Monday- a very cold starry night
Ann writes:
We made it out of Rose Blanche harbor by 4:26 AM, actually 30 minutes earlier since Nova Scotia is Atlantic time zone. I lasted only an hour in the cockpit; I just wasn't dressed warmly enough to withstand the wind from the East. Later, it was mostly cloudy, but occasional sun kept it tolerable.
Around noon, I was able to keep watch while Jon got a little rest, and of course that's when I saw our only wildlife of the day- 2 pilot whales and a leatherback turtle!
It seemed warmer near Nova Scotia, but then it was bitter cold after we arrived in Ingonish Bay.
Jon writes:
 |
| We anchored since it was too crowded at the public wharf |
Jon writes:
The harbor entrance at South Ingonish bay was described as "extremely narrow" and should not be entered at night, so in order to make the 90 miles in daylight we had to leave Rose Blanche at 4 AM. This is easily done in these days of GPS and radar, and with 15 knots of north east wind we could have sailed. But it is very difficult to raise the sail in the dark as one cannot see to clear the battens from the lazyjacks (the batten make corners on the trailing edge of the sail which catch on the lazyjacks - these are lines designed to contain the sail on its way down). So I motored for a couple of hours until daybreak, then set the full main and mizzen. We were able to sail until about 11, when the wind softened to 6 or 7 knots. Downwind, combined with nearly a knot of foul current, this was not going to get us into Ingonish in daylight, and we ended up motorsailing the rest of the way.
And it was a narrow entrance! The last red and green buoys (you steer between them) seemed to be only 25 feet apart, the rocks on either side encouraging you to respect their meaning.
 |
| Landfall at Cape Smokey, Nova Scotia |
 |
| The ski resort at South Ingonish Harbor |
No comments:
Post a Comment