Sailing the St Lawrence

[BluenoseTim]

I just purchased a Beneteau 46. The boat is currently on the hard in Port Credit Ontario. I must move the boat to its eventual home in Nova Scotia. The plan is to start my journey at the end of June, 2021. All of my sailing experience has been on the west coast of Canada. I appreciate hearing from anyone who has done the trip, or portions of the trip. I am interested in hearing about possible itineraries, marinas, anchorages, and tide and current considerations.

[Emoyeni]

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[AiniA]

We may be going the same route this summer if Newfoundland is open to cruisers. A number of years ago we went up the St Lawrence from Nova Scotia to Lake Ontario. Certainly going down would be much faster. Some random thoughts:
1. The Seway locks are not an issue in particular going down. They require two people on board but with a 46 three would be better. Pleasure craft are seen as a necessary evil so you may sit for hours at times. Have a lock board (2 x 6 works) to put across two fenders. Depending on maintenance, some lock walls can be quite rough with large, fender-eating holes. If possible, let the boat ride a few feet off the wall. A couple of boat hooks, poles are helpful to have.
2. Tides start to be apparent between Quebec City and Trois Rivieres, try to use the tides. Going upstream we once were doing 10.3 knots. No point in fighting that.
3. Not sure if this is a pure delivery or a cruise delivery. This might affect your schedule. Places we enjoyed were QC, Matane, Magadalens, and Bras d'Or. If you are not familiar with Lake Ontario really nice places to visit are Toronto (both city-side and island), Kingston and Thousand Islands. If your schedule allows it, a couple of weeks on the south shore of Newfoundland is very much worth it. We have circumnavigated and no cruising grounds we visited were as interesting.
4. I assume you have radar, if not you will have to pick your spots. In July there was a fog bank off the shore of NS, sometimes I wandered to shore.

[Mike OReilly]

Hi Tim, we sailed down from Lake Ontario to Newfoundland a few years ago. It was a grand journey, but it certainly has its challenges. In the upper stretches there are downstream river currents, which usually run 1-3knots. Then there are the locks and bridges to manage.

AiniA's advice is wise for crew and fender board use. Downbound traffic only requires two people on board, but more would be helpful, especially on a 46-footer. That said, they locks are pretty easy to manage. My only tip is to buy your tickets ahead of time online. That way you don't have to tie up the recreational dock of each lock and do it manually.

Downstream of Trois Rivieres the tides and tidal currents start to dominate. From Portneuf down to well past the Saguenay our journey was basically dictated by the ebb and flow. We basically learned to ride the wave down, and be well anchored by the time the tide reversed. We flew past Quebec City, hitting speeds on the old GPS of over 14 knots. Our hull speed max is 7.5.

Tide hights are also quite large in places. We experienced up to 20 feet in some sections. Made anchoring a challenge.

Speaking of that, we anchored virtually the whole way along. We only stopped twice to take on fuel: Portneuf and Baie Comeau. Of course there are marinas along the way, but for simplicity and cost we prefer to stay on our own hook. But anchoring was a real challenge in some places.

Personally, I would take as much time as you can doing this route. It's stunning and beautiful, as well as challenging and interesting. Enjoy it.

[Dave Lochner]

If the Canadians are kind enough to let us in, we plan to do the same trip this summer from the S shore of Lake Ontario.

I have been curious about anchorages. They seem to be few and far between, especially past Montreal.

[Ranger2727]

May I suggest the fun book "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" by Farley Mowat, the last section is his trip to Tronto's World Fair. It's a fun read that will have you laughing as you travel to many of the Ports in the Maritimes.
Also, join the AGLCA and search for the forums on the DECL Down East Canadian Loop. You may also want to contact various individuals who have done that loop.

[RLeopard]

Did this many years ago. Firstly it’s not like the West Coast, we found it quite a bit easier.
We stayed at a Marina in Montreal and at the time there were several to choose from.

[Stephenmac]

Private message me. I did this 2 and a half years ago in a 420 passage from the same spot to Murray Harbour PEI. Can give all the stops, where to get the travel guides, Lock Info, etc.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Dave Lochner

If the Canadians are kind enough to let us in, we plan to do the same trip this summer from the S shore of Lake Ontario.

Yes, this is an important point. As of now, recreational border crossings are still restricted. Hopefully this will change before the sailing season, but no guarantees.

Originally Posted by Dave Lochner

I have been curious about anchorages. They seem to be few and far between, especially past Montreal.

We anchored almost the entire way along. I can probably dig out the anchorages we used if you like. I think they're still on my iNavx app. One thing though, from the Saguenay down we stuck to the north shore. If you're heading to the Maritimes you'll want to stick to the south shore.

