August 15, 2010

The decision on whether to move on today to L'Anse-a-Beaufils was taken care of when I got up and I tried to boot our laptop. It was going unbelievably slow and I became very concerned. I messed around with it for awhile but finally ended up with Erik Alexander, "the Great", helping me out. It was Sunday, of course, and the one small shop here who might have been able to help was closed. But Erik, who is a university student working here at the marina, got busy and removed some things and did some other magic so all is well now. I hadn't done a backup for a couple of weeks and you can be sure I jumped on that task as soon as we got back to the boat.

By then it was noon so we lunched and then did a grocery run. The rest of the day just seemed to go away as we putzed around on the boat. Ken , the single-hander I mentioned, stopped over and we discussed weather and stops along the way to the States. He is using the same Down East Circle Route guide that we and Samuri are using. He also wants to be in the Chesapeake in October. So tomorrow it is off to L'Anse-a-Beaufils for both Eos and Fair Wind.

August 16, 2010

We have returned to Riviere-au-Renard. We started out this morning around 0730 hoping that we could get down the coast and around the corner to L'Anse-a-Beaufils soon after noon before the winds freshened to over 20 knots. Fair Wind took off earlier than we did because she is a smaller boat and it would take her longer.

Before we reached the turn, we saw Ken on Fair Wind coming back toward us. He radioed that it was just too brutal for him once he reached the corner. The winds and the seas were too much and he was heading back.

We continued on but when we reached the corner and turned it only took us about 15-20 minutes to look at each other and decide "Ken was right". The winds had come earlier than predicted and were steady about 24-25 kts and right on the nose. We were slowed down to 4 kts and it would be another 7-8 hours before we got to L'Anse-a-Beaufils. And it would have been hard slogging. So we turned around and arrived back here in about 2 hours at 1230. From the weather forecasts I've looked at we may be here a day or two. The wind force and direction and seas will be much the same as now. At least it is sunny and warm.

When Ken and I made a trek to the grocery store, I noticed a familiar looking catamaran anchored in the bay. I was back on the boat writing an email to Samuri (I hadn't been able to hail them on the VHF) to see if they were here when I heard Evelyne calling my name. It was great seeing them. Ken was coming over for dinner so I invited Christian and Evelyne as well.
We talked of many things and, of course, one of those things was when we would sail on. Both Ken and we had decided to give the weather one more day but Christian and Evelyne were undecided. We had a lovely evening with the three of them and look forward to more encounters along the way.

August 17, 2010

When I awoke this morning I noticed that Samuri was still anchored in the bay but a couple of hours later they were gone. Sure hope the winds and seas are good to them.

Today will be a day of boat maintenance and cleanup. It isn't all fun and games, you know. And so the maintenance included defrosting both the reefer and freezer. The switch accidentally got turned to manual once (it is now taped) and the freezer went way down. But I caught it in time and there was no damage to the unit but there was a lot of icing on the holding plate.

We also during a lull in the winds ran the main up and down and adjusted the roller boom. The vang under the boom that supports it needs to be at just the correct angle or the sail doesn't roll up properly. That has now been adjusted so Bill is much happier with the main furling.

Ken came over and visited for awhile and then we noticed that someone was giving a small outdoor concert up at the marina office. I was just about to suggest we go up and join in when the skies opened up and it rained the concert out. Bummer, it would have been fun to mingle with the people and here the music.

August 18, 2010

Once again we headed out for L'Anse-a-Beaufils and this time we made it. We left at 0815. I had heard Ken and Fair Wind leaving at 0500. Sure was nice to roll over and go back to sleep. We motored along with no wind and seas that would have been calm except that we had a half meter rollers that were left over from the winds and seas yesterday.

The weather was lovely and we had wonderful views of the shoreline and the bays and villages along the way. When we got to the corner where we had turned around before the seas were becoming flatter and the wind was still light. We motored along for awhile and the wind switched direction and ended right on our nose. So no sailing just more motoring.

We passed between Perce Rock and Ile Bonaventure and got some fine pictures of the rock which is one of the most photographed natural formations in the area. As we passed between the rock and the island the wind and the seas were building and continued to build all the way to L'Anse-a-Beaufils. Ahead we could see Ken and were glad that he had started out before us and didn't have to put up with the winds and seas as long as we did. As Bill Said we are going 6 knots horizontally and 3 knots vertically.

We arrived in L'Anse-a-Beaufils at 1400 and were met by Jacgues, the very helpful and friendly English speaking harbor master. Because of our draft we are tied up on the breakwater wall with fenders and a fender board to keep things tidy. There is a bar & café right here that makes it convenient but which may mean a not too quiet night on the wall. Our next leg will be a long one to Escumanic, New Brunswick. We will have to see what is predicted for tomorrow.