2022 Newfoundland Trip

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8/15/2022

Last word- Communication!  From Fox Island Throughfare

I had said that our 42 day trip was completed without incidence, but that isn’t exactly true. After our 36 hour transit of the Bay of Fundy, we were approaching the Cranberry islands, in the dark, before midnight.  Up until now, we had not had to deal with lobster pots, as they are out of season in Canada. But now, they are appearing all around us. As the wind died, we had no choice but to motor and take our chances with them. Sure enough, eventually the dreaded “thunk” as a toggle wrapped around the prop.  We quickly went into neutral and then reverse, and most of it did come off, allowing us to motor slowly into the Little Cranberry mooring field. I did see some warp trailing us, but we were moving…

Approaching an empty mooring in the dark, Jan brought us up to it while I grabbed the pennant.  But, instead of stopping, or going gently in reverse, the boat continued forward. “Reverse reverse” I yelled. “I am I am” says Jan. But the pennant was ripped out of my hands. “What was that about?”  “I did go into reverse”. “No, we went forward”.  Confused, tired and frustrated, we did get moored eventually. We decided not to talk about the problem. We had a glass of wine to celebrate our safe arrival and went to sleep.

The next morning, I put on wetsuit and mask and snorkel and went over the side, knife in hand. As I unwrapped the warp from the shaft and the prop, I realized that the warp had jammed the feathering prop into the forward position, so that the boat could not go in reverse. Neither of us realized what was happening at the time.

We were both greatly relieved at having an explanation (rather than blaming each other’s ineptitude).  

We have one more night out, then home to Skowhegan tomorrow.

8/7/2022

Report from Tangier Harbor

I have been negligent in my reports, but we have been sailing long days and have not had much access to cell or internet connections.  Today, we are anchored in Tangier Harbor on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, waiting out wind and fog (tomorrow should be clear).  We set out this morning from nearby Shelter Cove, but quickly realized the trip would be no fun, and dove into here.  A good decision, as the winds outside are gusting 25+, and from the wrong direction.

The Eastern Shore stretches from Halifax to Canso.  It is an area of hundreds of islands, with numerous pretty channels in between.  It seems pretty wild, very little development.  As always, we are confronted with the dilemma of taking our time and exploring, vs. making tracks westwards towards Maine.  Making tracks is best accomplished by sailing a few miles offshore, away from the islands and rocks.  We have been doing this when it is foggy (about half the time, now).  In good clear weather, we have enjoyed scenic passages amongst the islands.  We particularly enjoyed several passages around Canso- Andrew Passage and Little Dover Run.  Tomorrow, we hope to leave by Baltee Passage.

Our next destination most likely will be Halifax again, and then on to Lunenburg/Mahone Bay.

As is the case with all travel, one of the pleasures is meeting interesting people.  Here are a few of the characters we’ve come across:

In St. John’s, at an outdoor cafe, we shared a table with Michael.  He turned out to be a marine engineer, in St. John’s from Houston, Texas, to solve an engine problem on a ship servicing the offshore oil fields.  His luggage, including tools, had been lost, so he was waiting for them to be able to get to work.  He shared that he was born In East Germany, had gone to sea for awhile, but has been working for the engine company for many years.  He is happy to be in Houston, is awaiting his citizenship.  His wife is Polish, she does not speak German, so they talk to each other in English.  They have a teen daughter who was born in the US (and has Polish, German and USA citizenship).  She speaks to her cat in Polish, to maintain her skills.  He showed us pictures of his catamaran, which he sails in Galveston Bay, and wished us a good voyage home.

At another outdoor cafe, again with live music, this time in St. Pierre, we met Jacque, who turned out to be the captain of one of the large ferries that run between St. Pierre and Fortune, Newfoundland.  He has sailed all over the world, but was particularly fond of Tahiti/French Polynesia (we didn’t ask him why he had given that up for the North Atlantic).    He said he had seen us coming in and admired Bluebird.  We asked about how well he could see boats like ours, especially in the dark and fog.  They have multiple radars aboard, tuned to different distances- he said they were so sensitive they could see a raft of birds on the water (not sure if he was exaggerating or not, but probably true…).  As we left the harbor next day, he saluted us with the ferry horn and waved from the bridge.

At the same cafe, Le Baratin,  (we became regulars) we were befriended by the owners.  Our language barrier was significant- sometimes it felt as though we were playing out of a scene from the Cafe Boeff from Prairie Home Companion.  Their goal was to make the cafe a local “happening” or “concept”, for music, arts, wine and food.  They only made one meal a day, with a few minor choices.  He specialized in Beaujolais region wine (he returned there every year to visit local wineries and bring back his choices to St. Pierre).  He educated us that the gamay grape, (rather than being bland and insipid, my stereotype) has different flavors and characteristics depending on the terroir, or soil, that it is grown on, as well as the local microclimate.  We of course had to sample and purchase bottles to bring back to the boat.

