By the will of fate, wind and waves we ended up in a small fishing village with the strange name of Cloridorme. This name is very different from other Quebec villages, which mostly include the name of saints or natural phenomena. Googling the name, I found out that the name is associated with the first settlers in this area, who were British from the Jersey Islands. But before we reached this village, something that could happen happened – the engine did not start. We tried to enter the bay on sails and anchor, which was quite difficult with the following wind and high waves, we made one attempt when we saw a sailboat that came out of the bay towards us. They offered us help in towing to the harbour and we gratefully agreed. It was already dark when we docked and met our Good Samaritans – a family of 4 (not counting the dog) – Alain, Judy and their two teenage daughters, who were returning home in Quebec City on their sailboat “First Look” after sailing to New Brunswick. The next day (heh, my 64th Birthday!) was incessant torrential rain and we spent it on the well-protected cockpit of the sailboat, chatting with friends, responding to congratulations – in the evening we ordered seafish food at a nearby restaurant to take away and celebrated this event on our sailboat in the company of our new friends.
The mechanic, recommended by the harbourmaster, arrived on Sunday morning and determined that the solenoid and possibly the starter had burned out. He went in search of the solenoid, promising to arrive the next day. The weather was sunny and warm – we got out for a walk along the intertidal shore, looking at the wonderful structure of the rocks and observing the wildlife. Iryna suggested looking over the cape, and we reached it, finding there an original stone church with an old cemetery.
I left birdwathcing part of the post to Iryna.
