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August 4, 2013 Day 74  Chaleur Bay

Caraquet Marina
Caraquet, New Brunswick, Canada

This morning, Joyce, Lisa, and Enid borrowed Jocques’ car to go to the grocery store to do a “little” provisioning.  Somehow that always means extra bags!  We stopped to get gas for his car on the way back.  Then it was time to do laundry. The marina only has one washer and dryer so it took a while and Joyce stopped after four loads.  Since we only have a 15 amp hook up here, it means running one major appliance at a time. Somehow the refrigerator usually wins!

One of the many decorated boats returning
from the Blessing of the Fleet

Another one

We watched most of the local boaters in the marina decorate their boats in their red, white, blue, and yellow Acadian colors, fill their boats with many friends and head off to have a fun afternoon in the bay or by the island that is nearby.  The Blessing of the Fleet was at 6pm at the wharf, so we did not see it, but enjoyed seeing the boats return. They were still partying at 9pm! Their final celebration is August 15 when 20,000 – 30,000 people will be here making noise with a variety of instruments and objects.  This is called Tintamarre.  Tomorrow is the New Brunswick provincial holiday so we imagine the party will continue.

We cooked dinner on the grill and just in time before the rain began.  It is typical to get some afternoon thunderstorms here,but as usual this one did not last long.

We have a very early day tomorrow, as we will depart at 6:30 and say goodbye to this friendly town of Caraquet!  (By the way, our group of three boats had another offer of a car to use today. The owner told us he leaves the keys in his Mercedes and to use it as much as we liked.)  We did not use his car but continue to be overwhelmed at the hospitality here!