Southbound!
20 June 2013 | Cloridorme
OK, the superlatives are going to get a workout. After a rough morning yesterday I got up at 6:30, the sea was calm so I made a mess of coffee and a big bowl of hot porridge and push off. Found the Gaspé current about 1.5 miles offshore and am currently motoring east at 8 knots.
Last night sleep was difficult, the much vaunted katabatic wind kicked in at midnight and kept us banging, bouncing and slamming against the wharf until 6 am. The katabatic wind is a land breeze that at night blows down a valley and out through its mouth. The deeper and broader the valley, the more violent the wind. We were getting 25-30 knots.
We passed Cap Gros Morne around 8 am. At 49 degrees 16.6 minutes North latitude this is the most northerly point of our journey. It's all southbound now until New York City.
The coast is utterly spectacular. We have driven the coast road a couple of times and it is pretty, but the view from 1-2 miles offshore is unbelievable. Sheer cliffs soar hundreds of feet from the water, deep valleys bring rivers from the interior, at many of them there is a simple breakwall and a small harbour with floats for the local fishing fleet. Each village has a prominent church, often built on a headland overlooking the sea, a depanuer and a Casse Croute. Larger towns have a grocery, maybe a hardware store.
We have encountered a three solitary minke whales, one that surfaced, blew and dove about 100' from the boat and another who was surfacing and diving in a regular motion as headed west. We have also seen several pods of belugas including a pod of at least 20 about 500' from the boat off Grand Vallée.