It is a crisp and sunny morning just about 56 F and water temp on surface showing as 57.8 F a bit windy and the surface of the river looks choppy.
There is a phenomenon that we experienced here late yesterday afternoon and its called the Katabatic wind and coastal effect. It is a wind that initially is a land breeze that at night blows down a valley and out through it’s mouth. The deeper and broader the valley the more violent the wind will be. Last evening we experienced gusts up to 40 nm. All the boats in the marina were rocking substantially. Our Contessa seemed to take it the best but the others were primarily sailboats which are prone to lots of rocking anyway.
We all met early this morning and went to experience crepes for breakfast at a newly opened creperie run by a young man from Bretagne, France. The crepes are made of bulgar wheat and taste deliciously.<a href=”https://contessagoesnorth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bikers.jpg”&gt;
After breakfast we slowly make our way through a narrow passage in the marina at low tide and a strong west north/west wind pushing us but by the grace of God and with our admiral at the helm and all hands on deck we made it through safely and soundly. From here on we drove further up the Saguenay river deeper into the fjord of Saguenay while measuring depth of 800 and 900 feet below our boat while passing by cliffs and mountains measuring up to 1000 or more feet into the sky. Each turn in the river exposed more beautiful sights than the previous. The culmination was when we reached the point of the Bay de Eternite where the river broadens and cuts into an oncoming valley on the western side gently rolling into the deep cold waters creating an valley of peace and pure untouched beauty. There is a camping site in the bay welcoming souls that seek such peace and solitude while kayaking through the deep waters of the bay and possibly encountering some moose that love to come to drink of this nutrient rich waters and the green grass covering it’s shore.

In the mid 1800 a businessman traveling in the fjord got caught in the icy waters and he claims that Mother Mary saved him from drowning and freezing to death. Out of gratitude he erected in her honor a large statue of the beautiful Madonna to whom so feverishly he prayed and who saved him from certain death. I must say she has a beautiful spot high up there on these incredible rocky mountain from where she with her arms spread out reaches to all the travelers crossing these ancient waters of the Canadian fjord.
We crossed in front of her today and most certainly felt her blessing coming upon us from far above and yet so close.

Quickly we returned back to the delta at Tadoussac where we encountered several beluga sightings but no close encounters like yesterday and so we returned to our marina at Tadoussac where after a nice lunch on the boat our friends Sabrina and Stephan left us to return back to Montreal and prepare for a new week at work. It was a pleasure having them with us again and we wish them a safe drive home while we prepare for our crossing to the Sothern side of the St Laurence river and move further east towards Matane and onward towards the delta of the great St. Lawrence river.
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