Fogo Island and beyond
Saturday, July 18
We departed Twillingate (for the 2nd time) and headed east to an anchorage in Hare Bay, the west side of Fogo Island. Had a nice downwind sail with whale sitings! Approaching Fogo Island reminded us of Labrador – stunning, rocky, barren – it’s as if the land broke off and drifted south, bumping into Newfoundland. The guidebook indicated a sheltered, sand bottom Bay but with a shallow and narrow entrance. We were a little daunted by the lack of width & depth, explored further down the Bay but Tikaani gives us that advantage of raising the keel. So, we gently entered this beautiful bay and set anchor. Enjoyed 2 quiet nights; a beautiful hike around Levert Islands; dinghied through a 15ft wide ‘tickle’ and walked the lookout trail in the sleepy town of Deep Bay.
Monday, July 20
Another big blow was forecast to come in on Tuesday and it was best to be tied up to a wharf so we raised anchor and sailed across to Tilting on the east side of Fogo Island, 25 nm away. The north coast of Fogo Island has many shoals and we motored between marked fishing buoys, skiffs and whales! We motored though several pods of humpback whales. They were spouting and breaching in the distance. We maintained our course but the whale sitings got closer, and closer… so close we were treated to a display of tail slapping only a couple of hundred feet from the boat. Pictures just don’t convey how big and close they feel.
The famous Fogo Inn, on Joe Batts Arm, was easily seen from the water – quite majestic. As we approached the northeast corner of Fogo Island we noticed ‘fog’ up ahead, and the smell of something burning. This raised the heartrate 60 beats, Steve ran down to check our motor! But we realized it was the smell of woodsmoke, not diesel (phew). It was the smoke from the Musgrave Harbour forest fire, south on the mainland. The smoke was blanketing the south coast and reduced our visibility to about 1 nm, so we turned on the radar to continue the remaining 6nm south.
The smoke gradually cleared and we motored into tiny Tilting Harbour – a narrow, buoyed channel. Once again, we were the only transient boat. There is only one fishing boat out of Tilting and the owner was there, thankfully, because he made room for us on the protected side of the wharf. Despite the clear skies, the barometer was dropping rapidly, and local fishermen were pulling their skiffs out of the water. We had enough of the afternoon left to enjoy the Oliver Cove Hike, have dinner, talk to locals and walk the coastal hike a bit (much to the chagrin of the local fox). Tilting is known for its historical dwellings. It is really picturesque.
Tuesday, July 21
Well, we got everything the forecast promised and more. About midnight the wind started to pick up. We secured more dock lines to be well “spidered in” and by 3 am the boat was leaning to port, tugging on the docklines in 30-35 kts of breeze with a driving rain. With the boat bouncing around between the wind, waves and was springing off the docklines. We could do little but curl up in bed and close our eyes… but sleep was elusive. Mid-morning Steve went out to secure some halyards and the fisherman drove down the dock to check on us. I think he was watching from his house and when he saw life he came to check on us! We had put up the full enclosure and stayed warm and cozy. By the evening it was 15-20 knts, so able to go for a walk to check out the swell and watch massive waves crash on the shore.
Wednesday, July 22
We came up with 3 plans for the next leg – 1. to Bonavista, 14 hours, and leave early morning (high tide but swells), 2. Sail through to St.John’s, 26 hours, 3. Leave later sailing through the night during high tide to either. Predict Wind had indicated favourable SW winds. We had made an earlier decision to scoot down, skipping a lot of this east coast and spend August exploring the South Coast. Winds change quickly on this coast and you need to plan ‘outs’. The only problem was the winds remained strong Wednesday and pinned us to the dock. We waited till 6pm and had to spring off the dock (Ali hold a line at the bow, Steve drives forward ‘into the dock’ which results in the stern springing away from the dock), then reverse, clear the bow and pray you are in the middle of the channel. Obviously, we were into a night sail, destination TBD. It was a beautiful sunset sail with whales – spouts, fins, flukes. The first 8-9 hours was sporty but a comfortable beam reach, with the wind rolling forward on us through the night. It was a new moon, sky was very dark, with a million stars overheard, and about 2 am Steve heard a very loud “pfffffft” and realized that whales must be spouting very close! Couldn’t see them but there was no doubt that at least 2 whales tracked close to the boat for several minutes. Nautical dawn was a brilliant orange and Ali had 2 dolphins to greet the morning.
Thursday, July 23
As we approached Bonavista, we made the decision to push on to St Johns. There was a weather window on Sunday that would make the south run from St.Johns easy, eg. not the prevailing SW wind! But we were overly optimistic and impatient to move down this coast. The wind does not care about your timetable or the direction you want to sail. We had to motor-sail, keeping the wind just off the nose, enough to keep the main flying. We diverted through Baccalieu ‘tickle’ -a Ecological Reserve, and were surrounded by seabirds… Puffins, Razorbills, Kittwakes, Gannets, and an Eagle! It brought us out into Conception Bay. Decision time…to St.John’s or RNYC – Phoned St.John’s and told we would have to raft up as Pier 6&7 were full, whereas Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club, RNYC, had a spot on the wall. Done… to RNYC in Long Pond, Conception Bay.
Now the poopy part…
The wind continued to build to 18-20 knots and rolled straight into our bow leading to the next 12 hours of motoring and pounding into the 1-2 metre seas. I Hate Motoring Into Strong Winds! I have a pathological hatred of it. Yes – I, Steve, became a grouch. It is uncomfortable, loud, slow, hard on the boat, and fundamentally against all the laws of Poseidon. We hammered on and tied up to the wall at RNYC at 10 pm; collapsed into our bunk.
RNYC is a lovely club, friendly (lots of inquiries about the Ovni), good food and the Tipsy Seagulls (4 guitarheads) were the pub night entertainment. Groceries, laundry, showers… the usual! Met a couple heading north (from Sweden) and we exchanged recommendations as they had just spent 4 weeks on the south shore.
Plans to head to St.John’s Sunday with a good weather window. Then we will see when the winds will let us round the Avalon Peninsula!
Sailing Tikaani 
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