It’s all south from here

Earlier today, we reached our maximum northing on our trip. 49 degrees, 16.350 minutes. We’re finally working our way south along the Gaspesie peninsula.

I was temped to head a little further north, maybe visit Sept-Iles on the North side, so I can say I sailed the 50s. But, I decided if I’m going to sail the 50’s I’m going to do it properly. The next time I’m on Terschelling Island in the Netherlands, I’m going to rent a Hobbie Cat and bring along plenty of fruity umbrella drinks.

Today we ran into more whales. These were much larger and black. The water spouts from their breathing appeared to be 20 or 30 feet high. Not sure what kind of whale they were, but they made our boat feel a little smaller.

Tonight is a new moon, so I was expecting lots of stars. Instead, we’re being treated to a beautiful aurora show. It’s green with some red highlights.

The wind is finally cooperating. Perfect downwind sailing conditions. We’re doing 6 knots with just the Yankee out. We do need to get out of the area soon. There are gale warnings for Saturday afternoon into evening. The winds will be out of the west and I should have rounded the Gaspesie peninsula by then and running South along the New Brunswick coast.

New Brunswick has plenty of protected coves I can take shelter in if needed. Unfortunately, from what I’ve been reading in several cruising guides, they’re filled with salmon farms.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful coast I took earlier.

I’m already planning a road trip along route 132. It’s gorgeous around here and I’d like to see more of it.