A final couple (just so that you don’t think we spent all of our time hanging out in cafes), we met on our dock in St. Pierre as they walked with their toddler admiring boats: Arnaud, Juliet and Ewen.  Arnaud is an ER doc at the local hospital.  He is there for 6 weeks as an employee of the French government.  He can sign up for shifts around the world.  Their home is on Reunion Island, a French Possession in the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar.  It has over 800,000 people, active volcanoes, great hiking.  They plan on returning there but enjoy traveling and visiting new places.  He plans on working in Montreal (French doctors can get licensed easily in Quebec).  We enjoyed comparing notes about working in our different health care systems.  He would very much like to come to the US, thought perhaps he could do it if licensed in Canada first.

They took us in their car to the far side of St. Pierre.  We ended the day with a tour of Bluebird, which the toddler enjoyed very much!

Well, that is probably enough for now- hopefully, there is enough of a signal to get this off!

7/28/2022

Ever changing plans!

Yesterday, sailing through thick fog, we ended up diverting to nearby St. Pierre.  Now the sun is shining and we are once again happy to be in this pleasant corner of France!

We realized that we are feeling the pull of garden, bees, friends and family back home, and have decided that, rather than explore further in Newfoundland, we will start making our way home.  The first challenge will be the overnight passage back to Nova Scotia, this time going against the prevailing winds.  We will try to find a good weather window.

Notes from the field:

Whales and puffins greeted us as we approached St. Pierre.  

A local ferry, whose crew we had met last visit, saw us coming in, tooted their horns and waved to welcome us back!

Fuel costs $8 a gallon in Newfoundland.  $5 here.  Newfoundland is relatively energy independent because of hydro and wind power.

7/26/2022

Report from the Fog!

After bragging about the excellent sunny weather we have been having, we are now fog-bound and enjoying a quiet day at anchor in Little St. Lawrence Harbor, stranded by loons.

Over the weekend, we had opportunity to rent a car and went on a road trip to St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador.  It is a vibrant small city, currently doing well economically, thanks to offshore drilling for oil and gas.  But there is not much new construction, and the city retains lots of colorful historical buildings, climbing up the hillsides.  It was very hot (80’s!)  while we were there.  Craft brew pubs on every corner.  We enjoyed The Rooms, the provincial museum, with separate floors for natural history, provincial history and Canadian art.  We were particularly impressed by the work of Kent Monkman, a First Nations artist of Cree ancestry.  Very biting, subversive  but funny social commentary on colonialism and oppression in general.

To balance out our city visit, we took a drive to explore the  “Irish Trail” of the Avalon Peninsula, so called because most of the area was settled by Irish immigrants and remains primarily Irish Roman Catholic.  The small towns are clustered along the shore, the interior virtually uninhabited- vast tundra, peat bogs, lakes.  Caribou are native; moose were introduced the 1800’s  and now number in the many thousands.

Returning to Bluebird in Ship Harbor, Burin, we got ready to leave, saying our good byes to our neighbors.  A fisherman presented us with a final gift, a loaf of home made bread.  I made the mistake of thanking his wife, and was informed that he had baked it himself!

Before leaving, we switched from shorts and t-shirts to fleece and jackets, ending up with more layers than we would need for skiing- the combination of wind and fog is very chilly!  We made our way along the coast with radar, chart plotter and all of our other electronic devices blazing, finally anchoring here.  The fog will hopefully clear overnight and we will start to make our way towards the Southwest Coast, home of spectacular fjords.  The few active towns are still inaccessible by road, serviced by ferries.

7/22/2022

Report from Burin

This is an amazing place with very friendly people, eager to share their stories. Fishermen congregated on the dock, politely inquiring about our travels.  Before the evening was over, we had been gifted scallops, cod, halibut and moose meat.  The next morning, as we checked in with the harbor master Marguerite, we had to accept more scallops!

A few boats are out after sea cucumbers, but this harbor seems to concentrate on whelks- these are carnivorous marine snails.  The are caught in baited pots, somewhat like round lobster traps.  The boat next to us, with 3 aboard, reported they were going out for 5 days, would leave the pots/traps overnight and haul them up every day.  The minimum whelk size is 1.5 inches, but can get much bigger.  They are apparently quite commonly used in French and Italian cuisine, but this harvest is for the Asian Market.

Flora and Fauna: two very large sea otters frolicked by our boat last night.  We have yet to see large whales, but say plenty of minkes and pilots crossing the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy.  Lots of puffins near st. Pierre.  

Our harbor master, Marguerite, felt we should see some of the inland areas, and so procured for us a car (in very short supply around here!) so we are off on a shore trip.  

