We're off for Points Northeast, and South

Thursday, July 2 looked pretty good, not great, for the start of our continued Down East Loop trip. We dropped the lines at 7:00, got the boat pumped out, said our goodbyes the the great marina staff in Rimouski, and at about 7:45 headed out through the breakwater. Weather was drizzling, wind about 10 Kts from the NE, waves 2-3' on our nose. At 10:30, wind had increased to 15 Kts, waves were now 3-4' and things were starting to get uncomfortable. We made our decision to call it a short day and go into Mantane. Another looper was about an hour ahead of us, running a little slower, had also decided to go into Mantane. As we got to Mantane the wind lightened up and the waves were back down to about 3', so we changed our plans again and decided to go for Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, our original planned destination. It was a lumpy ride, cold, but dueable. On Friday morning the wind was calm, it was foggy, and 

the swell was 2-3'. Out on the river we were getting a nice push from the current of 2 to 2.5 MPH, so at our slow cruise speed we were making about 12 MPH over ground. We're off for Riviere-au-Renard, some 104 miles down river. The river at this point is a large body of water, 30 miles wide and 900' deep. We are running in and out of fog, even being able to see the shore 1.5 to 2 miles to the SE on occasion. Shortly after 1:00 pm, and having past Grande Valley, with a very small harbor of refuge, we entered another fog bank, but this one was different. The wind built to an estimated 25 Kts. from the east, the waves built to 6-7', and it got real uncomfortable. We stepped up the speed of the boat to about 15 MPH through the water, and things became more comfortable. The waves kept getting worse, now 8-10' with visibility in the fog of 1/8 mile or so. We slammed through a couple of big waves, one popping the right forward window on the bridge out of the frame, slamming it against the VHF antenna, cracking it. The window is anti-shatter glass so it didn't fail completely. We slowed the boat to about 12 MPH to get the bow as high as possible, slid the rear window forward, and stuffed a foam beer can holder between the broken front window and the rear side window, wedging the cracked window against the antenna. We managed to keep the tops of the waves below the bow pulpit, but most of the wave ended up on the cabin top and windshield. We were real glad to be under a hardtop and behind a windshield. The electronics kept us on track and aware of other boats around us. We pulled into the marina at Riviere-au-Renard at 4:10 PM, relieved to be behind a nice breakwater. Today, Saturday July 4, we were back on the river at 5:30 AM, no wind, lumpy swell of 3-4', thick fog. We rounded the end of the Gaspe Peninsula at 7:30 AM, unable to see the high cliffs of the end of the Appalachian Mountains as they drop into the sea, a sight that we so much wanted to see from the water. As we turned to the west, the sea became trailing, the fog lifted for a minute, the sun came out, and we cruised comfortably into the marina at Gaspe at 10:00 AM. The weather on Sunday was rainy, with fog out in the bay. Monday was better with a prediction of a nice day on Tuesday. By 3:00 the weather was clearing, so we decided to rent a car for a day, and go see the Gaspe Peninsula and Forillon National Park on Tuesday morning. As long as we had the car, we drove to the south to Perce and back. We could see the famous Perce Rock from the shore. Tuesday morning we did drive over to Forillon Park, first viewing the north side of the Peninsula and then whent to the south side, where we walked the last 4 KM of the International Appalachian Trail to the end.

By 2:00 we were back in Gaspe, turned in the car, and headed out with the boat around Perce Rock and inside of Bonaventure Island, to L'Anse-a-Beaufils for the night. What an interesting experience in this little harbor of refuge. Next to the marina is a restraunt where all the locals hang out, the food was simple but superb, and the sing along music started at about 9:30 and went until about 2:00 AM. Everything was Acadian French so we didn't stay up for the music. On Wednesday we got an early start for our planned trip to Shippagan. Little to no wind out on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Saw many Gannets, a hump back whale, and some White sided Dolphins. Shippigan is onother fishing village of French Acadian ancestery. They have made a real attempt to make their village a tourist attraction, with an aquarium and board walk newly added to the waterfront. From Shippigan we went                                                                               up the Miramichi River to Miramichi. This was a good location to backtrack for the truck. Miramichi has become a summer retirement area for many Canadians and they have activities every day and night in their waterfront park, Ritchie Warf. We had heard from ourfriends on EARLY OUT how friendly the town was, and from our location tied up at Ritchie Warf, we became one of the attractions of the town, with everybody stopping to talk. In our openion, it became too friendly, and much as we enjoyed the evening entertainment in the park, it was time to move on.

