Sunday, March 15, 2015

Dinghy Cruising Around the "Eye of Quebec"

This is a good video if you can block out the time - 40 minutes. A duo spend two weeks going around a natural circular body of water in central Quebec, formed by the impact of an asteroid.

From the blurb accompanying the video:

"The Eye of Quebec (Lac Manicouagan) is visible from space as a perfectly ring-shaped lake. Its center island is far larger than the water that surrounds it. 100km in diameter, it is the fourth largest meteor impact site on earth. We sailed around it and think that was the first ever circumnavigation of the reservoir under sail and oar. (We can find record of two other sailboats that have attempted the trip. While we're not sure of their success, both appeared to carry auxiliary engines. If it wasn't the wind pulling us it was our backs.)

Three years ago, when John and I drove the Trans-Labrador highway, we camped one night on the shores of the great Manicouaga and it captured our imaginations. Finally, this year, aboard the expedition re-fitted Wayfarer 4610, we made the voyage. We were on the water for about twelve days after a two day drive north. It is an astronomically great lake.

We camped ashore every night, and packed nearly 100 Ibs of dried food for the journey. We wore drysuits most of the time, cause the weather was typically cold and wet!



Circumanic Higher Res from Scott McDougall on Vimeo.

More information on the "Eye of Quebec" from Wikipedia.

5 comments:

Tillerman said...

Amazing! I had never heard of this strange formation before.

Just goes to to show there are plenty of new sailing challenges out there if you know where to look.

Tweezerman said...

Tillerman,

When I first started watching the video I thought the body of water circling the large island was just a small strip and the fellows would be short tacking or scooting downwind between close shores. Not the case! Some shots you can't see the other shore! The scale of this is truly amazing.

Bursledon Blogger said...

What a cool trip, the scale of the Eye is amazing

Keep Reaching said...

What a great find. Looks really fun.

And this is one trip where you can't get lost - just keep going and you end up where you started.

Arek said...

Hi, great trip. I just found your video online. Our dinghy group is considering a trip out there. What ramp did you use and what facilities if any are there available. We need a launch and parking. We are a pretty spartan group from all over Ontario.can am dinghy cruising association.
Any help would be appreciated.fair winds