As we made our way from Gaspé Peninsula to Prince Edward Island we had some exciting winds reaching 30 knot gusts.  This section of the seaway is known for its wind monsters waiting to blow at the nearest sail boat.  We managed to lose our wind vane on the top of the mast and one of our less than secure fenders to one of the gusts.  These small token sacrifices must have appeased the wind monster since he settled for the rest of our passage to PEI with some nice 15 knot winds to sail with.   As we rounded the northern most part of the peninsula, we celebrated briefly as this would be the northern most point of our trip!  It’s all down hill from here – or up if you measure by temperature!

We stopped by Cannes de Roches for a rest.

It certainly looks like an eerie place – Perhaps the home of a wind monster?  I wonder how many wind vanes and fenders are collected in the monster’s lair through the mysterious hole in the mysterious rock.  In reality, the cloud is a lenticular cloud.  This happens when the humidity is near 100% and windy.  When the wind pushes up and over the rock, it causes turbulence in the air.   The lower pressure of the turbulence causes the water in the air to temporarily turn to visible vapor since the lower pressure air can no longer hold that much moisture.  This was the physics lesson for the day.

Birthday!

Katerina finally made it to double digits!  We celebrated with our first boat cake – a rich dark German chocolate cake made from scratch while under sail during a test of perseverance with 1-2 meter waves and 20 knot winds – proof that it can be done!  We didn’t have any icing and the candle required a bit of improvisation, but the crew didn’t mind.

As we traveled south, the water warmed from 8°C to mid teens.  This is definitely more comfortable for sleeping.  The cold North Atlantic sea pushing up to Gaspé sucked the heat right through the hull of the boat and seemed to reach right up into the sleeping berths and grab our fingers and toes with its icy tendrils!

We stopped in Summerside for some supplies, laundry and a good nights sleep in the warmer climate.  The passage from Summerside to Charlottetown includes a pass under the Confederation Bridge.  This is the largest bridge over icy waters connecting Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick completed in 1997.

 

As we approached, we were careful to stay in the channel where the bridge has the most vertical clearance.  While we likely would have fit under other areas, the bridge height is documented in the channel but not in other areas so it is best to be safe.

The channel is marked clearly with the red marker on the port side (left side) and the green marker on the starboard side (right side) since we are going down stream.  If we were going the other way (up stream), the colours would be reversed.

We arrived in Charlottetown – capital of PEI and home of some of the largest lobsters in the world!

If you have one of these….

You can catch a bunch of these in PEI!  Special thanks to Brian for instructing us on the proper preparation techniques.

The area of Charlottetown by the port was full of small shops and restaurants to support the booming tourism industry here.  Each shop had its character and the people were wonderfully friendly and genuinely interested in our travels.  6-7 cruise ships stop in each week to visit this picturesque town and support the local economy.

A special thanks to Conner at the Charlottetown Harbour for letting us dock for the day to tour Charlottetown.

Time to move on to Canso Channel – our passage to the Atlantic Ocean.