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.