Winning the Trifecta!!!

In the life of sailors, that don't fish, there are three things that rate high in in the making of a perfect day on the water. Among the rest, wind direction, wind strength and tidal currents are the most outstanding. Sunshine and warm weather are close behind. We hit the trifecta on the top three. Yesterday's suggestions from a local fisher allowed us to plan perfectly for the changing currents in the straight and once the morning rains stopped and the fog cleared, we were well on our way to a pleasant sail to Charlettown. The seas were high for much of the voyage, but set up in a way that gave us a gentle ride as we dodged the well charted sand shoals that prevail in the area. Arrival in Charlettown at 1800 was sweet.

Sweeter than safely reaching our alternate and final destination was being welcomed by Judy (Don's sister) and Doug and a group of their friends for cocktails and fine dining near their cottage near Brackly Beach.

Sunday will include sorting out the boat at the marina, booking a flight back to Montreal and finding our land legs again.

Despite some of the discomforting moments we encountered, we are classifying our adventure as a highly worthwhile experience. We were aware that there would be challenges, but not real sure of the form in which they would present themselves. We were also aware that there would be very pleasant experiences that would contribute to each of our life-long learning opportunity quests. We were not disappointed as these experiences were also presented to us.

Adding to the pleasant and reassuring side of this whole journey was the knowledge that you were checking in on this blog and offering comments. Thanks to all!

By the way, does anyone know anyone who would like to buy a boat????

Over and out,

don and john

Patient Sailors?

Friday, July 24th

After a very nice evening in Shediac, we depart the marina with forcasts of good winds coming later in the day. With luck, they will set up to work for us as we approach the Northumberland Straight. Alas, it was not to be. As the winds grew stronger, it also set up to be head on for much of the time. Patient sailors are used to changing their plans to accomodate the uncontrollable. Who ever said that we were patient anyway?

Our sailing day ended in early afternoon in Murray's Corner Harbour (commercial fishing), just west of Cape Tormentine and the bridge. As rain began to fall and winds grew in strength, in our disfavour, and thoughts of another 24 hours of incarceration in a rocking boat began to surface, we elected to research the local resources. A mile down the road we found snacks and friendly folks. Back at the harbour, conversations with local fishermen, who were dropping by to charge boat batteries, we were treated to a lift to the local gas bar to refuel (just in case) for Saturday's ride to Charlettown. As well, informative conversations were shared about fishing practices and boat set ups and tidal currents in the Straight. More importantly, we were able to get a reference to a local B&B... who would even come to pick us up. And so, our last night of ardour was replaced by the warmth of a historical house and welcoming host family, as well as, the comfort of a stationary bed to sleep on.

Dreams of what we might encounter during our next day's sail to Charlettown and how to best deal with the options available crept into our heads, but did not detract from a very restful night.

donandjohn

Trying to Make up Time

Never complain about the price of fish!

Just before 0500, we be pulled out of our little hole in the sand bar battered, sick and very tired. We were immediately confronted with a tiller that was just about to fall apart after a night of bashing about in the surf. Quick diagnosis and repair precluded the possibility of a loss of irreplaceable parts and we carried on. The seas were rolling but regular and we were free again. Sailing was up and down but steady and we thought it a good idea to pull in at some harbour to dry out a bit and stand on the ground after having spent about 24 hours on the boat, rocking, pitching and rolling hard all the time. While in the harbour, we met a retired Acadian fisher, Marcel, who also spoke in tongues unfamiliar, but was also bilingual (Acadian and English). We spoke of sailing and spending time on the water in all conditions and some of the prices paid. He retold his tale of going out fishing as a boy with his father in the 1959 season. Thirty of his neighbors and colleagues were lost on the water when a storm hit. His respect for the sea was shaped early and firmly for life. He now stands on a river bank from time to time, fly fishing for salmon with his buddies.

The day cleared as we went on, we got our things dried out, including our nautical charts and pushed on in sunny and warm weather.

Shediac Bay Marina is where ended our day. a lovely place where many come by boat to spend a week enjoying the local events. The only caution given to us was not to sail too close to the nesting terns because they get mad. These birds are protected and they are trying to find ways to control their nuisance factor without causing them any harm. Dinner was enjoyed in town after a little walk to get there. We had the opportunity to meet another sailor who is short one chart for his voyage north. We lent him the one he needed and he will return it to us by post in a week or two. All in all, a nice day.

We plan to push for Charlettown tomorrow, thus ending our adventure as constraints will not permit us to achieve Cape Breton, as we had initially intended.

