|
1730 Tuesday, August 29, 2023
It has been a wearying two days with a few exciting moments thrown in. As we undertake the offshore passages towards home, David and I take shifts, one of us is on deck while the other one sleeps; we keep the boat sailing 24 hours a day.
Some of you may know that the nickname for Newfoundland is, "The Rock;" it is a name that eludes to the bold, dramatic, and sometimes foreboding shoreline of this island in the sea.
For David and I, as we weigh our options of when to sail, we are monitoring a lot of weather data. In particular, we have been watching hurricane Franklin and some low pressure systems to the north of us. The combination of Franklin and two lows has made the Cabit Strait between Newfoundland and Nova Scotis a "hard place."
We wanted to make some distance before the weather became too bad. So, we have sailed pretty hard the last 37 hours since leaving the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club. Forecasts called for a "Gale Warning" across most of the Cabot Strait for tonight. We hoped we could cover the roughly 200 miles to the small town of St. Lawrence on Newfoundland's South Coast before things got really bad.
We have felt a bit caught between "Yhe Rock and a hard place" as we raced against time. Things started easy enough yesterday morning. We were treated to an amazing sunset last night, in the two photos below. Today started okay as well; David spotted several ocean sunfish and one seanturtle. However, by mid afternoon, things were deteriorating. The wind built rapidly as high thin clouds turned into a grey sheet. Fog moved in and a light rain came down. By late afternoon and early evening the wind was blowing a steady 30 knots with gusts to 35. Rain was so heavy it reduced visibility to nothing. Usingba fully reefed main and jib we were touching speeds of up to 8 knots at times. We were literally caught between the rock and the hard place.
We did experience a special surprise amid the wild weather. I spotted a pod of about six orcas (killer whales) and altered course slightly while David captured some photos. The whales followed us for a short time, unfazed by the weather. Orcas are always impressive. They swim energetically and the bold black and white coloration along with exceptionally tall dorsal fins makes them unforgettable. The first time I ever saw or as was in the Strait of Belle Isle between Newfoundland and Labrador in 1977.
Finally, just after 7:15 pm we entered the outer harbor of St. Lawrence. We thought we would find calmer winds behind a headland where we could drop sail. Instead, we were surprised by sudden wind shifts, still at 35 knots. Just as we were lowering the mainsail, the shackle securing the main sheet to the traveller let go. A few moments later we had things back under control. Under engine we entered the inner harbor and tied along side a longliner fishing boat, safe and secure for the night - see the last photo.
We are likely to be holed up here until Friday morning as we wait for the low pressure systems to move through. For now we are safe, between a rock and a hard place, and spent a bit of the day with orcas!
Bill
| 
