Wed, July 29
We spent a quiet night in Gaspe and got up early to start out in the fog. Only lasted about an hour and then we got a calm sunny morning for a cruise up the south shore of the Bay of Gaspe. Saw lots of porpoises, 2 minke whales and most incredibly a shark feeding at the surface. A big shark came right out of the water after some baitfish, we have no idea what kind, but it was amazing. The scenery is changing here from the mountains to more sedimentary rocks along the coast. Great pastels of reds and browns. We stopped at Perce for a bit to check out a 300 foot rock formation coming out of the water, really cool. The towns and villages here are really quaint, and always centered around huge churches, which look out of place in comparison to the size of the communities. God sure has some nice real estate. We entered the Bay de Chaleurs at noon, glass calm and we are catching some sun for the first time in a while. We have been in foul weather gear the last 4 days and are happy to be wearing bathing suits again. The conditions are so nice we are just using the autopilot and enjoying the cruise with a homemade shrimp curry soup and some ceasars. We have run out of beer and bread and ice. The crew thinks I am a slave driving captain, but there is still Rum on board so I can keep order yet. We decided to anchor in a little fishing village called Newport for the night. Really neat spot and a working port, fisherman welcomed us and were very nice. Blair and I took on the “go use your shitty french and find some beer/ice/food” mission. After a 1.5 km walk we found a Depanneur that had everything we needed except ice, and you can’t feed your crew on just rum and water for 2 days in a row. The nice lady allowed us to leave our purchases and directed us up the highway. Combien de kilometres? Elle ne sais pas. After another 2 km we found the ice place. Now we just have to walk 3.5 km back and pick up our other stuff too. Needless to say we were thirsty after our 7 k hilly walk so we are now out of rum too. Got ice though. Fished mackerel with the locals, they caught a ew but not much was running so we treated them to a little drum and guitar jam on the boat. To top the night off, we enjoyed another delicious fish meal by Rick, with a good bottle of swill, to the backdrop of severe T-storms. Best lightning show I have seen in years. Great sleep in a quiet anchorage was idyllic. But as usual we leave at 5am.
Thursday, July 30
We cross the Bay de Chaleurs and travel along the shore of Miscou Island towards Shippagan. Easy day as we are only travelling 35 miles. We need to resupply and I have business to do online. It started to pour when we got to the marina and has just stopped after 3 hours. Boat is clean though. Nice area, but navigation is key as there are alot of shallow banks and you must stay in the channel. Expecting nice weather tomorrow and hope to be in Shediac by nightfall. We have left Quebec behind but have a better appreciation of it’s beauty and character than before. Maritimes here we come!
good writing dave..let dad know that mike foligno’s wife janice died of cancer last monday..remind dad to give you the bag of stuff that was left on the saiboat this winter..what do you think of grilled salmon and porketta,corn on cob,potato salad,rice salad for rehearsal dinner?
Would love to have the time to upgrade the crews drinking experience with something other then swill
No ice required
What is the eta captain
Good videos and the trip of a lifetime
When you coming to KL