Tuesday, Wednesday 2nd, 3rd September.

Left Souris and Quinita this morning.  The drive home to Jay is about 13 hours, so we stopped at St. Andrews, New Brunswick to break the journey.  St. Andrews is a very pretty town, small enough to walk around in the evening, which we appreciated after spending 6 hours in the car.  On Wednesday we continued to Jay, arriving about 7pm EST after putting our clocks back 1 hour. 

Monday 1st September

She’s cleaned and polished on the outside (98% Teresa 2% Ron).  Teresa cleaned inside, Ron removing pulpit for some welding work, and the trampoline for some repairs at home.  The car is loaded with stuff we’re bringing home.  A little damp this morning, but warm and dry the afternoon, so we finished the day by putting on the boat cover.   Almost done …

Friday, Saturday, Sunday 29th, 30th, 31st August

Winds are up to 35 knots.  Thank goodness we didn’t have to try getting Quinita into the travellift in these winds.  Mostly sunny, although cold Friday, so we were able to carry on winterizing her.  

Always plenty of jobs at the beginning and end of the season …

Thursday 28th August – Haulout

Hauled out today, fortunately with light winds since we only just fit into the travellift.  By midday we were safely ashore and continuing with winterizing Quinita.    

We ate at the Sheltered Harbour (pub/restaurant), and both had a delicious seafood Alfredo, packed with Mussels, Scallops, Shrimp and Salmon.

Tuesday, Wednesday, 26th, 27th August, Souris

We had planned to sail to Georgetown since they were advertising a Ceilidh on Tuesday evenings, but the weather was against us – 25 knots of headwinds. 

So we started preparing the boat for haulout instead.  There’s a fair amount of work at the end of each season – washing, drying and stowing sails, cleaning the boat, etc. etc. etc.  We had a productive day, and then drove to Georgetown in the evening for a delicious dinner followed by the Ceilidh. 

The Ceilidh was interesting and fun.  Maybe 80 townsfolk were there from a population of ~675.  We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and paid our $5 entry fee.  People were dancing to local amateur country and western musicians (some were pretty good).  We practiced our waltzing techniques and then the dancing switched to something like square dancing in that you promenade around and change partners frequently.  We, of course, knew nothing of this, but once again the locals were very helpful and showed us what to do.  At 10pm, “lunch” was served and 2 birthdays were celebrated (with cards which we were asked to sign!)  The evening finished with a few jokes from one of the locals. 

On Wednesday, we had another day of sunny and windy weather and were able to continue getting the boat ready for haulout tomorrow.

In the afternoon a Gannett came to visit.  It was swimming around the marina, very close to our boat.  Someone suggested that it had a broken leg. 

Monday, 25th August, Souris

Drove to Charlottetown, the capital of PEI, to drop off our boat cover for a few repairs.  We then went on to Victoria, a tiny but quaint village further up the coast.  It was very hot – the first time we’ve been this hot this summer.  We had lunch there and watched the kid swimming in the harbour.  Despite its size (pop 100), there were many speciality shops. 

Went back to Charlottetown, had “Cows” ice cream and visited the marina we stayed at last year.  

Sunday, August 24th, Souris

Ron caught another 3 mackerel this morning – not huge, but big enough to eat, so tonight we’ll dine on fresh fish!  He also lost 2 lures – one simply flew off the line on his 2^nd cast, and the other got caught on something on the bottom. 

We drove out to New Glasgow, via St. Peters, where we spotted a bald eagle, and bicycled along the northern coast to Stanley Bridge, near where Anne of Green Gables was set.  This part of PEI is a little different from other places we’ve seen so far.  More variety, and more touristy.  After the ride, we drove to Tyne Valley – a very nice looking town where our friend Carolyn grew up. 

We returned to the boat, and grilled the mackerel whole.  The smaller ones were pretty fiddly to eat and we found plenty of bones.  Perhaps I need to google Mackerel grilling!

Saturday, August 23rd, Souris

We took another scenic drive today, this time to the southern tip.  We left the car at Wood Islands, and cycled to Cape Bear.  We had a very nice lunch in Murray Harbour and rode back via the Confederation Trail (a disused railway cycle path). 

