Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, August 23rd – 26th.

Working hard, getting the boat ready for haul out on Tuesday and layup for the winter.  Monday night, Ron took the lines of a very nice gaff rigged schooner – a very traditional sailboat.  The people on board asked if we were in the catamaran and it turned out that they had met our Dutch friends Dennis and Ank on Bodyguard just after we left Gaspe.  It sounded like we had a lot to talk about so we arranged to meet for dinner tomorrow night. 

Thursday, August 22nd.

Our last sail of the season to Souris, 46 20.82N 062 14.96W.  We woke and planned to leave around noon for a leisurely sail, but the forecasts were for strong winds on the nose later in the day.  So we changed plans and left at 9:30, and motorsailed the 25 miles, arriving just before the strong winds.  Souris is a small but very nice marina and once again, everyone is very friendly. 

Ship’s Log: 3587.4nm, Today's log: 27.3nm, Season total: 1133.5nm.

Wednesday, August 21st.

Another early start and a long sailing day.  We set off for Murray harbor, 46 01.30N 062 30.78W – home to hundreds of seals, of which we saw 5!  We had another very nice sail, although entering the harbor was slow and interesting with a strong current against us and very shallow waters.  We anchored in a beautiful setting, swam, had solar showers, had dinner and lay on the trampoline with a warm breeze and big full moon. 

Ship’s Log: 3560.1nm, Today's log: 53.6nm, Season total: 1106.2nm.

Tuesday, August 20th.

We drove (with Kathy and Bill) to Prince Edward Island national Park on the North shore, where we cycled along the coast behind the dunes.  Stopped for a hike to the Bubbling Spring.  It took us about 20 minutes to find the bubbles.  On the way back we stopped at “Richards”, and had a delicious fish lunch.  In the evening we dined at Gahon House, where they brew PEI’s only home grown ales.  And the food was good.  Kathy and Bill departed for their hotel, and Teresa and Ron took a walk around Charlottetown – a very nice town. 

Tuesday, August 20th.

We had a long sail ahead of us, so we got up at 6am and kicked Kathy and Bill off the boat!  They drove to Charlottetown, 46 13.91N 063 07.13W, in less than an hour, and we sailed in about 10 hours!  It was a pleasant sail, albeit rather long, with a 10 mile haul up into the harbour where the city is located.  Kathy and Bill had researched dinner options for us and we dined at the New Glasgow Lobster supper.  This was a novelty for us, since we had a car and driver at our disposal.  The meal was good – all you could eat mussels, seafood chowder and salad, followed by Lobster or Scallops, and all you could eat homemade dessert.  Needless to say, we could eat quite a lot!

Ship’s Log: 3506.5nm, Today's log: 51.2nm, Season total: 1052.6nm.

Monday, August 19^th.

Our friends Kathy and Bill arrived, met us on the boat and we went for a bike ride with them.  The marina – The Silver Fox Yacht and Curling Club, was very conveniently located and we walked around “Spinnakers Landing”.  We saw a performance of the bagpipes by a young man from the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts.  We ate on the boat.

Sunday, August 18th

Well today we broke the 1000 nm miles barrier for this season.  Actually we probably broke it yesterday, ‘cause we missed a day’s log when the impellor was fouled up, but who’s counting?  We had pretty much a dead run from Shediac to Summerside PEI, 46 23.32N 63 47.15W.  However, the winds were light and we had 35 miles to go so the engines came on again.  It was a very nice day though, temps up to 80F and clear skies.  We contemplated getting our mosquito nets out for the evening, but when the sun went down things cooled off somewhat, so they were not needed.  There were several friendly people on the dock, so we chatted for a while and showed off our boat to a couple who were interested in getting a catamaran – well he was anyway! 

Ship’s Log: 3455.3nm, Today's log: 37.1nm, Season total: 1001.4nm.

Saturday August 17th.