7/21/2022

Safe arrival Ship's Harbor, Burin

We had a 30 K gale last night, but were safely anchored in our “pond” at Odeon Island.  We decided to start making our way back West, so that we would have some time on the South Coast.

Ship’s Harbor is a small fishing port now, but hosted many schooners back in the heyday  of cod fishing.  Only one boat today is preparing to go out, after welks (Marine snails).  They catch them in traps.

We will explore the town tomorrow.

7/20/2022

Report from Oderin Island

We set sail from St. Lawrence 3 days ago, in fog, which cleared as we went along, giving us great views of the rocky cliffs along the west shore of Placentia Bay.  We imagined that it looked like what the West Coast of Ireland would look like from the sea.

We made our way to Oderin Island- a beautiful protected, former fishing outpost, abandoned since the 1960’s.  The very inner harbor is like a pond, surrounded by steep hills, giving protection from all directions (which was very good, as the first night, we had thunder and lightning and wind, last night wind and heavy rain, and tonight we expect very heavy winds of 30K plus, thankfully settling down tomorrow).

There is no one ashore.  There are the remains of about 12 camps or shacks, about 6 of them in reasonable repair, the others tumbling down.  We dinghies ashore, explored the old foundations and graveyards- some very poignant tombstones still remaining.  We hiked around the hills, walking over thick mats of peat bog, lichens and mosses, flowers in bloom.  Fantastic views from the top.

Abbreviated from the CCA Newfoundland Cruising Guide:

“A superior natural harbor, close to one of the richest fishing grounds of Newfoundland.  It was settled by the French, possibly prior to 1600, and was originally named “Audierne” after a coastal town in Brittany.  Used as a fishing station until the treaty of Paris (1763), when the French press ends in Placentia Bay was superseded by the English”.

“The Spurrier Firm of Poole, England, established a fishing and shipbuilding concern in Oderin in 1773.  Eventually taken over by an Irish-born merchant , who occupied the property as late as 1877.  At that time, the population reached approximately 400 souls.  Although other merchants continued to provide employment at Oderin, the population steadily declined until the resettlement program aided families to relocate in the mid-1960’s.”

I get a chill walking about the remains of the abandoned village, imagining what life here must have been like during the winter.  

Right now, it is sunny and bright.  After the winds calm down tomorrow, we are thinking of moving on to a larger town (with live people) and perhaps do a land trip.

7/17/2022

Economic Activity in St. Lawrence

This town was traditionally an inshore fishing town with small farming.  Apparently, the town was devastated by a tidal wave in the 1920’, killing many people and destroying the infrastructure.  This grim situation was followed by the Great Depression.

In the 1930’s, a fluorspar mine opened.  This is apparently a fluoride-containing ore, used in the smelting of aluminum, manufacture of freon gas, and fluorescent light bulbs.  It was originally an open pit mine (hand dug), then went underground.  It went through the usual booms and busts, and closed completely in the 1970’s.  It is reported to us that it is opening again, the ore is valuable for the metals needed to make electric batteries for cars.  A new road has been built down to the harbor, with a new wharf coming next, to load the ore directly onto ships.

Fishing is down but not out.  About a dozen trawlers are tied up to the docks, not looking very active at the moment.  We are told that the crab season just ended last week, there were 45+ boats unloading then, we would not have found room.  Prior to that, a limited cod season ended.  Next week, a fisherman tells us that “cucumber” season will start.  I couldn’t decipher what these cucumbers are, except that they are sold to the Japanese and no one here would consider eating them (I’m thinking sea urchins).  Another dock mate was preparing to go scalloping, but it sounded like a limited trip and that he didn’t expect to get much.

The accents are quite difficult to decipher- I tend to nod my head a lot, rather than say 20 times, “what was that again?”.  Despite this, everyone is very friendly and welcoming.  This is a very Irish area, the next peninsula over even more so.  The land is green and mostly treeless here, again much like Ireland in appearance.  With high crags and hills and cliffs here and there.

This morning we were gifted with some nice fresh fish, harvested by line from a dorey.  This was personal use fishing- you are allowed to keep 5 cod, but apparently if you have more and give it away, it is OK!  We were very happy with that tradition.

That’s it for this report!  Maiking use of the internet while it is available.

7/16/2022

Changing Plans…

We have a beautiful fog-free morning in St. Pierre, with brick NW winds blowing 15 K.  We are expecting to set sail later this morning for the Newfoundland “mainland”, about 35 miles away, on the Burin Peninsula.  We will be exiting France and will have to clear into Canada again.

Changing Plans: when we set out on this voyage, our intention was to get quickly to the North Shore, to join the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club for a 2 week cruise in late July.  To do this, we would have to be in “delivery mode”, in which we made long overnight passages with pressure to get to the next spot.  As opposed to “cruising mode”, in which you go along as your mood and the weather dictates, stoping to enjoy new places and people.  Cruising is the true delight of sailing; delivery mode is just work.

