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2100, Friday, July 21, 2023
Both of us are tired tonight. We were up at 0545 to do a long, 50 mile run across Hamilton Inlet to the northern side. Thankfully, it was a beautiful morning to start, sunshine and warmth along with a fair breeze. The sky was crystal clear, and it seemed we could see forever. We sailed under full main and genoa, gliding across a sparkling sea. We sailed almost the full day's run, thanks to the wind.
The spectacular aspect of the sail was the endless parade of icebergs flowing south, in the opposite direction. It was as if an armada or fleet of white ships was sailing past. Every size and shape imaginable. As some faded over the horizon astern, new ones appeared ahead. At one point I stood up and made a count of how many bergs I could see at that one moment - sixty-five bergs! Impressive by any standard. One of my favorites is in the photo above; it is all one berg, connected underwater.
Around 1600 as we neared the far side of the bay, and our destination, the wind picked up, suddenly and surprisingly. In 15 minutes, it went from 15 knots of wind and sunshine to 35 knots and fog as thick as ever. We were suddenly back to watching the radar and keeping eyes peeled for menacing growlers and bergy bits. We had to roll up the genoa so we could keep watch ahead, dodging ice as it came. I guess my smiling face of the day changed to one of concern and concentration, as evidenced in the photo below.
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