Riviere-au-Renard......and again .......and again.......and again

The departure from Riviere Madeleine was a little harried.  Not so much for us but for Ted and Marie. We were awaiting higher water to help us avoid the rocks at the mouth of the entrance and decided that we would leave an hour before high tide at noon.  We were helping Ted and Marie push off when Trollop’s keel became wedged in the heavy chain that holds the floating dock she was tied to, securely to the breakwater.   Her keel is deeper than Bridlewilde’s by half a foot and it does make a difference in a shallow harbour. Ted had to pull back into the dock and wait the hour until high tide so as to lift the boat over the chain so his keel could slide out easily.  But we were on our way by noon with both vessels out of the harbour with no more problems and headed for  Riviere-au-Renard 42 nm along.

Again we saw more whales and seabirds and a number of seals, all in the water. And the seas were getting heavier.  We arrived in Riviere-au-Renard at 6:30 pm.

There was lots of space for pleasure boats in the little yacht club in the harbour. It is more like a marina than a yacht club except that it provides no easy fuel capabilities for pleasure boaters and is located at the far end of the huge harbour. It is quite small but very adequate and provides a very handy club building with all the amenities one would need there or close by.

And it came to pass that we would need them! We were there for 4 nights due the horrible weather conditions.  The weather did everything save snow and produce ice conditions. For 4 days straight.  So we explored this community quite well even in the fog, the wind, the rain, the high sea spray, the thunderstorms and whatever else Mother Nature was to throw at us.  So we remained in port where it was safe.  It became an interesting spot anyway because we were not the only vessels seeking shelter.  One by one other sailboats drifted in and soon the harbour was filled.  At one point we were asked if we would move our boat if necessary to make room for other larger vessels should they enter.  None arrived and we did not have to move.  But we were all there for the duration. There were a couple boats that were heading up river and the wind was heavy but at their sterns so they ventured out but those of us heading east had the wind on our nose and we would have been fighting horrible seas with heavy swell and pushing against 25-40 knot winds.  We would have been  rockin’ and rollin’ and makin’ no headway.    And getting very wet all the while; it was a no brainer to remain in port!

Visiting a port by boat and living in port for a number of days due to conditions beyond one’s control are two completely different styles of life.  Our choice to visit a port is usually based on the need for re-provision, to sightsee, to get off the water due to inclement weather, an overnight stop, for repairs or for a break from life on the water.  When we arrive our procedure is generally as follows:  we take care of the necessities such as securing the vessel first, identifying to the harbourmaster what our intentions and needs are, then to take care of those needs in order of priority as best we can.  We have come to find that living without a car is not a difficulty at all but it is important to have access to bicycles.  Most marinas or yacht clubs do have a few bicycles available for use but nowadays many live aboard sailors do carry their own bikes on board.  We have decided that we will purchase some for ourselves – we have been looking at specialty bikes that fold in half that are built to accommodate limited storage space on deck.  But to return to the point I was originally making, once our needs are taken care of we  have noticed that both the captain and I have found ourselves gazing longingly out toward the water from the deck  or cockpit of our boat anxious to be back out there again.  The feeling has come as quite a surprise to us and even more so that we have both experienced the same sensation at the same time. And so we sail on.

However, we’ve also found that when we are forced to remain in port because of conditions beyond our control, then our consciousness takes on a whole different sense of discernment.  This is generally after we have covered taking care of all the housekeeping, maintenance and outstanding or pressing tasks we have found necessary for the good operation of our boat   and we have a few minutes of idle time.  It is at this time when we notice what is really going on in the port------ which usually has a life of its own.

Riviere au Renard is no different. It is a small town with a huge fishing port claiming to be the largest in the whole of the Gulf region.  The harbour is man-made with reefs on either side of the entrance between two breakwaters.  There is an inner stone breakwater that divides the harbour into two. The outer harbour to the starboard side is a lovely large deep protected solid mud bottomed basin good for anchoring.  There is a gradual sloping large sandy beach where it is easy to land ones dinghy making it is a great stop for anyone entering in a pleasure craft even though the port itself is commercial.  But one notices all these things and their benefits when the opportunity to scout about arises.  The inner harbour is huge and houses most of the commercial fishing vessels.  Upon entering the harbour, we noticed their immense size and number tied along the wharf as we motored past them to our berth. It seemed a quiet port with all the boats tied up.    But that is not the case as we later found out.

Over the course of our time here, those who were remaining in port for safety reasons found ways to occupy their time.  Keith decided that he was going to build a new leg for our cockpit table and mount it to the underside of one of the entry hatches to our keel ballast on the cabin floor.  This modification was to assist with the versatility and ease of movement of our teak cockpit table from the cockpit to the cabin. Ted on Trollop decided that he would do an oil change.   I wanted to locate some item that could be used as a cosmetic bag.   One of ours had torn apart with the weight and movement  while hanging on its hook in the head. And Marie was in need of a birthday card to send off to a family member.   So each of us headed out in different directions to try to find resources where we may come up with for each of our individual requirements.

