August 10, 2009
Day One
We had arrived at Au jardin de mon pere (My Father’s Garden) campground the night before to allow for an early start this morning. It had rained overnight but had tapered off to mist and fog by 5 AM, our agreed upon wake-up hour. We quickly packed up our wet gear and headed to Tim Horton’s for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. We were ahead of schedule, so we ate at the restaurant before heading to the marina at La Baie where we would launch. Link to photo album
We decided that we needed a leader, someone who would make a decision for the group when conditions called for quick action and there wasn’t time for consensus decision-making. Bruce was tapped for the job. I like to say it was because he had the one good navigation map, but the reality is that Bruce is very aware of the needs of all group members, he is cautions and not afraid to make a decision; in other words, a good trip leader. And time would prove that our choice was a good one.
Arriving at the marina before 7 AM, we all began unloading boats and gear on the deserted marina’s boat ramp. Bruce, who has the smallest and lightest boat, removed the straps holding his boat in the Jay racks on Gaetan’s SUV. Without warning, the boat tumbled out of the racks, breaking off a driver’s side mirror and grazing my Achilles tendon. I was not hurt, nor was the boat, but the SUV sustained some significant damage. Bruce was appalled by the incident and spent the next few hours beating himself up over it. We all assured him that it was an accident, but secretly hoped that it wasn’t a bad omen at the start of a long trip in unfamiliar waters.
The need to remove the dangling mirror while preserving the wiring harness took some time, delaying our departure till almost 8:30 AM. The vehicles were parked in the marina lot, waiting to be picked up by a team from Azimut Adventure Outfitters. The SUV’s would be ferried to Azimut’s office in Baie-Sainte-Catherine, our intended end point. A call to the office would have the cars delivered to us in minutes.

Gatan and Bruce on the Saguenay

Yackman paddling in a flat calm on the Saguenay Fjord. Look at that technique - hands light on the paddle, paddle held low and using torso rotation. That’s my claim and I’m sticking to it! Photo by B. Romanchak

The routine we developed for getting ashore in these places went like this: first we would get out of the boats in the shallow water just in front of the rocks. Then Alan (he has the plastic boat) would pull his kayak up on the rocks and help another paddler lift his composite boat into a safe position. This would continue until all the boats were on “shore”. Then we would begin the arduous task of unloading the boats and carrying gear up to the campsite. The process was dangerous, because we had to carry our gear through a wet and slippery boulder field. There was the real possibility of a slip, a twisted ankle or a broken bone at any time. At first we were not very efficient at moving our gear ashore, making many trips. But after a few days, we could do it in about two trips. Once the boats were empty and our gear was settled on the platform we would use for the night, we went back to the boats to carry them through the boulders to a safe spot above the high tide line. We put four men on each boat – front, back and at both sides of the cockpit. Moving slowly and constantly communicating to say slow down, move right, and so on, we carried each boat the hundred yards to safety. This was the part of the day I really disliked. It was hard and it was dangerous. Frankly, I don’t see how you could do it with fewer than four strong people.


Gaetan and Yackman cooking the first night’s dinner - salmon and couscous. Photo by B. Romanchak
The guys who didn’t cook did most of the clean up. Then there was time for a campfire, stories and the enjoyment of the evening before bed around nine o’clock. There was no rain in the forecast. It also appeared that a warming trend was in the works. We agreed on a 6 AM wake-up. Link to photo album