After the previous year’s trip, we just had to go back. Whales, as Judith says, “Are as addictive as cocaine”. I suggested doing an annual line of Belugas to keep the jonesing at bay. She agreed.

So, we drove up to Quebec City on a Saturday morning, and once again got there for Festival. It’s an enormous street and cultural fair in the old city (Inside the wall). We’ve never actually taken in the whole thing, but walking around and seeing the street events is plenty of fun, and so is sitting in a café having a drink and some good food while you watch stuff go on. 

We made it to Les Bergeronnes the next morning, and got a campsite near the rocks. Fewer blackflies and mosquitoes there than the site we had the year before, and closer to the boat ramp. Claudine and Pete arrived an hour later, and they got a site, and we decided to paddle while we waited for Steve and Angela to arrive. They were still in Vermont in the morning. 

We did a lazy paddle out past Cap de Bon Desir, and towards Les Bergeronnes. There was a pod of Fin whales blowing in the distance, and Minkes swimming in our vicinity. We got to see several Fins come closer to us, and that was a nice start! Pete was already of the opinion that we were in a great place. Little did he know……….. 

Monday morning came, and everyone was up for action. I did the dawn patrol. I got up about 4:30 to the sounds of a whale convention just behind our tent. Lots of Fins and Minkes. I watched from the rocks for about an hour, had breakfast, and decided to paddle. Steve and Angela said they’d be out to join me once they ate. I launched, and almost immediately had a close encounter with a Minke. There were a lot of whales around. Steve and Angela launched (After having to wait for the whales to leave the launch area), and paddled out to where I was. I was watching a pod of Fins coming right at us, and they passed right by us just as we all grouped up. Steve was in disbelief that the whales just didn’t seem to care that we were sitting there, and swam by so close. Two more addicts! We paddled for a while, and came back in for the main event for the day. 

The St Lawrence was too windy to paddle to Les Escoumins, so I figured we could paddle on the Saguenay out of L’Anse de Roche. It turned out to be a good choice: light winds, 20 degrees warmer air, and water warm enough that immersion clothing wasn’t really necessary. We paddled halfway to Tadoussac, landed at a campsite on a peninsula, and paddled back. On the way down, a Minke breached right next to Claudine, making a big splash in the water. Steve was Johnny on the spot, and got an incredible picture of the event. We got back to the launch, and rolled until we cooled off. It was 94 degrees at the launch. We got back to the campground, and it was 62 degrees by the water. 

Launching into the fjord

Tuesday, we decided to chance the St Lawrence. The winds were predicted to be southwest 15-25 knots. Waves are almost never an issue there in most winds, because the fetch just isn’t there, especially along the shore. We headed towards Les Bergeronnes into the wind, and paddled along shore to minimize our exposure. We paddled through some islands, and came upon a dead bear cub just above the high tide line just as we were scouting for a lunch spot. We decided that we shouldn’t be near the bear just in case mama was still lurking nearby, so we paddled another mile down the shore before we stopped. On the way back, we headed about a mile or so out into the river to use the wind and the tide to our advantage. Once we got out there, I spotted a Beluga going by. We watched for a few minutes, and then saw a large number of Harbor Porpoises hunting. That was interesting to see. We floated to Cap de Bon Desir, and had several whale encounters there. We kind of floated for a while, and eventually landed at camp for the evening. More Belugas came by later. I was wondering where they were! 

A couple of Belugas

“Who turned off the whales?” Judith asked. They were gone from camp by Wednesday. Not a whale to be seen. Only Harbor Porpoises. We drove to Tadoussac, parked in the old drydock, and launched from the beach. As we were getting ready, someone was waving to us from the kayak outfitter’s tent. I yelled “Is that my friend Pierre?”. Yep, it was. We met Pierre the year before when he was guiding for the outfitter at the campground. He’s a fun guy. He told us that the whales had all moved to Pont au Savages between Les Bergeronnes harbor and Tadoussac. He suggested we paddle one-way downwind and tide back to camp, and he’d help us shuttle cars. We said that was OK, we’ll paddle the Saguenay today, and be very happy with it. We talked for a while, and launched. 

