Finally on Friday Sept 1 the forecast looked good and we headed off for home. We left the dock around 1pm and headed off into conditions that weren’t too bad. We had the wind pretty much behind us, blowing about 15 knots (even though the forecast was for much more). After a few hours, the wind picked up to 20 to 25 knots (from behind) and the seas became very confused with huge swells coming from several directions at once. We were getting tossed from side to side – it wasn’t dangerous, but very uncomfortable. With all the noises below, plus the rolling from side to side it was impossible to sleep.

We arrived off the coast of Nova Scotia (Scatarie Island) around 9:30am on Saturday and the waves finally started to even out and come from one direction – what a relief! After a couple more hours the winds died down and we had to motor. In the evening, about 25 miles from Canso the wind started to pick up again and we had a very pleasant sail until after midnight, when it died and we went back to motoring. Sunday morning Donna noticed a skip in the engine while on watch, which is usually the first sign of filter trouble. I changed the filter and all seemed well.

We motored the rest of the way home, arriving at the buoy marking the entrance to our channel at about 3:30am Monday. Even though I have been in and out of our channel dozens of times, I’ve never done it at night. It was pitch black with no moon and it was impossible to see anything. Since our chartplotter wasn’t working, we had to feel our way in trying to pick out rocks and islands along the way. It took about an hour and several false starts, but we did it and were safely tied up at 4:30am. I made note to ask our fisherman neighbour how he finds his way in after dark. Well, it turns out that there’s no magic to it - he uses a huge spotlight to light up the pass!

We were exhausted but glad to be home. The dogs whined and cried when they saw where we were. We had a celebratory drink, then hit the sack.
What a fantastic trip. People had told us all about Newfoundland, the people and the scenery, but until you see it you can’t fathom what it is like. And showing up in an old wooden boat like ours gets everyone’s attention and interest making it that much easier to enjoy the communities. If you ever have the chance to visit the south coast of Newfoundland by boat, DO IT! We’re already planning next year’s trip!

You can see photos (lots of photos!) of our trip here

We stayed in Burgeo one night, then headed off for Connoire Bay and beyond. We motored out through the channels around Burgeo but found that once in the open water there was such a large head sea that we couldn’t make any progress, so we put our tails between our legs and headed back to the fish plant.

The next day we were more successful. We left in the morning and arrived at Connoire Bay, an uninhabited area just after noon. The landscape now was totally different than to the east, with high rolling hills and cliffs in the distance, rather than steep cliffs right to the water’s edge. It made anchoring much easier because the bottom would come up to a reasonable depth well away from the shoreline, rather than being so deep that our bowsprit would touch the rock wall before the anchor could hold. We spent a nice quiet time reading and relaxing. There were a couple of cabins in the bay, and we had seen others at various places along the coast. We learned later that for a fee of $100 per year you can lease crown land and build your own getaway.

In the morning we headed off for Grand Bruit (pronounced Grand Brit), another small fishing outport. We motored about 2 hours when all of a sudden the engine died. We put out the genoa to catch what little air there was and keep us in safe water while I checked the fuel filter. The primary filter didn’t look too bad but I changed it anyways, but the engine still wouldn’t start. I decided to change the secondary filter (the one on the engine itself). I took the old one off and went to replace it with my spare (which I so proudly carried on board) and found that the spare didn’t fit! Now we had a problem. I flushed the old filter out with fresh diesel to clean out any debris and tried the engine again. It started! We turned towards Grand Bruit and the engine promptly died again.

I flushed the secondary filter again (a bit more thoroughly) and decided to switch back to the port fuel tank (we had switched to the starboard tank in Burgeo to even them out). Started the engine and it ran. We headed to Grand Bruit, always on edge that the engine would die. Coming in to Grand Bruit Donna was ready to drop the anchor in case the engine decided to quit at a critical moment, but it didn’t and we docked without incident. We even saw a whale on the way into the harbour.

We were greeted on the dock by the locals who helped us with our lines, moved fishing boats and generally made us feel very welcome. Once they heard about our fuel problems, some of the guys with diesel experience came down to see if they could help. We drained the Racor water separator to get all the water out, flushed the filters and did all we could to clean things up. I decided that we probably shouldn’t use the starboard tank because I know the previous owner didn’t and it probably had more dirt in it than the port tank. I asked if there was a pump around that I might be able to use to pump the diesel out of the starboard tank (from above the bottom so that the junk would stay in the
tank) into the port tank.

Now here’s where the story gets good! We put the pump into the tank but couldn’t get it to work. I put my measuring stick into the tank to see how deep the diesel was, but the stick came up dry. There was no diesel in the tank! There had been 60 gallons and now there was none (after running the engine only a few hours)! Just out of curiosity, I measured the port tank and it was full, even though it had been down to about ¼ tank. Somehow, by switching the valve from port tank to starboard, it allowed the fuel to flow from one tank to the other. When we had our fuel problem, it was probably because the engine was trying to draw fuel from the starboard tank but there was none there – it had all flowed to port. We’re still not sure how that happened, but I’ll check out the fuel system and figure it out.

