July 21-22  Officially in the Northumberland Strait

     We are solidly in New Brunswick now.  We left Baie du Vin early in the morning to make the passage of fifty miles to Richibucto, taking our chances with with flukey winds and unknown current patterns.   Canadian weather channels are similar to the NOAA channels in Maine - you hear a lot of information about what the weather is like in certain cities on land before they get to the marine forecast.  The land forecast is often extended for nearly a week, and quite detailed, with stats about the humidity and UV levels, while the marine forecast is just for today and tonight, sometimes tomorrow, and usually only mention a general wind direction and speed.  Marine forecasts are given for places we have to find on the chart, too, and often we can't find them and have to sit through the recitation several times - they give it in French and English - before we figure out which forecast is actually for our area.  Anyway, we decided this was our weather window to head out into Northumberland Strait.
      It was a grey day with intermittent showers, and a bit of a chop.  We made harbor in Richibucto early afternoon.  Due to constantly shifting sands, the channel moves around a lot, and someone monitors the channel buoys to make sure they are in the right places.  Keeping an eye on the depth sounder made the travel slow and a little heart-stopping at times.  Dan said if we went aground, at least it would be on sand.

      This is a fishing town.  There are lobstermen here - the first we've seen.  Lobster season isn't open yet - it's only ten weeks long here and begins in August - but Native Canadians can fish now and we encountered our first pot buoys here. Not anywhere as many as what we have in Maine, but something to watch for all the same.  We tied up at the dock and paid $5 for the privilege to wander through town, stock up on supplies, and fill our water tanks.   We filled the diesel tanks and anchored outside the fishing docks for a quiet night.
       It rained hard the next morning and we waited it out before continuing on our way to Bouctouche where we took a slip at the Sawmill Point Marina for the night.  Bouctouche is the home village of the Irving family - the ones who founded the Irving Oil Company and this is a proud little town.  Also hands-down the nicest marina we've been at.  There's a very large plantation with botanical gardens and a little forest here that opens into a large park with a trail that winds down to the Irving Eco-Center with a long boardwalk along the sand dunes.  We plan to walk the trail tomorrow.  Today, we're watching a thunderstorm from the marina clubhouse, and making good use of the showers and laundry facilities.