We paddled up to the campsite we had paddled down to on Monday. About halfway there, a Minke breached right at Steve, and dove under his boat. This one came completely out of the water, and missed him by less than three feet. Steve yelled “Bloody Hell !!!!”, and simultaneously tried to back away and take a photo while the whale was airborne. Neither worked. He didn’t move much, and the picture was of his sprayskirt. So much for adrenaline……….we all laughed, because it was apparent that the whale knew exactly what it was doing. Steve said he could see the baleen in the whale’s mouth as it was coming at him. 

Views from the Fjord

We crossed the fjord after lunch, and paddled down the cliffs on the west shore. The current was with us, and very strong further out. We paddled up to the big waterfall we found the year before, and looked at that for a while. We crossed the fjord and went through the rips just north of Tadoussac. These rips on the ebb are similar in wave size and current strength to The Race at Fishers Island on the flood. They don’t cover anywhere near as much real estate, but they’re fun just the same. Further down and in the middle, the rips there are 7 knots on the ebb. I’d really like to paddle those sometime! 

We crossed the ferry lane, and as we were contemplating going back in, another Minke breached about 20 yards or so from Judith and Claudine. There were two more further out, and we sat at the point watching them and rolling in the frigid water in the eddy that flowed in from the St Lawrence. Cools you down real quick when all you’re wearing is a T-shirt and rodeo shorts. We talked to Pierre some more, and then had dinner and drinks in town. 

Thursday, the whales were still MIA. And we had gale warnings on the St Lawrence for the second day in a row. So, we drove up to Baie St Marguerite for a little baby Beluga action. We hiked out to the point, and watched for a while, and then hiked back. It was hot again, so we took our time about it. We drove back, stopping in Les Bergeronnes at the “Breadman’s” place. It’s an outdoor bakery with a huge brick oven, and a tent where you buy the bread. He also delivers in his van to the campground. He was closed, so we figured we’d catch him at camp. He makes fantastic bread.

We paddled in the gale later on with Pete & Claudine. We would head upwind to Cap de Bon Desir, and float back in the waves. We saw a few whales, and more came as the evening went on. Everyone else went in for dinner, and I stayed out for about 45 minutes or so watching Belugas. 

When I came in, we had a dinner of some locally smoked salmon that I had bought in Tadoussac, Charlevoix cheese (MMMMMMMM --- Yummy!!!!), grilled veggies, breadman bread with Boursin cheese, and a nice Belgian beer for me, and French wine for Judith.  Lovely!  We all stayed up in the screen house enjoying our last night there. 

About 5:00 AM Friday, something told me to get up. I couldn’t hear anything going on, but the winds had finally stopped, and the sun was just starting to rise. I went out with a camera and binoculars, and was just about to head back to the tent, when the Minkes started arriving. 12 of them in total. I shot pictures and movies, and was having a good time. Then, Belugas arrived, and Harbor Porpoises. And then, about 10 Fin Whales cruised in. Big ones. The show went on for an hour and a half --- whales everywhere you looked. People were buzzing in the campground, and all headed for the rocks with cameras. About quarter to seven, I decided it was time to make breakfast and wake Judith up. I had seen just about everything by now anyway. Wrong……….I was filling the pot with water for coffee when Pierre came running over and said “You miss it !!!!  Humpbacks!! Mother and calf, and the mother breach right by the rocks!”. Figures. I still have not seen a Humpback in the wild. I knew I should have paddled --- something told me to, but laziness won out.  Video of Fin Whales

Feb '08 update ---- I have seen humpbacks in the wild, and have the photos. In fact, it was that very morning in the boat launch area. I just didn't realize it until I looked at the photos recently a little more closely. See the bottom of the page, and see what I mean.

Whale in the sunrise

We all got together about 9:30, and launched into the fog that had rolled in. We headed to the Pilot station in Les Escoumins, despite the wind that was coming back up. We paddled most of the way hearing large blows that were very close, but we couldn’t see them for the fog. Every once in a while, one would swim by close enough to see, mostly Minkes, and one or two Fins. The rest, well, they could have been Blues or Humpbacks for all we knew. We stopped in the cove, and relaxed for a while. All but Pete and Claudine were leaving later in the day, so we were in no particular hurry. We paddled back in and out of the fog, and just as we were heading in to land for the last time, a Minke cruised by just a few feet off our sterns as if to say goodbye. We landed, packed up, showered, and headed to Quebec City.  

Vacations are far too short.

What I thought was a small Fin whale in the launch area, friday morning. It's actually a Humpback -- see photo below, and compare to dorsal fin at http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/humpback.htm