With the combination of an out going tide and the normal flow of the river. we got a 3 MPH push as we left Miramichi. We had planned to go to Buctouche, but when the wind came up and the waves reached 6', we altered course and went to Richibucto, another unplanned interesting stop. When we got their on Saturday afternoon they were in the middle of their Scallop Festival, so we were entertained with a boat parade on Saturday night and fireworks on Sunday night. When we tied up to the warf, we were in front of small local boat. While watching the boat parade we met them, and on Sunday morning they picked us up while we were walking down the main street, and gave us a tour of their little town. Sunday night they joined us on the front seat on the bow of our boat for the fire works. Alyre and Jeanne winter in Daytona Beach, FL, so we expect to see them again as they come down I95 this fall.

On Monday morning early, we ran accross Northumberland Straight to Summerside, PEI. We were meeting up again with Joe and Mary Beth Amelia, Loopers who stopped at our dock as they came north last spring. They wanted to give us a personal tour of the sights on PEI and treat us to a home cooked lobster dinner. So on Tuesday morning, Mary Beth met us a Summerside and we were off.  Anne of Green Gables was at the top of Claria's list, so we started there, now run by Parks Canada. Then to the beaches on the north shore of PEI. Then to lunch with a bagpiper and drummer! More sight seeing, then a dinner of fresh mussels, lobster, and boiled PEI potatoes, oh my was that good! We finnished the day at the College of Piping and their Celtic Storm show of Scottish music and step dancing, WOW, were those kids GREAT!

Wednesday morning we left for a 57 mile ride to Charlottetown. Along the way we passed under the 9 mile long Confederation Bridge, completed in 1997. At the center span it has a clearance of 197 feet. Each span appears to be about 500'. We arrived at 4:00 PM, and were docked three boats from VOYAGER II, our looper friends who we hadn't seen since Rimouski. After dinner with Les and Judy, the four of us went to the musical play, "Anne of Green Gables".

We're sitting in Pictou, NS on Saturday, July 18. Our data service using our cell phone as a modum is back so I will be adding a bunch of stuff in the next few days.

Getting ready to go again

We're in the final process of assembling the stuff we brought home with us last fall after winterizing the boat. We plan to leave Beaufort, with the F150 loaded, on June 8. Our "Float Plan" for continuing our cruise looks like this at the moment. After recommissioning the boat we will head Northeast down the St. Lawrence on June 22. Expect to be in Charlottetown, PEI on July 3, Bras d'Or Lakes July 20, Halifax, Nova Scotia August 9, and St. John, New Brunswick on August 23. We will cruise the St. John river for 7 days before we head SE into Maine. We expect to be in Portland, ME about September 28, New York October 10, St. Michael's, MD October 14, and back home November 1. Looking forward to a GREAT summer. It is Sunday, June 13. The Beaufort hill billy's arrived in Rimouski, QC, Canada on Friday afternoon, June 11, truck loaded to the gills. The covers had been blown off the boat, we already knew that. There is some minor damage to our rear enclosure so we will see if we can get a canvas shop to do some repair before we leave. Have started up both engines and have the water system functioning. Our old original hot water heater is leaking a bit, probably time to replace it, I'm not really surprised. All other water systems appear to have survived the winter. We have the crane and flat bed truck scheduled for Tuesday. Looks like the boat is ready to go in but we do have to confirm with the Port of Rimouski on Monday that we are free to use the pier on Tuesday to lower the boat in. Cleared for launch after 12:00 noon on Tuesday by the port. The process starts by loading the boat on the trailer in the marina yard. The "Crane God" is checking the rigging before the lift is made. The rigging is fine and the balance good, the lift starts. Slowly the boat is moved over the trailer where it is set down, blocked up, and tied down for the ride to the city pier.

Once loaded and secured, the caravan leaves the marina yard and heads down the road for the city pier. Positioned at the pier wall, with the water some 20' down, the crane again picks up the boat and swings it out over the water, lowering it slowly, until it floats out of the slings. Captain, start your engines.

