Cont. Charlottetown to Gaspe

Here are some more photos on this part of our journey. mainly - on Bouctouche, Miramichi Bay[ Portage Is.] Chandler , Perce Rock and Gaspe Town.

View from Marina at Bouctouche

Marina Club house at Bouctouche  an Irving family project

Elizabethan Gardens part of the Irving  contribution to the people of Bouchtouce

Annie the harbour master and our French teacher in Chandler Quebec

Cap Blanc Lighthouse,approaching the village of Perce

Famous Perce Rock, we could sail close to it

Ile Bonaventure ,the island of sea birds

Town of Gaspe Quebec

Leaving Portage Island,Miramichi NB at 4 am

Charlottetown to Gaspe

We had a few  blogging technical problems but glad to be up and running again.Charlottetown was great especially since we could enjoy it with Willem and Josiah still on board.  We entered this port on Canada day coming from Pictou.The weather was warmer and the sun was shining. The cruise ship'Maasdam' was also docked there. This confederation town was alive with people and music celebrating Canada's 146th birthday.We enjoyed a dinner outing  on the busy main street and later spectacular fireworks on the waterfront--viewed from our boat . On Wed. Bill and the boys took the dingy out  for a tour of the harbour .and waterfront. This time the 'Veendam' was in port. One of the 75 cruise ships booked to visit Charlottetown this season.  To finish  the day we went to see the musical 'Anne of Green Gables'. . Thursday, we rented a car and toured the island , saw the beaches and visited Lucy Maud Mongomery's  country.We also drove over to Summerside and saw and reserved a  boat slip[dock] for the Friday.That was the first time Bill and I ever saw the marina before taking our boat there. We made our way back to Charlottetown Airport where Willem and Josiah were booked for a 6:30 flight back to T.O. and home . Fun having you share life on Adriana 1 with us Willem and Josiah!
 From Charlottetown we headed to Summerside,Nova Scotia.Saturday we moved on to Bouctouche,New Bruinswick [also Acadia country]. Everyone is bilingual in this area with French being their first language.The harbour master, John, soon told us about the beautiful parklike grounds the Irving family cultivated and designed  and maintain- with many species of trees and flower gardens -amazing. We sure enjoyed our walks through there.We were really impressed with the church Mrs. Irving had built on the grounds in 2004.This started off being a Scottish settlement and  Scottish Presbyterian. The harbour clubhouse was also a very special design-- looked after by the Irvings too.It was hard to leave here but Monday morning it was onto Miramiche Bay and  we anchored behind Portage Island. Still surprised not to see other boats on the move. Not like Georgian Bay this time of year.  On Tuesday we lifted anchor at 4a.m and it was already getting light . Early start for a long day to Chandler, the start of our Gaspe Penninsula journey. We are into Quebec now and back on EStime. We were met by the Captiene de Port, Annie. Great help! She gave us french pronunciation lessons for boat terms. Lots of fun. Apparently the way we said 'sailboat' actually was the word for thief. She liked birds too. Another lesson ! From Chandler our trip took us to the town of Gaspe. Not without reporting we saw our first 2 whales in the distance.This trip also took us past Perce Rock and Ile Bon Aventure , just over from Perce. This Island is the home and nesting ground for thousands of Northren Gannets and many other sea birds--250,000 at least. The Gannets have kept us company for many days now. They fly together in such beautiful formation-like an airshow. We had one of the best sails going into the Gaspe Baie -about 15 miles of great winds and water. We needed fuel and our shaft needed attention and Gaspe turned out to be a good place to have these looked after. What a friendly town . We went shopping for a drapeau de Quebec,and the storekeeper gave it as a gift. Merci!  The next day was another big day 85 miles. We experienced currents that held us back some ,making it a long day. We were so thankful to be greeted by folks on the docks to help us tie up at Riviere -La-Madeliene. A quiet little port. The Gaspe  mountains and cliffs and pretty villages along the way -very scenic!. The next day we dealt with strong head winds so were glad to get into St. Anne de Monts. Monday we had strong winds again as we made our way to Matane . Here we were allowed to anchor in a commercial harbour not far from a ferry dock. We are currently in Rimouski at a dock. We had to motor today but the wind and water and current helped us really move today.The marina here is great. We are already fuelled up ready to move on to Tadoussac tomorrow, weather permitting. We get to cross the St Lawrence River. Our plan is to be in Quebec City this weekend and meet Malcolm and Cindy and family there.

