July 11 & 12:  Ste Anne des Monts & In Which Dan Goes Fishing - For Fish

     We stayed two nights in Ste. Anne des Monts, a small town whose tiny harbor is completely dominated by a large, twin-steepled stone church. 

     The marina here was only a little smaller than the harbor, and like many along this coast, was enclosed by a large man-made breakwater.  It was a good place to stay during the Southwest winds - Saturday night was not bad, but it really started to blow Sunday well into the evening.  The marina was full, and was run by a charming young couple Joel and Marie-France.  

     The marina opens onto a small park with a small museum/’explorama’ and caters to children.  The park exhibits sculptures carved by someone with a good eye for seeing his dreams in driftwood.  Lots of driftwood piles up along the outer edge of the breakwater.  We found driftwood carved into birds and people and sea creatures here and throughout the town.  There was also a sort of fire tower here overlooking the St. Lawrence, the marina, and the adjacent jetty where locals come to fish.  

     We passed the time doing laundry and exploring a little during the nicer weather windows, and made a trip to the grocery store to stock up.  Sunday night we went to a local poissonerie for dinners of fresh fruits de mer (I had cod, Dan had shrimp) and came out to see a gorgeous, sailor-friendly red sunset.  

      Dan noticed how active the jetty was with fisherman, and hustled back to the boat for his rod and supplies.  I followed him to document this adventure on film.  As night fell he joined the throngs of fishermen and cast off the corner of the jetty, one of the few spaces available.  Five minutes later he’d caught three small cod and we were back at the boat while he dug out his fish-cleaning knives. 

During this process, one of the fish managed to throw himself back into the sea, so we only ended up with the meat from two of the cod, but it was enough to make a chowder for lunch the next day.