Grand Bruit was definitely our favourite place. The people were very nice and the town itself had a wonderful feeling to it. There are about 20 full time residents and about 50 in the summer time. Most “summer people” are actually people from Grand Bruit who had to move away for work but now come back for the summers. The local fishermen offered us fresh mackerel, the lady from the store brought us cod and everyone made us at home. There are nice hiking trails up into the hills that surround the town, and the setting itself is beautiful. And just to show that they have a sense of humour, each night a bunch of the people hang out at a little cabin overlooking the harbour with a sign on it reading “Cramalot Inn”. There are a couple of houses for sale, and we were tempted!

We left Grand Bruit for Little Garia Bay, another uninhabited cove where we spent another tough day and night at anchor. From there, it was off to Rose Blanche and the end of our Newfoundland stay. Rose Blanche is about 40km from Port Aux Basque by road and is much like Burgeo. Very spread out, with clusters of houses tucked in to the valleys and flats wherever possible. We spent 3 days there waiting for a good weather forecast for crossing the Cabot Straight and heading for home. Once again, the people made all the difference. The fishermen offered us their vehicles to run errands, took us to their home to use the internet and telephone and gave us local knowledge about the weather conditions.

We left Grey River for the Ramea Islands, just off the coast of Newfoundland. We were about 5 miles away when thick fog set in. The entrance to Ramea is not very straightforward, so we decided that if we were still in fog when we were about a mile away, we would alter course and head to White Bear Bay on the Newfoundland coast instead (a much easier target in the fog). The fog stayed thick and so we altered course. No sooner had we done so, then the fog cleared and there were the islands clear as day right where they were supposed to be. Back to our original course and in to Ramea uneventfully.

When we arrived at the port there were two other boats that we had rafted with in Francois and Grey River (and the only other two cruising boats that we had seen in our travels) already tied to the dock. We rafted up with them and quickly realized that we had some catching up to do (and we’re always up for a challenge)!

I mentioned that it was Donna’s birthday so the guys on one of the other boats scurried below and came back with a present – a small bottle of booze wrapped in a coffee filter with a nice birthday message written on it! They then announced that they would serve dinner for all on their boat. To top it off, they were cooking “Jig’s Dinner”, a local Newfoundland favourite (the three guys on the boat were all Newfoundlander’s). Donna had been hoping to have Jig’s Dinner on the trip and now she was having it for her birthday! Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

I asked a local fisherman if there was anywhere that we could buy some frozen cod. He said to give him 10 minutes, and back he came with about 20 pounds of cod. He wouldn’t take any money for it. It was way too much for us so I split it up and gave some to the other two boats. What a treat! The islands themselves were beautiful and I could see spending time exploring them by dinghy, as well as walking. It was a bit of a shock to see cars again. Because the main island is so small there is not really anywhere to drive so we’d see the same cars going back and forth along the main road, time and again.

We headed off to Burgeo, with a stop at White Bear on the way. Burgeo is connected by road to the Trans Canada and it is sort of a main centre for the area but there really isn’t much there. We expected more in the way of stores and conveniences but apparently everyone goes to Stephenville or Cornerbrook for supplies.

The only place to tie up was to the old fish plant wharf (every town of any size has an old fish plant – they all closed in the 90’s). The wharf was so high that we had a hard time getting off the boat at anything but high tide, and an even harder time getting the dogs off. So, off we went to the lumber store to buy a gangplank (aka 2 x 10). As it happens the lumber store was also the liquor store, so we could replenish our supplies (which had been substantially depleted by the boys in Ramea) and get a gangplank at the same time. We must have been quite the picture walking out of the lumber yard with a 2x10 over my shoulder, a heavy knapsack on Donna’s back and two dogs in tow. We didn’t even make it out of the parking lot before someone stopped and asked us how far we had to go. We said “fish plant” and he said “hop in”. I had much the same experience as I walked along the main road carrying a jerry can to get diesel from the service centre. I didn’t walk too far before someone picked me up, waited while I bought fuel and then drove me back to the boat.

The gangplank turned out to be the perfect answer. The dog’s agility training quickly came back to them – we gave the “plank” command and they would scurry up or down the gangplank without hesitation. Now Donna, on the other hand, had a bit more trouble with it!

Burgeo is an interesting town, quite hilly and rocky but without the cliffs that were everywhere to the east. Rather than one central town, it is spread out with small clusters of houses anywhere that the land is flat enough to build. We enjoyed our stay but it lacked the charm and community feeling of the outports we had already visited.

