Saturday 7th September

There was the most amazing sunrise, what do they say red sky in the morning, shepherds warning once the sun was up the sky was still blue, the sun was out and there was just a slight breeze.

I couldn't choose which pic to use !!

We knew we had until about midday to get organised. There were another 20 fishing boats in the harbour all tied stern to the wall and one other smaller yacht next to us.  The fishermen were now starting to take things seriously and were at their boats putting on extra lines.
We removed the front two sails completely, brought them down and folded them up and stowed them below, we removed what halyards (ropes) we could and Craig tied down anything we couldn't remove. He even tied down the arms of folding centre table.

The solar panels were removed one by one that was a big time consuming task while Craig was doing that I walked over to the Art gallery we had visited on our last visit. I remembered that there was a basement where we had seen the special exhibition that was on display and that's where I wanted to shelter from the hurricane - in someone's basement !!! 

I don't know why but it was not hard to knock on Pierrette Molaison's door, I explained who I was and asked if we could seek shelter in her basement and she said without hesitation "Of course" I sat down and almost cried with relief and had to fight back the tears as I further explained our situation. Pierrette's  first language is French but she has good English but sometimes it was hard for her to find the right words and I wasn't always sure she fully understood us.

I thanked her profusely and ran back to the boat  Craig was almost done he had had to grind off a couple of the bolts  holding on the solar panels but we will deal with that later.  I threw our doona in a bag, I packed a suitcase In it threw in a change of clothes each, PJs toilet bag, bath towels, all our paperwork passports etc, medicines then anything that we would be upset if we lost. I packed my panda teddy that I've had since I was born.  I packed a bag with all the ipads and phone chargers, the binoculars and the drone, the Bose speaker and Craig's good headphones. I packed a Curry that we had made and some rice, and a few beers The bags went up on the dock ready to take to Pierrette's.

stripping everything off the decks 

This could have been all we were left with !!

Back inside Adriana we put everything into cupboards so there was nothing that could fly around and cause damage we pretty much have everything secured when we sail so it was just the odd thing that had to be put away.

We closed the seacocks and hatches switched off the power and water pumps. 

We grabbed the other two huge balloon fenders, Chislam told us they had come off an oil tanker.  We put out all our fenders, these were what was going to protect Adriana from bashing against the dock.

This is how the big balloons and our fenders sat 

There was not much more we could do

The dingy was tied to the dock behind the boat, Craig took out the plug so it filled to the waterline it sat low and heavy half full of water.

Every rope we owned was used to secure Adriana.

We had done everything we could think of to prepare her for a Hurricane.  

We removed the plug and let the dingy half fill with water

I felt the same feeling I feel when I'm going to a funeral a sort of sadness and dread, that's the only way I can describe it.  Sadness for everyone already affected and a dread for what was to come.

We half joked "oh no our trip might be over and we have not even left Canada" but that was the reality of it.

Craig helped the guy on the little yacht next to us to take down his front sail, he was a volunteer for the Red Cross, he offered for us to stay at his house but imagined he would be busy all night.
We were all done by 1.00 pm just as the winds picked up and the rain started. I had hitched a lift with our bags to Pierrette's with one of the fishermen he had kindly offered to drive me. Pierrettes place was 10 minutes walk away directly opposite the harbour where Adriana was so not too far. The gallery has a coffee shop, well a tea shop really with a comprehensive choice of teas, homemade cakes and biscuits and the most amazing array of china teacups. You get to choose your cup when you order your tea. Pierrette was busy serving tea so we piled our bags into the spare room she had very kindly given us and went for quick showers over at the restaurant, the guy from the small yacht had very kindly given us the key, we wanted to impose on Pierrette as little as possible.

The cutest teashop 

The wind was increasing and it was pouring rain, it was starting to get dark but it was still only about 3 o'clock.  Sitting in the tea shop we could clearly see Adriana the windows were double glazed so we were snug and the sound of the wind was dulled a bit.  

The sky around 3pm

There was a constant stream of trucks going back and forth to the dock it was all the fishermen checking on their boats.

The first part of the hurricane brought winds that pushed Adriana against the dock, hard against the dock bashing her again and again and pushing her mast down on that side, later in the night the winds swung around and she was being hit straight on the nose which was the least damaging direction for her, then they came from the other side and she was pushed off the dock constantly, and we could see her mast leaning this way towards us and down towards the water.

Pierrettes customers were slow to leave but when they did we opened a bottle of wine and had a delicious lobster couscous salad and the beef curry that we had brought with us.  The winds were howling and rain was battering the windows.  The harbour is so well lit we could clearly see Adriana all night.  Around 9pm we had eaten and felt we could not watch anymore and we were exhausted so we all went off to bed. 