After returning to the boat, Ron tried his hand at Mackerel fishing.  He caught 5, but only 1 was big enough to keep (for an appetizer perhaps tomorrow).  Anyway, that brings the seasons total to 15 – 5 Mackerel, 9 Cod and 1 big ugly Scobie, but who’s counting?

Friday, August 22nd, Souris

Since we now have our car available to us, we did the Points East coastal drive which included East Point – the headland we rounded yesterday – and it’s lighthouse. 

PEI is famous for, amongst other things, potatoes, and we saw plenty of them.  We resisted the urge to visit the few potato vodka distilleries we saw …

Thursday, August 21st – Souris, PEI

We awoke early again and this time the forecast looked good for our trip to Souris, PEI, 46 20.85N 062 14.86W.  We cast off at 6am and started sailing in lighter than the forecasted Northerly winds.  Pretty soon our big light wind sail – the screecher -  was hoisted, and we had an ETA of 9:30pm.  We sailed for 4 hours until the boat speed dropped to 3 knots, with an ETA of 2:30am.  So the engine went on and we motored sailed for 6 hours.  The winds picked up in a hurry and we started rolling away the big screecher.  Until the furling line parted that is.   2 parted lines in 2 days is not right!  Fortunately, the line had parted at a point where it could be temporarily tied and the screecher was rolled away, otherwise we could have had an interesting situation on our hands.  Anyway, the genoa was rolled out, the engines went off and we had a very nice sail for the rest of the trip, including rounding East Point and broad reaching in 12knots of wind at 8 knots boat speed. 

Our first encounter with Gannets was last year in Gaspe.  We were enthralled with these amazing birds that would dive bomb the fish from 50’ high.  We found ourselves entertained once again by the gannets on this trip.

We docked at 7:30pm and by 8:30 had ordered take out pizza, and collected it on our bikes. 

Ships Log: 4447.9, Todays Log: 64.6, Seasons Total: 859.9

Wednesday, August 20th – Ile d’Entrée.

5am.  Master berth, Quinita.

What’s the weather forecast?

NW 20-25 with 3 metre seas. 

Let’s go back to sleep. 

Good Idea!

We rose at 9am, and putzed around the boat.  By 10am the updated forecast was looking good for a departure tomorrow – (where have we heard that before). 

We’ve docked a lot on rough walls in fishing harbours this season, and are always careful to protect our lines against chafe.  We’re not so concerned when docking on floating docks, but we should be.  We were sitting on the boat, the wind was still blowing strongly and we heard a bang.  Our bow line had parted and the bow of the boat was swinging out, held only by the spring line, which was now under great strain.  We retied the bow line and realized that the mooring posts, were rusty and rough enough to chafe through our lines.  This time we added chafe protection.  Thank goodness the line didn’t part in the middle of the night.  Lesson learned!

We went for a short walk to the disused airfield in the afternoon and found a great blueberry spot where we picked container number 5.  On our returned to the boat we were just in time to see the ferry having a very hard time unloading a camper onto a narrow wharf.  Greg and Perry (on Sukha) arrived while the fun was going on and docked opposite us. 

Living on a small boat, particularly in remote locations often necessitates a certain inventiveness when preparing meals, depending on what food is available.  Teresa excelled herself with a delicious dessert of fresh blueberries over oatmeal cookies topped with Baileys Irish Cream!  

Tuesday, August 19th. Ile d’Entrée.

The wind came round to the north, but was still a little on the strong side, so we stayed put and explored the island in much nicer weather than yesterday – breezy and mostly cloudy.   We successfully climbed all 583’ of the Big Hill and walked around the back of the island where there are several smaller hills.  The island is beautiful, with rolling grassy hills, red cliffs with caves, and freely grazing cattle and horses. 

We lunched on lobster rolls again and they were just as delicious as yesterday.  We ate them in the café and the locals were very chatty – again reminiscent of Newfoundland. 

The sun came out, so we returned to the boat to air her out and dry some of our wet gear from yesterday, then went out for another walk - to the lighthouse this time.  The lighthouse was disappointing – despite signs directing tourists towards it, there was a fence around and you couldn’t get within 100 feet.  So we walked further on, in search of Wash Pond, another famous landmark and the site of the original lighthouse.  It was another beautiful walk, and we think we found Wash Pond, but are not entirely sure since what we found had no water in it. 

