Iles de la Madeleine

We left L'Anse au Beaufils early in the morning, anticipating a 30 hour cruise to the Iles de la Madeleine.  There was some old swell on the water after last night's storm, but sunny skies and a nice breeze of about 10-15 knots.  We were able to put up the sails fairly quickly and even shook out our reefs in the main!!  The winds picked up a bit to about 20 knots about mid-day and we put our hydrovane to use!  The hydrovane is an automatic steering mechanism that works with the sails, so no battery needed.  It has a small 'sail' attached to a rudder.  We set this sail to match the angle of the wind to the bow (in our case the wind was about 40-60 degrees off the bow, so we match the hydrovane to that), and then, if all goes well, the hydrovane keeps the boat at that angle to the wind!!  This is great, as it allows us to take a break from the helm, get out of the wind, check our charts, etc while still keeping on track!  In fact, while the hydrovane was doing it's job, a pod of dolphins swam by and stayed with the boat for about 5 minutes!!!  So both George and I were able to enjoy them to the fullest, as neither of us had to steer!!!

Just before sunset we had a toast to our brother-in-law who passed away in April, and then for good measure, poured some gin (no rum on board) in to the sea as an offering to Neptune.  Shortly after that, the wind started to die down and had also moved closer to being on our nose, so we fired up 'the iron jib' and I went down below to make some supper.  When I came back up to the cockpit, I noticed the hydrovane sail was missing!!!  With the vibrations of the motor, the sail had worked its way loose and fallen off in to the ocean!!!  We turned around and had a quick look for it, but we knew it would have sunk pretty quickly, as there is a heavy metal end to it.  With disappointment, we headed back toward the Magdalen Islands......I guess Neptune doesn't like gin.

The night was a long one, although we were blessed with a full moon!  However, the wind continued to be confused and not too strong, but the waves gradually increased in size throughout the night, so the ride got more and more uncomfortable!!!  Shortly after sunrise, we saw our first glimpse of land...Ile de Corp Mort!  The island really does look like a dead man, with his feet up at one end, and his head at the other!  Just behind him, we could also make out the first of the Iles de la Madeleine...Havre Aubert.  The Iles de la Madeleine are essentially a series of islands connected by sandbars.  The archipelago is shaped liked a fish hook, with Ile du Havre Aubert forming the bottom hook and Ile D'Entree just off it's tip.  Sand dunes then sweep up and connect to Ile du Cap aux Meules and Ile du Havre aux Maisons.  More sand dunes continue to reach eastward, connecting the tiny Ile de la Pointe aux Loups, and ultimately, the top of the fish hook being created by the last two islands, Ile de Grosse Ile, and Ile de la Grande Entree.  The Iles del la Madeleine provide for the majority of Canada's supply of lobster, so no surprise to see that when we arrived in the port of Cap aux Meules, we were sharing the space with a large number of lobster boats!!  The people here affliate closely with the Acadian culture, and have their own dialect of french...which actually changes from island to island!!!  The whole archipelago is only about 100 km long, but still the dialects survive!  The cliffs here are steep and red, combining with beautiful sandy beaches, blue water, and green sand grasses, make for beautiful vistas!!

Ile Corps Mort!!!  (Actually taken from the sand bar between  Ile  Havre Aubert and Ile Cap aux Meules)
....I was sleeping through the first viewing!!)

Ile D'Entree

Cap aux Meules harbour

Our second day here we rented a van with our sailing friends, Dennis and Jane and we visited Le Grave, at the west end of the island where a number of the island's artists sell their craft in small shops.  Very picturesque!  The next day we headed east and made our way to the other end of the archipelago, pausing for a barefoot walk in the sand at the East Point beach and then stopping for a snack in Grande Entree.....Lobster and crab sandwiches for the boys and a delicious date square for the girls!!!!

Unfortunately the weather has not been great since our arrival.....mostly grey and 'drizzly'....but we have had some sun and even with the poor weather conditions, these islands really are beautiful and we are so glad we made the effort to come!!!!