Pierrette is on her own and she said she was very happy to have us stay and keep her company in fact the next morning she said she felt so secure with us there, like when she was a little girl with her parents in the next room.

Craig's phone rang just as we were settling down it was Chislam once he realised where we were he called in to say hello. He reported that Adriana was fine he had released the tension on one of the lines so that all of the ropes had equal pull and did not cause any damage.  So we actually had Chislam down at the waterfront with all the other fishermen keeping an eye on her too.

 

Thats Adriana on the left

I sat up for a while watching and listening to the wind it had started to really whistle, that whistle has a high pitched scream, something I hope to never hear again.
Its a different sound to anything I've heard before and it was constant outside of the windows the rose bushes where laying flat on the ground and the rain was pelting down.

I tried to take video footage from inside but there was not much to see and I wasn't going outside to get blown away. 

It was comforting to receive lots of messages and FB messages wishing us luck and letting us know everyone was thinking of us, it was good as it gave us something to concentrate on.

The fishermen actually sat in their boats with the engines running in first gear -  forward for the last half of the night/ the morning.  There was a 20 mt swell surge that came over the concrete of the dock and they were working to keep their boats from coming back onto the concrete road. 

The fishermen had to work all night keeping their boats from mounting the road 

Chislam told us in the morning that a fibreglass dingy had been on the opposite shore and the wind had picked it up and carried it across the water where it got stuck between Adriana and the small yacht next to us. When they had gone down to haul it out and tie it up  the floating docks had risen so much that the walkway that normally goes

down was then a steep climb up, the water had risen so high.

We lost a seat and an oar off the dingy 

Those fishermen were out all night protecting their boats and watching out for ours too, we are so grateful to them.

Eventually I went back down stairs to the basement closed the bedroom door and the only sound was Craig snoring. It was lovely and cosy and the best thing to do was to sleep and try not to think about what was happening outside. The basement we were in was hand dug by Pierrette and her brother it took them a year to complete.

Craig chatting with  Pierrette and a friend in the foreground 

At first light we were up and dressed and straight up to the tea shop window and there she was still floating, we made a cup of tea and it was not long before Chislam came in for a coffee.
It had been a long night for him he said he had changed into dry clothes about 4 times.  These fishermen are used to big strong storms but he said this was a bad one.  All the boats were intact and there was no real damage in the harbour area -  we certainly had moved to the right location to weather this storm.

Other parts of the Madeline Islands were not so lucky  President Trudeau even re tweeted a tweet from the local mayor.

Havre Aubert had been hit hard the solid Warf we had been on was still standing but the floating dock that we had used to walk back to the club house had come loose and all the

boats mostly yachts had moved with it and were all now piled on top each other. 

Kitt and Belinda's boat had weathered the storm and only had minor surface hull damage. But the boat that was sitting next to them had sunk.... The road between the shops was destroyed and the force of the wind had moved houses and many were damaged.  The local school had lost its roof.

These boats were next to us at Havre Aubert 

The destruction of Havre Aubert

Throughout the whole night and next day Etang De Nord lost power a couple of times but never for very long it always came straight back on which was amazing considering the city of Halifax lost power for days.

Sitting again at the window the wind was still howling but it had lost its whistle.  We made some brunch for us all then we waited until around midday before we walked down to the harbour to inspect Adriana but even then the wind was still gale force and waves were still crashing over the break wall.

Tuesday 3rd September 

By the morning I had had enough of spinning and bobbing around so we decided to go into the marina too.  The boat had swung on the anchor round and round and round and rocked and swung I found it easier to not look out the window, the lights were swinging past like a carnival ride.
We decided to head into the marina as the weather was not forecast to improve until Thursday.

That's when Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas
Its devastating thinking about the people who live there and what they were going through and it brought home that there were people on boats like us losing everything.

That's when Craig showed me the windy app.... showing Hurricane Dorian, and we were right in its path, he had sat looking at the app most of the day, I had no idea why he was so obsessed as he tends to look at the weather app all day anyway -  but this one was big.

The blue dot is us 

"I don't think he quite knew how to tell me we were sitting in the path of a hurricane"
By the time we were tied up to the dock Kitt and Belinda had heard the news too.  

Hurricanes rarely ever make it this far North, there is a hurricane season down south
Bahamas Florida etc its a sort of hurricane square that basically means you should not go below New York until November 1st. This one was hitting the Bahamas now and its path was due directly over Isles De La Madeline. The usual course of a hurricane takes it up the coast and as it hits cooler water it abates and looses its force, this was what everyone was hoping would happen.

