South Coast and Up!

Sunday August 10

Woke up early on our last day at Wild Cove to fog and looked out and wondered…“where did I put the bow of my boat”. Waved by to the other boats and waited for a bit more visibility (we didn’t have far to go). By 9am the fog had lifted into a low cloud and by mid-day we were once again blessed with a warm sunny day. We have been exceptionally lucky as the south coast is renowned for its fog. This is partly why we elected to visit here in August when there is a less chance of fog.  However, with fine sun there is often an absence of wind. 

The advantage of motoring is that we spend more time looking out on the water and can play our game of ‘Sea Creature Bingo’.  This leg of the trip we are ticking off more Sunfish (1 large fin stuck up out of the water and an immense flat fish floating on the surface!), dolphins/porpoises, seals, sharks, turtles and lots of birds (Terns, Shearwaters, Puffins…). We have seen at least 15 Sunfish since Brunette Is!  Sadly, it is hard to get good pictures, particularly of the Sunfish, as they rest just below the surface and by the time you spot them you are motoring by.  The seal was right beside the boat, but they don’t stay around for a photo-op.

Our next stop was 18nm along the coast to the Grey River Fjord and the small town of Jerts Cove.  We did not stop at Jerts but anchored 4nm up in the north west bay.

Grey River was a geographical transition – it still had the steeper cliffs and narrow access, but as we moved further up the fjord, the hills softened and the depths, even in the middle of the channel, shallowed with the Northwest Arm only 15m so we could anchor pretty much anywhere ! There were a couple of other boats anchored in Grey River’s two Arms but as this was only a one night stopover for us we found a quiet spot and settled in for the evening.

Monday August 11

Another calm day, so motored to the Ramea Island to top up our water (one of the tanks was contaminated so we drained and cleaned it). Sea Creature Bingo was off to a great start as we followed a bird flurry and it was a shark as the reason; then we ‘bumped’ a Sunfish – they weigh >200lbs (up to 2000lbs) so our stern jerked sideways! YIKES! – not a good feeling… we’re thinking rudder?Keel?! But the Sunfish was not perturbed as he waved his fin in the air from sighted off Tikaani’s stern.

While originally just a water/grocery stop, Ramea turned out to be a pleasant diversion. The Island is about 2nm miles off the coast yet it has been able to create a sustainable economy. We were greeted by summer residents and the Harbour Master. The town is pretty and in good shape with a small fishing fleet and fish processing plant (both idle while we were there) and a car ferry to Burgeo on the mainland that ran 3 times a day.  We arrived the day after the “Ramea Island Music Festival”, and found a friendly town with great walking trails, two grocery stores and a decent wharf.  While we were not able to get diesel (which we had optimistically hoped for), we enjoyed a nice day of hiking, won grocery bingo (never sure what you can get… eg.NL doesn’t drink Tonic Water!)  and got our water tanks filled.

Tuesday August 12

As we moved further east along the south shore we moved away from the “southern fjordlands” and the topology became more moderate, with rolling hills and shallow valleys… More like the Gatineau’s than Norway. The towns are small and based around seasonal fishing; they are all so tidy, with the houses and infrastructure well kept. People are friendly and proud of their town and their heritage.

Along this south coast we moved along with a high pressure wind shadow so for the most part we motored in very light winds and generally a rolling sea-state. We missed the sailing but the distances were short (~4 hours) and the anchoring is easier in gentle winds. It is the wind shifts while on anchor that have had us moving anchor 2 or 3 times in the same bay.

Our next stop was Cullotte Cove, Cinq Cerf Bay.  The guidebook “warns” that there is a complete lack of habitation for miles (which for us is like catnip) and sure enough, we saw no other boats as we pulled into a beautiful, narrow, shallow cove and dropped our anchor.

It was dead calm and approaching high tide around 3 pm, so we did a little exploring in the dinghy of various rivers and beaches. The tides in the bay were close to 7 feet, so around dusk we dropped a secondary anchor off the stern to hold the boat in place as the tide moved back into the bay.  With the narrow bay, just the movement of the water from the tides is enough to create waves breaking on the shore and the sound of water rushing past the hull. These sheltered bays provide a lovely base for just hanging out.  We have only 50 feet of living space and we use it all…  Drinks in the “lounge” after dinner!

As PredictWind forecasted, we awoke to a heavy fog and a soft mist/drizzle.  The day also brought stronger winds and we found Tikanni sideways to the wind; it was a lazy day, but with one eye on our anchor holding. Stronger winds that night was a little nerve-racking but the plan was to leave early when winds are generally lighter.

Thursday, August 14.

We awoke to low cloud/fog in the bay, but winds were light and followed our inbound B&G track to get us out.  As we headed west, we were motoring into a 15 kt headwind, but the big roller waves (2m) were coming on the beam (residual from the overnight wind). It was like a washing machine and Ali took a Ginger Gravol. Had a 5 hour ride to the next port of Isle Aux Morts just east of Port Aux Basque. We were hoping to anchor in “Squid Hole” versus on the wharf.  The channel entrance was very rocky and the rolling seas turned into large waves that were crashing over the rocks on either side making for an exciting and quick entry into the harbour.

We squeezed Tikaani into the tiny bay of Squid Hole, about 1nm west of the town.  Despite the 15 kt winds offshore, the bay was magnificently sheltered, but it was unnerving to sit in our quiet bay and listen to the waves crashing on the shore half a mile away on the other side of the island.

YES – WE ARE STILL SMILING! 13 weeks just us…+ Tikaani!

Squid Hole was a good choice, since the winds rolled north and by mid-day Friday we recorded 25 kt winds; which must have been quite a bit stronger offshore.  With the wind swings and increasing strength and the small Bay we had to reposition our anchor 3x to make sure that we didn’t hit shore – one was at dusk; even then we ran out to the chain banging at midnight – saw beautiful moon and stars, though!  The Harbourmaster and 2 buddies came to say Hello and offered their help with whatever we may need… they offered to take our garbage!… Yes Please! Our day at Squid Hole, was just puttering with boat tasks and going ashore to find ‘Cloudberries/Baked Apple Berries in NL. They were done but we discovered blueberries galore and enjoyed the fruits of our labours! Added another Bald Eagle to our Bingo card.

Also love the flora and fauna of NL…

Saturday August 16

We left in the gentle morning winds, 7am, to head west and north. Thought we would split the journey to CornerBrook in 2 but consulting PredictWind (often), we chose to pass by Codroy and sail through the night. It was tricky only that we had to slow the boat down to get to Woods Is, CornerBrook, in daylight. We were cruising at 4 knts with main alone (racers could not do this so we have come a long way!).

Our pace was perfect to enjoy an amazing exodus of porpoises – 80+, many groups – from St.George’s Bay! For 20 minutes we just gazed at these gorgeous animals as they frolicked and avoided Tikaani on their way out to the Strait. As the sun set we got to enjoy another large group off Long Point. All night we both stayed on deck, wrapped in down jackets, toques and blankets, dozing. Stars were out in full force with only a half moon and at nautical dawn we waited outside Bay of Islands to enter in daylight, sighting some whale spouts closer to shore (Finn Whales, since no flukes sighted). A restful day, nap, eat, hike. To be continued!