Considering the size of Riviere au Renard and its dependency on the fishing industry, the commercial facilities are very limited.  The local residents travel 80 klm to the nearest town, Gaspe, for almost all their shopping needs so we were curious to see what we would come up with in our searches.   On many occasions Keith and I have noticed of small French communities in our walks about them is, that inevitably, we have spotted businesses intermingled within residential areas.   Often, these businesses are not advertised nor do they present store front promotion, yet, once you are inside the building it is clearly visible that they are fully functioning stores.    We have surmised that there is only one of each business in the community and those that do exist cater to local individuals who know where they are and need them thereby diminishing the need to advertise.  So over the few days we were here, one or the other of us found an ATM machine housed in the back of government building,  a drug store,  grocery store, marine shop, fish market, post  office, used computer store –  selling nothing current,  a sporting equipment shop, a bar with pool tables – (this one was located in the back of a home  - the 2 double garage doors at the back opened up to the fresh air and the street where people just ambled into it from and the bar was located on the back wall of the garage – it had music, pool tables¸ beer advertisements on the wall, pool tables, tables and chairs and everything else one would expect of an bar in it) a children’s clothing outlet that also sold used furniture and miscellaneous household items that one may need in a hurry, a 24 hour corner store, a building supply store, and a full blown Home Hardware.  The four of us had come up with these major finds as a result of our wanderings in different directions.   All these businesses, buried and hidden in residential areas, within the town that sported no main street, no shopping district nor any advertising of any of it. But Keith found an aluminum pipe that he had machined to fit the leg foot that he had mounted; Ted found his diesel engine oil; Marie bought the card and I found a suitable bag.

The fish market was the real find and Keith took a trip to it each day for something fresh and of course there was no leaving without a package of salt cod to take home to his mom.  We took advantage of the fresh cod which the captain breaded in corn flour and deep fried – I cannot tell you how good that was!  There were 2 chip type trucks on the wharf parked permanently next to the yacht club – one sold only ice cream (how fortunate was that) and the other sold snack food so it was there that we picked up French fries to go with the fish. ( FYI- I frequented that ice cream truck far more often than I should have.)

We have visited small fishing ports like Riviere au Renard before however, we were actually living in this harbour for a few days and the shore-side aspect of the fishing industry here offered plenty to take in. There is a large haul out and storage area where huge fishing vessels are perched on the hard patiently awaiting their next season out, nets are mended by hand, there are rows and rows of crab pots lined in every available space, on and off loading and ice facilities tower overhead,  fishing vessels are  loaded and unloaded as they swiftly move in and out of the harbour and along the long wharf, ( it seemed to me as though they move almost in stealth as one minute they were there and the next they were not), and  fishermen pass in and out of the marine store.  Some boats raft to others depending upon their position in the harbour and boats always seem to be on the move somewhere. Many small windowless rectangular buildings are positioned along the edge of the wharf about 10 X 10 feet in size.  It seems they may be storage or office units for different fishing companies.  The milling about the wharf is active and constant during the day; the busy fish market is located only steps from the wharf, women and children are dropping men off in large trucks, people in the community use wharf as a gathering place to get the news, chat, snack or get a cone, and teenagers on bikes hang out at the pagoda near the sandy beach of the outer harbour. And this port is also a favoured departure point for boats heading to Newfoundland or the Magdalen Islands so pleasure craft move in and out also.

As Riviere au Renard  is a favoured departure point,  it is one of the reasons it brought together a group of us on our last evening in port. The weather was lifting and the chat amongst  those pleasure boaters all anxiously awaiting the lift was about departure time in the morning, locale,  or route.  Marie suggested that we all meet in the upper common room of the yacht club at 6 pm to exchange a few pleasantries which included more conversation, wine and spirits, and a bit of potluck snack foods. And the time was enjoyable – everyone was ready to depart so we had the time to relax together.