We drove to Fundy National Park, in Alma and began the tour with a visit to Alma’s famous bakery where we sampled Cinnamon Sticky Buns, yum, yum.  Next stop was the park where we parked, unloaded our bikes and cycled to the  start of the Point Wolfe Shiphaven trail.  The park is very big and hilly most people drive to the trailheads.  The Bay of Fundy is famous for having the biggest tides in the world – up to 16 metres at their peak on the Nova Scotia shore.  We were on the New Brunswick shore, but they were still impressive – 13 metres (42 feet).  The hike was beautiful with views into the river valley.  The tide was approaching low water, so we got to see the impact of the tides.  Our next port of call in the park was Dickson Falls where we took another hike.  Again, very pretty with crystal clear water running down the falls.    

We biked back to the car and had a fish lunch in Alma– the cod and haddock were very fresh and delicious!  The boats in the harbor were now totally dried out.    

The tour continued to Cape Enrage which was covered in fog.  (Did we mention that the Bay of Fundy is also famous for fog?)  We did find the lighthouse however, and walked down to the beach which was steep down to the water’s edge, giving an impression of just how low the tide was.  There was a stairway to get down to the beach with warnings posted indicating when high and low tide were and at what time you must return to the stairs to be safe.  

Next up was Hopewell Rocks in Cape Hopewell, where we took several short hikes down to the beaches.  The main attraction was the rocks that have been carved out from underneath by wave action at various states of tide.  There were also some very impressive flats, extending 2.5 miles at low water.    

The whole day was very enjoyable and we’d love to go back some day, (not by boat!), to explore further.  We would thoroughly recommend New Brunswick as a vacation destination.  In fact, New Brunswick is interesting for another reason – its Canada’s only official bi-lingual province and on peut commencer un phrase en francais, and continue in English if you run out of French words.  In fact many of the locals do just that – switch languages mid sentence.  Or ask a question in French and get the reply back in English, whatever language pops into the person’s head it seems. 

Friday August 16th.

Happy Birthday Brenda!

We set off early to ensure we had enough water to leave the harbor.  The winds were light again, but we managed to motor-sail most of the way.  We’re in Lobster fishing land and lobster pots are plentiful, making sailing through them very tedious since you need to keep a constant lookout for them.  We arrived at the marina at Shediac Bay Yacht Club, 46 13.67N 64 32.76W and once again, the people here were very friendly and we had offers of cars for groceries, a lift to the car rental office, etc. etc.  We mentioned that we were planning to drive to the Bay of Fundy and Mark gave us detailed suggestions of where to visit.  We dined in the town at Restaurant Gabriel and had delicious seafood dinners. 

Ship’s Log: 3418.2nm, Today's log: 30.1nm, Season total: 964.3nm.

Thursday August 15th

Strong winds were forecast so we stayed at West Point for the day and rode our bikes along the coast to Miminegash.  It was a scenic ride, with beautiful weather, except for the headwinds which seemed to follow us all day.  We were looking forward to sampling Seaweed Pie, the specialty at the Seaweed Café in Miminegash, but were disappointed to find it had been closed all season.  We continued the ride through the northern part of PEI and were pretty exhausted when we got back after 60 miles of headwinds.  We had also been through about 15 different towns, clearly marked on the map, but invisible on the road, apart from a road sign saying we were entering such and such town.  We stopped at a grocery store and met a couple of Québécois who were touring by bike.  It turned out they were staying at the campground near our fishing harbor.  We saw them again at the campground, (where we snuck in for a shower), and invited them over for drinks.  They were both working towards a PhD in Neuro Psychology, and we had a very pleasant evening together.

Wednesday August 14th

The winds were light, and so we motored all day again and docked in the small fishing harbor at West Point, Prince Edward Island, 46 37.14N 064 22.31W.  It’s a tiny harbor, with a very shallow and narrow entrance with one sailboat (us), and about 20 lobster boats.  The lobstermen were very friendly, and one offered to swap boats.  Despite the fact that his boat did 16 knots, we politely declined.   On the wall behind us, there were hundreds of seagulls.  We assume they simply follow the fishing boats, and when the boats dock, they do too. 

Ship’s Log: 3388.1nm, Today's log: 39.3nm, Season total: 934.2nm.