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Hi Tim, we sailed down from Lake Ontario to Newfoundland a few years ago. It was a grand journey, but it certainly has its challenges. In the upper stretches there are downstream river currents, which usually run 1-3knots. Then there are the locks and bridges to manage.

AiniA's advice is wise for crew and fender board use. Downbound traffic only requires two people on board, but more would be helpful, especially on a 46-footer. That said, they locks are pretty easy to manage. My only tip is to buy your tickets ahead of time online. That way you don't have to tie up the recreational dock of each lock and do it manually.

Downstream of Trois Rivieres the tides and tidal currents start to dominate. From Portneuf down to well past the Saguenay our journey was basically dictated by the ebb and flow. We basically learned to ride the wave down, and be well anchored by the time the tide reversed. We flew past Quebec City, hitting speeds on the old GPS of over 14 knots. Our hull speed max is 7.5.

Tide hights are also quite large in places. We experienced up to 20 feet in some sections. Made anchoring a challenge.

Speaking of that, we anchored virtually the whole way along. We only stopped twice to take on fuel: Portneuf and Baie Comeau. Of course there are marinas along the way, but for simplicity and cost we prefer to stay on our own hook. But anchoring was a real challenge in some places.

Personally, I would take as much time as you can doing this route. It's stunning and beautiful, as well as challenging and interesting. Enjoy it.

I echo Mike on this. A wonderful passage, not to be rushed. Expect lots of whale sightings including Belugas around the Saguenay and take the time to go up that very scenic tributary.

Jim sv Gaia

[copaco]

I live north of Anticosti, Mingan Archipelago National Park reserve.You could cross from,say Matane, to Caouis island ,on to Sept-Iles.Harrington Harbour (english) is unique.Then cross over to Anticosti (Fox Bay,lobster) weather permitting.Next ,Gros Morne national park,Nfld.On to Magdalen Islands. Magazine L'ESCALE publishes a Guide to these areas, in french,but moorings are well illustratted plus services. From Quebec City you have a choice between the northern chanel or southern one.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by copaco

I live north of Anticosti, Mingan Archipelago National Park reserve.You could cross from,say Matane, to Caouis island ,on to Sept-Iles.Harrington Harbour (english) is unique.Then cross over to Anticosti (Fox Bay,lobster) weather permitting.Next ,Gros Morne national park,Nfld.On to Magdalen Islands. Magazine L'ESCALE publishes a Guide to these areas, in french,but moorings are well illustratted plus services. From Quebec City you have a choice between the northern chanel or southern one.

Oh man I wish I'd talked to you before our trip. We spent a number of days in Mingan National Park -- what a treasure! I didn't even know about it until we got to Sept Iles. Whales and puffins and lots of other sea life. And fascinating flower pot structures similar to the Bay of Fundy. Amazing area. Definitely worth a visit.

We actually left from Mingan area and sailed directly to Bay of Islands (Corner Brook, NL). We were going to hop over to Harrington Harbour, but we didn't have good charts for the area, so we decided to just do the big crossing. Sailed past Anticosti at night. Not many friendly shores along that amazing island.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Gaia

I echo Mike on this. A wonderful passage, not to be rushed. Expect lots of whale sightings including Belugas around the Saguenay and take the time to go up that very scenic tributary.

Jim sv Gaia

FYI, restrictions concerning whales near Saguenay:
https://www.notmar.gc.ca/publication...n-a/a5c-en.php

[Elie]

Beside the St-Lawrence Seaway, the St-Laurent itself present few challenges That need to be addressed:
1:The Rapide Richelieu(A short pass but turbulentjust south of trois Rivières) is a very fast downriver current that has to be taken on downtide and not evec tryied on a mounting tide: It is realy fast, and rugged;
2: Below Québec City, you will have to choose between north or south channels. The south one is the fasted and speed much over 10 kns are common and it speed up the transit. But never try this south passage with an opposing tide: Standing waves are dangerous or at least very challenging .
3: Around the Saguenay entrance, the current is confusing and powerfull , and following tide is alway prefered.
Once the Saguenay passed, things become more relaxing and the only thing to wory about is the fog at time et all the cargo trafic. AIS would be a very usefull tool, and radar is almost mandatory. In Province of Quebec french is the local langage, but English will work also. I Have done some serious traveling on the St-Lawrence and you will love it: beautifull and not crowded sailing area. Stop at Quebec City would be recommanded for its vista, fantastic restaurants, and old french city charm. Rivièere du Loup, on the south shore opposit to Saguenay river entrance is another stop for its small city charms and the best Icecream in north America !.

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

FYI, restrictions concerning whales near Saguenay:
https://www.notmar.gc.ca/publication...n-a/a5c-en.php

We stayed out of the restricted areas but apparently the belugas had not read the restrictions and came where we were. They seemed quite curious.