Norma and Phil showed up with beer and treats. They are a wonderful Irish couple living aboard their 3 year old aluminum sailboat, the Minnie B, which they had built for them. They had left Northern Ireland 2 years prior and were heading for Florida and hoping to arrive there by Christmas.  They had sailed from Ireland south to Portugal and Spain, Gibraltar, the Azores, Cape Verde and Africa, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to South America for 4 months in Brazil where they sailed the Amazon, headed northwest from there to Trinidad and Tobago and then picked their way through the Caribbean Islands to head up the eastern US seaboard to New York. At New York they headed inland through the Hudson River and into what is known by sailors as the Down East Circle Route. This route is passage into Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, or Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River, up the St. Lawrence River to the Gulf, through the Northumberland Strait and North Atlantic to the Atlantic Ocean and south crossing the Bays of Fundy and Maine, south along the northern US coast and back to New York, the same route we were sailing to Nova Scotia.    So you can just imagine their stories!  It was their hope to reach Florida in time to leave their boat there, fly to Ireland for Christmas to see family and friends for a month during which time they would make the decision whether or not they would return to Florida, re-board their vessel to sail her through the Panama Canal in preparation for circumnavigation of our planet. This couple was our age and we really enjoyed their company --- but even more than that they are inspirational, so alive, an extraordinary couple who have instilled so much confidence in the Captain and I and yet simply wonderful happy individuals who were sharing their lives at a moment in time with us.

And Becky showed up with nuts – high energy foods!  And Becky is another story all to herself! She was another of those primarily English speaking individuals who was holed up in Riviere au Renard due to weather.  Becky is a charm, brilliance, an admiration, an insight to ponder over. With our goodbye and best wishes comments to her, I expressed to her that I was honoured to have been in her presence.  Becky is a 28 year old married woman from Annapolis, Maryland who has most recently, left the US military forces after 6 years of enrolment and 2 deployments in Iraq, where she was in command of both.  She told me that all the troops under her command in the first deployment returned home alive but her second command was huge. She told me that her husband, still enrolled in the military also to Iraq and now back at their home in Maryland, was supportive of her decision to leave her work and supportive of her current quest  here in Riviere au Renard.  And she told me that she absolutely needed to do what she was doing to remain healthy and sane and for the re-evaluation of her life.  So she headed north along the US eastern seaboard too, to New York City to drop her 250 pound kayak in the harbour, board it and while aboard physically touch a bridge in that harbour, paddle that same kayak north and east alone, to touch the Confederation Bridge in PEI.  And here she was, just a mere 300 nautical miles away.   Becky’s husband was to meet her in NB with his kayak so they could paddle across the Northumberland Strait together so he could watch her touch that bridge and share with her, her need for her own sense of self accomplishment and she expressed that she was anxious to see him.  I was overwhelmed by this young woman. I thought of all the trials and tribulations that the captain and I had faced together, I thought of the waters we had travelled together, I thought of the long passages and the work involved we had done together, I thought of the questions we had asked ourselves before this journey even began together…….. and I thought of Becky.  I thought of her fortitude, her passion, her commitment, her ability. I thought of the waves, those many, many waves and how Bridlewilde had struggled at times to climb their swell under power and I thought of Becky’s little vessel, with her token plastic rhinoceros adhered securely to its tiny bow, and its climb over those same waves and how that climb was produced. I thought about how lucky I was to be where I was, again, at this moment in time.

Marie showed up with white wine and nachos and cheese and dips to go with it all. And most importantly, Ted with rum.  Ted and Marie are amazing themselves.  They have sailed for 15 years together; were married on their boat, were on their first major trip away from the Great Lakes but have sailed all of them extensively. They are most comfortable on Trollop and seem to be at ease with most situations that arise.  They have a blended family and are very close to their children and speak so highly of them and their friendships with others. Ted is a kindred spirit – he like, Keith and I, is a wanderlust individual that has spent his whole life weaving his way in and out, either on land or water, the nooks and crannies across Canada that he has come to love, of our nation.  Marie is adventuresome, kind, outgoing  and  friendly which is why she struck up a conversation with me once she heard me utter a few English words way back in St. Jean Port Joli. The two of them call Port McNicol on Georgian Bay home but if you asked me I would say they are at home, on Trollop.

A Frenchman from Montreal showed up for a few minutes. He was sailing his vessel singlehandedly and he wanted to speak with Phil to ask some questions about electronics.  He was a dentist who practiced 6 months a year and sailed 6 months a year.  He reported that his now ex-wife had left him and much to his shock and annoyance, had taken all the electronics from the boat with her upon her departure.  He was contemplating a voyage across the Atlantic as a recovery passage and needed to know what Phil would recommend for good equipment since he was now in the market for some.  Phil teased him about being a wealthy dentist who could purchase whatever he wanted. That was when the good doctor confessed that that was not the case as he only worked 6 months of the year.  Phil continued the tease by stating that would only make him only half wealthy then.  We were all amused, as was the dentist, and we chuckled together.

And of course, we had showed up with red wine and hors d’oeuvres that the captain had prepared with fresh fish and pork, French baguette, and cheese to add to the mix. We talked of our joys, our travels, our challenges, our remedies and solutions, our highlights and of ports of call to come.

The following morning all of us aboard our respective vessels eased gently out of Riviere au Renard harbour; each crew member sensing that familiar renewed arousal of excitement of living on the water in your boat running through their veins, with bows pointed and proud, on to a new experience and a new destination.