Monday, July 21, 2008 (Harbour Breton, Newfoundland)

[Left] Arriving (again) in Canada. [Below] Preparing Vin de Honor.

[Left] Vin de Honor. [Below] Signalman at work.
[Bottom] It does say "Viva la France".

It’s been a while since our last update. We are now on the famed Coast of Bays-- The Southwest coast of Newfoundland. Known for its imposing fiords, wild scenery and both populated and abandoned “outports”. The outports are those small fishing communities with a tenacious hold on the cliffs, but a less secure toehold in the current economy. Most abandoned and resettled with “confederation” and finally with the ground fishing moratorium. Harbour Breton is reputed
to be the largest such settlement on the Coast of Bays. We haven’t left the boat as of yet, since the rain started to come down hard once we were alongside the floating docks at the new Town Marina.

We left Fortune, NF at 1020 today trying to beat the rain; and we mostly did. We sailed the entire way, harbor-to-harbor at between 5.0 and 7.5 knots in winds from 12 to 17. fairly good visibility despite the drizzle and light rain. We arrived on a forbidding coast though. Tess’ immediate comment was that it looked like the terrain from Lord of the Rings; and it does. Huge cliffs, topped with green meadows and stunted spruce forests. You can imagine a sea monster coming out from behind one cliff, picking up an outlying island and hurling it your way. We are excited to have this opportunity to explore.

So far, everyone we meet in Newfoundland invites us to stay till the weekend. They all seem to have week long festivals beginning about now. I explain that they need to know that they are competing with our Bastille Day in Ste. Pierre, SPM (“like a whole Town family wedding; or like a whole town drunk”). “That’s right”, they say. “We do that, too.” Should be an interesting weekend wherever we are.

As to our week in Ste. Pierre? Paula and Katie owe us their log entries to be posted. The rest of the crew had contributed their share.

For now, know that if you are going to celebrate Bastille Day, France is the place to do it. We started in the Town Square at noon with the Mayor’s Welcome and a toast with the Vin de Honor (a brandy fortified wine). Where else does the government spring for free liquor? Several glasses of that and most people would go home for barbecue (or a nap). But liberty, fraternity and something else kept the entire Town out until after midnight. The bands played, we all danced, it was great!

We also got to know several boats from France participating in a rally from LaRochelle, France to Quebec City, Canada. The French are, if anything, the only real sailors in the world. We were rafted up two and three across and these guys (and women) spun their boats around without a care, hop off and say Bonjour as they grab their first drink after a 14 day crossing; as if they just went to West Marine for a spare beer cooler. We learned to drink Ricard Patisse and viewed incredible on board wine storage compartments. They too are well fortified on their Atlantic crossings.

But, we came for Route Halifax Saint Pierre 2008. It was great! Some 18 boats competed in three classes, plus a double-handed division on one. We were shooed off the Yacht Club Wharf to a mooring on Wednesday so that the race boats could all raft up together. Thank goodness. Their post-Race decompression lasted (on the first night) till 5:30 a.m. Thereafter, things settled down at about 3:00. Dawn Treader was first to finish, but second on corrected time by a mere 70 seconds. But 2010 is another race year.

The highlight of it all was, of course, having (most of) the family here to celebrate. The food, the wine and the friendship of Ste. Pierre are unparalleled. I even considered entering in 2010, just I could come back.

The family and our dear friends Paula and Tim flew out on an 0930 flight to Halifax. At 1120 we were off to Fortune. Though a light wind motorsail, we were happy as ever to be sailing again. We “visited” the Ecological Park at Fortune Head (a two hour walk, each way) for some great views of the cliffs and the ocean, and met a lot of great Fortunates, but unfortunately, no fossils. Apparently, Fortune Head has been designated a World Cultural Heritage Site as it hosts a place where Pre-Cambrian fossils meet Cambrian fossils (or something like that). In short, it is where we almost, but not yet, crawled out of the ocean. Alas, Mini-Me, I knew you well.

Honest, he hasn’t been drinking here yet but that entry sure sounds it! It is rainy, but not cold. It is beautiful, remote and friendly. Birding has been great, seas have been easy, winds have been favorable and kind. No more pie a la floor, and back to good Canadian Beer in lieu of fine wine. No worries, no cares!