Gaspe Launching of Lucy III: The adventure continues.

6 June 2017:  Gaspe Marina

Marc-  The trip from Boston to Gaspe is 13 hours of driving but we stopped over in Togue Pond, Maine at the Lewis camp for an overnight rest.  Togue Pond is in the shadow of Mount Katahdin.

We set up our Gaspe base of operations at the Plante Hotel.  Our Suite had a great view of Gaspe Bay and the Marina.

Sara, Stephanie and I have been preparing the boat for the past few days.  Sara and Stephanie handled the bottom preparation and painting while I worked on the rest of the chores involving the engine and electrical work that needed to be done.

June 8th is also Stephanie's Birthday so we took the afternoon off to explore the Forillion National Park nearby.  Arriving at Grand Grave, an old fishing village now turned into Park port-of-call, we hiked inland to the top of Mount Saint Albans.  We were warned to beware of black bears with cubs in the area and so we decided to sing our way to the top.  It must have worked since all that we encountered was a rather large porcupine about 20 feet up a tree.  The views from the trails were stunning:  Flowers in bloom to vast vistas near the top.  We even saw a whale surface  at the current line on the St. Lawrence River side of the Peninsula.  To the South we could see as far as Perce Rock.

    St. Lawrence River side with Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse.

     The end of the Appalachian Mountains and of the Gaspe Peninsula.

The tower of Mount Saint Albans.

 Gaspe sunset on our last day.

Summer 2017 Plans

Gaspe, Quebec, Canada  30 January  2017

Marc-  Plans for this summer are starting to come together.  I have placed a chart below with the intended ports of call.  There is always room for some change.  The goal is to do one week to get to Shediac, then one week in Summerside - exploring PEI , followed by a return to Gaspe.  This may change if we get a one year extension on our cruising permit.  

27 August 2016 GASPE

     Marina de Gaspé

Marc-  We completed our journey for this season.  Lucy III was hauled by the marina staff who were most careful with our boat.  The whole process took about 2 hours including a lunch break.  John and Mindy came over to help and went out for supplies as well.  Unfortunately the rain started to come in a tropical like deluge once we had the blue winter cover on.  Wow did Autum and I get soaked.  The boat is now wrapped for the winter and we won't be back until Spring 2017.  I hope the winterization was complete.  I did use my usual 12 gallons of  anti-freeze in the engine, domestic water, and toilet systems.  All items were stored in the cabin that should be.  We left the main and mizzen up this year.  The blue cover only required a slight modification.  It will keep the water out of the cockpit at least.  I also left one gallon of antifreeze in the bilge.  We completed all by 17:00 and departed with our luggage in John And Mindy's car.  The rain stopped as soon as we left the marina.

This was a magnificent journey in terms of the nature we observed especially downstream of Quebec.  I have never seen so many whales that came by the boat and mountains that come right up to the coast.  Quebec was wonderful to visit as well.  The adventure will continue next year.

This map shows our basic route in 2016 but leaves out our side trip up the Saguenay River to Bay Eternity.  Next summer we hope to explore the region of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia just to our South.

25 August 2016: Riviere au Renard to Gaspe

Marc -  Departure from our marina at 07:00.  Our new Ontario friend Neil decided to do some battery charging on Sea Pearl, a very nice Bayfield 32.  Indian Summer and Lucy III departed with a favorable South wind of 10 knots.   This soon changed to south at 15 to 20 knots before turning Southeast at 15 knots as we approached Cape Forillion (this is the end of the Appalachian mountain chain).  We ended up motorsailing most of the way except for the first hour and an hour of favorable winds in Gaspe Bay.  Lots of wind changes in Gaspe from favorable South to calm to rain and even some lightning.  We did arrive at the Gaspe Marina and went to fuel up.  I must have overfilled the tanks as we have a fuel smell aboard.  Strange since there is no smell in the bilge.  The staff here is very nice and the facility is excellent.  There is even a supermaket and a Canadian Tire just around the corner.  Haulout is sometime tomorrow so we took off all of our sails and did some more prep. Autum did some laundry and I made dinner of Tomato soup and good old B & M baked beans with French bread and Marc's special tomatoes.  Lemonade was served for drinks.

I should not forget that John and Mindy came over to help us out with the boat prep and had lunch onboard.  We enjoyed great views of the National Park as we sailed around the peninsula.  I really hope that we get to see some of it tomorrow.  Haulout plans are currently for mid-day.

23 August 2016

Marc-  Today we were held up by gale force winds.  The local Harbormaster advised everyone against leaving the inlet since large waves were breaking on the reefs on either side of the inlet.  We were snug and secure at our slip and the little fishing harbor.  one deep draft sailboat went high up a low tide and moved to another part of the harbor when he could be moved.  No harm done.  Autum and I went for a hike in the hills and picked some wild raspberries as well as some interesting stones (even some quartz).  She is bringing some of the stone home to polish.  We had dinner with Richard and Gregoire at the local restaurant.  Very nice and reasonable.
During our long downtime Richard helped me adjust some of the boat issues:  radio and autopilot to start.

24 August 2016 Sailing ...SaIling

Marc-  Beautiful start to a sunny day with Northwest winds of 10 to 15 knots.  Great wind direction as we are sailing Northeast so we will be on a reach.  We motored our of the harbor of Madelaine through the surf and the reefs and set sail.  We soon shut down the motor and sailed all the way to Riviere au Renard under Main, Mizzen, and Spinnaker.  The next marina was nice and welcoming.  Mindy called and agreed to come meet with us for dinner. Autum cooked up some great Cod fish from the local fish market (very fresh catch of the day).  Most of this harbor is made up of very large fishing boats catching everything from shrimp to cod.  I picked up some tasty fries from the local food truck and also prepared some Spanish rice for side dishes to share.

24 August 2016 Sailing ...SaIling

Marc-  Beautiful start to a sunny day with Northwest winds of 10 too 15 knots.  Great wind direction as we are sailing Northeast so we will be on a reach,  We motored our of the harbor of Madelaine through the surf and the reefs and set sail.  We soon shut down the motor and sailed all the way to Riviere au Renard under Main, Mizzen, and Spinnaker.  The next marina was nice and welcoming.  Mindy called and agreed to come meet with us for dinner. Autum cooked up some great Cod fish from the local fish market (very fresh catch of the day).  Most of this harbor is made up of very large fishing boats catching everything from shrimp to cod.