Aboard Taniwha - Part 2: Gaspé to Iles de la Madeleine

Gaspé was a nice little port to spend a couple of days relaxing and doing a variety of essential boat maintenance. I also slept for a long time, did a lot of washing up, and played my accordion a few times. We met a fiddler from a boat moored down the dock, so we did a bit of evening music-making, with Annili on the recorder.

Annili decided to leave the boat to expolore more of the Gaspé area and the Canadian "maritimes", so we were now down to 3 crew, and set off into the calm bay under motor.

Back out at the end of the long channel, we found enough wind to sail, and made a few tacks to pass the next headland south, around to a rock and town known as Percé.

Percé means pierced, and that well describes the rock, which includes a beautifully proportioned rock arch as well a teetering stack on the seaward end. 

Due to localized wind changes, we had to motor through past the rock and past the Ile de Bonaventure, which is where most of the local gannets come from.

Rounding the island, we found ourselves back in the wind, with the right direction to take us all the way to the Iles de Madeleine on a single tack!

In the evening, while Nick was at the Navigation table testing the long-range radio, and I was cooking supper, we heard a shriek from Michelle, who was up on deck, steering. We went up and she said she'd heard and seen a whale breathing very close to the boat. We kept our eyes skinned, and moments later, the water suddenly broke directly astern of the boat, and not 20 metres away, a huge whale jumped right out of the sea, before falling away with a big splash. Amazing. We were stunned. One of those experiences that cannot be captured on film but will be remembered for the rest of life. But I find myself wondering - as I wondered 13 months ago what effect radio waves have on the comfort of surrounding whales.

Again, we sailed throught the night, and just before midnight, Nick and I again saw dolphins, playing around the boat and darting through the water.

 In the morning, we were heading straight for the Islands, with a small island called Le Corps Mort on our starboard side. This is a very well-named rock, looking in silhouetted profile very like a dead body recumbent on the horizon. After made a two-hour-long tack to get around Le Corps Mort, and then sailed along the South coast of the Madeleines, past red cliffs peppered with small houses, and a long beach backed by sand dunes. 

We found our way in through a buoy channel to the other side of the sand dunes, and as Taniwha's keel is too deep (10ft.) for us to risk entering the ports around here, we anchored in the bay. It is a very relaxed place. 

The full moon rose as the sun set. 

The high pressure weather has given way to a front coming in, and we are spending a rainy day at anchor. Sailing requires such intense activity and concentration that the prospect of going ashore to explore (especially in the rain) is not as inviting as a bit of space in between the notes. 

We entertained the idea of inflating the tender dinghy and motoring ashore, but after a quick morning swim in the not-too-cold waters, the day got progressively windier and rainier. 

So we are spending the time here drinking hot drinks, maintaining sails, and catching up with ourselves.