We returned to the boat, set about making sandwiches for tomorrow’s long and potentially lumpy trip and generally getting Quinita ready for sea again. 

Monday, August 18th. Ile d’Entrée.

It was raining pretty hard when we woke, so we had a lazy morning reading in bed until 10am.  Eventually we got up and checked the weather forecast for our trip to Souris.  There was a strong wind warning in effect.  Tuesday (tomorrow) looks like NW 10-25knots, which would get us there pretty quickly, and Wednesday and Thursday look like NW/N 10-15knots.  So right now the plan is to wait until Wednesday, but we’ll keep monitoring the weather …

By noon, the rain had eased and the sun was poking through so we set off for a walk up “Big Hill”.  Big Hill, at almost 600’, is the highest point in the archipelago.  It apparently has beautiful views of the whole of the Isles, as well as Nova Scotia on a clear day. 

After leaving base camp “Quinita”, we stopped at the café for lobster rolls to go.  On leaving the café the rain started again, but we began our assault on the hill.  The hill, and (most of the islands), are devoid of trees and so when the thunderstorm started we decided that being on top of the highest point, a big round, treeless hill, was not a good idea and our first attempt failed.  Hopefully tomorrow …

On the way back we noticed wild blueberries, but, apart for being wet and cold, we had no container.  So we returned to base camp, dried off, ate our lobster rolls, had a nice cup of tea, and read for a while.  About 5pm the rain stopped again, so we returned to the blueberry spot and picked 4 containers of delicious berries. 

Sunday, August 17th. Ile d’Entrée.

We spent the morning doing laundry, blogging, cleaning the boat and chatting with all sorts of people on the dock.  Everyone was in good humour, probably looking forward to the party this evening for the racers.  Unfortunately, we missed the party, since we set off for Ile d’Entrée, 47 16.64N 061 43.08W after lunch. 

It was a short but delightful sail with light winds, flat seas (except for the entrance to the harbour with a slight wind over tide), and sunshine.  It took 2 hours for the 6.2 miles, but we were in no hurry. 

We tied up on the 2nd floating dock we’d seen since leaving Souris, (the other was at Fortune), and were met by the harbour master, Ted.  He chatted for quite a while and then charged us $20/night for 2 nights – pretty reasonable. 

Despite being part of the Isles de la Madelaine, (province of Quebec), Isle d’Entreé is English speaking and our initial impression reminded us more of Newfoundland than the other Islands. 

After such a long voyage, we needed a walk and so set off to start exploring the island.  About 15 minutes into our walk, Ted pulled up alongside us in his truck.  He’d overcharged us - the 2^nd night should only have been $10 – and since he was not working tomorrow, he hunted us down to make sure we got our $10 back! 

The island appears to have a very peaceful community, and a handful of dirt roads.  Ted told us that the school has only 2 kids currently and will close next year.  The kids will then need to board at a school in Charlottetown (PEI) or in an English speaking school in Gaspé.  Ted suggested that the community is going the way of many of the Newfoundland outports, which is a real shame ‘cause it’s such a beautiful island. 

In the evening, while we were having dinner, what appeared to be a 50’ fishing boat docked stern to the wharf at the harbour wall.  He was running his engines hard to keep the stern of the boat against the wharf and we wondered what he was doing.  We found out when a large pickup truck, probably 20’ long, unloaded.  That boat must have been pretty low in the water!

Ships Log: 4383.3, Todays Log: 6.2, Seasons Total: 795.3

Saturday, August 16th. - Havre Aubert

A single handed sailboat race was starting this morning, and “Audour”, (spelling) a local sailor we met in Souris and Chéticamp, was competing, so we watched the start at 9am.  It’s a pretty long race – 95nm, and the competitors are expected back in the early hours of tomorrow morning.  On the lookout hill we noticed a strange structure, which turned out to be a Trebuchet.  And there was a demo scheduled at 1pm today.  So, of course, we were there. 

