Cruising Again!!
15 July 2014 | St Andrews, NB
Cloudy, rain, Temp 14C, wind SW@10-15
Anchored in Northwest Harbour, Deer Island, NB
We arrived at the boatyard last Thursday, unloaded our gear and fell dead asleep... great to be back aboard. Friday we headed down to visit Bruce and Nancy Montgomery, long time cruising friends with whom we left 10 bins of miscellaneous gear, mostly clothes (Jeannie's) and bedding. After a beautiful evening cruise on the Kenebec River, we had a great dinner and evening.
Saturday we headed back to the yard to go over the myriad additions and improvements. The list goes on for pages and Estelle is better than new!
Sunday we set out east on our summer cruise, destination, Saint John River. After a quiet sail, boosted by the strong tidal currents, we motored into Roque Island late in the day. As the fog and rain began, we just got securely anchored and headed below for dinner. The night was one of the most wild we have spent aboard... torrential downpours interspersed with driving gusts of 25-30 knots, all the while rolling to an annoying swell that found its way in and caught us broadsides. Not the most pleasant night we have spent aboard.
Monday morning we headed out into the fog to catch the tide up towards the Bay of Fundy, and enjoyed speeds up to 9 knots as we flew north-east. By evening we were anchored in the tranquility of North-west Harbour on Deer Island. The contrast with the previous night could not have been stronger... an empty anchorage with flat calm waters in a beautiful warm evening and not a person around.
Today we woke to thick fog and motored through the boils and swirling waters of Letite Passage leading in to Passamaquoddy Bay and the pretty town of St Andrews. A quick call to Customs, a visit, some money exchanged and we were taking down the yellow flag, leaving the flag pennant empty for the first time since we bought Estelle in 2004.
Forecasts are for strong winds and heavy rain for tomorrow, so we are now looking at Friday to head for Saint John to navigate the Reversing Falls and begin our cruise of the Saint John River.