That's it for now,
donandjohn

A Rare Thank You to The US Military

Wednesday, July 21st
Pull out at 8:30 after bacon and eggs breakfast at the local diner run by a woman from Les Iles de la Madelaine. Rough seas, pouring rain, solid wind but promise that things will subside as the day progresses. They did not... Things got worse until the day resembled Monday, only this time there was pouring rain added. We managed to get half way accross the Koutchibougouac Bay when we thought that we should go for cover, even though a fog had closed in and we were out of sight of shore.

Years ago the US Military developed the global positioning satelites that we all use today. In seeking cover from our predicament, we programmed the coordinates of a little gulley in the sand into the GPS and it delivered us there in the fog. Quite amazing, however, we were then treated to 13 hours of feeling sick sitting in the soaking wet cabin anchored in howling winds and breaking surf from which we could not adequately hide. It there had been a road near by, we both might have just sunk the boat and hitch hiked to the closest hotel.

Down but not out, we continue our adventure looking for an easier day as soon as the sun rises on Thursday.

donandjohn

For The Birds, etc.

Tuesday, July 21

Today was a day for the birds and other sightings. As we pulled out of Shippegan Harbour early this morning, we tried not to disturm the hundreds of birds feeding in the salt marsh area beside us. That explains the mosquites. There were numerous herons and gulls and marsh birds that we could not identify. We regret not bringing a bird book.

Tuesday continued to be a sunny and calm day. We welcomed the change from the day before. Apart from continued sightings of whales, porpoises and seals, there were the gannets, who are very interesting to observe. Gannets are graceful white sea birds with black tipped wings and yellow heads. They soar together in a line sometimes gliding, sometimes flapping sometimes rising to dive hard into the water. We observed a large group of gannets circling 100 feet in the air and taking turns diving into a school of fish. More and more birds came until the scene resembled a vortex of birds with all of its members plummeting out of the middle of the vortex into the water. It only took a few minutes for most of the birds to be sitting on the surface together trying to digest their meals.

We motored most of the day because it was so clam and made it to Escouminac harbout for the night. This was a commercial fishing harbour with a restaurant and lots of local traffic. For any francophones reading this, can you understand the Acadian language? It sounded completely foreign to us, probably like full-on Newfoundland speak would sound to any English speaker. Very colourful however...

A nice night's rest set us up for a busy Wednesday.

donandjohn

BFWs

We will start by saying that the boat still floats and we apologize for the delay on these posts, but connectivity, time and other circumstances have intervened.



Monday, July 20th



0615: We cast off from Lance au Beaufils (Perce) in a somewhat apprehensive state, because we had chosen to go on the outside route of the the Baie des Chaleurs, instead of the inside route from Chandler to Shippegan. Our choice is more exposed, but the weather forcast stated 10 to 15 knot winds and clear skies. Wrong again... We were met with rather hostile conditions and had one of those challenging times. The winds of the day and the seas from the previous day had built up a very confused and very large wave system at the mouth of the bay. We guess at about 6' waves coming in all directions, but mostly from our starboard bow. The waves were in a short choppy period and the winds were 20 to 25 knots, way more than we had hoped for. Incidentally, when you rise up 6' on one wave, you go down 12' into and through the next one. We got bashed around pretty well and a lot of water found its way into the cabin. Once we found ourselves in this situation, there was little point to turning back because we were already invested. We were impressed with the way the boat held up, although we were not sure how long it would take with that treatment for something to break leaving us with a very difficult situation. We suppressed our own personal visions of cracked fiberglass, torn sails and popped stay fittings. All went well for about 5 hours of this, nothing broke and we anchored on a beach on Miscou Island later to wait out the strong winds and to dry things out in the later day sun. Everything had been tumbled inside the cabin and lay in a wet heap. We were not interested in this sort of challenge again, alas...

It must be said that Miscou and Lameque islands are beautiful from the water and we would recommend visiting them, perhaps by car.

We sailed on to Shippegan later and tied up in a very tricky harbour with millions of very tricky mosquitos. Sleep was welcome. I hope you understand why there are no pictures to post for today.

donandjohn

Adventure Becomes Vacatiom

Sunday, July 19th, Barachois, qc

We had a great day today starting with conversations around the harbour with other travellers, then to brunch, hiking up to the bluffs over the Malbaie and ending with a wonderful family meal at Marg Lamb's in Coin de Banc. Marge is Betty's Mom and the matriarch of the beachfront homestead. With us were Betty's sister and nephew and their family extensions. As well, John and Marge had a chance to fit in a quick visit with Verna and some family in Barachois. All in all, Sunday was a real day of vacation and it will contrast the certain rigours yet to be met while sailing our little boat farther on our voyage. We are thankful to Betty, Gord ans everyone else who made the day so memorable in such a beautiful corner of the country.