The first part of cranking the counterweight was easy:  http://youtu.be/I59U4n5prm0.  And the next part wasn’t too bad: http://youtu.be/dQ1CecCIvkg.  But as the counterweight started to get closer to horizontal, it was very difficult to crank:  http://youtu.be/qknyvPfLAno.  Then 21^st Century technology took over: http://youtu.be/2-bDjBg8USU.  And here’s the firing:  http://youtu.be/B2wvjBxuKQ8. 

We hiked some local hills in the afternoon where we had great views of the peninsula.  In the evening, Pierre and Brigitte joined us for appetizers, and we adjourned to a tapas bar, (Magdalen Islands style), where we were entertained by the owner playing cello. 

Friday, August 15th. - Havre Aubert

The town looked attractive, but the winds were still howling, making a trip ashore in the dinghy untenable.  So we weighed anchor and docked at the marina, 47 14.14N 061 50.05W.  Here we found luxury at last – no floating dock, but a pretty easy step ashore from Quinita, showers, laundry, a bar etc.  A nice clean dock, and cheaper than the commercial dock at Cap aux Meules! 

We cycled around the southern peninsula and had a very easy ride out with 20knots tailwinds.  The ride back was not so easy, particularly when we hit Chemin des Montagnes, with a headwind.  Fortunately, the “Montagnes” here are nothing like those in Vermont. 

We first met Pierre and Brigitte on “Sardine” in Ramea.  And we met them again here.  Small world.  We had a drink with them in the bar and swapped a few stories about our respective Newfoundland adventures. 

Teresa and I went to a local restaurant for dinner to try a local speciality, Pot-en-Pot – a kind of fish pie wrapped in pastry.  Very nice. 

Ships Log: 4377.1, Todays Log: 0.3, Seasons Total: 789.1

Thursday, August 14th, Havre Aubert

We were woken by a tug of length 60’ docking right next to us in a spot 60’ 1” long.  He was pretty skillful, but we moved Quinita back a foot or so to give him some room.  Ron went for a swim and retrieved the power cord adapter. 

The winds were forecast to be 20-25 knots in the afternoon, so we set off early for havre Aubert, 47 13.85N 061 49.76W, before the really strong winds set in and had a very nice brisk and short sail.  We called for a berth at the marina, left a message, but never had a reply.  So we anchored just outside the harbor. 

Commercial harbours are very dirty, dusty places, and after a couple of days at Cap aux Meules, Quinita was filthy.  She was covered with dust, sand and grit, and her topsides were covered with black tyre marks.  So we spent a couple of hours cleaning her up. 

We had lunch and contemplated taking the dinghy to town.  However the winds we now blowing strongly and we doubted whether we would be able to get back to Quinita without getting soaked.  So we stayed put on the boat for the afternoon and watched the kite surfers in the harbour. 

Ships Log: 4376.8, Todays Log: 9.3, Seasons Total: 788.8

Wednesday, August 13th – Cap aux Meules

The harbor master stopped by and charged us $1.29/foot for no facilities at all apart from huge tyres.

Les Isles de la Madelaine are famous for beaches.  We had also been advised to visit the local boulangerie which we did.  We bought some local cheese (Pied de Vent), some pate, bread, olives and headed out for the nearest beach.  Took a quick swim, ate lunch and fell asleep for a while, (well one of us did anyway!).  The other one walked along the beach where she took photos. 

We also cycled to the other side of the island, (only about 4 miles), where the beaches were more spectacular.  We returned to the harbor, went to the marina and explained that we were turned away and sent to the commercial harbor yesterday, and could we please have a shower.  The response was “Oui, bien sûr, $10 s.v.p!”.  Oh well, the showers were worth it. 

We went out to dinner again, (the choices were too good to resist), and returned to the boat, with the wind howling and banging poor old Quinita up against those huge tyres.  A guy from the marina was just leaving a note on our boat saying we could move to the marina where we’d be more comfortable.  He also suggested a spot over the other side of the commercial harbor, where the wind was blowing us off the wall.  (Yesterday it had been full of fishing boats).  So we quickly untied, and redocked at the new spot.  It was dark and late by now and Ron managed to drop our power cord adapter over the side, which was pretty annoying since (a) it cost $80, and (b) we probably wouldn’t be able to buy another this season.  We turned in and spent a comfortable night. 

