We awoke early and were underway by 7:30. We had some wind on our stern and were able to deploy the jib off and on over the course of the day. We made great time. The best part of the journey: multiple dolphin sightings! A first for us on Guidance — we’ve definitely made our way to the ocean.
We arrived at Rimouski by 5 pm. Our arrival at the marina was a little tricky, as a regatta of small sailboats was finishing at the same time, so we all entered the marina together. Because we were using our motor, we gave way to the many little sailboats.
It was a good thing we arrived early, because our job today was to change out the old batteries (4 of them at 60 lbs. apiece) for new ones. This entailed tearing apart the guest cabin to get at the batteries, navigating a cab to Canadian Tire to buy new ones, and then Jim pulled out the old ones and installed the new. There was a moment of concern when a nut would not come off one of the batteries, but that was eventually solved with the application of sufficient force.
Afterward, we celebrated by opening the champagne gifted to us by Superior Charters when we left Bayfield — we had always planned to toast getting to salt water with it. Then, after dropping the old batteries at Canadian Tire, we headed out for a late dinner at a local Québécois restaurant. We will sleep well tonight!
