Prince Edward Island

 

 

 RED IS BAD!  The above picture is from PredictWind, one of the weather apps I use.  Thu image depicts wind speed in knots.  The red color denotes winds of 25 knots, roughly 30 mph.  Today, Wednesday, August 9th, Salty Paws will remain in Charlottetown, PEI (designated by the green arrow).  We will likely remain in port for tomorrow as well as the weather is not slated to improve until Friday..                                                                                                                                                            
Winds and waves are the strongest that we have encountered on this trip.  The forecast in blue shows that the wind will gust up to 42 knots, gale force strength.  In addition, seas are forecasted to reach 6 feet with a 5 second period, meaning there is a swell of that height every 5 seconds.  This is enough to keep every boat here in the Charlottetown Yacht Club at the dock, and that includes a couple of 60+ foot boats next to Salty Paws.                                                                                                                                                Earlier today Dick and I hugged and kissed our wives goodbye after two wonderful days touring PEI.   They are on their way back to Maine while we finish our laundry, do a few maintenance items such as fixing the leak above my v-berth, and write our respective blogs.

Land of the Mi'kmaq likely included parts of Northern Maine.
There are many spellings of Mi'kmaq including Micmac.
Source: danielnpaul.com

Our spouses arrived by car late Sunday afternoon, and we spent most all of Monday and Tuesday touring this beautiful island, Canada's smallest province and roughly equal to the size of the state of Delaware.  The island was originally inhabited by Mi'kmaq indigenous people for thousands of years before the French established its first European settlement in 1720 as part of Acadia.    A few years after the British defeated the French in North America, the island was renamed Prince Edward Island in 1769.

Birch bark canoe made by
Mi'kmaq elder Peter Paul.

Much more than in Maine or the USA, PEI and Canada seem to be working harder to recognize their indigenous roots.  Signage includes English, French and the Mi'kmaq language.  The written Mi'kmaq language is not a recent innovation.  It dates back to the 1600's when European explorers and missionaries began interacting with the Mi'kmaq people as it helped facilitate trade and religious education.  

Most PEI and Quebec parks has some information on the Mi'kmaq, and at Greenwich Dunes National Park we met and spoke with Mi'kmaq elder Peter Paul.  He was born in Presque Isle, Maine, and he and Daniel N. Paul (not related) have done much in educating indigenous and nonindigenous people alike in the traditional ways and crafts of the Mi'kmaq.  

Mi'maq Elder Peter Paul educating us on the horn to call moose.  Of course, moose and deer are no longer found on PEI,
but Peter suggested that Dick and I could use the horn to call our wives!

Traditional Mi'kmaq Teepee.  Note the picture attached to the side.  It is from the 1880s and shows the traditional construction,
which is duplicated here.

Rough seas had the no swimming
flag out at Cavendish Beach.

Molly on the floating walkway at
Greenwich Dunes.

Two days is not enough time to see all that PEI has to offer, and we primarily focused our attentions on the north coast that is dotted with beaches, red sandstone cliffs, light houses, and small fishing villages.  Here is a sampling of our tour.

Greenwich Dunes is a beautiful park featuring PEI's highest dunes and a unparalleled floating walkway.

Our first stop was the swing set in Summerside.

At East Point Lighthouse, one of the more touristy places that Ellen, Dick, Molly and I visited.

Walking along Thunder
Cove Beach.

The famous house of Green Gables.
We regretted not visiting as we found
out too late that a friend had researched
and designed the wardrobes on display.

Quaint fishing village.  As we drove by I noticed that one of the lobster boats was named the
Yankee Gale.  I didn't realize until later that the Yankee Gale referred to one of the most severe storms
in PEI history.  It occurred in 1851 and led to the wreck of about 70 ships and an estimated 160 lives
lost.  It was called the Yankee Gale because the storm wrecked much of the New England fishing
fleet, which was fishing those waters at the time.

Cape Tyron Lighthouse.  It is no longer operational, having lost its light in a storm.

Walking the dunes at
Thunder Cove Beach.

Molly at Cape Tyron
Lighthouse.

Dick's wife, Ellen, and me at Thunder Cove Beach.  The red color comes from the high iron content.
The beach sand is not as red because the salt water and waves wash some of the iron away.

Historic St. Mary's Church, now home to Under the Spire Music Festival.  Churches of all denominations are common on PEI.

Dick and me at the dock at Charlottetown Yacht Club.

A little more history of PEI.  In the 19th century, the island was very economically depressed and included a land tenure system and heavy debt for the locals.  This motivated PEI to join the Dominion of Canada in 1873 with the federal government agreeing to assume the colony's debt.  Fortunes improved, and today lobstering, agriculture (wheat, corn and potatoes, primarily), aquaculture (mussels and oysters) and tourism seem to make the island a relatively prosperous place.

Farms and fields of corn, potatoes and wheat are everywhere on PEI.

The performers in Johnny and June were
excellent.

While in Charlottetown, we went to two stage productions, Johnny and June, a tribute to John Cash and June Carter, and the musical Maggie.  Both were outstanding, and Maggie also exposed us to some more history.  The musical takes places in Scotland in the late 1960's when 3,000 Scotts a week were immigrating to Canada.  At the time, Scotland was struggling with its economy as coal mines were closing, and it was also experiencing sectarian conflicts as a number of Irish Catholics had immigrated to the predominately protestant Scotland.  The musical tackles all of this and is worthy of making it to Broadway.  More information the trailer soundtrack is available at maggiethemusical.com