Category: 2019 Down East Circle Route

Set off mid morning under mostly sunny skies and a very flat ocean to round Cap Gaspé on our way to Gaspé Harbour. At Cap Gaspé we will make a 160 degree turn to starboard … essentially a u-turn. As the crow flies it is 11 nm but by boat it’s 34 nm. Luckily there was beautiful scenery and magnificent cliffs 100’s of feet high. We passed Cap-des-Rosiers where the largest lighthouse in Canada stands.

And then, whales! The plumes of water from the whales’ blowholes were huge and the tail splashes larger than our boats. The noise from the whales blowholes was quite loud and eerie. Taking pictures of diving whales with a zoom camera on a rolling boat is more talent than I have. Luckily Chris on Ramble On did get some great shots which I will post later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our u-turn some rain came in and losing the sun it became cooler. Arrived in Gaspé Harbour about 4pm. We refuelled then went to our places on their long dock —- it’s quite the hike back to land! ? We are here for 3 or 4 nights depending on weather and winds. Linda has friends here who are treating us to a lobster dinner on a Saturday. Debbie leaves Finnish Line here but rejoins in Halifax.

 

Off about 9 this morning before the water got too skinny for a departure. Where we backed and turned had just over a foot left below the keel and by low tide that foot would be gone.

Day started sunny but by afternoon had turned cloudy and cool with some light rain drops.

 

We did pass by The Pride of Baltimore bound for the tall ships event in TO. Lovely ship but we were 4 miles away so didn’t get much of a view of her.

Arrived in Rivière-au-Renard mid-afternoon. It is a very large fishing port so lots of trawlers about and fresh fish to buy. According to the harbour master this is one of the best places in the maritimes to get items on one’s boat repaired. unlike other centres like Halifax Rivière-au-Renard is small and all the services are very close by.

Off about 7am with little wind which gradually changed to the point that we were able to do some down wind sailing.

 

 

About 8am I spotted on AIS vessel roughly on our track coming the other way. It was Bluenose II ! Radioed Ramble On and we altered course to port to ensure we would have a close meeting. Couldn’t raise them on the radio but did get some enthusiastic waves and a horn toot. Pretty cool!

 

 

Late morning we had a milestone — we passed the most northerly point of our trip. Same latitude as north of Thunder Bay.

Simple dinner at restaurant at the marina. It was a beautiful evening so we walked around and enjoyed the beauty cast by the setting sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spent the morning straightening up the boat and getting the blog up to date. Left Rimouski mid afternoon and made a point of crossing the wreck site of the Empress of Ireland to have a moment of reflection.

Shared watches hour on hour off until 11pm when we changed to two hours on two off. The winds were good except they were almost aft but at such an angle that one couldn’t go wing-in-wing w/o going off course however the jib wouldn’t fill on the required course. After doing reasonably well gave up on the jib but with the wind down gave up and motored until the early hours when we went back to just main. About midnight an inbound freighter called us on the radio by boat name to say he was slowing his speed so we could get past his track. Pretty decent of him! The power of AIS (ship/boat identification with name, position, speed, direction, type of vessel, etc.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiet night at anchor. Our 5 wind apps couldn’t agree on strength, gusts, and direction. With a potential rain storm coming we had lots of discussion on when to leave finally taking off 10ish. Not a great day as although there was not much wind the seas were lumpy and we had some drizzling rain. Arrived about one and filled up with diesel. After a late lunch on Ramble On Chris and I went shopping leaving the women onboard. Nothing wrong with this picture when you know we went to a marine store and Canadian Tire. About a 20 minute walk through some interesting back streets. Very good dinner at the marina restaurant. Popular place and understandable as the food and service were very good.

 

Off today in sunshine and calm seas and by calm I mean glass like. The rule of thumb is to leave about an hour or so after low tide. The window is bigger but that’s the optimum. After some current dancing it settled in our favour.

