August 2008, with our third summer here, we have started to feel like Gaspé is our home port. We enjoy this part of Canada so much we’ve decided to linger and explore a bit off the beaten path. Many transient boats we have met stop in Gaspe for provisioning and fuel and move on quickly enroute for the Caribbean. The majority of boats we have seen are owned by Quebecers from Montreal and Quebec who also come out for the summer and explore this region, regularly going to Isles de la Madeleine or the Mingan Archipelago.After a couple of days getting provisioned and installing a new furler for the staysail we head out stopping briefly in Anse a Beaufils and then Chandler.
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The Chandler marina building, designed to look like a ship, has excellent facilities including a popular restaurant featuring local specialties, including cod cakes.![]()
We left Chandler with a forcast of 15-20 knots but saw winds of well over 30 blowing out the Baie des Chaleurs. Once we were in the channel heading up to Caraquet we were badly headed in very shallow and consequently rough water. Landing in Caraquet was a real experience having never been in the harbour before. But about 8 people were on the dock to direct us, have fenders ready and take our lines. It was still blowing over 30 knots and that night we had to gimble the stove while making dinner.![]()
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We just missed the Tintemare, the Acadian parade which is part of the Acadian National celebration, but the Stella Maris was in evidence everywhere. This gentleman specializes in replicas of local buildings, lobster traps and light houses. The fishing fleets were the largest we’d seen since Rivier au Renard.![]()
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We borrowed bicycles from the marina and enjoyed cycling out along the “sentier” through the low dunes and along tidal flats typical of this area.![]()
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Opposite the marina at Bas Caraquet is Caraquet Island. We enjoyed dingy exploring, picking blueberries and watching a family of Osperys, the magificent fish eagle from our anchorage there. Their nests are typically a huge jumble of sticks high up in an old snag, on hydro transformers or specially built platforms.![]()
After about a week the weather finally seemd to have settled and we crossed back over to Quebec, to the Acadian town of Bonaventure. On our crossing we got out the spinnaker, the shorts and sunblock for the first time. We borrowed bicycles again and continued to seek out the heritage buildings and culture that is so unique to this area.![]()
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Several sailors in Gaspé suggested we go into Anse a Barbe, tucked into a ravine with the train trestle at its head. When we arrived it was low tide and we were really unsure of the turning room in the tiny bay so we decide to continue around the point and go into the small fishing port of Gascons. There is a small floating dock that was fully occupied with local boats so we ended up rafting off a Nordica 30.
Again the weather went stormy on us as we departed Gascons heading back to Anse a Beaufils. After tacking for 30 miles in 20 knot head winds we took refuge in Grand Riviere, a commercial harbour with no real accomodation for yachts but it was one of the most interesting locations with a great poissonerie within a few minutes walk. Cod came in one day and the outlet was full of shoppers. Lots of the fabulous Aitken Bros. and other varieties of smoked salmon too! A really unpretentious town but with lots of interesting things to see.
Grand Riviere is home to a new aquaculture center which includes an amazing and inventive undersea park. The center very near the fish plant which has one of the last outdoor areas for natural cod drying. The flakes where the cod is laid out have little cedar tents to protect the fish from the marauding gulls but the day we arrived there was also an elderly man on an ATV busy roaring up and down sending the birds flying off.
Then we headed back to familiar territory, to Anse a Beaufils, past Percé and into Gaspé Bay where Phanty will spend the winter of 2008/2009 as we plan our next leg of our down east circle.
Apr 302013