 

Tuesday, August 12th – Cap aux Meules

La Pointe was billed as a fishing harbour in our guide book, and it was.  There was not much touristy stuff going on, although we enjoyed our day there.  Conversely, Cap aux Meules had a marina – the first one we will have seen since St. Pierre, 6 weeks ago - with showers, laundry, wifi, etc., etc.  So we set sail for Cap aux Meules, 47 22.81N 061 51.39W, and some luxury. 

The winds were light once again, but we weren’t in a hurry so we hoisted our screecher and sailed sedately at 3 knots.  It was a beautiful day with flat seas, so Ron decided to test the accuracy of the ships GPS against his sextant.  The first reading was worrying – the GPS was 35 miles off!  After a few more practices with the sextant however, the GPS improved, and ended up only 8 miles off.  (Maybe a little more practice is needed). 

We had called ahead to reserve a place in the marina at Cap aux Meules, and telephoned when we arrived for directions to our berth.  We were told to enter, to put our fenders on our port side and started making our way in.  Then we got a call on vhf to tell us not to come in since there was no room at the marina.  (Perhaps catamaran doesn’t translate to French very well).  Anyway we were sent to the commercial harbour, where we tied to a wall built for SHIPs.  The fenders on the wall were tyres (tires), about 6’ diameter and 18” wide.  We managed to get tied up, but getting on and off the boat was interesting since our fenders and fender boards added another 12”, so the boat was about 2 ½ feet from the wall.  Needless to say there were no shower facilities, laundry or any other luxuries.  Well we’ve spent 6 weeks without, so another couple of nights won’t make a big difference.  

To get an idea of scale, Quinita is actually in both photos.  You may need a magnifying glass for the 2nd!

We got our bikes ashore, found the town, which did have some very nice restaurants, and dined out.

Ships Log: 4367.5, Todays Log: 16.1, Seasons Total: 779.5

Monday, August 11th – la Pointe de la Grande-Entrée.

We woke up about 11am and investigated the various boutiques.  Had lunch at one of the restaurants, and went for a ride in the afternoon.  We walked along some beautiful red cliffs, and then rode to Old Harry, 47 34.19N 61 27.96W, another beautiful red cliff area.  There were also some spectacular beaches at both these spots. 

We returned to Quinita, washed some of the roadwork dust off, and dined onboard.

Sunday, August 10th – Iles de la Madelaine.

We had been promised Northerly winds of 20-25 knots for several days now, which would give us a perfect beam reach to the Iles de la Madeleine.  (Actually 15-20 knots would have been really perfect.)  In days of yore, (before GPS), you would try to time an overnight passage so that you made landfall just before dawn, when you could unambiguously identify buoys and get an accurate position fix, but enter harbor just after dawn in daylight.  We tried to do the same, not so much for the buoy identification, but we wanted to arrive in daylight.  The trouble is, a sailboat’s speed is difficult to predict.  So we left at noon, thinking that if we went fast we would arrive at dawn, and if we went slowly, we would arrive by 5pm. 

We set off at noon and had light winds again, so motored for the first 2 hours.  Then the winds came, (fast) and we hoisted the main with one reef and pretty soon had 2 reefs in the main and a lot of genny rolled away.  We were making up to 8.5 knots, in pretty big beam seas.  When standing in the cockpit, our feet are about 18” above the water.  I’m 5’ 8” and at times was looking up at the waves, which puts them at up to 9’!  Occasionally part of a wave would find its way into the back of the cockpit, or over the boat, but we were dry under the hardtop.  The boat was crashing through them quite frequently though, making it difficult to sleep.  After we got through the shipping lanes, we rolled the genoa away entirely to slow the boat, since we were sailing too fast and would have arrived 2 hours early (in darkness)! 

We were also lucky to have a beautiful sunset and, during the night,  a pretty full moon infrequently hidden by clouds, but for the most part, visible. 

As it turned out we arrived just before dawn and entered the harbor of la Pointe de la Grande-Entrée, 47 33.38N 61 33.53W, as day was dawning.  Neither of us had had much sleep, so we tied up, and went to bed for a few hours, happy with Quinita’s first overnight passage. 