We are now in deep panic !! there is no use heading South straight into its path, where we are sitting feels so open and exposed, no huge walls around us like previous marinas and we are feeling very uncomfortable.

One option is to go back to Gaspe or even further back around to Riviere Au Renaud where we know we would be sheltered and out of the eye of the storm. But we would have to get there and doing the calculations it would be  a minimum 24 hour passage,  motoring most of the way and what if the engine fails or something else stops working, that would be a 24 hour sail with a hurricane chasing you- no room for anything to breakdown or go wrong.

At this marina we are tied to a fixed wall not a floating dock the storm surge could lift us up and over the dock. The fenders can pop as you are pushed against the dock. This is the
strength of wind that can lift shipping containers and throw them around what could it do to a yacht.  There is no where to get hauled out like they do here over winter. The harbours are busy pulling out their own boats. We really don't know what to do.
Also its still really windy the conditions are not allowing us to leave here even if we wanted to.
Club Nautique has a little bar so I sent Craig to the bar as he was pacing and fretting and needing to talk, but the locals all spoke French and very little English and seemed quite unconcerned about the hurricane. 
I walked up to join Craig and  he was sitting by himself so we went for a walk to check out the lay of the land.  Havre Aubert is a pretty little tourist village where they have restored all the old fishermen's houses and turned them into shops and art galleries all set along the street on the waters edge. It all looked very nice but we were in no mood to look at shops or the local museum or little aquarium. 
At 5pm we joined Kitt and Belinda for beers at the bar and still the locals did not seem too concerned, they were waiting to see if the hurricane would blow its self out and loose its ferocity or maybe divert from its predicted path.  Also they deal with strong storm winds as a matter or course.

The weather was windy and stormy but you can see how bare and windswept Havre Aubert is 

Wednesday 4th September

After a restless night we are still waiting to see if there are any changes to the predicted storm so we have a day out with Kitt and Belinda it was quite an adventure we caught a local bus to the IGA smkt then a taxi to the main town, Cap Aux Meules  where we called in to a chandlery and I found a pair of wet weather sailing boots, commonly known as wellies.  But even when I was buying them I was thinking what's the point the boat could sink and I'll never get to wear them. Craig spoke to the guys in the chandlery and we could tell they were starting to get concerned, we were trying to buy more fenders or ideally large round balloon type fenders but they had none in stock.  The one girl there offered to contact a few fishing boats that were already hauled out to see if she could source some for us, we called back after lunch but I guess the locals needed to use them themselves.

We had lunch in a nice café then had to bolt up the road to catch the local bus back.  Kitt had done all the research for the public transport, the locals kept telling us there was no bus and he did a grand job considering no one spoke English.  

That night we had wind gusts up to 30kmh, this weather pattern has nothing to do with the hurricane these winds are coming from a different direction, these are normal winds for this area at this time of year.

Thursday 5th September 

We were still unsure as what to do

The locals are lovely and truly helpful but no one would comment on our situation Craig persisted and spent the evening talking to a local, Bruno, who was starting to see the severity of the threat of the path of  Hurricane Dorian as Craig showed him the weather apps on his phone. 

We were having 5pm drinks in the bar with a lovely group of locals I think I could live there and I think I could take all my girlfriends with me, we would all fit in so well.  One lady I was talking to was telling me they have three food collectives around the islands where they purchase food in bulk and then cook it up, this is for everyone not just poor or elderly it is a real community effort that everyone benefits from and it has been going for 20 years. Almost all the locals have a party piece that they can perform, such as a piece of poetry or song or they can play a musical instrument and they have music evenings all the time, they guaranteed me every home has a piano. We met so many lovely people that evening.  

Chislam the Harbour Master from Etang Du Nord called in to pick up the money we owed him from our last day there and as I was chatting to him he quietly leaned forward and  said "you should come back to Etang Du Nord it will be better for you, I will put you on the floating dock and we have balloons for you"

This was the solution we had been looking for !!

When we were back on Adriana I told Craig about what Chislam had said and it clicked, it just seemed right - what a relief - we had a plan.  We texted Chislam  straight away to confirm we were going to take his advice.  We rang Kitt and Belinda to see if they wanted to come with us in the morning.  Kitt and Belinda decided to sit it out and stay at Havre Aubert.

