QE2, Quebec City and lots of rain!!!!!! Sept 28, 2007

Patience pays off. The early bird gets the worm. Whatever. Here is our first view of the magnificent QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 as it slowly works its way up the Saint Lawrence River at Quebec City in a moderate rain. I'll take it even in the rain. I had seen the Queen Elizabeth (and the Queen Mary) as a young boy a few times when enroute by car to and from my grandparents' when we drove through New York City along the elevated highway on the west side of Manhattan Island long before the advent of interstate highways. Photos and narrative of the QE2's arrival at Quebec City follow.



It is strange how events conspire to lead one to distant places. I had known for sometime that the magnificent passenger vessel Queen Elizabeth 2 had been sold and would become stationary in Dubai. I was also aware that it was visiting Quebec City in late September and had been thinking how I could get up there to see her as it would be my only chance to see this vessel before it went to Dubai on its last voyage. In late September a neighbor of mine in Vermont-- and a friend whom I had known all my life-- died suddenly on a street corner in Zurich, Switzerland. He was a life long batchelor with no close relatives. My son was extremely close to him and upon hearing of his death, dropped everything in San Francisco and flew to Zurich to claim the body and personal belongings and to get Mike Dunn back to his home at Eagle Point on Lake Memphremagog in Vermont. I made a fast trip to Vermont in the rain more to be there for my son than for anything else. The QE2 was due the day after I arrived so after a few hours of sleep I got up at 3:30am to make it to Quebec City by 8am when I thought the ship would arrive. It was rather strange going through Canadian customs at 4am in the very small village of Beebe, Quebec and explaining to an attractive customs agent dressed in SWAT fatigues what I was going to QC for. Anyway, I got to QC driving in a pouring rain the entire way and ran into a major traffic jam outside QC. I made my way on various streets in Levis, the city across the St. Lawrence River, to the river and for about $5 parked with the commuters right by the ferry station in Levis. The QE2 was not due until 11am which I didn't know as I did not have computer access the last few days. I witnessed a magnificent pagent of ships of all kind the likes of what I had not seen before. We will save those ships for another day and focus on the QE2.


The QE2 passes the Grand Princess on its approach to docking.







The Cunard funnel colors are a classic icon of passenger vessels!


Detail view of the bridge area with the Grand Princess behind the QE2.

As the QE2 begins the docking process you can see what a terrible day it is with the clouds covering the tops of some of the city's buildings. That these photos are halfway decent is a testament to my Canon digital camera -- all photos were taken with the exposure on "automatic".

I hastily climb down from halfway up the bluff at Levis, and rush to the ferry station, buy a round trip ticket and head across the river as the QE2 finishes the docking process.



The ferry dock is immediately behind where the QE2 is docking. With a round trip ticket I stay on the ferry and watch the tugs work the ship to the dock. Even the ferry captain comes down and stands next to me to watch.

Getting closer.

Yup, I was right, it is the QE2!

A view of the aft end of the funnel. Again, classic Cunard.Working the stern lines.



Docking is finished.



A crewman prepares to unfurl a clean flag once docking is completed. He is supervised by an officer just out of sight. These folks are serious about traditions!

A much cleaner flag is unfurled at the stern. I found a great deal of irony that the British were showing the flag quite literally at the foot of the old fort at Quebec where the British once ruled.


An officer supervises the unfurling of the clean flag.


As the docking is completed and the ferry gets ready to head across the St. Lawrence back to Levis, a container ship, the Maersk Patras, comes downstream. The ferry would take us right by the ship just a few yards away as the two ships met on their respective voyages.





The ferry pulls away from the dock to head back to Levis.

The QE2 and two Canadian Coast Guard vessels below the Quebec fortress as seen from the ferry. Yes, it is getting darker and darker!

A last view of the QE2 back at the parking lot in Levis.

We continued ship watching for a while but it was all downhill after the ferry ride over to the QE2. Plus the weather got worse with rain, mist and fog rolling in making photography really difficult even by my standards. We did some exploring, especially around the bridge across the St. Lawrence and found some new places for future photography. Eventually the action pretty much stopped and since we had had only a few hours sleep and it was a 230 mile trip back to the cottage in Vermont, it quickly became time to leave. With the passport U.S. customs was no problem at Beebe, Vermont.

To add insult to injury, the next day, when the QE2 was scheduled to leave, was bright and sunny but we needed to stay put for a day and take care of matters as our son arrived about noon that day, driving a rental up from Boston.
A rainbow (it was actually a double rainbow but I do not think the camera picked up the second part) the day after the trip to Quebec City. By the time we got back to Ohio it was a pretty exhausting 2,000 mile trip but well worth it for a variety of reasons. First the QE2 - certainly the first and last time I will see the majestic Cunarder. Also, we photographed about 18 large ships in the rain at Quebec City -- a mixture of lakers, cruise ships (4), salt water ships, bulkers, tankers and container ships. We will post photos of those in the next chapter. We also saw several ships, mostly salties, on the St. Lawrence Seaway and despite the weather, that was worthwhile as well although the visitor's center at Eisenhower Lock was closed making decent photography difficult. It was a long, tiring trip home but all in all a great trip from a ship perspective.