Itinerary and Crew of the First Fifty Years of Cruising of Jean-du-Sud
Yves Gélinas
I purchased an Alberg 30, hull 399, named Gump from Philip Calnan in July 1973 based in Port Hope ON, renamed it Jean-du-Sud and sailed it from there to Lake Champlain. In the fall, I continued south with Alain Arsenault (Alain still runs the Centre nautique de l’Istorlet in the Magdalen Islands with his wife Rita) via the Inland Waterway to Beaufort NC.
From there, made the 1400 miles passage to St. Martin and up the Lesser Antilles chain. From Martinique, Alain returned to Quebec.
In St. Vincent, Grenadines, Kitty Murphy embarked to sail up the Caribbean chain to Puerto Rico. I sailed back to Norfolk, Virginia single-handed; my two daughters, Annikki and Julika, then 5 and 7 years old, join me to sail up the Chesapeake Bay, the New Jersey coast to New York, then the Hudson River to Quebec.
1975: Sailed solo to Bermuda; Jacinthe Tremblay joined me for the return crossing to Martha’s Vineyard.
In 1977, second charter season. Sailed solo to St-Barth, then Martinique. But on a 30-foot boat where I could only take two people, chartering was not very profitable. For this second season, Élizabeth Gélinas (no relation) joined me in Martinique as a cook.
At the end of the season, instead of returning to Quebec, we crossed the Atlantic via the Azores to Falmouth where we were joined by Annikki and Julika to sail along the south coast of England, the Channel Islands and Northern Brittany. Wintering in Rance, near St-Malo.
Spring 1978, still in the company of Elizabeth, a cruise to Sweden: English Channel, North Sea, Holland, Germany, Baltic Sea. In Karlskrona, Annikki and Julika joined us to sail up the west coast of Sweden and the Stockholm archipelago to Uppsala, where they then lived with their mother. In the fall, still with Élizabeth, I returned from Sweden to Saint-Malo where I was hired as a handyman at Michel Chabiland’s shipyard in Plouër-sur-Rance.
Élizabeth returned to Quebec and I began the preparation ofJean-du-Sud for her next big cruise. This work lasted three years; as I intented to go non-stop, I unloaded the engine, a useless weight. As I had been an actor and a filmmaker, I took along some cameras to shoot a 16 mm while I sailed.
On Sept. 1, 1981, I left Saint-Malo alone on board Jean-du-Sud to reach Gaspé in Quebec, but making a big detour by the other side of the earth, via the Southern Ocean and Cape Horn. On November 16, I rounded Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leewin on January 1, 1982. On February 15, Jean-du-Sud was capsized and dismasted in the Pacific Ocean after 158 days at sea. Under jury rig, I reached the Chatham Islands where Jean-du-Sud was pulled ashore and I returned to Quebec, where I edited the film that narrated the first leg of my voyage.
Back in the Chatham Islands in the fall, I repaired the mast, carried out a complete refit on Jean-du-Sud and set sail again December 23, rounded Cape Horn 39 days later and reached Gaspé May 9, 1983, having traced a wake of 28,200 miles in 282 days at sea from Saint-Malo. In the spring of 1984, Jean-du-Sud was the first boat in a century to sail up the river to Quebec City without an engine.
Summers 85, 86 and 87, at the Anse à la Barque anchorage near Tadoussac, writing the story of the trip, and cruising in the river without motor, with or without crew. As of 1988, from now on the crew will be mainly composed of my wife, Céline Lacerte and the family. In 1993, I travelled up the Ottawa River to Ottawa, still without a motor.
1989: Creation of CapHorn, marine products to market the self-steering gear I had tested around the world. This will keep me on land for the next 5 years.
In 1995, Jean-du-Sud is rigged with an outboard motor and sailed up the St-Lawrence River to the Thousand Islands with a family crew.
1996, acquisition of a road trailer towed by a Suburban truck to take Jean-du-Sud to new waters and then bring her home. Launching in New Bedford, Mass. Cruising between Nantucket and Block Island, with a family crew.
