Month: September 2023

Having enjoyed the misty charm of Havre-Aubert and having found out that there was no possibility of repairing a forestay’s halyard, the next day we decided to cross Baie de Plaisance and dock in the capital of the islands Cap-aux-Meules. We arrived at a wonderfully located marina and met the sympathetic marina manager Donald – he immediately took me to the marine supply store and we selected the wire we needed, then we crumped a loop on wire in a nearby workshop. Everything else fell on our shoulders. The most difficult thing was to insert and pass the wire through the mast, but here, too, one of the neighbouring sailors Andrew helped us by lending us his lead messenger. I climbed to the top of the mast a couple of times to pass the new wire into the mast, taking a bird’s eye view photo of the marina along the way. After disassembling the halyard winch we cleaned and lubricated it. Climbing the mast a couple more times (I love it!:), we finally assembled the winch, furling and halyard and set the jib. Done for the first time! Thanks, Donald and Andrew for your help!

The most interesting attraction in Havre-Aubert is without a doubt the Historical site of La Grave (from the French “grève”: pebbly and sandy terrain). This pebbly beach was a favourite spot for fishing and commerce and still retains its maritime flavour added with artisans’ shops and restaurants.
The weather on the day we were there was foggy, but that added to the charm of the place.

Well, the time has come for serious tests, both for the sailboat and for us. After a good time in L’Anse a Beaufils, chatting with local sailors over a glass of craft beer, we decided to change course from south to east and sail to the Magdalene Islands for a number of reasons. Firstly, we had not been there and were interested in seeing those remote places, secondly, the distance there required a whole-day passage with a night watch, which for us should have been another test of our capabilities, and thirdly, the testing of the sailboat under sail on a longer route.
Our route took place in winds of 10-20 knots, with NW and N wind. The remarkable night adventure was meeting at sea the research vessel Cariolis-II, which we had previously seen in Rimouski. We literally went port-to-port (thanks to AIS, you can see and read the description of the ship on the plotter) and we greeted them by flushing the bright light of our spreader’s lamps (thanks Frank!). The night watches passed more or less well, but already in the morning when there were about 10 miles left to the shore, the next test awaited us – the steel wire holding the foresail (jib halyard) broke and the large jib began to fall down. Using a safety line (thanks Steve!) I reached the bow and pulled the jib onto the deck. To ensure the stability of the yacht in the waves and quite strong winds, we had to turn on the engine and do motor sailing. We decided to go to the capital of the island Cap-aux-Meules, where there is a marine supply store and a better chance of finding rigging specialists. Approaching the island, we found ourselves in dense fog, which accompanied us throughout the route, requiring special attention and operation of the radar and AIS system. It turned out that some fishing vessels do not turn on AIS, probably, hiding their position. We turned around the island, the wind direction changed and we again had to go against the high rolling waves, cutting them with our heavy full-keel sailboat. Here we were deeply satisfied with the strength of the hull, but our strength was almost exhausted, so we turned to the nearest marina in Havre Aubert after 28 hours of sailing and 165 miles left behind.