July 25, 2025

Wrong Way!

It was bound to happen. And things do happen when you least expect them to.  So what am I talking about?  Well, this is actually hilarious...

The other day we pulled into Bouctouche, New Brunswick Canada.  It was a beautiful marina with a fantastic dockmaster.  We snuggled into our slip after taking on fuel.  All is good and it was time to take Yudee for his walk.  Now, Yudee is one amazingly well trained dog who works very hard to please us. Among his rather broad vocabulary are a series of commands dealing with the boat.  One of the most common is "jump" to get him on and off the boat.  The specific command for getting off the boat is "Off - Jump" and away he goes.

Well, I opened the door to let him out and issued the command, "Off-Jump" as I reached to grab his leash.  Without hesitation, he goes to the port side of the boat and jumps.  Unfortunately for him, the boat was tied to the finger pier on the starboard side. Funny as can be, I looked over my shoulder and he is in mid-air glancing back at me and I swear the expression on his face is "OOOO Crap".  Splash.

Now we have to get a 70 pound dog out of the water.  In the end, all was well and everyone laughed except poor Yudee. No wonder he is prematurely turning white. 


Our Journey

There is an old saying about "making hay when the sun shines".  Well, we are not on a hay adventure but in the boating world, the equivalent is "move the boat when the winds are low".  And we have.  We have now jumped from Gaspe all the way to Prince Edward Island with big jumps stopping only at Shippagan and Bouctouche.

In Bouctouche, Terri and I decided to take the scooters and explore the countryside.    On a simple whim, we stopped at a road side antique market.  We actually only stopped because the building was amazing.  Someone had turned a small barn into a ship.


What a treat we were in for.  The gentleman, "Wood" Chuck, has since passed but his widow took us in and showed off the place.  Woodchuck was a master carver who made the most entertaining pieces.  Zoom in closely on this piece:


Now look again.  All the books up top are actually carved out of one single piece of wood.  As is the hat and trumpet.  On the shelf are billiard balls, an open book and more.  That too is carved out of another single piece.  On the bottom is a cat chasing a mouse into the hole but on the other side of the door is a small horse representing the mice from Cinderella.  Opening those doors revealed much much more hand carved detail.  Way cool.

Here are some more of his pieces. The first one is Aesop Fables and the second represents every region and providence in Canada.


He even carved a life size coffin with an image of himself on top.  We were told that he was not actually inside ....


More can be found on him at https://deborahcarr.ca/a-tour-of-a-lifetime/

The Boat

The Shorebilly continues to impress and today was no exception.  Before getting into that, all systems are functioning well.  The only minor concern is that the port engine did not want to lower all the way when leaving Shippagan.  I got it down but I am not raising it again unless I have to.  It might be ok, but I am not taking a risk.

Today we traveled from Bouctouche, New Brunswick to Summerville, Prince Edward Island.  It was only a 50 mile run and the weather forecast called for low winds and calm waters.  Two other very large boats were making the same move.  Both were 45 feet at the waterline and ~53 feet length overall (LOA).  Big boys.  The forecast was wrong.

Halfway out the seas climbed and climbed.  Before we new it, the "small" waves were 4 feet and most were 6 feet+. The waves were hitting on the starboard beam (right side).   The other boats left Bouctouche 1 - 2 hours ahead of us.  We passed both and got into port 45 minutes ahead of everyone.  The Shorebilly ran through that mess at 18 - 20mph without issue.  The other boats were beaten to death with one boat losing its glasswear.  The only thing we had happen was the dental floss sitting on the bathroom counter slid off.  AND ... given that we expected calm seas, we did not prepare the boat for rough water (meaning put everything away.). 

Yudee slept the entire way. 


Looking forward    

From here we will zig zag back and forth between Nova Scotia and PEI across the Northumberland Strait.  Until the next move, we will enjoy Summerville trying to consume as much seafood as possible.

Love 

Terri and Aubrey

Stay safe my friends.



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