Anse au Beaufils

Anse au Beaufils was a good stop suggested by both Andre and Gerald, whom we had met in Berthier sur Mer, where we could enter and exit easily, that was en route and was a pretty and friendly small port with a lovely beach and wharf side restaurant and bar. It turned out that it was all that and more even though we spent less than half a day here and the majority of that during the night sleeping. The harbour master was an accommodating man who pointed everything out to us and invited us to remain another night to take in the live entertainment they were hosting the following evening. However, as much as we wanted to, time was not on our side and we could not remain.

 We had expected an uncomfortable passage there and it was that, despite the sunny warmth of the summer day.  The waters were beginning to calm slightly after the past four days of unrestrained wildness but we easily discerned that they were not yet relaxed.  We experienced swells of 6-8 feet in places, maybe more – it’s so hard to tell, and no wind to sail.  We commented to each other in wonder that after 4 days of such tremendously high winds one would think that there would be at least some spoils or breath of air left over for those of us back on the water trying to sail but there was none and we motored onward. We continuously and slowly climbed the swells and swept down over their other side, cruising on the open sea of the Gulf of St. Lawrence spilling into the Atlantic, serene and composed, quiet and content lost in our own thoughts for most of the day.

Our quiet was suddenly awakened by a flare of clamour churning out over the VHF radio.  It almost seemed as though it was an invasion at the time, to me, but I know this piece of equipment to be vital to our survival so it is always turned on and standing alert for us and we are thankful for it.  It was Ted calling from further back to our stern. He was probably about 1.5 nautical miles further offshore than we were and we could see him in the distance.  We had gone further inland to view a pod of whales we had seen fishing off the coast of Cap Gaspe and we were now pulling across the Bay.   Ted had called to tell us that he and Marie had changed their sail plan. They had decided, en route, that they were going to head down into the Baie of Gaspe to Gaspe town in hopes of finding their friend Noel there.  Earlier in the year, their friend Noel had left Ontario as well, to head to the British Isles but the transmission in his boat gave out. It had to have been taken back to Ontario for repairs so his vessel was berthed in the meantime at Gaspe.   He and Ted had been in contact and Noel was on his way back to Gaspe with his repaired transmission in a van and expected to be in Gaspe the following day.   We changed channels and exchanged goodbyes and well wishes over the VHF.   And the captain and I watched as their bow shifted south westward, their foresail raise and while Trollop slipped around the rocky cape,  into the mouth of the bay and point toward the setting sun along the mountainous backdrop of terrain.    They had changed direction and could catch a few wisps of wind as they inched along the 13 nautical miles of coastline into Gaspe town and were taking advantage of it.  I caught myself looking back toward them for as long as I could, smiling, and watching Trollop’s crisp white sail and the O’leary’s drifting further away and then disappearing completely out of sight.  

We pushed and pushed on.  On with our 9 hour passage to Anse au Beaufils with our 4 to 4.5 nautical mile average for the whole trip.  We lost speed due to our own selfishness – we wanted to get a closer look at Perce Rock rather than hug the southern coast of Ile Bonaventure located  directly offshore of the Rock where we would experience much calmer waters.  The waters near the Rock are shallow (15 meters) and therefore are always really rough but we were okay with that considering that this Rock is one of our country’s most famous natural landmarks and we wanted to experience this breath-taking vista up close.  We considered our view back at it as we passed as our wonderful parting with the glorious voyage we had just completed of the Gaspesie.

Day 28,  August 4^th at 7:30 pm we arrived in Anse au Beaufils to see the Minnie B secured safely on the opposite side of the harbour.  We did not chat with Norma or Phil as we were planning an early evening with a good night’s sleep, knowing we had a couple of long days ahead of us as we wouldhead across the Bay of Chaleur and into the North Atlantic Ocean.