And off we go back to our slip at the marina. The last several days we have been starting up all the smaller systems on the boat and loading all our stuff back into the boat. We are well along to allow our departure on Monday, but now it looks like the weather may not cooperate. The wind is suppose to shift to the NE on Saturday and blow 20 knots. With the outgoing current and an incoming COLD wind, the river gets pretty choppy. At this point the river is as wide as it is across Lake Ontario. We'll see how it goes. Well it's Sunday, June 28, and we are still in Rimouski. When we did the sea trial on Wednesday, June 17, we found that the radar antenna didn't want to send a signal to the GPS Chartplotter. I discussed the error message with Garmin late Wednesday afternoon and they felt we needed an update chip, and we could get that chip from Raytech in Montreal. Called Raytech Thursday morning and they shipped out a chip later in the day for next day delivery in Rimouski. Well, the chip didn't arrive as promised on Friday, didn't get here until Monday afternoon, June 22. Installed the chip, updated the software, but it didn't fix the radar problem. Called Raytech at about 4:15 pm, left a message, but nobody called back before 5:00, so I called Garmin in Kansas. If the update hadn't fixed the problem then there must be something wrong with the antenna and it would have to come in for service. So Monday evening I took the antenna off from the roof of the boat so we could be on the road to Montreal at 7:00 am Tuesday morning. We got to Raytech shortly after 1:00 pm on Tuesday. They would check out the antenna first thing Thursday, Wednesday was St. Jean de Baptiste day, a holiday in Quebec. Thursday morning they called to inform me that two boards were defective and they would have to get parts from Garmin. No more word on Thursday on the status of things. I called early Friday morning to learn that the parts needed were on back order at Garmin and that it would be three weeks before parts were available. I said no, we were going to solve this problem long before then, and they agreed to see if they could find a new replacement antenna somewhere in Canada. Just before noon they called back to tell me they had located a new, compatible antenna an hour's drive north of Montreal. I said "go get it, I'm on my way, will you be there after 5:00, it will take me about 5 1/2 hours to get there". If I was on my way, they would wait, and they did. At 6:00 I started back to Rimouski with the new antenna, returning to the boat a midnight. I installed the new antenna on Saturday, and we are now good to go with all systems working. But guess what, the wind has again turned to the NE, blowing 20 - 30 Knts, kicking up waves 3 - 6'. So we continue to wait, probably until Thursday, July 2, before we can go. So goes boating on the lower St, Lawrence. One thing for sure, when your traveling by boat you meet some neat people. Our stay in Rimouski has been no exception, and much as we are anxious to move on, we've met some wonderful people here. I've spent the most time with Albert, our mechanic, and his wife Necole. We had them on the boat Sunday evening, June 21 for a soup supper. Necole backed a loaf of fresh multi grain bread and brought a bottle of wine. We had a great evening with Albert entertaining us with his German box accordian. The next time we see them will be in South Carolina. When we were here last July, we were told to look up Genevieve and Marcel on the SANTA MARIA I. They were never on their boat while we were here. We've met them now, and went sailing with them on Wednesday, June 24. They have both now retired and Marcel will be moving the boat to Bras d'Or Lake, leaving on Monday, June 29, (he thought). We will see them again when we get to Bras d'Or Lake in late July. Last fall while working on the boat, a curious passer by, Daniel Barbeau stopped to see what was going on this big Hatteras. Daniel owns a very nice bistro in Saint-Luce, a small town just east of Rimouski. I had a delightful dinner their last fall and we ate dinner their again today and had a nice visit with Daniel. With this down time, we decided to drive out to the end of the Gaspe Peninsula and see all the sights. This will allow us to move quickly with the boat to the city of Gaspe once we can get out on the river. The Gaspe Peninsula is the end of the Appalachan Mountain range and the end of the International Appalachan Trail is at the end of the peninsula. The 3775' mountain peaks drop quickly into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with spectacular shear cliffs. Everywhere there is a little river running into the river and gulf, there is a little town, Saint somebody, built around a spectacular Catholic Church structure. There are historic light houses on all the points, and even two wooden covered bridges. Pictures can't capture the beauty, but they are the best we can do.

Today we drove a few miles east of Rimouski to visit the jardins de metis, or in English, The Reford Gardens.

Each day while we wait to get going, we find another interesting place to visit. Like Devils Canyon, 20 miles south of Rimouski, where the Rimouski River flow from the mountains to the St. Lawrence River.

As we returned to Rimouski, this is the view of the town below, the St. Lawrence River, and one of many islands that dot the south shore of the river.

We're still here in Rimouski on           July 1. Decided to look into bus schedules when it comes time to come back and pick up the truck. Well, bus schedules don't work to well to come back from the coast of New Brunswick, the only bus each day gets back to Rimouski at 11:00 PM, and then I'm going to get in the truck and drive 6 hours back to the boat, NO. But, if I left right now, 2:00 PM, I could leave the truck in Campbellton, NB, and get back to it from Miramchi, NB in about 2 hours. Weather forcast for tomorrow, July 2 is looking pretty good to head down the river, so I left for Campbellton, found a place to park the truck and got back to the boat by 11:10. WE'RE READY TO GO!