Tuesday August 13th

We had light winds and flat seas so motoring all day wasn’t too bad.  At least we weren’t pounding into waves like the past few days.  The log impellor was fouled as a result of our grounding yesterday so we had no boat speed instrument.  In addition, the Chartplotter wasn’t talking to the autohelm, so we had to manually steer all day using the compass – just like the good old days! 

We arrived at Escuminac, 47 04.80N 064 53.16W, another fishing harbor and tied up against the wall.  It seems to be first come, first served for the floating docks, and we were about the last boat in!  Once again, the people here were very friendly and we had another offer of a car to take us into town about 5 miles away. 

We also saw a Canadian family we met in Tadoussac – LeeAnne, Brad and, (soon to be 9 years old), Abbey.  They’ve sold their home and are cruising long term, while home schooling Abbey.  It seems we’ve visited almost exactly the same harbours since we both left Tadoussac but this was the first time we’ve been in one at the same time. 

We bought fresh lobster and frozen shrimp from a small fish shop on the dock and dined very well on the lobster.  The frozen shrimp will last a day two…

No update to the Ships log today since it was fouled all day, but we sailed about 40 nm.

Ship’s Log: 3348.8nm, Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 894.9nm.

Monday August 12th

We set off early with a forecast of westerly winds at 15 knots – perfect for our sail to Shippagan Gully, 47 43.11N 064 40.09W.  Initially the winds were light so we motorsailed, then the promised winds came in and we had a wonderful sail – a beam reach with sustained speeds of 8+ knots and 11knot max. Nice!  Even with a foul tide, we were still averaging 7+ knots over the ground.  We were sailing so fast, that we started thinking about skipping Shippagan and heading straight for Escuminac, our next planned port of call.  This would have been great since with the current winds we could have sailed directly there, as opposed to having to beat against the prevailing winds.  Unfortunately, the winds made the decision for us.  They diminished to 5-8 knot and shifted direction to come onto the nose.  So we motor sailed the last 10 miles.  Oh well, we had a great sail while it lasted.  The other advantage to skipping Shippagan, would have been that we wouldn’t have had to negotiate the unmarked and very shallow entrance to the fishing harbor.  Our guide book gave directions via 2 buoys which were no longer here, so we attempted the entrance on the fly.  Everything was going well … 8ft, 7ft, 6ft, 5ft – not too worried yet, we only draw 3ft -  11ft, 12ft.  Yippee we’re past the shallows.  Hmmm, how come we’re not moving and how come all those birds almost close enough to touch are walking around?   We discovered that the echo sounder doesn’t work when it’s very shallow, and it was very shallow – in fact we were aground on mud.  The tide was rising, (otherwise we wouldn’t have attempted the entrance), so we would float again soon, but the wind was blowing us back onto the shallows.  So our lightweight anchor was deployed from the dinghy and we managed to winch ourselves back to deeper water.  As we were doing so, we noticed a boat coming out of the harbor, which showed us the way in.  On the 2^nd attempt, we took the route we had been shown and tied up to a dock in the fishing harbor.   Oh, if only the winds had stayed westerly 15knots …  Actually we were greeted at the dock by a local fisherman checking to see if we  had a problem.  Apparently they don’t see too many sailboats in this shallow harbor so he thought for sure we came here because we had a problem.  We assured him we were OK.  He pointed out his fishing boat to us and his car and said if we needed anything just let him know ‘cause his car was available.  He was a jolly man, laughing very freely and making us feel very welcome.   After getting settled in, the skies opened up and it poured for about a half an hour.

Ship’s Log: 3348.8nm, Today's log: 50.8nm, Season total: 894.9nm.

Sunday August 11th

The winds were still blowing strongly, so we stayed put for the day.  Went for a nice bike ride along the eastern shore of Lac Vachon.  It was very pretty with some art and sculptures along the way.  We also cycled along the coast which was pretty.   

Back at the boat, we did some laundry, cleaned the boat and did some shopping.  It was a pleasant sunny day and slightly warmer than it has been recently. 