Saw a few whales including a 30’ (Minkie?) we had to alter course to avoid. At various times seal heads popped up to see what the fuss was about. Just after 10am Ramble On got pulled over by an RCMP patrol boat. We slowed down but feigned that we didn’t know them. ? However, they then pulled us over, too. They took lots of pictures of us and the boat as they arrived. They asked to see the boat’s papers and my Pleasure Craft card. Handed the papers over and then went to get my card. Whoopsie — still on the mantle at home! When I looked it was not on my checklist. The officers, who were very friendly, didn’t seemed too bothered but suggested I have Tarja take a photo of the card and send to me. They said that more than likely we’ll get stopped again. These officers operate out of Québec City from a “mother ship” all the way into the Gulf of St Lawrence. It may be them we see again.

Lots of rain yesterday so we got many inside tasks done including the picture hung. Mid-afternoon the excitement began when a gale went through. Lots and lots of rain with a high of 47 knots. We were stern to the wind (no comments) and our dinghy kept flipping up. After many iterations of tying bits off we finally got it under control.

The good news is that we were able to get out to eat at Café Bohème. And what eats they were … best meal of the trip to date. Loved it so much we were back for lunch today. Walked a nature trail this morning around the point which was well documented on points of interest. Also visited the museum, Poste de Traite Chauvin. It documented the commercial ups and downs of the town from trading days in 1600s to the modern tourism. The remainder of the day we tidied up the boat from the storm including unwinding all the lines from the dinghy and putting back together some of the Bimini pieces that had pulled out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set off at 7am under clear skies with little wind. Almost warm! Near Tadoussac the winds came up from the SE but we were soon into the marina after dodging the 2 ferries that operate across the fjord. Tadoussac is an interesting old village visited by Jacques Cartier in 1535 and established as a trading post in 1599.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beside the Marine Mammal Interprétation Centre there is a parking but only in summer. It is the basin of a large, old dry dock that in the winter they use to store their boats. The cradles are set out, the dry dock is flooded and boaters drive their boats in at high tide and into their cradles. The lock door is shut and the dry dock drained. Very ingenious.

 

 

 

 

 

We also toured the Mammal Interprétation Centre which had some good exhibits regarding the whales in the area and an excellent movie about rescuing a calf whose mother had died. After being resuscitated she was returned to the water where she was adopted by a mother with a calf.

Off to the boulangerie about 8:30 but had to wait outside while others were served. Then off to Café Rose for breakfast. Proprietor thought it nice that we had come to visit from Canada. In the art Shoppe next door the woman asked where we were from and she happy declared she’d visited Canada many times. So guess we really are TROC.

 

 

 

 

 

Returned to Baie de l’Éternité, anchored and went ashore to explore. A lot of climbing through the woods but decided we shouldn’t go too far. Good thing, as when we returned to the boats Ramble On was aground. We moved forward and they untied from us and went out a ways to wait for us to reposition the anchor a bit further out. The bottom had some crazy shoal fingers so we ran aground. Finally free after Chris came in his dinghy to play tug boat and push our bow around. We decided a better/safer idea was to continue the 8 nm down river to return to Anse St Jean where we arrived just before 6:30.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice sunny day, almost warm! Both boats needed fuel BUT two cruisers were ahead of us. Over two hours later it was our turn. Nudging up to a fuel dock with a 3 knot current (dock is inline with the current) is surprisingly straight forward when you use the current. By 12:30 we were off and doing 9-10 knots out the buoyed channel. After the channel we were able to have a pleasant downwind sail to Sainte-Rose-du-Nord, a charming little village founded about 1840. Surprising as Tadoussac, founded in 1610, is only 42 nm down river from here. But, like Ontario, the press for more land didn’t come until the UELs and others arrived after the US revolution. The huge pier we are on was built in 1905 and has more recently had added floating docks behind it. The tide here is about 14’. After a stroll around the village we had dinner at the Rose Café. It’s a one-woman operation. She was a delight and very funny, she had a quip for almost everything. Food was good, too.