The Queen Mary 2 left Quebec this evening, bound for Sydney, Cape Breton on an autumn cruise. We joined many other Lévis residents at the top of the Red Stairs to watch two Ocean Group tugs help her come about from the pier into mid-river, then proceed downstream. People here are great conversationalists. One person we met on rue Saint-Jean by the Red Stairs, a retired ship captain who had been many times to the Far North of Canada, told us all about his life and career at sea. He knew my grandfather’s coastal vessels well, having sailed past them once they were sold to Irenée Verreault, then to the Ocean Group. So many people here have spent their lives working on the St. Lawrence River and Gulf.
The Queen Mary 2 herself, 345 metres (1132 feet) long and displacing 149,215 gross tons, can only be described as majestic. Watching such an enormous passenger liner with such fine lines do a 180-degree turn in mid-river was a spectacular experience.
This is the height of the cruise ship season here. Another beautiful liner frequently calling here is the Zaandam. Last year we saw the Aurora.
In the feature image at the top of this blog, the Queen Mary 2 is completing her 180 degree turn in mid-river, assisted by an Ocean Group tug, with, in the foreground, the new icebreaker Vincent Massey tied up at Quai Paquet in Lévis.