Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Friday, August 22, 2008

046-13.920 N
063-1.200 W

Ahoy from Charlottetown, PEI!

Before we get into the story of our stay here, I'd like to have a little quiz. Don't worry, you don't have to remember what an atoll or bight is. This is about what clothes you're wearing during the middle of August. But you need to score yourself by counting how many of the object you've worn in the past few days:

• Jeans
• Underwear
• Long Underwear
• Wool Socks
• A second pair of wool socks over the first
• Sweater
• Thermal Top
• Fleece jacket
• Down Vest
• Rainproof pants
• Heavy duty raincoat
• Warm Gloves
• Glove Liners
• Wool Hat

If you scored 0, send photos! :-)
If you scored 1-2, send some heat our way!
If you scored 3-4, you need to get somewhere warmer.
If you scored 14 (and wore them at the same time), you've probably been on the BlueJacket doing the Down East Circle Route!

Yes, it's been cold and windy. Our trip from Summerside to Charlottetown, PEI was once again marked by temps in the upper 50s and winds of 30-35 kts (35-40 mph) and rain. Let me tell you, when you're standing at the wheel in those conditions, you feel the wind! The good thing was that we were running down wind with the jib up only and flying along at 7+ kts, so we got here quickly.

One of the more impressive sights was when we passed under the Confederation bridge and watched the wind whip the spray off of the huge pillars that support the bridge. The bridge, which is 8 miles long and between 130 and 190 feet above the water, is quite the impressive sight on any day. On this day you wanted to keep away from the pillars. I was happy that we were passing under it instead over it, as they charge $42/rt to drive on it. Yikes, that would make you think twice about going to the mainland!

For some reason or another I had the preconceived notion that I wasn't going to like Charlottetown. Perhaps it was because we've been in quite a few little towns that didn't have a lot to offer, but all that I can say is that I was very wrong. Charlottetown is a delightful town with lots of beautiful streets, shops and restaurants. You can find anything that you need here. It's also amazingly clean. We met a woman this morning who is part of a 200 person volunteer team who goes around picking up trash from the sidewalks and streets. Wow!

We're at the Quartermaster Marina, which is right in the heart of the historic district. We decided that we were going to rent a car and explore the island, which is about 110 miles long by 40 miles wide it's widest. PEI kind of looks like a butterfly with a wide body, a small wing to the W and a larger wing to the E. We decided to explore the body and the western wing and set out bright and early on Thursday morning, with crystal clear blue skies and warmer temperatures than we've seen in ages. We headed to the northern coast which is populated with national parks and miles of red sand dunes and beaches. It's stunning to look at and I'd love to spend some time there enjoying the beaches when it's warm and sunny.

We wound our way west passing miles and miles of beaches and coves. The N shore of the "body" is primarily national parks and golf courses. If you're a golfer, you'd think that you were in golf heaven as the Canadian government has built 26 golf courses on the island, which many of the residents think is ridiculous. From what we've seen (not being golfers), they looked very nice. We worked our way through the body and headed into the western "wing" where it it became much more agricultural with rolling hills of wheat, soy beans and hay. According to what we've read, about 50% of the area is involved with agriculture and the other 50% is involved with fishing. There are many bays/harbors that the fishing fleet can pull in to that aren't deep enough for sailing vessels. As we went along the southern coast, we were treated to beautiful areas with colorful names such as Argyle Shores, which aptly describes the patchwork of varying colored fields separated by trees. We saw this clearly from the water as we moved by, but the wind and rain didn't lend itself to photography, and the view from land didn't provide a large enough canvas for the camera.

We decided to spend another day exploring PEI via car, so we searched for another car to rent. After a bit of bait and switch, we were all set and headed off to see the eastern "wing". I must say that we were disappointed compared to the "body" and western "wing" as in general this area was almost 100% farm land with many miles of fields in between. One of the interesting things was the mussel farms, which are rows of buoys suspending socks filled with mussels. If you're going to spend time exploring PEI, I would suggest doing our first day instead of exploring the eastern eastern coast.

On Saturday we're headed to the Nova Scotia coast and then into the Bras d'Or lakes.

-- Geoff & Sue

For the cruiser:

We're at the Quartermaster marina and I can't provide a high recommendation. There's no Internet access because the 65 year old owner doesn't understand why people need it. The finger piers are thin and wobbly and the bathrooms are the share public bathrooms. The showers m/f shared and are concrete block. Dockage is $1/ft + $4 for power. The major problem is that at the Yacht Club, they want to put you on the outside dock, which we've been told is noisy/bumpy.

Log ID: 1269