SVJoli: After More Than 1400 Nautical Miles, We Reach the Atlantic Ocean

7/25 - 7/28/19 Gaspe

We spent 2 nights anchored off the Gaspe Marina and 2 nights at the dock. We had a good balance of time relaxing, doing boat work and running some errands. At the dock, we met Guy and Mary who were sailing their new boat from Long Island where they had purchased it, to Quebec where they lived. We also talked to a couple from Alabama who were doing the Loop on a trawler. On Saturday night, the Harbor Master asked us to move down the dock by half a boat length to make room for a large motor yacht, Princess Ashita from Texas, which docked next to us at 9 pm. They were off early the next morning. At anchor, we enjoyed watching the Northern Gannets dive for their dinner and we had front row seats for a Sunday afternoon sailboat race out of the Gaspe Marina. The restaurant/bar at the marina served a tasty Red Ale from Pit Caribou Brewery and the people were very friendly. Nice facilities!

On Friday, we walked to the IGA for provisions and stopped at the Canadian Tire store next door for some electrical and plumbing supplies. Alas, they had limited boat parts and no engine blower and only a kinda wimpy fly swatter which we bought anyway. Bryan was able to finish modifications to the forward head with the plumbing parts and he worked on the engine blower which had started squealing on the way from Quebec. We walked over the bridge into town on Friday evening for a good dinner at the Artists Cafe. On Saturday morning, we walked back into town only to find that the post office did not have Saturday hours. We stopped at a specialty foods/deli/bakery and bought some French bread, tomato pesto, Buerre de framboises, Gruyere cheese and a pastry for my breakfast. We walked through a small indoor shopping center where we found a better fly swatter (actually a set of two fly swatters so now we have three!!!) and a fish market where we bought some seafood broquettes which made a delicious lunch the next day. Monday morning, we dinghied in to the marina for fuel and I went to the post office. We were on our way, headed out Gaspe Bay by noon. Our plan was to go to either Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, or somewhere on Cape Breton Island, depending on the wind.

7/29/19 - 7/30/19 Gaspe to Port Hood, Cape Breton Island

It started out with a nice close reach but the wind quickly died and we had to motor. Then, as we rounded Ile Bonaventure and headed towards the north west point of Prince Edward Island, we ran into 6 to 8 foot swells head on. Not good! We decided the better option was to head toward Cape Breton Island instead of Charlottetown. The only good thing passing Ile Bonaventure was the flocks of “flying penguins”. I believe these birds were Razorbills, a kind of Auk. They mostly swam and dove through the waves but they also flew along the wave tops and looked just like small, flying penguins. They were so cute!

By evening, the wind became favorable and we sailed at 8 knots with just the jib. It turned into an absolutely gorgeous night sail. When I got up for my midnight to 3 am watch, the Big Dipper was low in the sky directly behind us and the Milky Way arched above from horizon to horizon. I even saw a couple shooting stars! The night sky was quite spectacular. A small sliver of a moon was just rising as Bryan took over at 3 am. By the time I got up at 6, the wind was dying. We had to motor most of the day Tuesday and by late afternoon, it was glassy and hazy. We rounded Henri Island and anchored off Port Hood Island by 8:30. It was a very beautiful anchorage with lots of seals sticking their heads up out of the water to check us out. We had a good night’s sleep after the 250 mile sail.

July 31, 2019 - August 1 Port Hood to Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton and Canso, Nova Scotia

We’re on Halifax time now! It’s an hour later than EST. We had the anchor up and were under way at 11:25 on Weds, 7/31/19. There was not much wind (again!) but it was a sunny, warm day and we motored all the way along Cape Breton Island to the Canso Strait and through the Canso Lock. The lock was only about a foot drop and we did not have to tie up; we just had to stay in the center of the lock as the water level was lowered - very easy after all the practice with the Welland Canal and the other locks we’ve been through. The line handler on shore was very friendly and talkative. We were happy to be back in the land of the English speakers. We anchored at Port Hawkesbury which turned out to be a small, rather unattractive, industrial harbor. There is a yacht club marina at one end which was too shallow for us to dock but we planned on getting fuel by dinghy. We also found out, too late, that you could shower at their club house for $5.00/shower. Thursday morning, I was able to get 2 dinghy trips in for 36 gallons of fuel while Bryan worked (unsuccessfully) on the battery to battery charger, but no time for showers as the wind had picked up and we decided it was time to get the heck outta there. We motored out of Port Hawkesbury and across Chedabucto Bay with dark storm clouds behind us all the way. There were a lot of whale spouts on all sides of us but they were too far away to see the whales. We made it to Canso, Nova Scotia without much rain or other impact from the storm.

Friday, 8/2/19

We were up early to get on the road. I put the water on to boil for coffee, looked out the hatch and it was FOGGY! Oh nooo, no early start today! The exit from the harbor out to the Atlantic was narrow and rocky so we didn’t want to leave in the fog. We waited a couple hours and by 8:30, the fog had cleared enough that we felt comfortable leaving. We are now on the Atlantic!!

Shortly after getting out onto the ocean, we both heard a strange sound. We looked behind us and a humpback whale had surfaced about 100 feet from the transom. WOW!!! It was as big as the boat. It swam along the surface for a bit, then the classic whale tail came out of the water as it dove down. WOW! It was thrilling!

We threaded our way through the rocks to get into Marie Joseph Harbour and were anchored by 6:30 pm. This harbour is protected on all sides and is very pretty, but it is remote and rugged and there is no fuel dock nor grocery store, in spite of what the cruising guide says. I guess it is too out of date with a copyright date of 1997.