Friday 6th September

There was still no change in the hurricane prediction she was heading straight for us and there was only a slight drop in ferocity. Time to move back to Etang Du Nord. we paid our bill and said our goodbyes and left the lovely little village.
The weather was a lot calmer the winds had died down and the seas were slightly smaller for our sail back around the bottom of the island the same course we had taken just a few days before.  The seas were still choppy and there was a big swell but nothing like what we had gone through a few days earlier.  It was a 5 hour sail back around and we rang Chislam as we neared the harbour he had been watching our progress from his loungeroom.  He met us at the dock and there were two huge balloons already tied to the dock ready for us and 2 more if we wanted to use them.
The sense of relief was enormous, we felt so much better being on a floating dock and behind the protection of the huge rock walls, this is a different side of the harbour to where we were earlier in the week. The floating dock is only a few years old and the most solidly built docks Craig had ever seen.
We still  had to find somewhere for us to spend the night there was no way I was staying on Adriana and I felt I had to get Craig off too so that he wasn't tempted to get out in the middle of a hurricane to save her if things went bad.

We arrived back around 4pm and had time to start taking off the dodger and all the lifesaving devises, the BBQ, the Canadian and Fleur De Lise and our Australian flag, we worked until dark putting everything below deck.

How we would have been tied up if we had stayed at Haver Aubert

The Club at Havre Aubert

Sunset from the club at Havre Aubert

Adriana looking towards the floating dock and clubhouse

Kitt on Quincene 

On our way back to Etang Du Nord 

The rugged, interesting coastline of Isle De La Madeline 

Riviere Au Renard 

The colourful boats and buildings make everything look so pretty

The weather has stayed superb mid 20's and only dropping to 18-19c overnight. we had a lovely time in Riviere Au Renard with Margot and Eduardo Belinda and Kitt there was live music on the deck at the Club Nautique Folillon so we sat and had a beer and enjoyed being with the locals, I must add that this was the last music night for the season. 

Eduardo and Margot, see the fish in his hand they offered me some !!

Music on the deck at the club

We had a few beers at the local micro brewery but mostly we sat on each others boats and had  impromptu tapas, Eduardo and Margot purchased lots of different tubs and jars and types of fish for us to try from the local poissonerie (fish shop) We thoroughly enjoyed their company Eduardo bought me a present of a maple syrup lobster lolly to help me like fish more :)  

Kitt and Belinda they have been cruising for 13 years  

We walked to the local shrimp processing plant you know the little shrimps we (Craig and I) usually pull out of Chinese fried rice, they come from here. They also catch crab, lobster, Halibut, Mackerel, these are just the fish that we are familiar with, there are lots more.   It is a pretty place, the fishing harbour is the main source of employment, its huge. 

Kitt and Belinda are from Devon UK and have been cruising for 13 years I was surprised and pleased to be included in a conversation where I was referred to as a cruiser. 
They do sometimes store their boat for the Winter season and go home, it was fun to listen to their stories and experiences and to share our story and history.
This was our first time spending time with other people who live on their boats and cruise for months at a time heading much further afield than your average boat owner. 

The girls and I went for a walk up to the church and neon cross on the hill overlooking the harbour and we found wild raspberries.

These fishing boats are huge 

You don't see this warning everyday 

The mornings catch - Crab

All while we waited for our part to arrive.  
Both couples were planning to take their boats our of the water for Winter and were almost at their last stop so were in no hurry to move on while the weather was still so nice.




The other 2 couples left on the Sunday morning and we were alone again hoping the part would arrive on Monday.  We had to wait for Tuesday but when it arrived the new windlass was fitted within an hour . We had done our research and knew there was a reasonable weather window that would allow us to move to Gaspe where we could anchor over night.  
This harbour had cost us $1.30 per foot, we are 50 foot, multiply that by 7 and it soon adds up.  So we  said our goodbyes an thanked Clement and Patrice for their hospitality the guys at the club had been so helpful even with their limited English.

Once we were out into the main harbour we put out the mainsail, turned left and we were on our way... we were unsure of our destination - our exact destination- we had two choices

if the conditions were not right (as in too rough) we would turn the corner and head into Gaspe or we could keep going and sail through the night to Isles De La Madeline.

It was a rough start the waves were short and sharp making it a rough sea and there was a huge swell running but we had a good strong wind blowing from the right direction. So of course we kept going.  The seas settled a little either that or we got used to the conditions !!

We donned our wet weather gear as the sun set, it was rough going but we had a constant 6-7 knots all through the night.  We passed a couple of fishing boats lit up like Christmas trees their fluorescent lights are so bright. 

Cape Gaspe 

Approaching Isles De La Madeline

I kept looking behind us to see if the Northern Lights were doing a show but there was nothing. That was probably my last chance to see them, Eduardo had told me to watch out for them as it is possible on a clear night when you are away from town lights to sight them

on the horizon. 

