Thursday July 6th to Saturday July 8th - Canadian Maritimes to New York 2017

We had a blast for our mini-vacation from our vacation! Andy & Rejeanne are amazing hosts! Their land faces Chaleur Bay and you are provided the best sunrise views!

The village of Petit-Rocher-Sud was founded in 1797 by Acadian settlers. The name literally means 'little rock', and is pronounced by most anglophones in the region as Petty Roche. 

The name of the village is reputed to derive from the fact that the village's founders disembarked on a small rock. The village was named Little Roche from 1850 to 1854, then Madisco until 1870, and then Petit Rocher. The hyphenated form Petit-Rocher was adopted in 2009. Some old maps have the name Petite Roche and Sainte Roque or Little Russia (1827). Petit Rocher is a village on the Chaleur Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with a population of over 1,000 people. It is located in the historical territory of the Mi’kmaq people, but was later claimed by the Iroquois and Mohawks as part of their territory.

We did some touring and a lot of resting. There is something very calming about this space!

There are some very unique rock formations in the Bay in front of the land. The Strata rock layers have been turned on end and you can see the different layers of rocks.

Bands of limestone are exposed on the coast of the Bay of Chaleurs about halfway between Petit Rocher and Petit Rocher Nord. The limestone and elegant marble near Petit Rocher was first discovered in 1843.

They have been the subject of considerable study in formulating the regional stratigraphy of Silurian strata in this part of northern New Brunswick. This band of limestone is part of the Chaleur Group, a mixed sequence of sedimentary, carbonate and volcanic rocks.

We enjoyed the meeting more new friends and members of Andy and Rejeanne’s family.

In early July, the village hosts the Festival des Rameurs, The Dory Boat Festival or The Rowers festival. This festival first began in 1967 when villagers decided to celebrate the 100th anniversary of confederation through a rowing trip across the Chaleur Bay. Every year since, groups of rowers have crossed the bay and people have gathered in Petit Rocher for the festival.

The major attraction is the rowing competition that challenges rowers in a 22-mile race on Chaleur Bay. There are all male and all female teams. We rode out in two boats to watch them cross and cheer the rowers on. Andy and his relatives always go half way out to watch the rowers. Charlie and I were in the boat with Giselle and Rene, Rejeanne’s sister and brother-in-law.

It was a clear day when we got to the half-way point on the bay. We got to see most of the teams come by … we did not want to set too close, but some boats do! We found this race very interesting and exciting.

When we headed back, closer to shore, to watch them cross the finish line, the wind had shifted and some heavy fog had come in.

Some dory boats are sponsored and others are just groups of rowers that get together to row in the festival. The first male team was Doucet Contracteur of Wood with a time of 2 hours, 50 minutes and 11 seconds. Followed by Lady Albertine, only 5 minutes behind the winners. Third place was OG BARBER SHOP, 2 minutes behind second place. The last of nine male teams came across the finish line in 3 hours, 20 minutes and 44 seconds, congrats to THE BEAUTIFUL BEFORE DAY II and all the male rowers!

The first women’s team to finish was Heat Insulation, with a winning time of 3 hours, 4 minutes and 18 seconds. Second place was 7 minutes behind the first and the girls on ROY'S TRUCKING did an awesome job! Financial Cooperation was third place with less than 1 minute behind second place. The thirteenth place and last team to arrive was Drekon MMaxout, with a time of 3 hours, 50 minutes and 21 seconds.

Huge crowds line the bay side and cheer the crossing of the finish line by all rowers. There is a single firework every time a dory boat crosses the finish line and there are tons of horns blowing.

Before we headed back into shore, Rene, Giselle, Charlie & I did a little bit of fishing. I caught a few mackerel and Giselle caught a Stripper and mackerel.

Our bay view sites, as seen from the boat!

Sunday, which was the last day of the festival, is the day we departed. The events on Sunday include a brunch and a Mass. The parade begins close to Andy’s house and goes all the way to the park beach. There were staging the floats here and we got a glimpse of a space shuttle float … this is the second space shuttle we have seen in Canada! The night ends with music by Steve Hickey and then with Marc and the Bandits and they close the whole thing, with beautiful fireworks.

We departed Andy and Rejeanne’s house and started our journey back into the states as a convoy of three RVs. Thanks again for the hospitality! It has been an awesome vacation from our vacation!