Ghost Night Cruise
$59 CAD per guest
- Departures 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm
- Lantern deck and live wake-reading from the stern
- Hot spiced apple cider, maple fudge
- Ages 8 and up, blankets provided
LOG ENTRY Nº 1
Oct 31 · 21:40
Quai de la Reine, Québec
Haunted Boats
Board the ghost ship. Its wake glows, its hull does not.
Halloween night cruises on the St. Lawrence aboard a spectral three-master, Oct 3 to Nov 2.
Captain's controlssteer with the pointer
Wake half-angle19.47°
Transverse wavelength10.8 m
Heading042°
Wave period2.6 s
PLATE I · KELVIN WAKE, COMPUTED LIVESt. Lawrence, off Lévis · 46.81° N
pointer = helm
Each green crest is the sum of hundreds of ripples the hull left behind, every one obeying deep-water dispersion ω² = g·k. Change the speed: the waves stretch out, yet the V keeps its half-angle of 19.47°, exactly as Lord Kelvin proved in 1887.
Entry Nº 2 · The physics on deck
Why the wake is always 19.47°
A duck, a ferry and our ghost ship all drag the same V across deep water. In 1887 William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, showed why: a moving hull keeps launching ripples, and on deep water every ripple obeys one rule, the dispersion relation.
ω² = g · k (deep water, g = 9.81 m/s²)Long waves outrun short ones. Only the ripples whose crests keep pace with the hull survive, and their energy travels at the group velocity, exactly half the phase velocity. That factor of one half fixes the geometry for good:
sin α = 1/3 → α = 19.47°So the wedge never widens or narrows with speed. What does change is the spacing of the transverse waves that ride inside the V, the ones a surfer would feel behind a ship:
λ = 2π · U² / g| Speed | U | Transverse λ | Half-angle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 kn | 3.09 m/s | 6.1 m | 19.47° |
| 9 kn | 4.63 m/s | 13.7 m | 19.47° |
| 12 kn | 6.17 m/s | 24.4 m | 19.47° |
| 14 kn | 7.20 m/s | 33.2 m | 19.47° |
How Plate I is drawn: the ship drops a new point disturbance every tenth of a second; each one spreads as a Cauchy-Poisson ring, η ∝ (t²/r³)·cos(g t²/4r). Summing about 250 of them over a 160 × 100 grid, sixty times a second, makes the V appear on its own. Very fast hulls (Froude number above 0.5) show a narrower apparent wake, as Rabaud and Moisy measured in 2013; our ghost keeps to the classic regime.
Entry Nº 3 · Passages for the living
Three ways aboard
Every crossing leaves from Quai de la Reine in the Old Port, sails under the cliffs of Cap Diamant toward the Île d'Orléans bridge, and returns before the ghosts get restless. Prices in Canadian dollars, taxes included.
Captain's Table
$129 CAD per guest
- Four-course autumn tasting menu by candlelight
- Short talk: why the V never changes
- Toast at the Cap Diamant turning point
- Wax-sealed log page to take home
Private Charter
$1,450 CAD per night
- Three hours, your own route and soundtrack
- Costume parties, proposals, team nights
- Bar package and catering on request
- Custom ghost glow colour for the wake show
Entry Nº 4 · As told below deck
The legend of the Grey Lantern
On the last night of October 1847, the timber schooner Grey Lantern left Québec for Liverpool under a fog so thick the harbour master logged her departure by sound alone. She never reached Pointe-Lévy. No wreck, no spar, no cargo was ever found.
Every Halloween since, pilots have reported the same thing off the Old Port: a perfect V of pale green light sliding upriver, at exactly the right angle, with nothing at its tip. Our shipwrights rebuilt her from the original plans, and we sail in her wake, so to speak, every night of the season.
We cannot promise you will see her. We can promise that whatever moves out there will draw 19.47° on the water, because physics haunts everything.
Entry Nº 5 · Ship's company
The crew (all of them alive)
ÉM
Élodie Marchand
Master mariner
Twenty-two seasons on the St. Lawrence pilot boats. Knows every shoal by its sound.
RO
Rafael Ouimet
Wake physicist
Fluid dynamicist who gives the stern talk on Kelvin wedges and why ducks obey them too.
MT
Mireille Tran
Keeper of legends
Archivist of 19th-century harbour logs. Reads the 1847 entries aloud at the turning point.
JB
Jonas Bergeron
Galley chef
Builds the Captain's Table menu from Île d'Orléans farms: squash, cider, black garlic.
Entry Nº 6 · Ship's tally
Last season, in numbers
4,860
passengers aboard in 31 nights
19.47°
wake half-angle, every single night
14.2 km
round trip under the cliffs
4.9/5
average rating from 1,312 reviews
Entry Nº 7 · Signed in the guest log
What the passengers wrote
"My kids spent the whole cruise at the stern measuring the V with their arms. Same angle at 6 knots and at full sail. They now explain Kelvin to their teacher."
★★★★★
"The Captain's Table squash soup, the fog rolling off Cap Diamant, then that green wake lighting up behind us. Best Halloween date we have ever had."
★★★★★
"We chartered the ship for our lab's party. The crew let us change the glow colour and the physics talk was better than half the conferences I go to."
★★★★★
Entry Nº 8 · Asked at the gangway
Questions before boarding
Is it scary for children?
It is spooky, never gory. The 8:00 pm Ghost Night Cruise is family friendly: lanterns, legends, cider and a lot of glowing water. Ages 8 and up.
Does the wake really glow?
Our stern projectors light the crests in spectral green, so you see the true Kelvin pattern the hull draws. The geometry is real; the colour is our theatre.
What if it is foggy or windy?
Fog is our favourite weather. If Transport Canada wind limits are exceeded we rebook you on another night of your choice or refund in full.
How warm should I dress?
The river runs about 6 °C in late October. Wear a winter coat, a hat and gloves; we add wool blankets and the saloon stays heated.
Is the ship accessible?
The main deck, saloon and accessible washroom are reachable by a ramp at the Quai de la Reine gangway. Tell us your needs when booking.
Can I come in costume?
Please do. Best costume of each crossing wins a Captain's Table seat for next season.
Entry Nº 9 · Sign the manifest
Your name in the ship's log
The 2026 season runs from October 3 to November 2, with two crossings a night and a midnight sailing on Halloween itself. Halloween night sells out first; the fog does not care which night you pick.
- Free rebooking up to 48 hours before departure
- Full refund if the weather keeps us at the quay
- Group of 10 or more: the 10th berth is on the ship
- Sister haunt on land: haunting.house, the manor next door