So many sunsets and sunrises but we go to bed early 

On we ploughed experiencing another beautiful sunrise.  We telephoned ahead to book in to Etang Du Nord, every call was an experience very few people speak English, occasionally a shop keeper will have good English but not many.  

We entered another working fishing boat harbour and tied up to a huge dock, sheltered again by massive rock walls.  Kit and Belinda were not far behind us, they had left Gaspe the previous evening too.  

view from portside window

Just some fishing boats 

Once we were tied up we saw this little yacht come in she was being towed in and manoeuvred into a spot against the wall.  We had noticed this boat outside the harbour with its sails up being bashed around by the swell.  Onboard were a young Canadian couple Ali and Jacob they had just spent 2 days sailing from Gaspe as their engine had broken down and this was Ali manoeuvring the boat  - into port using the dingy I was in awe, she did an amazing job.  We cant believe they left Gaspe without a working engine but they are on their way to Sydney on Cape Breton Island where family will meet them to help sort out their engine troubles oh and their auto pilot was not working so they had to hand steer all that way.

We had to sit out some windy weather for a couple of day while the cold fronts passed.  This archipelago of islands is very remote, ruggedly spectacular and very windswept.  There are a number of little villages dotted over this main island that we are on, Ile Du Cap Aux Meules being the biggest town. 

The Cliffs are slowly being eroded by the sea 

The earth is a deep red sand and the powerful waves are slowly eroding the coastline in a spectacular way.  Etand Du Nord is just a little tourist village with a huge harbour and a cluster of pretty shops that include a kite shop and a restaurant.  The toilets and showers and WIFI were all attached to the restaurant a bit of a hike to have a shower.

The sand is bright red 

Stunning to look at 

So So red

Sculpture on the boardwalk and ode to the fishermen 

There was a poissonnerie  (fish shop)

All local and fresh the best smelling fish shop Craig had ever been in

And a lovely coffee shop close by  but  my favourite an artist in residence Pierrette Molaison gallery and studio called Le Flaneur.   I had a quick look around her gallery the first day

and dragged Craig back for a good look the following day.  Very quirky and I found these that she had made they reminded me of Callum and his friend Rex.

Craig cooked some locally caught fresh Halibut.  We shared a taxi with Kitt and Belinda to the local big supermarket, shared meals and coffee with them as well it was nice to have buddies. 

The Halibut was delicious 

The houses are all painted in cute colours not just the tourist shops and you can see how windy it must get in Winter by the lack of fences and trees, there were dog rose bushes

everywhere still in bloom with incredibly strong smelling roses.

A weather window opened up and we decided to grab the opportunity to head a little bit further south.  These fronts that were coming through were bringing 20knt winds with gusts

up to 30 knts too much for a comfortable sail in open seas. and there was a lul the next day.

So first thing the next morning we headed to Havre Aubert still on the Magdalene Isles just slightly further south, with Kitt and Belinda keeping us company.  

Getting out of the harbour was uncomfortable with big choppy waves, we hoisted the main sail and the headsail, stowed the fenders and we were off ploughing through the swell.  Things got a bit rougher as we rounded the bottom of the island where there was wind against current and we had an even bigger swell. We had spoken to a couple who pulled into the harbour for the night, who had rounded this point yesterday, she said the waves were the biggest she had ever seen, we didn't think much of it until we were going through them ourselves,  they were the biggest waves I had ever seen. 

But Adriana sailed through,  her bow cutting through the waves, that's not to say it wasn't big and scary being surrounded by huge breaking waves, the horizon would disappear as we went into a trough and we would bob over the top and sailed on.

its hard to capture the swell 

The swell abated after about an hour as we cleared the landmass we headed south passing a long long sandy beach, the first sand beaches we have seen in months, It actually reminded us of Cape Woolamai at home.

Entry Island 

rounding the cape

There were lots of windsurfers skimming across the water, taking advantage of the winds.
We followed the harbour markers into Have Aubert and dropped the anchor in the harbour basin only planning on an overnight stopover, before we continued on south.

We had peaceful night until the wind picked up around 2am, 

This is us at anchor swinging around 

Kitt and Belinda decided they didn't want to do another uncomfortable night on anchor so they went into the marina at first light. 
It rained and the wind howled all day 25 knots with 30knot gusts we spent the day with the anchor alarm on, reading and resting and oh yes eating !!  It was too windy to put the dingy down and go over to the marina.  Then we  had a very rocky night with the anchor alarm under Craig's pillow as we tried to sleep.