Baie Day Baie Day September 22, 2022 The previous day's forced stop and the growing threat of Fiona making landfall in the Maritimes saw me in the canoe determined to get as far down Baie de Chaleur as possible. This would be the last day on the Baie...
Making Hay Making Hay September 21 , 2022 Baie de Chaleuer has a reputation as an unforgiving and nasty piece of work. You would never know it from this picture.What one might not glean as well is that there was a Category 4 hurricane due in these parts...
A Dollar Short A Dollar Short September 19, 2022Low water put an end to any idea I may have had about clearing the MatapèdIa river system in one day. Lac au Saumon's marshy, muddy shores meant there would be no camp sites for at least another hour...
Matapedia Miles Matapedia Miles September 17, 2022I absolutely blistered Lac Matapedia. Blistered as in covering the 25 km of open water in a shade over 2 hours and 15 minutes. A 30 gusting 35 km tailwind helped. The 3 foot swell helped even more. Kai Nani jumped...
There Are No Shortcuts There Are No Shortcuts September 15, 2022 Looking to save 8 km or so of labouring down the highway towing Kai Nani, I left Highway 134 and headed for 20.Leaving St Lucie, I hauled the canoe 2 km, sadly mostly uphill, only to be...
Familiar Territory Familiar Territory Sept 14, 2022 In the distance is Pointe au Père. You can just make out the lighthouse and quai. My father knows this place. Ships bound inland on the St Lawrence Seaway would pick up river pilots at Pointe au Père. Ships outbound headed to...
Où Est Le Bic Où Est Le Bic September 13, 2022 Just off Kai Nani's bow, some 70 meters or so, is an island. A rather large island in fact. More than 100 feet high and about 1/4 mile long, it is completely invisible. As was all of...
True Colours True Colours Sept 11, 2022Normally, there aren't a lot of good reasons to get up at 3:30 in the morning. Sometimes, just sometimes, there are. This was one of those times.The river is a mirror. The air, still and crisp, not yet wearing winter's chill....
Water Water Everywhere Water Water Everywhere September 10, 2022 Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink.Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.Coleridge's words sprang to my lips as I spat. The water that I had scooped out of the St Lawrence was undrinkable. It wasbrackish,...
Flurry on the Fleuve Flurry on the Fleuve Sept 9 2022I had not expected 18 foot tides barely past Iles d’Orleans. At high tide, every bit of greenery save the large trees in the middle distance is underwater.As you might expect, the large tides are accompanied by...