This morning we enjoyed riding the current out of Montreal at 12.3 knots. Gradually the current decreased to 1.5 to 2 and with the winds picking up we were able to join wind power, engine and current to stay in the high 8s to low 9s most of the day. After 40 nm we were off our destination on the south bank in Sorel about 2pm.
Unfortunately, the marina wasn’t open. A woman from the CNBI club overheard our intra-boat conversation and suggested we backtrack 4 nm and stay there. Although they usually launch late April due to the high waters (currently 9’) they only launched the docks yesterday and their boats today. Even some entrance marks weren’t out yet so we had to navigate in via the marks on our chart plotters. The charts show thin water but with an extra 9’ we never saw less than 14’. A very welcoming club and we were treated well. Kudos to this club!!
Beer in our cockpit to decide what to do over the next few days to get to Quebec City given that many places are not open yet according to our new friends at CNBI. We now also must begin to take into account the tides and the resulting currents.
The revised plan is to stay across the river from Quebec City in Levi to be able enter the following morning at the recommended hour before low tide. Otherwise the entrance can be extremely treacherous.