Sunday in Gaspe. We have spent a relaxing day in Gaspe, Quebec. After the last few days it felt good to take a day of rest. There was no Mormon Church in the area so we read our scriptures together on the boat and enjoyed the good Internet connection to talk with family and friends. Later in the day we took a long walk.

Docked in Gaspe, Quebec

One of the challenges of staying at many different marinas while boating is the matter of electrical power to your boat. Marinas offer one or more kinds of power, 50 amp, 30 amp or 110 volts power.

Most boats with shore power hook-up capabilities take one of these forms of power. If you are running a.c. and/or central heating onboard you need 50 amp power. That is also often the case with your refrigerator and freezer, tv and other electronics on board.

So if the marina only has 30 amp power, not 50 amp, then you need to run two 30 amp lines from two different lines to a splitter box which brings the power together on your 50 amp line that then plugs into the boat.

If the shore power is not 30 amp but 110 volts then you need two 110 plug adapters to plug into the 110 and the other end plugs into your 30 amp wires and plugs.

What all this means is that traveling, as we are, requires 1 – 50 amp line, 2 – 30 amp lines, 2 – 110 plugs that then fit 30 amp plugs, and a 30 to 50 amp splitter box. If you don’t have them, you will spend a number of nights without shore power.

Don’t undertake a multi-marina trip without these power option cords, plugs and box. In the 35 days we have traveled we have found 50 amp power about 25% of the time. The rest was 30 amp or 110 volts.

This picture shows the 2 yellow 30 amp plugs going into the electrical power on the dock. The yellow box is the splitter box that is changing the two 30 amp power inputs to 50 amp power which is then going into the 50 amp white power cable that plugs into the boat.

This picture shows 2 – 30 amp lines plugged into 2 – 110 outlets. The other ends of the lines will plug into the splitter box that then goes to the 50 amp line.

These are friends we met in Gaspe — Robert and Patenaude. They sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia and were heading to Romouski, where we had been three days ago. Sailing certainly is the way most people travel these waters.