Ships Log: 4351.4, Todays Log: 106.0, Seasons Total: 763.4

Saturday, August 9th – Port aux Basques

Not much to report today.  Tomorrow we’re planning to head out to the Ilses de la Madelaine – about 105nm, so we spent some time stocking up on food, beer, wine and other essentials, and planning for tomorrows trip.  We’ve been monitoring the weather forecast and so far it sounds great.  Let’s hope that continues.  

Not sure when we'll have internet access again ...

Friday, August 8th – Port aux Basques

We left early, so that we would be in Port aux Basques, 47 34.49N 059 08.42W, before the harbour master went home for the weekend.  (We needed the key for the laundry/showers).  We made good time, motorsailing with light beam winds.  However when we arrived outside the harbour, the traffic control asked us to wait until the ferry exited the harbour.  We tied up at 12:30, located the hm and obtained a key to the facilities, (such as they are). 

Teresa set about doing laundry, and Ron changed the engine oil, hitch hiked to the gas station, filled the gas tanks and did a few other jobs on the boat. 

The wharf we tied up to is right in the centre of town, so as we were grilling our chicken for dinner and eating it, a constant stream of townsfolk wandered by wanting to chat.  By now we’re used to this as part of the Newfoundland experience. 

Ships Log: 4245.4, Todays Log: 20.5, Seasons Total: 657.4

Thursday, August 7th – Harbour Le Cou

Another windless day, and we had an uneventful motoring trip to Harbour le Cou, 47 37.44N 058 41.16W.  Uneventful, that is, except for stopping on the way to pick up another 3 cod.  We filleted and froze these since we hadn’t yet eaten yesterday’s catch.  Cod fishing season closes on Saturday, so this might be our last harvest of cod this year. 

Hmmm, now I think about it, another ‘event’ was the sunfish we saw.  They’re strange creatures – all you can see is a single fin sticking out of the water, and they just loll about close to the surface, ‘sunbathing’.  When we first saw one, several days ago, we thought it was an injured dolphin, but we’ve subsequently been told they’re sunfish. 

We entered the harbour and unwittingly headed for a very shallow and rocky side of the wharf.  A local fisherman waved us away, and moved a small boat that was tied to the end of the wharf so that we could tie up there.  Very nice of him. 

When we were in Rose Blanche, (on July 8^th) we took a beautiful walk to Harbour Le Cou.  Today we took the same walk in reverse and visited Rose Blanche on foot to get some basic  groceries and access the internet courtesy of Lyn in the Rosesea Tea Room.  We chatted with her for a while and then returned to Quinita. 

Teresa had been told of a freshwater swimming area under a waterfall, so we jumped into the dinghy and set off.  The water was just a little salty, but good enough for a hair wash and bath. 

Docking here is tricky.  The wharf is about 30 feet long and Quinita is 32 feet long. That in itself is not a problem, but we have to tie with lines loose enough to accommodate the rise and fall of the tide.  Usually you would run the bow line a long way forward, and the stern line a long way aft, so that the tidal height difference would not be so noticeable.  We cannot do that so have had to use looser lines that we’d like.  So far it’s calm, so no problems …

Ships Log: 4224.9, Todays Log: 14.4, Seasons Total: 636.9

Wednesday, August 6th – LaPoile

We felt a little sad for the remaining residents of Grand Bruit when we left.  It was resettled 4 years ago which means the community voted to relocate, with government help, to other towns.  It usually the case that resettlement votes are not unanimous, and Grand Bruit was no exception – several resident we met did not want to resettle, and live in the town from April to September.  They have no electricity, phones, internet or any other connection to the outside world.  Nor do they have running water.  Their homes appear to be in good shape, but many others are already falling into disrepair.  There’s no ferry service, and we heard a couple of generators running, but the gasoline has to be brought in by small boat.  By our standards, a pretty tough life. 

The day started out overcast with fog threatening, but we went for a walk on the hills (on overgrown footpaths), and the weather brightened up.  We brightened up as well when we saw wild blueberries, and picked some for our breakfast tomorrow.  As usual in the area, we saw several pretty inland ponds.  We also saw some sleds which will presumably no longer be used. 

We set off for LaPoile, 47 41.05N 058 23.75W, with clear skies but no wind.  On the way, we stopped to try our hand at Cod Jigging again.  After 17 minutes we had 2 2lb cod in the bucket! 

