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  Motoring up the St. Lawrence River
  45 nautical miles downriver from Quebec City

It is raining but at least there is not much wind.  My biggest concern for this voyage is fuel. Whenever there is wind against PRIDE II's masts and rigging while she is motoring, it causes increased fuel consumption per mile by slowing the ship down.  Stopping for fuel is not as convenient here in the river as it is on the highway, even at the best of times.  But because of the national border between Canada and the United States, getting fuel is even trickier.  If necessary, fuel can be obtained; but with both the Canadian National Day weekend and the U.S. 4th of July weekend, complications would no doubt arise.  My hope is to be able to go the rest of the remaining distance to Odgensburg, NY without having to stop for fuel.  Since arrival there is set for the morning of July 5th, we have 3 days and 285 nautical miles to go, all of which is against current and maybe the wind.  We have already motored some 49 hours and covered 380 nautical miles. But we will be going somewhat slower than before because of the current, while turning the same revolutions.  PRIDE II carries 122 hours of fuel, so it could be close.

PRIDE II got underway from Halifax last Tuesday and was able to catch a favorable wind that she sailed all the way around the east end of Nova Scotia and up to the lock in the Straits of Canso, arriving Wednesday at around 1600 hours.  That same wind, somewhat stronger than in the beginning on Tuesday, continued to push PRIDE II all the way across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the eastern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula.  Along the way a Canadian Fisheries Inspection Plane flew by us several times taking photographs and talking with us on the radio. PRIDE II arrived at Gaspe around 2200 hours on Thursday; from there it has been a motorboat ride.  On past trips to the Great Lakes, PRIDE II has had it both ways: we have been able to sail as far west as the beginning of the St. Lawrence estuary, some 120 nautical miles further west than the tip of Gaspe, and we have also  began motoring even sooner than we have for this trip.  So there is room for me to hope we have the fuel reserves to reach Ogdensburg without stopping.  I think it boils down to how much wind from ahead we experience.  

Speaking of which, just in the time it has taken me to write this and have an interruption for breakfast, the wind has come behind and with some power to it.  The crew has set the square-foretopsail to assist PRIDE II along.

Part of the logistics for PRIDE II in making this voyage to the Great Lakes is coordinating with the required pilotage between Les Escoumins and Montreal, a 300 odd nautical mile stretch of the central portion of the St. Lawrence River.  It is not as simple as merely making a date and time at the entrance of a harbor, particularly as we are just passing through.  Plus there is the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) control area stretching some 100 miles further to the east than the point at which the pilot is picked up.

As you all know, PRIDE II is for the most part a wind-driven ship. As such she is often at the mercy of the wind.  Thus her captain is forced to take into account that wind force, both at the present time and what is being predicted, to conjure up when and where PRIDE II will be some time in the future.  Under mechanical power the equations for calculating such a future position at a future time is pretty basic, even when influenced by water currents.  But such calculations are much more "guess work" than mere mathematics when weather is predicted to change, and while changing may not be as fully predictable because of convolutions occurring within the weather picture as it is taking place in the local area as well in the future area, maybe more than 100 nautical miles away. Hence, when PRIDE II is within a VTS region where she must provide an ETA to the dispatchers for a certain location when she is actually under sail rather than motoring, it can be rather mind numbing coming up with an answer.  When the answer is provided it can make no sense to the VTS dispatcher and it must be explained "we are sailing".  At other times, even when merely traveling under power, the wind resistance in PRIDE II's masts and rigging can "put paid" to an ETA estimate, causing for further radio discussion with the dispatchers. 

On top of this is the issue of local knowledge, or the lack of it. In this instance my efforts to predict when PRIDE II would require a pilot is made complex for me because I do not want to stop until we reach Ogdensburg, but we can't just pass on through because the St. Lawrence River has a zone called the Seaway, where a series of locks are located between Montreal and Ogdensburg.  PRIDE is not permitted to enter those locks without a physical inspection by the Seaway Authority located in Montreal.  But they won't inspect outside of normal working hours unless a $600 fee is paid.  On top of this, Monday July 3rd is a holiday because yesterday, Saturday, July 1st was Canada's National Holiday.  If we run ahead of schedule, we must wait the intervening time or pay the $600.  Waiting is not always an easy answer because of where PRIDE II may have to wait - out at anchor in the river at Montreal.  By itself not a problem, but with the fast running river current, if the wind is against it, PRIDE II can ride the anchor in a most wearing and uncomfortable manner.  Docking is usually not available. If it is available, it usually incurs a fee, which we do not want to incur.  In the end, since long range predictions of what may happen in the future are so futile, what we do at any given time can not be predicted except to say we will do what is best as we discover the parameters that we have to choose from at the moment of decision.  Yet, even with this truth, a lot of brain power has been expended trying to establish a plan that will be executed when the time comes; an effort that can be exhausting.

In any event, with all the above understood, plus a request from me for their best guess, the dispatcher offered up "take a pilot when you arrive and then merely slow down as you need as you get near Montreal." We have aboard now two pilots guiding PRIDE II up the river toward Quebec City where they will get off and be replaced by the next pilot for the leg above Quebec City towards Montreal.  What did I say? We will figure out what to do when we need to figure it out, not before.

With Pilots aboard the Captain's life can be simpler than without.

News Flash...this just in...there are no relief Pilots available in Quebec City till 1700 hours, it is now 1000 hours, and at current boat speed PRIDE II could be at Quebec City by noon.  The question now is what to do.  Tie up - that could cost.  Go to anchor could cost as well for a transfer boat for the Pilots.  Can we even tie up considering we are cleared "out of Canada" by customs.  For the moment, with a favorable breeze, we have turned off the engines and are sailing downwind as we glide up river towards Quebec City.  Our speed is now 7.7 knots when it used to be more than 10 knots.  22 miles to go...hmmmm.

1300 HOURS SAME DAY

Back to this log, where was I?  Oh yeah, life is somewhat simplified with Pilots aboard.  They do all the guiding of where to point the ship and PRIDE II's watch leaders and crew merely follow orders.  The Captain can "step back" a little.  But not much, as all of the liability for decisions made continue to rest with the Captain, not withstanding what the Pilot has directed.  It is pretty common practice to have the ship's watch leaders perform as the Pilot requests and keep the Captain informed.  During such a period, I can go about other things that would not be doable if there were no Pilots aboard.  So, for this trip up the long St. Lawrence River, the Pilots represent easing of concern for the moment-to-moment existence of the ship.  But as can be seen in the above description, there are still things for the Captain to deal with in spite of having a local guide aboard.

So what have we decided to do?  We have decided to slow the boat down as much as possible and waste the time necessary to arrive Quebec only when a relief  Pilot is ready to board the ship. At this time we are drifting down wind under bare poles with the wind behind providing steerageway.  We have 5 nautical miles to go and we are down to 2.5 knots.  Soon the flooding current will turn to ebb and slow us down even further.  With luck, we will only arrive when we need to arrive and do so without using much fuel.  All in all a pretty good solution, although I bet the current Pilots would not mind getting home out of the rain rather than stooge around in the rain aboard the beautiful PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II with her very polite and friendly crew.

Cheers,
Captain Miles