August 19, 2010

The catamaran we saw by Ile Bonaventure was Samuri. They came into the wharf at L'Anse-a-Beaufils late yesterday afternoon. Christian and Evelyne and Ken (who had found additional crew who were coming in to L'Anse-a-Beaufils late on 8/20) then helped us turn Eos around so we were pointed out of the harbor for our early departure today. And it was early. Another 0400 start for Eos and Crew.

The sky was aglow with pre-sunrise light and the winds were non-existent, of course. We motored in no winds and flat seas through the morning. The sky a bright blue so it was sunny and warm. Not bad weather for a 90 nm leg.

Around 1400 the winds came up at 12kt form the ESE. Perfect for a close reach towards Escumanic, New Brunswick our intended port. Note the intended. We finally got back into cell phone range and there was a message from Robert Martin, the harbor master at Escumanic, with the news that the tide was low and we would not be able to make it into their basin. The basin was deep enough for us but another sail boat with 5' draft had come in the day before on a high tide and when leaving that morning had gone aground in the channel. They made a call for a dredge to come out but it would be next week before that happened. I called Robert and thanked him for letting us know and Bill and I went into next option mode.

Planning for the day after Escumanic, I had called Shediac, New Brunswick on past Escumanic to see about their depth. There was no way we could get into the marina and on a follow-up call with the harbor master I found out that their wharf was completely full. I had then called Summerside, Prince Edward Island to see how things were there. They had room for us and depth and size would be no problem. It was pretty apparent that our next stop would be Summerside, 75 NM from Escumanic so I called and made sure we could get in early in the morning after an all night passage. Everything was fine there so we settled in for a slow overnighter.

Now knowing where we were going and how long we needed to take to get there, we settled in for a glorious 6 hour sail toward the Northumberland Strait. The seas remained 0-1', the wind a steady 12-15 kts out of the ESE, the sky was a marvelous blue, the sun was a warm 67 degrees and the breeze was cooling. We couldn't have asked for more perfect sailing conditions and we slurped it all up. In fact, after awhile we reefed both the head sail and the main to try to slow the boat down so we wouldn't arrive in Summerside before 0700. Oh, the pain of having to give away wind in perfect sailing conditions.

At 2000 we decided that we would be motoring overnight to Summerside and so we regretfully rolled the sails in and gently put her under power. It would be 5 knots over the ground max for the rest of the trip. The seas remained 0-1 all night, the wind steadied at around 12 knots but more on the nose now. And so our overnight was filled with a sky full of stars, a three-quarter moon glistening across the water and a warm breeze. We each took our watches and tried to sleep when off watch. I think we both got maybe 4 hours of restless sleep.

August 20, 2010


When I came on watch at 0300 it was 67 degrees. What a comfortable overnighter it was. Dawn came and I got Bill up at 0630 so we could turn and go up the long channel to Summerside. We were docked at 0830 - tired but in Summerside. After securing Eos we both crashed until 1300 in the afternoon and are just now beginning to come alive. We will be here for at least two days. It is a lovely place and we are looking forward to being tourists and enjoying what is offered.