Avrion Bay

Sept 8 2025 Lillian B’s Path to Avrion Bay Google Maps image of Avrion Bay with the “pool” at the end The CCA Cruising Guide to Newfoundland touts Avrion harbour as “a cruising sailor’s dream with the pool at the head of the harbor not to be missed.” We cast off our lines at Francois…

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Francois

Sept 7 2025 Lillian B path from Facheux to Francois, NL Google Maps image of the Bay of Francois, NL The motor/sail from Facheux to the fiord of Francois took six hours against  moderate wind and waves with a light fog shrouding the water. As we entered the fiord, the waves calmed and the fog…

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Fine Dining on Lillian B

Sept 6 2025 As Brimmer, Burke, and I were motoring about in the Zodiac in Brent Cove, Hill was back on-board preparing dinner. If you ever crew on the Lillian B, you will, in turn, be assigned to be  Chef and bottle-washer for the day. You can choose whatever you want to offer the crew,…

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The Zodiac

The Zodiac Sept 6 2025 Having arrived in the early afternoon in Brent Cove, we had time to kill before dinner. As noted in the CCA Cruising Guide to Newfoundland, a now-abandoned hunting lodge had been built in 1996 on the shore of the Brent cove in Facheux using funds from a government grant. From…

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Fortune to Facheux Bay

Fortune to Facheux Bay Sept 6 2025 We departed Saturday from the floating dock at Fortune, NL at 6:30 am local time.  Newfoundland time  is ½ an hour behind Saint Pierre which is 2 hours ahead of Rockport, Maine. That makes for a 1½ hour difference between Maine and Newfoundland which makes it surprisingly confusing…

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Clearing into Canada

Clearing into Canada Sept 5,  2025 Before we could cruise the fiords along the south coast of Newfoundland, we  had to officially enter Canada.   Back in 2014, it was possible to check into Canada with a  satellite phone via CANPASS without stopping for an inspection.  Today, sailing from  the US to Canada requires physically appearing…

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Two days in St. Pierre

Sept 3-4, 2025 As soon as we were officially checked into St. Pierre, the crew, led by Denise, went in search of pastries. Armed with a recommendation from Rockport neighbors and sailors Tom and Mary Amory, we did not have far to go. The nearest pâtisserie was less than a ten-minute walk away. With a…

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Arrival in St. Pierre

Sept 2, 2025 As we approached from the southwest, the western side  of the island was dark except for the slight illumination from a setting  moon and a few navigational beacons off the coast. St Pierre is only 4 nautical miles, north-to-south, and 3 miles, east-to-west. The west coast is a wall  of  rocky bluffs…

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Passage to St. Pierre

August/Sept 2025 It would take us 128 hours (5.3 days) to travel  the 620 km (715 statute miles)  from Rockport, ME to St.  Pierre, France. We  left Rockport around three in the afternoon on Thursday, August 28th and arrived in  St. Pierre at 11 PM, Tuesday, September 2, clocking  an average speed of 4.8 kts…

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Boat Prep

Summer 2025 The date of departure for St. Pierre was set for Thursday, August 28th. The crew was set as Denise and Burke Munger, Rockport ME neighbors; William Hill Harmon, Riverside California; Brimmer Sherman, Huntsville AL neighbor; and I.  That date was selected based on multiple, sometimes competing, objectives.   I wanted to delay the trip…

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