Saturday August 10th

Despite strong wind warnings in effect we set of for Chandler, 48 20.72N 064 40.21W.  The winds were moderate – in the 10 – 20 knot range most of the trip, but it had been howling all night and built up some big seas - 10ft rollers at times and, of course, we were heading into it!  So we mostly motor sailed, since the forecast was for 30 knots this evening and we wanted to arrive before that happened.  We arrived at about 1pm, and found that the 30 knot winds had also arrived.  Then the fun began – we had been assigned a finger dock half way down the pontoon, with the winds blowing us sideways.  That wasn’t going to work with our 10hp engines.  We putzed around for a while trying to figure out how much maneuverability we had in these conditions, during the course of which, we found ourselves positioned nicely to be blown onto a dock, and we were.  There were several people ready to help us into our assigned dock, they noticed the new plan and were quick to rush out to help us.  As I’m writing this the winds are blowing at 25- 30 knots with a maximum so far of 35 knots. 

By 6pm the winds had died down to 15-18 knots, so we left our temporary spot and blew down sideways to the end of the dock.  We were then able to pull Quinita into a real dock, although we will dry out at low water – between 10pm and 1am. 

Ship’s Log: 3298.0nm, Today's log: 29.9nm, Season total: 844.1nm.

Friday August 9th

We stayed at Anse a Beaufils  since the forecast did not look good for Chandler, our next destination.  Went for a bike ride in the morning as far as the fishing village of Saint Thérèse   Ron seems confused about these 2 words in the same sentence.





We returned to the boat in time for the rain and fog to set in.  Ron went to visit the microbrewery in the afternoon and spent the rest of the time trying to figure out why the WIFI was so slow on his computer, but fine on Teresa’s phone.  No resolution.  In the evening we had dinner in the marina café and bought tickets to see Cecile Doo-Kingue.  She was fantastic – an amazing guitarist, singer and entertainer.
Oops, we forgot to post this picture of Roche Perce yesterday.  

  

Thursday August 8th

We left Gaspe and bid “Tot Ziens” to Dennis and Ank.  They are a really nice couple and we will miss them.  But we will meet again!

We had thick fog shortly after we set off and we were motoring in very light winds.  After an hour, the wind picked up and Ron hoisted the sails, turned off the engines and ran over a lobster, (or something), line which wrapped around one of our props.  It took a while to disentangle ourselves and we ended up cutting and retying the line so the fishermen wouldn’t lose their pot.  We continued sailing and had a tough beat against the tide to Anse a Beaufils, 48 28.32N 064 18.45W.  (Beating, means zigzagging against the wind.  We sailed 50.2 nm to cover a distance over the ground of 31.2nm).  But at least we were sailing!

Tied up against the wall amongst a motley collection of pleasure boats, fishing boats and tour boats.

Ship’s Log: 3268.1nm, Today's log: 50.2nm, Season total: 814.2nm.

Wednesday August 7th

We took our bikes ashore and went for a short ride out of town, towards the Parc Forillon.  Didn’t have time for a ride to the park, so returned to the town of Gaspe where we had lunch in the Café des Artiste.  Dennis and Ank invited us for dinner aboard Bodyguard and we had another very nice evening.  Before we left Quinita we put the anchor light on.  When we arrived on Bodyguard, Ank gave us the compass bearing to Quinita.  When we left, at 11pm, it was thick fog.  All we could see were three or four anchor lights above the fog, but the boats were not visible, so we had no idea which was ours.  Fortunately, using Ank’s bearing, we were able to identify our light and found our way back home.  Thanks Ank!  It was a little weird in the darkness and fog in a small dinghy – we couldn’t see Quinita until we were about 30 feet away. 

Tuesday August, 6th

Ron woke up early and changed the engine oil.  We then went ashore and Ron caught up on internet stuff while Teresa went grocery shopping.  Then it started raining – (Ron didn’t notice ‘cause he was nice and comfortable inside).  A short while later, Teresa returned, soaked to the skin asking for $25.  Apparently, she’d gone for a haircut on impulse, tried to pay with a credit card, and discovered they only take cash.  So she ran back up the hill, only to find the haircut place was closed for lunch (and she got even drencher)!  Later in the day, she went up the hill for a third time and paid her bill! 