Rebuilding the Starboard Engine

It's Saturday night, August 9, and I'm in Plattsburg, NY, ready to cross the border into Canada first thing tomorrow morning. Ran into lots of traffic this morning between Baltimore and Albany, so lost about 3 hours of productive driving. Should have no trouble getting to Rimouski tomorrow afternoon. We will start the rebuild process on Monday. 

Back in Rimouski and things are going pretty much as planned. Weather has been raw and rainy, kinda glad we're not cruising! Have the galley ripped apart and the floor pulled up. Today, Tuesday, August 12 have the old engine disassembled down to having the exhaust manifolds removed. Will meet with the mechanic in the morning to discuss what else needs to come off before we pull out the old engine.  

         Once all parts are off, sripped to the block, it is ready to come out. Things are going real slow. Mechanic has contracts with many good customers for emergency breakdown service. When one of them calls, he goes and I sit. So as of Wednesday, August 20 the engine has been moved to the companionway door.

Mechanic took care of another customer on Thursday so nothing more has been done and no phone call to tell me anything would happen on Friday. So I have left the boat and have driven to Torch Lake Michigan to join Claria, both of our kids, all four grandkids, and my sister and brotherinlaw who are visiting from St. Micheal's, MD. Have had a wonderfull weekend. L to R, Claria, daughter Mary, Captain Chuck, and sister Mary. Below, our kids Mary and Will. Hard to say what Will is trying to tell us. Will be in Michigan for a couple of more days before heading back to Rimouski to deal with the boat. I returned to Rimouski on Labor Day. Did get some scafolding erected today, Tuesday September 2. Hope we can finish the rigging tomorrow and get the old engine out of the boat.

Had a great day today, Thursday, September 4. With the rigging all set,

we moved the old engine out of the boat. We were concerned that the weight of the block, about 1000#, was to much to set on the sun deck, which is directly over the master suite. So we flew the engine accross the deck,

through the side door and dropped it to the ground.

We then loaded it onto Albert's trailer for the trip to his shop, about a mile away.

We started assemble on the replacement engine to get it ready for a test run. Once it's  ready to go, we have to dissassemble it back down to the block to get it back into the      

                          boat, then put it back together. WALA! We have an 

engine that runs! Today, Monday, September 8 we successfully test ran a rebuilt engine from the block I purchased in Florida and our old engine. Test was very rewarding, the beast roared like a tiger, and ran nice and smooth. So, we will finish cleaning it up, repainting, dissasemble and put it back in the boat. By the end of the week we should be moving the block back into the boat. Well things have slowed down again. After our successfull test run, we decided to drop the pan and confirm all was good. All was not good, we found 4 gear teeth and one 0.026 gap gage which had appearently been dropped through the timing gears by a previous mechanic. So now we have replaced the gears with the gears from the old engine. We also found one bad crank shaft bearing so we are replacing all the bearings on the crank shaft. On Thursaday, Albert, my mechanic went off to take care of another customer so no work has been done until today, Sunday, September 14, we put in three hours continuing to clean up the block and pan for painting. Albert seems to think we can paint tomorrow and start moving the engine back into the boat, my guess is that we won't start back in until Tuesday. Meantime, Claria is still in Michigan. She will take care of Mary and Petes girls next weekend while they go to Pewaukee, WI to sail the E boat with Pete's brother Steve in the annual Blue Chip Regatta, a championship of champions regatta by invitation only. Then she plans on coming back to the boat on Monday, getting here on Tuesday, September 23. Hopefully 3 or 4 days after she gets here we can be all winterized and packed up so we can head home. WE ARE READY TO GO HOME! It's Wednesday evening, Sept. 17, and the engine block sits on the engine mounts bolted up to the transmission. Now we have a couple of days work putting the rest of the engine together, heads, blower box, alternator, fresh water pump, raw water pump, fuel pump, and lots of plumbing. We should have the beast running by this weekend. WALA WALA!! The engine runs in the boat. During the test run today, Saturday, Sept. 20, we discovered a leaking gasket in the oil filter plumbing, which we will fix tomorrow. Then we can clean up the mess we have made and I can put the floor back in and move the galley cabinet back into it's correct location. We're hoping to be headed toward's home on Saturday, Sept. 27.

We're home, how great it is! We did finish wrapping up the boat in the cold Rimouski rain on Saturday, and left town about 3:00 PM for our treck home. The truck was loaded to the gills. We stopped for a day of rest and relaxation at St. Micheal's, MD at the home of my sister Mary and brother-in-law Jack. Of course we went boating on their trawler, after all we are Gorgen's! Arrived home about 8:30 PM Tuesday evening, Sept. 30.

We will head back up to Rimouski about the middle of June next summer. Check back and see how we are doing.