Change of plans

Sept. 1 - What is the saying? "We cannot change the winds, but we can adjust our sails." Something like that.

We intended today to be leisurely, having planned to cover a shorter distance and allowed time to hike, birdwatch, and take photos on Île Bonaventure, which has the largest colony of Northern Gannet in the world. The island has high cliffs with numerous ledges and fissures which make an ideal habitat for them, as well as many other nesting seabirds.

Well, it was tough sailing. The winds were too strong and the waves too rough to anchor, so plan B was to dock at Percé Village and take a tour boat to the island. Claus and Rachael were ahead of us scouting out our options. They thought the marina looked too small to maneuver and dock our boats in safely with the conditions we had, so we sailed past Percé Village, detoured slightly to photograph Percé Rock (quite impressive), sailed past the little harbor village, L'Anse-à-Beaufils, where we had planned to spend the night, and moved on to plan C. Claus and Rachael's next choice looked tenuous as well, so we went a little farther and docked at Grande Rivière.

We knew immediately that this was a fishing village (besides the fact that our navigational chart labels the waters here as a "fish farm"), and would have even if we hadn't been surrounded by fishing boats - the aroma made it obvious.

We tied up and relaxed for a little while, then set out to explore the village. Well, we only made it as far as the fish market, just a stone's throw from the dock, because dinner was waiting inside in the form of whole, live lobsters. We certainly weren't about to carry them around town or set them loose on our boats, although Charlotte the cat would have found that entertaining. I made it clear that I would have nothing to do with torturing and murdering the poor things myself, so someone else would have to do it (yes, yes, I am a shameless hypocrite). On the walk back I realized that I did not even want Lena Bea to be the scene of the crime, so I asked Claus and Rachael if they would do the deed at their place while I prepared the rest of the dinner. Thankfully, they agreed.

Now, before I bought the lobsters I mentioned to Rachael that we didn't have any equipment for eating them and she assured me, "No problem, we do." I was expecting nutcrackers, tiny forks, special knives, and individual butter warmers with votive candles, so imagine my surprise when Rachael walked in with tiny forks, special knives (of sorts), small stainless bowls...plus a wire cutter and an assortment of heavily-used pairs of pliers. We were not about to let the wrong equipment stop us from eating the lobster, though - sure, it took us a little longer, but the lobster was delish! Rust and all.

Tonight I proposed a toast in honor of it being our final night in Quebec. We love Quebec and the people are friendly and gracious, but after several weeks here, we look forward to the comfort of being in an English-speaking province once again.