We invited Ank and Dennis for dinner on Quinita and had a very pleasant evening. 

Monday, August 5th

Ron was awake early and tried his hand at fishing again, this time with some success. 

Everyone was using heavy lures to catch the mackerel close to the sea floor, but I only had a light one.  A fellow fisherman gave me a weight to add to my lure and this proved successful.  However, the first fish I caught put up such a fight that the weight fell off and I was left with the surface floating lure.  So we made do with one huge mackerel – it was 10” long if it was an inch!

We then took a walk to Cap Gaspe, about 5 miles each way.  It was stunning – we could see that because every so often the fog lifted enough for us to see what we were missing.  Then it started raining and visibility got even worse.  Fortunately, at the Cap, there was a hut where we, and several other hardy walkers, ate our picnic.  The rain subsided on the way back and we returned to Quinita relatively damp but no longer soaking wet. 

Dennis and Ank were just about to set off for the town of Gaspe, 48 49.55N 064 28.10W, and we followed shortly after.  They were obviously jealous of our fishing success and challenged us to a competition - they would fish off the boat on the way to Gaspe!  There had been no wind all day so we were expecting another motoring trip.  There was no wind to start with, but then it picked up a little, and a little more, and a little more…  We ended up have a fantastic sail at 8-10knots in flat seas on a reach – perfect conditions for Quinita.  Bodyguard took several photos of us – posted here.

We anchored outside the marina and enjoyed grilled mackerel for appetizer, followed by Salmon pie. 

Ship’s Log: 3204.4nm, Today's log: 23.2nm, Season total: 750.5nm.

PS.  We found out that Bodyguard had caught no fish at all, so we won our very first fishing competition with a score of 1:0.  Now we need to find out what the prize is!

Sunday, August 4th

Happy birthday, Harv! 

Our daily cycle has been getting earlier and earlier lately, and we woke up early and gave the boat a thorough cleaning.  It was nice and sunny at 7am and we were able to spread our stuff out on the dock to dry.  We were finished by about 10:30 and set off at 11am, by which time it was foggy again!  The winds were light so we were motoring once again.  We did manage to sail for a couple of hours though. 

We sailed along the north coast and saw glimpses of the coast which looked spectacular, but it was not until we rounded the tip of the Gaspe bay that the fog receded and we were presented with absolutely stunning scenery.   We were planning to stay at Grand Grave, 48 47.55N 064 13.58W, an apparently tiny harbor, with very little maneuvering room, shallow water, but great hiking.  Bodyguard had set off before us, and were not so sure about this venue since they have a 37ft boat with a 7ft draft.  They radioed us to say they tried it and were in and we followed.  The entrance was VERY narrow, perhaps 20ft, compared with our 16ft beam, and we bumped a little on the way in, but we made it and found it to be a very cosy little harbour. 

There were about ten fishermen on the harbor wall, and several of them were catching mackerel  as fast as they could reel them in.  Unfortunately, Ron didn’t have the right kind of lure and all the good spots on the wall were taken, so he returned to the boat empty handed.  We had happy hour with Dennis and Ank, then dinner and an early night. 

 Ship’s Log: 3204.4nm, Today's log: 23.2nm, Season total: 750.5nm.

Saturday, August 3rd

We had thick fog all day long.  For anyone who’s never been in fog in a small boat, you have absolutely nothing to give you any sense of direction and it’s not a nice experience.  These days though it’s mitigated by modern electronics, including GPS, radar and AIS (link).  We were following a boat on AIS all day long.  They were about 3 miles ahead of us.  Small boats only transmit their boat name infrequently, and so it wasn’t until the end of the day we realized that the boat we’d been following (but not able to see), were our new friends Dennis and Ank in Bodyguard.  We met in Riviere au Renard, 48 59.72N 064 23.23W, and they kindly invited us over for dinner, which was Dutch Indonesian and delicious!  We swapped adventures since we’d last met, and they recounted the tale of Ank’s kayak being stolen, Ank, flagging down a passing car and catching the thief when the kayak fell off the roof and recovering the stolen goods. 