We left Harbour Breton for Hermitage Bay area. We headed to a cove called Sam Hitch's Harbour and motored up a few miles. We couldn't find anywhere good to anchor for the night because the water is so deep right up to the edge. We moved along to another cove called Little Bay and managed to find a spot that was relatively secure for the night.

The next morning we motored across Hermitage Bay to the town of Hermitage where our repaired autopilot was supposed to be waiting for us (Hermitage is accessible by road, that's why we picked it). The store where it had been sent had not seen it as yet and my calling card was still not working, so we couldn't find out what was going on.

While I was fighting with Eastlink about the calling card, in walked the owner of the store with our package. Apparently he does a regular run to Harbour Breton to pick up mail and packages because they won't ship them from there until they have enough to make it worth while!

Happy, we left Hermitage and went back across the bay to Piccaire where we anchored in Pink Bottom for lunch. Took the dogs ashore and they quickly found two wild horses who lived there. Our brave dogs went running up to the horses like they owned the world. Well, the horses took two slow steps towards the dogs and they hightailed it back to us as fast as they could. They tried again, with the same result.

Finally, Zephyr made the move on her own (Storm was staying close to us). She slowly approached the horses and started grazing, just like they were. She moved closer and closer to them, grazing the whole time. Before you knew it, she was standing between them proud as could be. Given enough time, she would have had them under control, just like she does us! We were on a high perch overlooking the whole thing so it was quite a bit of fun to watch!

After Piccaire, we motored through Little Passage which is a 10 mile long reach between an island and the mainland. The weather was beautiful, but no wind for sailing. Little Passage comes out into Bay D'Espoir and we proceeded up the bay to Greater Jervis Bay and anchored in the lee of a small island in the bay. It was a quiet spot, with loons calling all around.

Next morning we went to the fishing outport of McCallum which is a tiny village with no land access. The village is built on the edge of the cliffs (the coast all around here is incredibly high cliffs - you have to see it to believe it). The houses in the village are joined by wooden walkways (no need for roads since there are no cars). Very nice spot.

From McCallum we visited a few other fiords up the coast, all incredibly beautiful. Richard's Harbour is a tiny opening with sheer cliffs 1000' tall on either side. Rather spooky aiming your boat at a solid rock wall and hoping that the opening that is supposed to be there actually appears!

We ended the day at another outport called Francois which is much the same as McCallum but bigger and more prosperous (but everything in perspective!). We lucked out because the day we arrived was "Francois Day" which is an annual festival. We arrived in time for the pot luck supper ($2 a plate) - I guess I didn't put enough on the two plates I made up because the guy asked me if that was one or two suppers! There was a dance later that night, but since it wasn't starting until 10:30 (which apparently became midnight) it was way too late for us.

We took the hiking trail up the cliffs that surround Francois - it was very difficult climbing (at least for us) and buggy, but the views were absolutely incredible. Took lots of pictures, but even they don't do it justice.

From Francois we visited Aviron with a beautiful waterfall falling into a pool at the top of the fiord, then made our way to Grey River in the rain. This morning we toured up Grey River and now we're heading off to the Ramea Islands (or so we plan!).

People who had been to this coast by boat before had told us how beautiful and spectacular it is, but nothing can prepare you for what it really is like - amazing!

We left St Pierre Monday morning and sailed to Fortune (about 25nm), arriving about 7pm. When we called customs, the agent was going to charge me duty on the "12 bottles" of wine that she said that I said I had. I had in fact told her that I had 4 bottles, which is our limit. Well, she didn't like that so she had customs come to check our boat. The guy was quite nice, but had to charge us $60 for the privilege of him coming to our boat because it was outside of office hours, even though Fortune is the point of entry! I guess boats are supposed to run on office schedules.

We only stayed in Fortune overnight - not much of a scenic spot but great people and we had fun. My new buddy Earl Rose, the harbourmaster, helped me find a place to have my repaired autopilot shipped to in Hermitage (where we'll be in a couple of days). We left Fortune for Harbour Breton Tuesday morning and arrived around 4pm. The sailing from St Pierre and Fortune was relatively easy with following winds of 15 knots or so.

The docks in Harbour Breton were full last night when we arrived and we didn't want to raft because it's a bit of pain getting the dogs on and off, so we anchored up at the top of the bay. Well, the winds picked up to 30 knots with higher gusts overnight and we dragged. At around 5am we found ourselves about 1/8 of a mile from where we started, but with the anchor holding somewhat. We pulled up the anchor and motored back up to where we had been and re-anchored with more scope. We held fine after that and now the wind has eased.

Tomorrow (or later today if the fog lifts) we plan to explore up Northeast Arm which goes about 6 miles inland from where we are. After that we have about a 25nm passage to Bay D'Espoir (pronounced Bay Despair and apparently it was in early days) and some fine cruising ground (and the pickup of our autopilot!).