Supply Ship Visit to Remote Québec (and Labrador) Villages

 

An experience called the Relais Nordik provides a weekly link to the communities not connected to the road system, on the Lower North Shore of Quebec, where the St-Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean. This was my second trip on the ship, the Bella Desgagnés, but the first making pictures exclusively on film (I shot hundreds of digital images four years ago). The ship makes an out-and-back trip each week, visiting a dozen communities, leaving from Rimouski on the south shore, and turning back after reaching the community of Blanc Sablon, on the border with Labrador, and includes stops at Port-Menier, on Anticosti Island.

 

The trip this year took place the last week of May.  And while much of central Canada was experiencing the first heat wave of the year that week, there was still plenty of ice and icebergs at the eastern ports we visited. In fact, the ship was running two days late due to poor weather the week before our trip, which included ice-chocked passages.

 

The ports-of-call are a mixture of fishing villages, both French and English speaking, and indigenous communities. In ordinary times, each community between Rimouski and Blanc Sablon is visited twice during the week, downstream and back up, with the ship both delivering supplies and picking up, principally the catch from fishing operations, as well as shuttling residents mount the communities.  Due to delays and weather challenges, the week we were on the ship was not “normal times”, so a couple of communities were skipped either downstream or back. 

 

The menu on the ship leans heavily on locally sourced ingredients, so needless to say, plenty of fish and seafood are on offer in the dining room. We were on-board during the local lobster season, so there was a lobster menu option for lunch or dinner each day.

A fisherman showing off a blue lobster at one of the villages visited:

 

The road has been slowly extended over the years.  A decade ago, the latest extension to Route 138 was completed, connecting the village of Kagaska to the provincial road network.  However, there remain a half dozen communities connected by the supply ship between Kegaska and the Labrador border that have no immediate prospect of seeing an extension of Route 138, due to challenges of distance and geography of these remote locations. And while some may recognize the route number as a major highway passing east-to-west through Quebec, and including sections of four-lane highway at Quebec City and near Montreal (and Sherbrooke Street through Montreal), the final connected eastern segment, from Natashquan to Kegaska opened in 2013, is gravel, not paved, linking Kegaska’s 127 residents by road to the rest of the country.

 

Here I am, where route 138 ends:

 

This was a two-camera trip: the Hasselblad 500 CM for the 120 shots, and the Nikon F4 for those in 35mm.  The films stocks are Cinestill BWXX, black and white negative film, and Kodak Gold 200 colour negative film.  Once again, the fine folks at Canadian Film Lab processed and scanned the film.

A Maritime Trip

On a supply ship, there are plenty of opportunities for photos of a maritime nature. Here are views of the ship from shore:

The Bella is a working ship:

We encountered many working fishing boats:

...and smaller vessels:

...not all of them currently in the water:

...and for fans of late '70s SNL, gotta love the name of this fishing boat spotted in Sept-Iles:

Connectivity is a challenge when at sea, so when we have a signal, that's when it's a race to check-in with family before the signal drops again:

 

Beautiful and Sometimes Bleak Landscapes

 

The view from our cabin:

...of the rocky shore:

Stunning views wherever you look:

In Colour, for a Change

Since coming back to film last summer, I have shot almost entirely in black-and-white, but on this trip, I packed along some Kodak Gold. And I must say, I love how some of these turned out:

Crossing from Québec into Labrador at sunrise:

Fishing communities, on an excursion from Blanc Sablon into Labrador:

Ice and icebergs off the shore of Labrador:

Gathering storm clouds behind a Labrador lighthouse, and abandoned binoculars at a forlorn lookout:

An operational reconstruction of a traditional seal oil rendering operation, at La Tabatière:

 

Bonus: Québec City

 

On the road to Rimouski, we stopped over in Québec City.  The tulips were still in bloom:

The pub across the street from one of our favourite restaurants:

Around the old part of the city:

 

...and finally, not Québec City, but a photo of a sticker on a lamp post on a walking path in Rimouski:

Thanks for sticking around to the end of a long post.

- 30 -

Previous Posts:

Mamiya RB67, Egypt and Mount Sinai

Paris: One week, one camera, one lens, and whole lot of film

Nikon F4 (F4S)

Nikon F4, part 2: Fall Colours

Classic folding cameras capture Thanksgiving in Upstate NY

San Diego, February 2023, Nikon F4, Tri-X

Washington DC, Feb 2023

Voigtländer Perkeo 1

Voigtländer Vito II

The beginning of a blog...