The facilities here were very nice and clean but the harbor was full of fishing boats, and the water was full of fish guts – uugh!

Ship’s Log: 3181.2nm, Today's log: 39.8   nm, Season total: 727.3nm.

Friday, August 2nd

We left for Riviere de la Madelaine, 49 14.44N 065 17.61W expecting strong winds but got very variable winds instead, so we ended up motoring most of the way.  We were right on the northern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula, and tomorrow we start heading south towards Gaspe.  The scenery was spectacular – beautiful cliffs, dotted with coves containing small towns and large churches. 

The sea was flat so we were able to see seals, dolphins and whales, albeit from a distance.  The harbor was interesting – it’s so small that it’s not marked on the chart, but our guide book gave good directions, and there was a good transit leading into the harbor.  Once inside, we realized how small it was – they barely had room for us.  

We took a bike ride into the village which consisted of mostly homes, a hotel/restaurant, and a rundown garage.  The people here were very friendly.  The marina had no WIFI and there was no cell phone coverage, so we stopped at the hotel and asked them if we could use their WIFI. They gave us the password for no charge. 

We were invited to partake of their Friday night fish soup special, which we initially declined since we had steaks in the fridge that really needed eating.  Later we changed our mind and decided to have fish soup with the locals then return to the boat for steak.  There was a little miscommunication however, and we ended up with soup, bread, fries and maple sugar pie for dessert.  So we returned to the boat, and cooked the steak for lunch tomorrow. 

We were also invited to the Friday night theatre.  It was in a tiny hut, big enough for 15-20 people.  The show consisted of a lady performing a monologue.  We hardly recognized the language, let alone try to understand it.  Apparently she had a very strong Gaspesian accent.  We left after a short while.  These two events seemed to be the highlight of the village. 

Ship’s Log: 3141.4nm, Today's log: 45.2nm, Season total: 687.5nm.

Thursday, August 1st.

We woke early, checked the forecast and set off for Saint Anne des Monts, 49 07.97N 066 29.27W.  The day started, very briefly with some nice tailwinds, which promptly died shortly after we left, so another day of motoring.  The seas were totally flat, so we did some jobs on the boat on the way.  We saw several whales, probably Minkes, but actually too far away to identify.  We also saw several seals, but the highlight of the day was a flock of birds, some kind of gulls, diving from a great height into the water for fish. 

We docked and discovered that once again people here are very friendly.  We were obviously in a fishing village, so after a bike ride into town we took the dockmaster’s suggestion for a local fish restaurant called Pub chez Bass.  And very nice it was too.     

Ship’s Log: 3096.2nm, Today's log: 42.4nm, Season total: 642.3nm.  

Wednesday, July 31st.

We had a nice sail to Matane, 48 51.16N 067 31.68W.  The wind was behind us all the way and the current was with us although nothing like as strong as we’ve been seeing further up the river.  We’re heading around the north coast of the Gaspe Peninsula now and places to stop overnight are few and far between, so the next few days are going to be long legs; 45 – 50 nm each.  Today’s was 45nm, so we were grateful to have enough wind to sail.  It was still pretty cold though and whoever was on watch in the cockpit had full foul weather gear on including hat and gloves! 

We docked at Matane and went for a walk around the town.    There was a talent show in progress with a band playing Celtic music, (in French).   We stopped and listened for a while, continued our walk around town, then went back to the boat for dinner, where we could still hear the music.

There was still a good breeze over the boat, but to our surprise and pleasure it seemed considerably warmer.  We had no need of our new cabin heater, went to bed and we both remarked how warm it was.  Ron got up to check the thermometer and discovered it was 70F at 11pm!  Go figure. 

Ship’s Log: 3053.8nm, Today's log: 41.7nm, Season total: 599.9nm.