Veendam Cruise Ship  view from adriana 1

The three boys out for a cruise

Lunch with Willem and Josiah in N.Rustico P.E.I

Shawnie at Green Gables

Josiah and Willem waiting at Charlottetown Airport for their flight home

Confederation Bridge to P.E.I. We sailed under it on the way to Summerside P.E.I.

More pictures from  Charlottetown to Gaspe to follow.

Bras D'or Lakes to Pictou, Nova Scotia

Hello again
 We are presently in a lovely marina in Summerside.Just arrived a few hours ago from Charlottetown . We have a lot to tell you about our jouney the last few weeks. We made it back to St. Peter's  on June 19. Early [like 4 a.m.] we made our way to Sydney Airport for a 6:30 a.m. flight home. With grade 8 graduations , Josiah's and Marika's to name 2, Whispering Pines Nursery 20th anniversary [wow Greg and Sheri and team],a trip to Ottawa to visit family and witness Ronda's public profession of Faith- there was not a lot of down time. And on Wednesday, June 26 we received the call that Weston Jerimiah Van Berkel arrived --another son for Ryan and Elissa. What joy! and that we could meet him before going back to our boat the evening of June 27. All in the Lord's perfect time.
 Thursday brought the excitment of meeting up with Willem and Josiah and heading to the plane for Sydney. Our dear friend ,Gerry was there to meet us and drive us back to our boat at a late hour..
  The next morning the 4 of us were up bright and early . The boys and I went to the grocery store to get provisions while Bill prepared the boat. As soon as we arrived back we heard the bridge was up and the canal and lock was open for us.So Adriana 1 was on the move again with 2 more crew members. Decked in sweaters and rain jackets we made our way thru Lennox Passage that separates Cape Breton Island from Isle Madame. A picturesque waterway included a lift bridge and it opens up into  Strait of Canso. At this entrance we saw 'Atlas' a big ocean tanker anchored in what the charts call an 'Anchor Berth.'  The shipping lanes thru this strait  only had pilot boats heading out to oceangoing ships that use this waterway.So we had clear passage through the lock and canal plus a bridge that handles the causeway to Cape Breton Island had to be lifted.On the way Willem and Josiah soon had the seaman's alphabet memorized .They were great at spotting buoy markers too. Remember -Red Right Returning. We had some brisk winds and waves coming out of the Strait of Canso into the Northumberland Strait which did give us an opportunity to do some sailing for a few hours. Actually the winds went up to 25+ knots the last hour . We were thankful to find the entrance into Ballantyne Cove but then had a bit of a challenge finding a place to dock our boat and no one there to direct us. It was full of Lobster boats and there were shallow areas to watch out for. After turning the boat around our Captain Bill noticed a spot to dock. It was  awkward since the wind pushed us away from the dock ,plus we needed a little more time to get fenders and lines ready. We were so thankful to receive help from shore  and very ready to settle in and relax after a long day. Saturday we woke up to more rain with plans to go to Pictou, N.S. . Along with rain we also dealt with fog. The new crew was introduced to radar and the radar screen on our chart plotter. We had strong S/ S/W winds-- 19 -23 knots but favourable for our course so the sails went up . We did have a incident with the jib sheets[lines] The winds tangled them into a knot,so the only thing Bill could do was cut one of them so we could furl the sail and put the boat  back on course for Pictou. We arrived at Hector Quay Marina in the pretty town of Pictou around 3p.m.It was wonderful to have the dock master tell us where to dock so we could be ready .He and a helper tied us up. This marina is named after the boat that brought the first Scottish settlers to this town in 1773. A replica of this ship, Hector finds it's home in this marina.  A pretty town with beautiful old but cared for church buildings. We were able to worship in one of these old Presbyterian church buildings. I'm sure it would have been filled to the rafters when family worship was still important not that many generations ago.
 When we arrived in the marina we noticed a boat with Owen Sound on their boat, Modaki. The neat part of this meeting them is that they come from Owen Sound and are doing the east coast in stages. They have already made their way down the St. Lawrence ,down the Gaspe' ,New Bruinswick shores. These are all places we will soon be covering . They gave us many tips and ideas for our trip up . thank you Joe and Yvonne from Owen Sound.
The next story will tell about our visit to Charlottetown and onward.

Lennox Passage Bridge ,Isle Madame NS

Josiah and Willem

"Hector" without the masts, Pictou NS

Pictou NS

Church at Barra Str. Bras D'or Lakes