Gulf of Lawrence & Saguenay Fjord Video

[FishyFabs]

Went on a 2-week boys trip with the new Phantom 4 drone in July. Launching just north of Quebec City and sailed over 120 nautical miles North into the sub arctic area region for some whale watching and got greeted by its weather. We needed 6 layers of clothing to keep warm at times and water temp was 42 deg F.

The last 3 days we had gale force winds and rain. We did not see a period where the winds were under 25 knots. Max winds were 35 knots and we had tidal currents of 7 knots to contend with. We had to cover 100 nautical miles in these conditions to get back to the launch ramp as my friend needed to catch a flight back to South Africa.

We lost the following:

1) Dinghy got destroyed
2) broke lower shroud on port side
3) starboard rudder broke up above the hinge from all the wave motion. It had too much play.
3) lost all sorts of hats, cushions and clothing
4) flags got ripped

We also anchored in the Saguenay Fjord and it must be one of the most spectacular fresh water anchorages in North America. The remoteness of the anchorage and the dramatic cliffs is something to see.

Note, this trip is not for beginners and the Gulf of St Lawrence with 15 ft tide differentials and 8 knot currents makes Lake Ontario look like a pond. This was big water for me!

Enjoy the video….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjQSa6R ... tion=share

[yukonbob]

Looks like the weather here. Great shots and great trip; good looking setup.

[FishyFabs]

Thanks, we did not realise we were going to get that kind of weather there...never seen such persistent winds lasting for days even in the early hours of the morning. The boat setup works well for us and has been tried and tested. We all agree that next boys trip will be somewhere much warmer!

[grady]

as my friend needed to catch a flight back to South Africa.

Ah the common disease known as "get homeitis" Kills thousands of people every year.

[sailboatmike]

Once again proof that these are no light weight fair weather boats and that they are capable of handling the rough stuff

Great video, congratulations on your trip

[Crikey]

Hats off to you dude! We've done the Saguenay in a much larger boat as crew and it was awesome also. Love to go back in our some day. What a trip you've had...... wow!

[Russ]

Great video and great drone piloting. I'm terrified to fly mine over water. They sink fast.

Good job and lots of fun it seems.

--Russ

[FishyFabs]

For me this trip encapsulated the versatility of the Macgregor boat and the reason why I cannot go for a full size keel boat yet despite all the luxuries. I foam at the mouth thinking of all the places we can go to with our boats and I will be spending the next few months thinking about next year's trip.

I would love to hear any recommendations for the Macgregor community. I am based in the Toronto area and so far, I have done:

1) North Channel – Ontario
2) 1000 Islands - Ontario
3) Bay of Quite (twice) - Ontario

I would love to hear any ideas.

[kurz]

really cool trip!!!

Did you sail or motor in these conditions?

Do you know why the shroud broke???

[Curwen]

I'm too far a fair weather sailor to enjoy that.

Beautiful images, but skills are nowhere near that level.

[FishyFabs]

really cool trip!!!

Did you sail or motor in these conditions?

Do you know why the shroud broke???

To answer your question, there were three 4 major legs but the near death experience happened right at the end in the marina and I described what happened to us too.

1) Quebec City to Taudoussac.. approx. 100 n.m. We had heavy rain so we opted to close the sides of the cockpit but still kept the back open. This meant we could not use the main sail. For the first 60 n.m to our first stop over, we had winds (15-25 knots from behind. We have a 150% genoa on a roller but we only had it open to the 30% mark to keep the bow forward. We also used to motor to increase speed as you do not want to get caught out there when the tides turn. Even with the motor, we could not go that fast as the waves were too large lifting the motor out the water. The second leg (40n.m.)…we had winds from the front about 15 to 20 knots and it was also freezing cold with occasional rain and fog. One crew member started shaking uncontrollably and had to climb into a sleeping bag in the cabin. We kept the cockpit covers on and we motored all the way into Taudoussac. The video shows these conditions at the 1:15 mark)
2) Taudoussac into the Fjord (30 n.m) where you see the stunning cliffs. We were on a tight schedule as we needed to watch the Euro Cup. The winds were light so we motored there going about 8 knots. 4:50 into the video
3) Back to Taudoussac….first of the gales…20 to 35 knot winds from behind which are channelled by the cliffs and you have not where to hide. We had the genoa at 30% with following seas and no main sail...we kept the motor in the water to create drag as the stern was being pushed sideways by waves. This is when we noticed the lower shroud broke and was in the water. We stopped sailing and used the motor the rest of the way. This was one of the scariest sails of the trip as it had steep cliffs on both sides funnelling the wind. The dinghy flipped 4 times and eventually deflated as it tore. We lost boat cushions and all sorts other items on this leg. We did not film this leg as nobody felt like filming! A kind gentleman at the marina helped me fix the shroud but I did not trust the fix completely.
4) Taudoussac back to Quebec City: 100 n.m. Fog followed by gales lasting 3 days...up to 35 knots seen on the wind speed indicator. (7:34 on the video). There was no way I was going to expose any sails in these conditions. We eventually removed most of the cockpit enclosure as it was acting like a spinnaker too.

The final and most dramatic near death experience happened right at the end when we tried to turn into the marina without the dagger board fully deployed as it had a shallow entrance and high tide was over. The strong winds made us overshoot the entrance and I also forgot that the motor was disconnected from the rudders so it got interesting. The boat went broadside to wind and waves and I could not get it to turn into the wind. I then tried to connect the motor to the rudders but lost the pin as my hands were freezing cold and pounded by waves. At this stage…we were being blown so hard and into shallow water (1 ft) heading straight for rocks (see chart plotter image which shows our track across green land). I used a bungee cord to secure the motor link to the rudders and turned the boat into the wind and sped into the marina as shown in the chart plotter image.

Ah…we thought we were safe but there was a final twist!

Once in the marina…I deployed the dagger board as we were in deeper water but not sure if it went all the way down as I was still broadside to the wind and I could not turn the boat again. We were blown side ways and had very little room to maneuver. We were heading straight for the breakwater rocks and there was no time to deploy an anchor as it was a small marina. I edged towards the dock and a crew member jumped off and attached a dock line and the boat and it swung around.

That is why at the 8:41 minute mark on the video I am jumping up and down with great joy…what a dramatic ending making this an unforgettable trip.

That night, the beers never tasted so good and that is what it is all about!

[Québec 1]

These are my sailing grounds. I love sailing solo in these waters with a reefed main and a half jib watching the St Laurence churn around the gunnels as I'm looking through the cabin hatch through to the aft portholes at a 30 to 40 degree angle whilst screaming into the wind. All the while sailing against the tides and dodging the Great Lakes ships as they ferry the prairie wheat and grains to the world. And then there are the days I take the admiral and the dog out. I can't wait for spring.
Q1

[Highlander]

I,ve sailed these waters u have to b careful for sure looks like we launched @ the same marina . on this trip I had 50mp/h winds for 4 days so stayed in the marina & just relaxed & toured the beautiful sites , it also rained for 9 of the 10 days I was there lol
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010060.jpg

Quebec City in the back ground
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... G_0629.jpg

Q1 & I sailing on his boat on the St Lawrence
http://vid844.photobucket.com/albums/ab ... 010072.mp4

Great Video shots & a great trip too bad the weather did not co-operate with u more so u could have enjoyed the beautiful scenery a lot more & done more sailing

J