We docked at laPoile, and had leftover cod sandwiches for lunch.  Perhaps today’s catch will have to wait until tomorrow before we eat it. 

Ron set about filleting the fish after lunch, trying to emulate Joe from yesterday.  A guy named Ray showed up on the dock and Ron admitted this was his first filleting attempt.  Ray came to the rescue and offered a few tips.  All in all, the filleting went well, although I suspect it will be a little bonier than yesterdays.  While Ron was filleting his fish, Teresa went for a walk and spotted a load of cod fillets hanging on the washing line to dry. 

The highlight of the afternoon was the arrival of the ferry at about 5pm.  It docked on the end of the wharf we were tied to and unloaded a great assortment of supplies and a few people.  A couple of palettes looked like they were intended for the small store, so we tried to see what they contained and what might be fresh tomorrow. 

We have been without internet for quite a while, but the local school had guest wifi, so we were able to post a few day’s worth of blog, catch upon email, and learn that Hurricane Bertha was heading away from us, towards the UK.  (We had not even known we should have been concerned.) 

Ships Log: 4210.5, Todays Log: 9.5, Seasons Total: 622.5

Tuesday, August 5th. Grand Bruit

The water temperature was 17.5C (63F) so we decided to brave a swim.  The water temp wasn’t too bad, but we were a bit put off by the jellyfish so cut the swim short.  Our solar shower, (cool but not cold), finished off the mornings bath/shower activities.  Very much refreshed, we had breakfast and went for a walk along the shore.  We had hoped to walk to the top of the hill, but with no footpaths and dense trees, it was not going to be a pleasant experience.  We opted for a ride around the bay in the dinghy instead. 

We set off for Grand Bruit, 47 40.32N 058 13.54W at about noon, and stopped at a couple of likely looking Cod locations.  There was no wind, so we simply stopped the engines and sat there while Ron jigged for some cod.  And he caught some – 1 small and 2 of decent size.  He also caught the ugliest fish you could imagine – apparently called a Scobie.  This one looked scary so he threw it back. 

Grand Bruit was resettled 4 years ago so we weren’t sure if the port would be deserted.  Fortunately it wasn’t  - there were several people on the dock interested in our boat.  One guy, Joe, had been fishing these waters for 40 odd years, so we asked him if he knew how to fillet a cod.  He had, in fact, done this once or twice before, and Ron watched (and learned?), while he filleted our fish.  We offered him one, but he refused – I guess he’s had cod before too.  We were lucky to have met him, had Ron tried to fillet the fish he would have got ½ the meat Joe got. 

We went for quick walk around town, and inspected the pond above the town, where we’re hoping to swim tomorrow. 

Teresa fried the fish and served it with rice and turnips, (fresh veggies have been in short supply for a while).  The fish was excellent!  And we have enough left over for fish sandwiches tomorrow.

When it was time for washing up, several guys were on the dock looking at our boat, so Ron went outside to talk to them.   Unfortunately, when he finished chatting, all the washing up was done. 

Ships Log: 4201, Todays Log: 7.8, Seasons Total: 613

Monday, August 4th. Culotte Cove

Ron did indeed get some heavier line and hooks, etc. for cod fishing.  To replace the 12lb line he had he got 300lb cod line.  (Should be enough for a pretty big cod!)  Teresa finished off the laundry and we set off at midday in a very light wind for Culotte Cove, 47 42.01N 058 05.79W.  The winds were 4 – 6 knots from just forward of the beam, so we experimented with the mainsail, and managed to add ½ knot boat speed by motor sailing. 

We arrived at another beautiful anchorage at 6:30, tidied the boat up, had dinner and reflected that perhaps we’re spoiling ourselves by anchoring in these beautiful locations, with no other boats.  It wasn’t an area for cod fishing but Ron, well protected from bugs, decided to try his luck fishing for anything at sunset.

Ships Log: 4193.2, Todays Log: 36.1, Seasons Total: 605.2

Sunday August 3rd. Ramea

Another warm sunny day – perhaps the fog has broken at last.  We took an early morning dip and swam along the boat cleaning the waterline.  After breakfast, we bid farewell to MarySol, and headed back down the fjord, where we were interviewed by a police boat carrying out random inspections (we assume).  The winds were very light at sea, so we motored towards Ramea, 47 31.32N 057 23.21W.  After a while the winds picked up and we had a pleasant beat most of the rest of the way.  The winds continued to increase until it was time to reef, but we were now close enough that we simply stowed the sails and motored the last bit. 

