until we can source a new one.   After 30 years, it looks like they are still available, perhaps from West Marine.  

That's it for today's report.  We are spending a day in port today to avoid the rain and winds and buy us an extra hour later in departure time tomorrow (6:30am) for our next leg to get us into the Saguenay.   The entrance to the Saguenay must be timed carefully as the tidal flows and rips can be very tricky (understatement).