June 17, New Crew and the Great Leap!

By now, gentle reader, you may be biting your nails and wondering if we were lost at sea. Never fear, it’s just that we were, by necessity, away from internet coverage and the means of sending updates. Those who had access to Wayne’s “spot” track site already know the basics. Here’s the detail:

With Gary gone back on the ferry I spent the 16^th clearing up the boat, checking engine fluid levels and re-stowing gear. I even got the dinghy over side and cleaned up the nasty sooty marks on the transom so her name once again stood out proudly. I also ran into town to replenish groceries, pick up an extra fuel tank and get all filled with diesel fuel. With everything pretty much in hand, I settled in for the evening and watched a movie on my laptop.

The morning of the 17^th dawned sunny and clear. I called a cab grabbed a coffee and muffin at Tim’s and ran up to the Marine Atlantic terminal to meet Cyril and Wayne. They arrived bearing much extra safety equipment and a lovely “care package” from Faye (I’m a lucky guy). We immediately ran back to the boat where the boys got settled in, stowed their gear and sized up Galefilero.

Having followed the blog Wayne and Cyril had 

one item to look over before getting started.

They had been keeping a running check on the weather. The prediction was for three good days (meaning not too much wind and not from an unfavourable direction) so they were up for getting under way A.S.A.P.. We did, however wait until Noon (when the liquor store opened) to pick up a few last minute items and grab lunch on shore. Mike at NYC was a great host while we were in North Sydney. He froze the meats and milk for our trip and lent us his truck to get our “groceries”. He even put a couple of containers of his homemade soup in the package.

At 1:30 p.m. we cast off from the dock and headed out of North Sydney Harbour. It took us between two and three hours to motor out to our turning point. Before we got outside cell phone coverage I made one last call to Faye to wish her a Happy Birthday. 

Farewell to Nova Scotia.

I think it was around 4:00 p.m. when we set a waypoint for the south coast of St. Pierre, set the sails and shut down the engine. T first the wind was in our face but soon came around to a little forward of a broad reach. Wind speed varied from 15–20 knots. I was a little concerned at first but as all was comfortable I soon settled down. As evening came on and night fell the wind dropped off. We kept the sails up but started the motor. Cyril had brought some bottled moose from home and made a delicious dinner of moose with Chinese vegetables. Fter dinner we cleared away and started an informal watch system.

From that point on there is not much to tell. All Sunday night  Monday and Monday evening we just tooled along. Winds were very light and although we used the sails they didn’t do much. The engine ran full time. There was nothing but sea and sky with seabirds, the occasional whale or a pod of dolphins. The nights were brutally cold. I wore five or six layers of clothing and wished I had my parka. Getting sleep in short shifts you end the night feeling pretty tired but you recharge your batteries napping during the day.

We made our first landfall off St. Pierre at 3:00 a.m. Tuesday. We had gone 165 NM from North Sydney in 32.5 hours. The original plan had been to make a stopover at St. Pierre but we did not want to enter the harbour in the dark then wait several hours to clear customs so we decided to press on. I set a waypoint for Cape St. Mary’s, 90 NM ahead and we continued on to Newfoundland.

Aside:

When Faye and I planned this venture we intended to bring Galefilero back to Argentia and to spend July cruising Placentia Bay. But by now I’ve been on this boat for four solid weeks and I think this long offshore stretch brought me to my limit. I miss Faye, family, Mojo and home generally.

We discussed the possibility of bringing Galefilero to Riverhead in St. Mary’s Bay. From there Faye and I could either go back to Placentia Bay or on around to Conception Bay. But by now I am balancing a desire to get closer to home with a need to get off the boat for a spell. In the end we decided to make for St. Shotts a small cove at the mouth of St. Mary’s Bay. Here we could land and spend a night tied up at the and all have a full night’s sleep before carrying on. 

Approaching St. Shotts, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland

We made our official Newfoundland landfall at St. Shotts at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday. A group of people came to greet us. Cyril fished from here when he was younger and he met some old friends and relatives. One person brought us some lovely crab claws and shelled crab meat. I made Barbecue pork chops, rice and corn on the cob. After a late dinner we got to bed. We’d been at sea for 56 hours and covered some 280 NM. The diesel tank is under half full but I still have one full 5 gallon fuel can.