After a 10 day respite in Napa, I have returned to Quebec City with brother Jerry and our friend Bob, the new Hardworking Crew of 'Anomaly'.
After saying goodbye to our new friends Gilles & Lise and Yvan and Henriettae and with a forecast of 10-20 we motored northeast towards Cap a l'Aigle, which is a harbor of refuge built specifically for eastbound yachts from Quebec. I say forecast, because true to form the winds were in fact 3 - 10, with gust only to 15 or so around the rain squalls. We motored the entire way, though with sails set for the occasional help they provided. Due to the tides and some last minute shopping, we did not leave until noon for the 68 mile trip, and arrived around dusk (once more in a rain squall). A call on channel 68 to the marina to query about space only proved what I already know: I cannot speak or understand a word of French! However, they seemed to indicate there was space, or so I took it, and headed on in. We were waved over to raft against two 30' sloops, captained by some very jovial and bilingual gentlemen (Mark and Philipe, if memory serves). The restaurant had closed, so we microwaved a frozen pizza. This interesting only in the fact that Real Cruisers on the internet deride posers for microwaving frozen pizza while cruising. Salt pork and hardtack warmed over a coal fire is what you are supposed to be eating I think. But even hard core Cape Horners wouldn't eat salt pork and hardtack if they had a freezer and a microwave on board.
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| Quebec City is astern |
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| Brother Jerry, one of the Hard Working Crew |
In any case, Mark and Philipe departed at 6 AM, so we had to untie, back out of the tight marina, and could then retie to the dock in their place. At this point 'Anomaly' was drawing a small crowd of the curious, including the two Nonsuch owners in the marina. Both Norman and Jaques turned out to be friendly, entertaining, and possessing of two of the finest Nonsuch 30s anywhere. After giving them a quick tour of the boat, we had breakfast and went for a walk on the town. The CCA guide says of Cap a l'Aigle,"Too far from anything so just a layover for the change of the tide.". We found this to be far from the truth. A very picturesque setting, nice people, decent and friendly restraint right in the marina, beautifully gardened B&Bs up on the main road and a nice little botanical garden occupied the morning and we finally left just before noon bound for Tadoussac.
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| 'Anomaly' at the Harbor of Refuge at Cap a l'Aigle |
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| There were flower boxes on every dock! |
Norman and Jaques, two local Nonsuch owners and entertaining characters both:
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| Norman: "I will live to be 140 because I am 70 and half dead." |
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| Jaques owned a beautifully customized Nonsuch 30U |
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