1997, with Céline, New Bedford, crossing the Gulf of Maine, cruising to Halifax.
2001, Jean-du-Sud is launched in Caraquet NB, and still with Céline, saild across Gulf of St-Lawarence to the Magdalen Islands, then the Atlantic to Ireland, England and France. Back to Saint-Malo and Plouër twenty years (and one week) after I had left for the world tour. Channel Islands, Normandy, wintering in the Seine 20 km from Paris.
2002, up the Seine to Paris, French canals; wintering in Holland.
2002, still with Céline, from Holland to Scotland by the North Sea; Caledonian Channel and the three lochs, Ness, Oich and Loch, Hebrides, Northern Ireland; wintering in Wales.
2004, Crossing of the Irish Sea, Scilly Islands, Southern Brittany to La Rochelle; wintering in Rochefort.
2005 : Sailing up the Gironde river to Bordeaux, then crossing the Bay of Biscay to Santander; Galicia and Portugal coasts. In Porto, Céline returned to Québec and I continued solo to Gibraltar and the Mediterranean to winter in Ibiza.
2006, from Ibiza to Barcelona, then Marseille where Céline joined me to cross to Corsica and Sardinia. Return to Martigues for wintering.
2007, with Céline, French and Italian coast to Porto di Pisa via Genoa, Cinque Terre, Elba Island. Return via Corsica and the Lavezzi Islands, Minorca, Majorca. Céline left the boat in Ibiza and I continued solo to Porto Santo (Madeira).
2008, Return crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from Porto Santo to Saint-Martin, then back to Bermuda, New York and the Hudson River to Saint-Paul in Quebec.
2009 : Big refit after 8 years of minimal maintenance.
2010, Jean-du-Sud launched at Oka; went down the river with my family to Rimouski, then solo to the Magdalen Islands where René Delahaye (who built Jean-du-Sud‘s two-piece dinghy) joined me to cross to the west coast of Newfoundland and go up to Blanc Sablon. Return to Rimouski along the Lower North Shore via the Rigolets and the Mingan Islands.
2012, July: Launching in Sept-Îles and return to the Lower North Shore, this time with André Vallières; sailing through the Rigolets to Blanc-Sablon and back. August: hauled Jean-du-Sud from Sept-Îles to Iroquois (Ontario) to cruise the Thousand Islands with a family crew.
2013: Launched in Gloucester, Mass; solo or with family crew, Cape Cod Canal, Martha’s Vineyard, Newport, Long Island Sound, New York, New Jersey coast, Delaware and Chesapeake bays to Annapolis. Hauled Jean-du-Sud back home to Oka after the Annapolis Boat Show.
2014 : Launching in Rimouski. Solo, down the St-Lawrence to Gaspé, passage to the Magdalen Islands, then Chéticamp, Strait of Canso, Nova Scotia coast, crossing the Gulf of Maine, to Gloucester Mass.
Fall 2015: Accompanied by Keven Grondin, a 24 year old who had long wanted to make a passage. Launched in Galesville MD, sailed down the Chesapeake Bay, crossed from Norfolk to St. Martin, Lesser Antilles chain to the Grenadines. Return via Cuba and Bahamas to Florida in April 2016.
2018 : With my grandson Luca and his friend Michel; launch in Caraquet, NB, to the Magdalen Islands, then around Cape Breton to the Bras d’Or Lakes. Return to Caraquet via Île Madame, the Strait of Canso and Northumberland. Age is catching up with me, this will be my last big saltwater trip with Jean-du-Sud.
2019, With Céline and her grandson Daniel, cruise in the Thousand Islands.
2020, 2021: Rounds in the fresh water of the Lake of Two Mountains; for two seasons, I try to interest my family in Jean-du-Sud to leave it to them, but without success.
2022 : After 49 years, Jean-du-Sud, is sold with the trailer and the Suburban to Southy Pier, who promises to bring her back in salt water.
(Translated from French with Deepl and edits from Yves Gélinas )