We tied up to the wall in Ramea, and took our laundry to the local hostel/shower-room/restaurant.  We had cod and chips for dinner while we waited for the laundry to finish.  It hadn’t finished by 7pm, and the staff wanted to close the building.  They let us stay until 7:30pm, and we left a load of damp clothes in the dryer.  Tomorrow when the building is opened at 11am, they’ll start the dryer for us.  So we won’t get a very early start tomorrow.  Oh well, you just gotta go with the flow …

Back at the boat there was the usual collection of men standing around, chatting and asking us about our boat, travels, etc.  Ron asked for cod fishing tips, and got lots.  Notably, his rod is not designed for the rigors of Cod, and the line and jigger is too small.  So tomorrow morning he’ll be off to the local store for some heavier equipment.  Stand by for some Cod photos …

Ships Log: 4157.1, Todays Log: 22.1, Seasons Total: 569.1

Saturday, August 2nd – Grey River anchorage.

We awoke, (one of us with a hangover), at 8:30, and had to get up to move the boat so that the ferry could dock.  It was a lovely sunny day - yippee.  Since we were up anyway, we set off for a sail up the beautiful Grey River. 

Back in February, our good skiing friend Frank passed away.  Today his ashes were being scattered on Burke Mountain – the New England ski mountian he loved.  There was also a memorial ceremony which we would have loved to have attended, but we are too far away.  So, at 10:30 EST, we stopped the boat in the middle of this beautiful fjord and had our own 2 minutes remembering Frank. 

We continued a very nice sail to the head of the fjord, dropped the hook for lunch, bathed in the warm, fresh fjord water and beat back towards the South East arm where we planned to anchor for the night.  We were getting a workout – the winds were now up to 18 knots, and the tacks in the narrow fjord were very short.  

We noticed a problem with the new batten we had put in the mainsail, and had to drop it and motor the rest of the way.  Shortly after the winds died anyway so we didn’t miss too much.

We anchored at the head of South East arm, 47 36.24N 056 59.03W, next to Mary Sol, our British friend’s boat.  We invited them for drinks, and they invited us for dinner.  We got the best deal – a 4 course meal, with whisky, songs and very nice company.  Originally British (and Northern Irish), they have all been living in Newfoundland for many years, and were able to tell us a lot about the island. 

Ships Log: 4135, Todays Log: 16.7, Seasons Total: 547

Friday, August 1st – Grey River

We had been advised in McCallum, that we should be in Grey River, 47 35.3N 057.10W, for this weekend, so we did.  The trip here was pretty boring thick fog, rain showers, no wind and we couldn’t see any of the beautiful scenery we were sailing past.  However, things changed when we tied up to the ferry dock.  The party was already in full swing, right on the dock.  The 2 Brits we met in Burgeo were also here with an Irish friend, so Teresa was well and truly outnumbered for once.  They indicated that the ferry would be arriving in 20 minutes, so we’d have to vacate the dock.  The ferry arrived, we vacated the dock for 20 minutes and then tied up again for the night.

We stepped ashore right into the Grey River festival. The band was playing, $20 bought you 7 beer tickets, and so we immediately decided to support the local economy.  At 5pm, a pot luck dinner was served for $5 each.  Many different dishes were available cooked by local residents – just like a huge family party into which we were welcomed.  At 7pm the music stopped and the bar closed down with a promise that they’d be back at 9pm.  We returned at 9, and met up with our British friends, Pat, Richard and Melv.  The party went on until 2am – the latest we’d been awake for a long time.  At midnight, we were “Screeched in” and are now officially Newfoundlanders!  Screeching in is a very Newfie ceremony and shouldn’t be taken lightly.  It involves kissing a fish, drinking “Screech” and reciting something, (we forget what, but it seemed very important at the time).  Anyway, we are now Newfies!

Ships Log: 4118.3, Todays Log: 19.1, Seasons Total: 530.3