31 Aout 2007 - Cap-aux-Meules

After a long drive from Camden (Maine) and a 5 hour ferry ride from PEI, I arrived on this remote island on 28 August. As I made my way further and further North I pondered whether the trip would be worthwhile. After the first 2 days of being here I am very happy to be here.

The island has a long maritime history and deeply embedded French culture, so it almost feels like being in Europe. Most of the people here speak French as do a majority of the visitors, and it has been fun trying to catch up on my French skills.

The scenery is beautiful here and there is always a view of the sea. It is very peaceful and many of the people from Quebec and Montreal seem to enjoy that. If you are thinking of coming here and wondering if you should bring your girlfriend I would say “yes” – it’s a romantic spot and there are lots of things to do and see.

The archipelago is a group of 7 islands linked together by a series of narrow isthmus. So far I have only explored the 3 southern islands, Ile du Havre Aubert being my favorite thus far. The small village of Havre Aubert has a tiny main street with cafes, shops, water and fishing boats.

What is interesting is that everything seems close by in terms of driving, even though it feels very open and spread out. This place is an awesome place to ride bicycles when not kiting - the roads are nice and not much traffic, with an assortment of terrain and off road trails. The landscape feels like a cross between Hatteras and Northern Michigan, but more interesting in many ways.

The wind has been great the past 2 days, from the SW, and a bit gusty – or “rafale” as they say here. The first day I rode fully lit with 12m Hypertype and 28 Rip. The southernmost lagoon , or Baie du Havre-aux-Basques, is a 5km x 10km shallow body of water, small to medium chop. There are barrier sand islands on both sides and it is possible to ride on either side in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The second day I rode fully lit with 10m Royal 28 Rip, 131 Bowers Design, and a short session Zone in the 5’ wind waves on the outside before the wind lightened. Apparently the best waves here arrive on a strong North to East wind, which we may get on Saturday!!!

There are a lot of windsurfers here and it’s good to see the popularity of the sport holding here. Kiters and sailboarders usually maintain a healthy separation on the water and everything is “chill” here, everybody getting along, no pushy locals or anything so far. There are a few good local riders, Jaz, Felix and a few others.

Learning conditions are great here and there are lots of shallows and flat water areas to choose from. The local schools, Aerosport and Vert et Mer, seem to being doing a good job. Aerosport, run by Tania and Eric has a nice selection of gear and they have an awesome teaching spot that rivals the REAL complex in the OBX. The water is surprisingly warm, I would guess in the low 70’s. So far the weather has been very pleasant, temperatures in the low 70’s, expected to cool a bit as the North winds begin to blow on Saturday.

Camping here is pretty nice and the campgrounds have incredible views. Food, gas, and other necessities are a bit pricey here since everything needs to be brought in on ships, except for some of the locally grown food and products.

So far I am giving this place a HUGE “thumbs up” and prefer it to Hatteras for a lot of reasons. For surfing Hatteras is a better spot, however they do have decent waves here from time to time. I will post a blog again at the end of my visit here.

More photos can be seen at: a web site to be selected - can anyone suggest a good site with fast upload and lots of mb capacity? I've considered Flickr and Shutterfly...thanks...please send me an email to rvillate@msn.com Other Useful links: Aerosport http://www.aerosport.ca Vertetmer info@vertetmer.com General info http://www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com Ferry http://www.ctma.ca