Sorel to Excavation St-Ours.

The insurance adjuster arranged for a tow from Boisvert Marina to a location where they had the necessary equipment to haul us out of the water. They pick us up at 14:30 to take us for a little over 5 minutes on the Richelieu River to St-Ours.

Boisvert Marine tow service

Go under the first bridge that was troubling. We have no control over our boat, and unlike the Coast Guard, our tug was not slow, reaching speeds of close to 8 knots.  The total tow distance was about 12 nM.

We made it safely after an awkward unpowered tow.  They asked us to sign the invoice, and they left. It was hot, and we offered two cold beers and told them not to drink them on the water. 

We are left to ourselves.  We tried calling Excavation St-Ours but got a voicemail.

In a few minutes, from the top of the hill, a small electric cart comes down. Two men came and asked about the length, width and tonnage of Bellum, and they disappeared again.

In a few more minutes, the mammoth "Conolift" (http://www.kropfindustrial.com/CONOLIFT) arrives, a hydraulic trailer pulled by a large tractor.  In less than an hour and a half, our baby emerged from the water and was placed very skillfully on cradling straps.  Being pulled up the hill was concerning, but they had the bow tied to the trailer to prevent the boat from sliding off.

We are relieved and safe.

The company Excavation St-Ours is a very professional and helpful family business.  We were offered water, electricity, and a bathroom if you want to spend the night there... just as long as you haven't provided us with a red carpet. A five-star hotel in the middle of a field!

Finally, the owner's son took us back to Montreal on Monkland.

July 28, 2016 - A Day of waiting.

Allan has a hand and a foot swollen by the bites of deer flies, which makes him crazy!  He cannot help scratching.  It makes vinegar compresses, which gives him some relief.  It's really nice today, but we dare not get out of the boat, you get to eat all around!

We waited until 8 to call my insurance broker to report the accident and get guidance.  The brokers were mainly on vacation, and I spoke with Wildo, the president.  I gave him the details.  We waited for the return call from the insurance until 3:00 p.m., after which I called Jim on his cell, and we received a call back from the adjuster.  Jim follows up shortly afterward.  The adjuster suggests we call the Coast Guard to tow us.

17h00 Coast Guard in 1205 comes to our rescue 

They towed us to Marina Saurel in Sorel-Tracy, approximately 8 nautical miles, where they tied us to the service dock.  Unfortunately, the dock boy tells us we cannot stay there.  We had no drive train, so we used a small motorboat and 120 feet of anchor line to pull ourselves to a nearby dock. 

18h30 Bellum is safe now, a short walk to explore the town of Sorel.  We will do our best to explore and enjoy our vacation as we wait for Bellum to lay wounded.  The city center is beautiful and effervescent.  We return to the ship by walking through the federal park, whose railing is adorned with a friendly exhibition of children's drawings.  

We had a deep, restful sleep.

At Rest in Sorel Marina Saurel)

Trois Riviere - A bad start, a terrible ending

Each day brings its share of surprises.

7h00 Tac Tac.  Metal against metal.  That's what woke me up this morning.  Daniele pokes her head through the hatch, and two sailboats support us on starboard.  Our anchor had dragged. 

We re-anchored again.

We left Trois-Rivières around 10:00 with a favourable south wind that would carry us across Lac St-Pierre.

Unfortunately, this will not be the case; we will have to fight against a west wind of 15 knots, worsened by a current of 2 knots. 

A bit after the Laviolette bridge, we will put up a reefed main and full jib sail and tacked through the Seaway channel. 

It was hot and humid, with thunderstorm warnings in effect.  Most boats were heading east at high speed, making us think they didn't want to be stranded on Lac St. Pierre.

Then we started the engine.  All goes well until a noise is heard, and the vehicle begins to lose speed.  This is undoubtedly a weed on the drive chain.  We put Bellum into reverse, and a big salad package frees our keel.  Now I moved freely on the road a lot and strangely without vibration... what a joy!  Barely an hour later, another unusual noise makes us react. It is as if an object was thrown around the propeller and hit the hull.  Like a fishing line 

We stop the motor, and Allan plunges to see what happens.  The propeller was full of weed.  I pull a handful and come up, showing it to Daniele.  Again, I pull another handful. 

At the last dive, horror struck. As I held a small handful of seaweed in my hand, I informed her that the propeller strut was broken.  This is serious; we still have some miles to go before they can be anchored. Should we continue to Sorel?  12 NM to go. 

We motored some and decided to put up the sail.  Using the cell phones, we called local marinas to see if we could get hauled out.  It was getting late, and not all marinas were too helpful.

Deer flies were eating me alive, but they were not bothering Daniele.

We sailed slowly until it became futile, and then we started the motor for the last couple of miles to reach a good anchorage near Ile de Grace.  A lovely shallow cove.  We anchored at 19:30.

After verification, the breakage of the motor shaft support is not currently a significant danger. 

Good news, no water leakage.  What luck, we'll be able to sleep in our beds.  Well no!  Mosquitoes will begin the game and will prevent me from joining the arms of Morpheus.

The Richelieu Rapids

At 10h10, we leave our little cove and start our ascent. We see Wicko, a titan at 623 feet long and 75 feet wide while Laurentia Desgagnés, a Valkyrie with a length of 738 feet a width of 105 feet is now on the horizon. 

The river is more like a long slender corridor, I keep to the and guarantees our survival nothing. Once Wicko beyond us, it sneaks up behind him to leave all the room to Laurentia. 

As we approach Trois-Rivières, we start hugging the west shore to try to minimize the current.

We now see the Laviolette Bridge at Trois-Rivières approach and decided to refuel and draining skeptical before going to anchor at the mouth of the St. Maurice. Marina Trois-Riviere offers good services. The pump out was problematic, repeatedly having to re-prime the suction pump. Eventually, we visually inspected the tank

One can stay in dock for $ 5 / hour time to go grocery shopping in town or going to pay a good little tuck. The taxi service is very reliable and efficient. 

We restocked groceries for three to four days to sit it out relaxing in the Sorel Islands.

We went out to Trois-Riviere anchorage and anchored a little further out than our previous anchorage.

Isle-aux-Coudres to Portneuf

The alarm sounded in the middle of the night warning us that the current has reversed. The anchor rode is once again stuck under the keel.

At 4:50 we finally left the island with a favorable current in a sunrise red light day.

What a great day.  We made great progress.  We advanced quickly by iron sail and then by dacron for a couple of hours.  We got the Ile Orleans and by choosing to go through the North Channel, we discover new scenery.  The water was brown and opaque. 

We had a great view of Ste-Anne de Beaupré Shrine and the Cathedral. We passed under the bridge to Île d'Orléans and near the Bassin Louise, the YQC. It was still early; we push a little further up 'Portneuf.

As we pass the Quebec Bridge, the current reverses and slowly but surely slows our progress. Light scattered rain at 2:32 p.m. 

4:30 p.m. We just dropped anchor in Cap-Santé downstream of Portneuf and just a little away from the sea. Not a small cove well protected but with a background that provides good performance.

We were wet and had no desires to go to visit the nice fancy restaurant at Portneuf that was recommended to us.  The anchor fouled around the keel again.  We had lots of scope.