Day 122 - Mon 27 Jul 2015
Docked - Matane, QC

[photo: Zendo (a 36 ft Heritage East trawler owned by Jon and Lynn) and Diva Di docked at the Matane Yacht Club]

Other than the almost continuous gentle rocking from the swell off the St. Lawrence, it was a comfortable night. The winds died to almost nothing and our anchor did not get a workout. I awoke about 0530 to dense fog, however, and wondered how long into the day it might last.

I ran the generator to recharge the batteries (not really needed), but most importantly to run the heater and warm the cabin above the 52F temperature I found when I got up. It only took 20 minutes to take the chill out of the cabin. The weather looked good for the 60 mile run today, but visibility would be the only real unknown. I am not saying that running in limited visibility is preferred, but you simply cannot be cruising through these foggy regions without confidence in your RADAR and chart plotter and your ability to use them.

At 0700, Jon and I conferred on the VHF radio and called it a go to depart at 0730. While there isn't a very significant tidal current here, there can be up to a knot with or against you. Unfortunately, for the first 5 hours, it was somewhat against us, although there are eddies and counter-currents that can help or hurt depending on exactly when you get to a certain spot.

The visibility started at about 200 feet and then improved from there. At times, we could see for several miles, but within minutes, it would lower back to ¼ mile or so. We also had a short period with bright sunny skies above us, but less than ½ mile visibility all around us. Overall, there was not much time that we could see the nearby coast at all. When we could see around us for a bit, I kept a good lookout for not only boats, but whale spouts. We saw none.

I called the yacht club at Matane to see if they could accommodate both our boats. The woman that answered did not speak English, but I said we could probably do this all in French. She asked about our boat sizes, the time of arrival, and our drafts to see if the low tide would let us in, and she said yes. When I thought it was all concluded, she asked me to wait. Then a different woman got on speaking very good English and read back all the info to be sure it was correct. I was happy that it was, and then congratulated her on her excellent English. I could imagine her rolling her eyes as she replied, "I'm from Halifax." [That is in the English speaking province of Nova Scotia.]

I radioed Zendo with the good news and told him we were going to speed up a bit too arrive early. My reasoning was that I need to purchase a 'top-up' card for the pre-paid phone plan we got for Canada. I should have bought one in several places where they would have been very convenient, and then used it when needed, but I didn't. I need to update the plan balance by tomorrow or we lose service.

Our arrival at the marina was uneventful with the young Halifax woman and the Vice Commodore of the yacht club to greet and help us. It is a charming little building in a well-protected spot. We paid the bill and stuck around to help Zendo get tied up, and then Diane and I walked along the busy highway to the closest strip mall where Diane did some grocery shopping and I walked a bit farther to a gas station to buy the top-up card for the phone plan. It all worked out well.

It was interesting to watch how the fog rolled in and out so quickly. One minute you can see the sun and it feels pretty nice; the next minute you can only see 100 meters and it is cold and damp. Very strange. Zendo had us over for some snacks and a drink and then we split up to get our suppers aboard our boats around 2100.

The weather looks good for another run tomorrow, but Diane is tired after several longish days and I don't blame her. We should only have to run about 5-6 hours tomorrow to get to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts for another marina stay. From there, it will take another 2 runs before getting around the rest of the large Gaspe peninsula, where we will be headed south again.