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2030, Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Our days are getting shorter in one sense. Since leaving Hopedale a few days ago, our sunset has gone from 9:20 pm to 8:45 pm. As we move south toward home, our hours of daylight are shrinking fast. However, for us, today was a long day; we had to cross the Hamilton Inlet, the biggest expanse of open sea on this coast. It was a run of close to 60 miles.
Progress was slow; but, steady. There was little wind. We had to motor the whole way, using precious gallons of diesel. I am weighing options of whether we should go out of our way to find fuel or wait until St. Anthony. I think we will make it to St. Anthony if we can sail some days.
Today had two highlights. The first was an occluded front that swept across our track bringing a series of small storms with little wind, yet plenty of dramatic clouds, rain and some lightening and rolls of rumbling thunder. Ice bergs like the one at the top of this email looked dramatic against the backdrop of a moody sky and threatening storms.
The second highlight was a short stop at the "Gannet Islands," a small archipelago out in the bay. The sun came out and we altered course to come close to headlands on two of the rocky islands. We were treated to thousands of birds. Rafts of puffins, razorbills and murres were everywhere on the sea. At times the sky was speckled with swarms of puffins, as shown in the photo below. Surely, we had more than 10,000 birds about us. Back in New England one never sees birds in such quantity. However here, with rich seas and long hours of summer daylight, the ocean teams with plankton that form the base of the food chain. What a treat to see these sea birds in numbers beyond imagination.
The last treat of the day was JJ making a sort of apple crumble bread pudding! He scrounged around the galley using apples, instant oatmeal, rum, butter and other goodies. My thanks to JJ for keeping the Captain smiling as in the last photo. Tonight, we are anchored in Grady Tickle.
Bill
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