Boarding the “Belle Desgagnes”

Aug 26, 2019

We are now leaving Quebec City to travel to Rimouski, a small city half way up the western shores of the Gaspe Peninsula.  We are meeting our cargo/passenger ship there to place our rig onboard and take a cruise along the “lower north shore” of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We would be disembarking in the last port of call, Blanc Sablon, and taking the ferry across to the Newfoundland Peninsula.

We have reserved a berth on a vessel called the “Bella Desgagnes”, a cargo/passenger supply ship that takes weekly trips to settlements on the “lower north shore”.  The company is called Relais Nordik Inc.  The Belle Desgagnes was built in 2013 and the company has been provisioning the settlements for many years.  There are only about ten cargo/passenger ships in the world designed in this fashion. The ship is specifically designed to navigate to the various ports of call.  It operates for seven months until the weather and ice forces it to stop.  It is 97 meters in length and 19 meters wide and has a draft of 4.50 meters.  The loading crane’s boom is 35 meters in length and is capable of lifting 40 metric tonnes.  The ship has berths for 106 passengers, however, can transport approximately 381 passengers, many who travel weekly between the settlements. The ship is their only means of transportation during the summer months. It has a crew of 39 hard working employees.   

We had to be in Rimouski by 5:00pm in order for the longshoremen to inspect our trailer and car, remove the kayaks and the kayak rack, and ready the rig to be put into containers. 

We were on the road by 10:30, and Debbie and Miss Taken navigated us through the web of roads of Quebec City and onto Hwy #20/132.  (It appears that every road in Quebec is under construction!) Although this highway is a major highway, as we traveled north it becomes less busy.  On your left is the St. Lawrence, ever widening, with the Laurentin mountains in the background and on your right are large farms, with wheat and fields of corn interspersed with forests.  The rolling hills make this a beautiful landscape.

With the occasional stop for a Tim Horton’s latte, we arrived in Rimouski at 4:30pm.  As we descended into the city we could see the ship moored at the docks, it huge crane reaching up in the sky.  We pulled into the docks and met with a traffic controller who had to ask another man to give us directions in English as to where to park and disassemble. 

The loading was not to start until 6:00 so that gave us lots of time to remove the kayaks and the kayak racks off of the truck.  We had packed our personal belongings that we needed in our tote bags so we were ready to board by 5:30.  We sat in the trailer and ate our meats and vegetables and fruits that we could not take on board.  Because of the late boarding we would not be having dinner onboard, so this was a perfect time to consume any perishables before locking the trailer for the next five days.

The loadmaster arrived and between our broken French and his broken English we managed to communicate the necessary information. We left the keys for the truck with him, he inspected the truck and trailer and kayaks to document their present condition, and told us how they would be loaded.  We checked into a small kiosk on the docks and were directed onto the ship.  

We were assigned our reserved cabin and told that our luggage would be put into our room.  We were allowed to wander on the various passenger decks. I stood on the outside decks taking photos of the setting sun, the city of Rimouski and of our possessions spread out on the docks.  

At 8:30, we were directed to the salon on deck 8 for a welcome/introductory session.  The English-speaking passengers went to a conference room and were given the same session in English.  I was impressed that the CEO of the company, who mingled with all of us before and after the session, gave this session.  He was fluent bilingual and made an effort to speak to each of us individually.

They explained the various ports of call that we could expect and what type of settlements and peoples we would meet.  We were given a log book, that explained each port of call, points of interests, expected time ashore and when to re-board.  The dining room seating times and procedures were given out and explained.  There is a cafeteria onboard as well as a lounge, exercise room and theater.

Spread along one side of the ship, on the dock, was a series of empty containers open on each end. As the passengers and their cars arrived, the vehicles were inspected and the loadmaster would slowly drive them into a waiting container.  The men would then tie the axles down onto the container.  Our little trailer was attached to a forklift and maneuvered into a separate container. Somewhere during the evening our kayaks were loaded, however, at 10:30 they were still sitting on the dock.  We watched the loading procedure, Debbie left early, and I watched until 11:20. 

The huge onboard crane would pick each container off the docks and swing it onboard into a designated spot on the rear deck.  A crew of 8-10 longshoremen worked steadily as the crane swung the lifting cradle to the docks, attaching the containers and then directing the cradle to the proper placement on deck. All types of cargo was loaded, ranging from roof trusses, crates of building materials, all of the vehicles of the passengers like us, and heavy construction machinery.  Two large wooden hydro poles estimated to be over 80 ft. long were tied on the port side gunwales on the outside of the ship. I was wondering when and where the container holding our trailer was going to be stowed but it was still sitting on the docks when I went to bed. (I later found it while walking on shore at a port of call.  Both containers were tucked away in the far port side corner at the very rear of the ship.)   

Our cabin is situated on deck 5.  It is spacious with two wide single beds, a washroom and shower, a small settee and several closets and a small desk.  I commented to Debbie that this cabin was larger than the cabin that we had on our last Caribbean cruise.

As I lay in bed I could feel the ship list slightly as the crane picked up a heavy object and swing it onboard.  I fell into a restless sleep, and awoke around 2:30 to find the ship underway.  What will tomorrow bring?