We had underestimated the vastness of Newfoundland, and overestimated our own energy.  Making this mental change will help us have a more pleasant and safer trip.  As one of our dear cruising friends always said, “you always have to leave some bits for the next trip”.  With Newfoundland, there will be lots of bits left!

7/13/2022

Safe arrival Ilse Saint Pierre

Greetings, Sailing Friends and Family!

We are very happy to report our safe arrival last night after Midnight to the lovely port of St. Pierre.  We had a great weather window getting here, with light to moderate winds and no fog- at least, until sunset last night when a fairly thick fog rolled in as we approached the islands.  But with the help of radar, chart plotter and AIS, we were able to get to the inner harbor around midnight (we are quite confused as to what time it is, as Newfoundland is 2 hours later than Maine, and St. Pierre is 30 minutes later than that!).  We thought we would have to anchor for the rest of the night, but a young French sailor happened to be on the dock having a cigarette, waved us in and helped us to tie up.  Customs and Immigrations agents arrived promptly in the AM and cleared us in.

For those of you that do not know, the islands of St. Pierre and Michelon, off the coast of Newfoundland, are part of France, the last remnant of their North American empire that once included all of Quebec and the French Maritimes, Louisiana to the headwaters of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.  It’s last great economic hayday was during American Prohibition, during which time it served as a major source of spirits from Europe to be smuggled by rum runners into the USA.

We are tied up at the national yacht center- France provides sail training programs for all- this morning we saw children as young as (?) 5 getting out on the water in their Optis, in the fog, having a great time.  They advance through various stages to offshore sailing.  It is apparently open to all, at no cost.

Now, off to find a nice cafe for lunch!

7/6/2022

Swan’s Island

Greetings, sailing family and friends!

Today we had a boisterous downwind sail from Pulpit Harbor to Mackerel Cove, Swan’s Island.  When we started, the wind was a pleasant 5-10 K from the NW, but as we sailed along it escalated to 20’s, with gusts of almost 30 K.  We put in a reef and surged along, past Stonington on Deer Island, into Jericho Bay, arriving at Swan’s.  We are anchored in a pleasant sheltered cove with another Morris Justine on a nearby mooring!

We plan on heading offshore tomorrow AM.

It looks as though we have a good weather window for the next 4-5 days, and hope to have a pleasant sail across the Bay of Fundy and along the Nova Scotia coast.  We hope to arrive in St. Pierre/Michelin well in time for Bastile Day, July 14th.  This is a good omen for us, as we arrived in the Azores in 2005 in time for Bastille Day there.

Wish us fair winds and no fog!  After tomorrow AM we won’t have cell or internet service until we arrive.

7/1/2022

Bluebird to Newfoundland

Greetings, sailing friends and family!

After two years of confinement to the pleasant coast of Maine, Bluebird will be setting her sails again, for a voyage to Newfoundland.  We plan on departing around July 6 or 7.  If we get a favorable weather window, we plan on sailing directly to the French islands of St. Pierre and Michelon, a distance of about 600 miles which should take 5 days or so.  From there, we will hp around the Avalon Peninsula to St. Johns, and from there will be joining other boats for a cruise along the North Shore of Newfoundland.

The return trip will be more challenging, as it will be agains the prevailing SW winds, and hopefully will be accomplished with short hops along the Nova Scotia shore.

Tracker Reports 

44 10.468n 68 26.770w

Swan’s Island

Wed Jul 06 2022

Safe and sound in Mackerel Cove for the night. Departing in the AM.

43 23.909n 66 10.282w

Off of Cape Sable Island

Fri Jul 08 2022

A quiet nigth of good sailing in 10K winds SW. Will turn to follow Nova Scotia shore soon. A tanker and another sailboat in sight. All’s well aboard.

44 37.323n 63 34.880w

Halifax

Sat Jul 09 2022

Light winds, lots of motoring- have pulled into Halifax for fuel and will spend the nigt here.

45 07.004n 61 06.866w

Another quiet night

Mon Jul 11 2022

Light winds, no fog, clear skies. The weather gods are kind.

46 09.523n 58 02.755w

Approaching Isle Saint Pierre, France

Tue Jul 12 2022

A rolicking downwind sail with winds 20 K+ SW yesterday. Now more moderate.About 75 NM from St. Pierre, should arrive tonight.

46 46.609n 56 10.497w

St. Pierre

Tue Jul 12 2022

Fog settled in for our final approach after sunset, but we are safely tied to the dock in St. Pierre.

46 46.601n 56 10.501w

The Fighting Bluebid flies

Thu Jul 14 2022

For Bastille Day!

BLUEBIRD SAILING ADVENTURES