Every day has its challenges, and today was no exception. It was nice to have calm seas and a bit of a helpful current as I set off toward Escuminac Point. This is a pretty desolate area of the coast, dominated by remote sandy beaches, salt marshes, and peat bogs. It was interesting to climb up the “cliffs” of spongy peat for a view of the area just before reaching the point. The forecast of clear skies and “light winds changing to southwest” sounded fairly innocent. But after I passed the lighthouse and rounded the point to the south, things started going downhill pretty quick. All of a sudden I was blasted by a good 15 to 20 kt of wind from the south. Somehow the waves were not as big as I would have expected for the wind, but I did also discover that I would have to fight a stronger current than expected. Neither the wind or the current ever let up noticeably for the rest of the day.
Since the conditions were more annoying than dangerous, I just kept pressing onwards. While in the cove south of Escuminac Point, my cell phone started an eerily familiar beeping sound. It immediately occurred to me that I probably had a low battery, but I didn’t dare take the phone out to check it until I could get to shore. Once I reached the (really beautiful!) beach, my suspicions were confirmed. The battery was on “0”. I figured I’d see if I could get a quick call off to the Vances before it died completely, to ask them to meet me in Pointe-Sapin instead of Kouchibouguac. But I was unable even to do that since there was no cell service. I shut down the phone to conserve whatever battery was left and then resumed my slow painful slog southward. I had to paddle my hardest just to make about 1.5 to 2 kt forward progress, with lots of breaks.
During one extended break, I found a starkly beautiful tidal creek similar to what I saw on Miscou Island, except without the fog. The view really looked like it could have been in Alaska. While I was there a small airplane (6 seats?) flew over, parallel to the coast. It was the first small plane I’ve seen. I wondered whether it was a government plane, or someone out sightseeing, or if they thought I was in trouble, or if someone heard about me and decided to come find where I was. Who knows? Later on they showed up again, circled over me, and continued on.
When I finally got close enough to Pointe-Sapin to try the cell phone again, I was able to get phone service but no answer. So I left a message for Kevin and checked the voicemails that had accumulated. What I could understand of the messages through the weak connection was that my wife had managed to add minutes to my phone, but also that my grandmother had died a couple days ago. So the question came up of being able to get out to Arizona for a memorial service in August between the PrayerPaddle and work.
As I got close to the Pointe-Sapin wharf (and finally some houses!), the sea conditions got markedly worse. Apparently, deeper water was allowing the waves to build up bigger, so I had to negotiate three foot waves as I gradually worked my way to what looked like a breakwater. Once I finally got behind the shelter of the breakwater, I discovered that there was less than 20 yards/meters of water before a barrier of sand and tidal muck. I walked across and climbed some rocks onto the actual wharf to get a better view of the possibilities and to see if the Vances might be around. I also figured I could visit with the person in a car who had seen me come in. Mr. Landry was quite friendly and helpful, and pretty soon I saw the Subaru driving around on the wharf. Following Mr. Landry’s directions (sort of), we were able to get the car down onto the beach near the kayak. Both Kevin and Misty got their turn of having fun with the all-wheel drive. In the end, Mr. Landry accepted a New Testament and offered me some of the dulse that he’d collected off the beach to eat. What is dulse? It’s a type of seaweed that’s exported from New Brunswick all over the world (especially Asia). Just wash and eat. Gotta be the most interesting trade for a Bible that I’ve ever heard of! Eventually I did get around to rinsing some of it off and eating a few bites. Kind of “fishy” and tougher than expected, but edible anyway.
Due to my pitifully slow progress after Point Escuminac, I only managed to get about half as far as I intended today. If I hadn’t had to stop early though, I wouldn’t have met Mr. Landry. May God bring fruit from that encounter. Our campground for tonight is the main one in Kouchibouguac National Park. I’ll say more about Kouchibouguac tomorrow. For any illiterate Americans that are wondering how in the world to pronounce it though, it’s something like “Koo-shih-buh-quack”. Obviously, right?
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