Francois to St Pierre

Hi everyone,

We had a great sail from Francois, Newfoundland to St Pierre, France.  This was a 56nm passage SSE to the French territory of St Pierre & Miquelon.  We had SW-SSW winds of 15-20G20-25, giving us a close reach followed by close hauled into St Pierre.  We went down through the gears to 2 reefs (trisail size) and 3 furls (of the yankee).  As we approached St Pierre the wind eased and fog rolled in.  We motored into the harbour.

Back in French territory!

Previously we've visited the French territories of La Reunion, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Here are the usual plots...

Track

Arrival

Graphs

Our new Tides Marine SailTrack was fantastic, making reefing sooo much easier.  A few photos from the passage...

Hiding behind the dodger

Approaching St Pierre

Passing the Fairway Buoy in the fog

St Pierre harbour ahead

Once inside the harbour we called the harbourmaster on VHF 12.  He directed us to the marina and waved us in alongside the fixed wharf.  There's now also a floating dock running NE from the fixed wharf.

Alongside in St Pierre

Marina & Sailing Club buiilding

We've spent our first two days preparing Zen Again for our next passage.  Rewatering, refueling, reprovisioning, recharging, re-organising etc.  We're close to being able to start exploring and enjoying St Pierre & Miquelon.

Yesterday we - along with several other yacht crews - were interviewed by the local TV station news crew.  You can see their daily report here.  Our piece starts at the 17 minute mark.

More on St Pierre in our next blog!

Francois

Hi everyone,

After three wonderful days in La Hune Bay it was time to move on.  We motored the 20nm to Francois (pronounced "France Ways") in calm conditions.  Just before we left a seal visited to inspect our hull.  After over 1600nm from Virginia the hull is super-clean.  Gotta love cold water with the occasional period in brackish water.

Zen Again at Francois

Here is our track...

Track

Francois is a picturesque Newfoundland 'outport'.  Sadly it has only about 50 permanent residents these days, down from several hundred a decade ago.  A ferry stays here overnight and visits neighbouring ports daily.  The YouTube channel 'Sailing Uma' visited the town a few years ago a little later in the season when ex-Francois folk return to the town for a reunion.  Their video is well worth a look.

Floating jetty from ashore

View across the bay from town

Colourful boats

We walked around the town, chatting to some of the very friendly locals.  Then we walked up a trail to the town reservoir/lake where there are great views down to the town and over the bay.

Nic on a rock

View towards town from the lake/reservoir

Reservoir (aka the swimming pool)

Preparing for this year's reunion

Sadly our time in Francois was curtailed due to a good weather window to sail SSE to St Pierre.  We stayed only one night before moving on.

La Hune Bay

Hi everyone,

From Ramea we motored in dead calm conditions to La Hune Bay.  Our plan had been to spend a couple of nights at the head of the Bay (in NW arm) and one at Deadman's Cove near the foot of the Bay.  We're enjoying the head of the Bay so are spending our third night here.

Little boat, big country!

Here are our tracks...

Track

Arrival

We anchored in 6m over coarse sand and perhaps a little kelp.  We've had two wind reversals during a frontal passage and the holding is very good.

Departing Ramea

Dead Calm

Cape La Hume ahead

Cape La Hume

West Point (W side of entrance to the Bay)

Motoring into the Bay

View E into Deadman's Cove

Heading up the Bay

View out of the Bay

Anchored at the head of the Bay

View of the creek at the head of the Bay

That afternoon we explored in the dinghy.  It was low tide so we couldn't get far into the creek.  We saw a bald eagle but the mountainous scenery was spectacular to view close up.  Lots of kelp in the inter-tidal area (there's 1.5m of tide here) and moss on the rocks above the high tide line.  There's a wide variety of trees on the steep hill sides with large areas of sheer rock faces and bare rock slides.

That evening at twilight we watched an otter hunting and eating fish for 15 minutes.  It brought its catch out of the water and walked over the rocks only 50m from Zen Again.  What a great experience.

Tall hills

More tall hills

Day 2 saw a front move across La Hune Bay.  The Bay protected us from the seas but it was windy and rainy all day and overnight.  During the afternoon the cloud base came down below the hill tops and into the Bay.  Very atmospheric!  Winds switched from S to N to S.

La Hune Bay under the clouds

View to N from head of the Bay

Today the sun was out again and the winds decreased.  We again dinghied around the shore and this time into the creek since it was high tide.  Spectacular views of the hills again and this time two bald eagles.  In the creek we encountered two otters.  They were very inquisitive, popping up out of the water to have a good look at us.

Morning sun on hills to W

Dinghying around the head of the Bay

View out of the Bay

Into the creek

In the creek - spot the otter

Spot the otter

Zen Again from the creek

We've thoroughly enjoyed our time in La Hune Bay.  Very peaceful amid spectacular nature.

Trust all's well where you are.

Ramea

Hi everyone,

We spent two nights at Ramea.  It's a lovely small town on the Ramea Islands off the Newfoundland south coast.  There are ferry links to the mainland, mostly via the interestingly named mv Gallipolli.  Zen Again was secured alongside the main small craft dock along with a fishing boat and OCC sv Brenna.  There's a 1.5m tidal range so we had to secure carefully.

Fees at the dock are C$10/day.  This includes fresh water on the dock and use of the toilet in the Museum building.  Showers are C$5/person.  All very good value.  There's an ATM and two small supermarkets but currently no cafes, restaurants or pubs.

There's a track with 179 steps up the hill overlooking the town.  On the hill top there's a communications tower which appears to be a relay station between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.  Perhaps that explains the very good mobile signal in Ramea.  We climbed the hill early in the morning and the view was spectacular.

View of Ramea town from the hill

View S down the channel from the hill

Descending

After descending the hill we walked around the island via a well marked trail.  The trail is several kilometres in length and mostly on a boardwalk.  Many of the boards are engraved with names.  The trail really really showcases this spectacular island.

Fishing boats and their ramps

Quiet morning

On the boardwalk

Peat bogs

Lighthouse and another comms tower

Ascending another staircase to the lighthouse

Lighthouse

View over S end of Ramea Islands channel

Lots of wild flowers

Nice landscape

Nice little bay

Duck on a board

Back in town we explored.  The small museum has a eclectic mix of interesting exhibits.  The town is neat and tidy overall with many brightly painted houses.

Museum

War Memorial

The locals are extremely friendly, just as the 'Newfies' marketing says.  Whenever we were aboard folks came by to say hello.  All were amazed at the wonderful sunny weather - apparently we were very lucky!  While exploring everyone said hello when walking by.  It was nice to get to know the OCC sv Brenna crew too.  Ramea was well worth the visit.

Zen Again in Ramea

Trust all's well where you are.