We left Gaspe at around 1pm Friday, and we won't dock again until Quebec City sometime Sunday morning--about 44 hours straight. Because of our storm-slowed progress, we are having to skip our planned stop today in the Saguenay Fjord. A disappointment for sure, but the captain is hoping we'll make the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence Rivers with enough time to watch out for any wildlife that might be hanging out at the mouth of the fjord.
The captain was offering visits to the bridge today. We were able to get one of the tours. Luck was with us, in that there was a big gap between our scheduled time and the next group. So, instead of the expected 20-minute visit, we got to stay there and ask questions for over 30 minutes. We got to meet Rachel, the second mate, who is our navigator. We were allowing a large freighter to pass us, and we got to hear about the communication between Rachel and the freighter to negotiate that passing. We learned some of the "rules of the road" on such maneuvers. It was a fun and informative thing to do, and we're glad we had the opportunity.
We had seen this guy far behind us at one point, but now he was passing us.
The St. Lawrence is a huge river. We could see land on both sides, but just as dim outlines on the horizon. Even after sailing for over 24 hours, the river was still 28 miles wide. Closer to the Saguenay, it is more like 18 miles.
When we got nearer the Saguenay area, there was an announcement that whales could be seen some distance ahead, on the port side. We bundled up and headed for the bow. There were whale spouts to the port side, ahead of us, and to starboard. Frequently, there would be two to four spouts at a time in one area, then suddenly we were having to watch another area. Jerry was watching with the binoculars, but it was very cold and the wind was very strong. He didn't stay long. He was nursing a bit of a cold, and this bow time probably wasn't going to further his cause. Most other people only stayed 5-10 minutes. But, if this was to be our hoped for wildlife experience, I wasn't leaving 'til I had to. Pictures were hard to get, but it was just wonderful to know we were surrounded by whales. There were only a few of us outside, but we were a (cold) happy lot. We stayed until the sun set and the sightings diminished. My hands were little blocks of ice. My it was brisk out there. Hard to imagine tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70's.
We'll all be glad to set our feet on land tomorrow. Since it will be our last night on board, we will be mixing sightseeing and packing up duties. Never the fun part of a trip. However, our reward at the end of journey is getting to visit the wonderful Quebec City and Montreal.
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