Day 22: Bay du Vin, NB to Escuminac, NB

Confusion. The devil is the author of confusion, so he must have been trying to get me discouraged today. Although I got up at a reasonable hour, I got one of my latest starts yet at 10:00, due to numerous cases of losing and forgetting things. One part of today’s paddle that I’d been looking forward to was the strong current reported next to Bay du Vin Island that I thought would push me eastwards at a comfy 4 kt with no effort. Well, when I finally got close enough to the island to be in the channel, the current was swirling around and then going the wrong way! And so it continued most of the day. No matter what it seemed they should do based on the tide tables, the currents were always going against me. Since it was a beautiful day and I didn’t see any imminent problem with running out of daylight, I decided just to accept it and keep plugging onward at a comfortable paddling pace.

I felt a little better upon rounding the point into Bay Ste. Anne in the Hardwicke area. Praying through the area (mostly English), I was hoping that the Vances might find a “person of peace” (as Gary Smith said) to provide an opening for the Gospel in this area with no evangelical churches. When I saw the Anglican church, I prayed for God to use it to further His kingdom in the area. Then I noticed a car drive up to it that looked sort of like mine (but I was too far away to see well), and then a couple other cars stopped as well. I later found that the Vances had stopped to look at the church, some members drove up to get ready for a quilt show, and that Kevin had a great opportunity to witness to a Chinese exchange student that was with them! I also found out later that Kevin had met an Anglican believer back at the boat dock who was familiar with the Gideons ministry in the area.

It was a nice little victory when I finally rounded a point to see the village of Baie-Ste.-Anne (mostly French) across the small bay. There were lots of people camping at Sandy Point, and I said hi to some that were looking for clams. When I actually got to Baie-Ste.-Anne, I was surprised to see that there was absolutely no wharf (shown on the map) or place to dock a boat. Apparently they all use the Escuminac wharf. I had to push myself through some shallow water in order to reach the point that I’d been the most concerned about for today’s paddle: Huckleberry Gully. Since the tide was coming in, I expected there to be a very strong current to keep me from getting out into the gulf. So I took a break to look at it from land first. The navigation buoys looked like they were being pulled hard by the current, but I figured I could walk the kayak through the short distance along the shore if paddling didn’t work. Surprisingly, I discovered that the current wasn’t really much of a problem, and the gully was actually one of the most enjoyable parts of the day.

Conditions were pretty calm on the gulf, and I enjoyed the view of some huge dunes before reaching the village of Escuminac, where dozens of fishing boats sank in a 1959 hurricane. I paddled up close for a good view of the old Roman Catholic church. Before leaving the campground, we’d met the man who had bought the building and converted it into a boathouse for the boat that he plans to take down to the Caribbean. Actually, there’s much more to the story. Suffice it to say that we’re praying for Eric’s salvation and that someday the building may again be used as a church that can bring the Gospel to this needy region. After rounding the Escuminac wharf, it was a blessing to finally see the beach of the campground a short distance ahead.