9/4- Waiting for Earle

Saturday: Sun, fog, and tropical storm

Ann  writes:

Darn, those Herring Gulls can really make a ruckus. Almost continuous squawking from first light, but I think Jon could sleep through a train wreck. The skies were sunny when I first got up, then more grey drizzle closed in.

Herring Gulls at the Helm

Palmer picked us up about 11, drove us back to his house and gave us the keys to his truck so we could do laundry and grocery shopping. The coin-op laundry is at the RV park; we did 3 loads but left many pieces damp since we've had trouble with dryer shrinkage. That may not have been a good idea with the high humidity. In between loads, we tried Mollie Browns and their Big Mary fried chicken sandwiches and taters or fries, again, very good but surprisingly expensive for fast food.

After a quick stop at Foodland, we returned Palmer's truck. We visited a house with fantastic sculptures in the yard while waiting for him to drive us back to the marina.

Harbour Breton Yard Sculptures

By now it was warm and sunny and we chatted for awhile. He suggested we dinghy out to the Salmon farming operation nearby, and we were just about to do that when the wind changed and the fog closed in again. We visited the museum instead and read about Newman's Port which was unexpectedly improved when a ship in 1679 was blown off course by pirates and foul weather, and had to shelter in Newfoundland. It's been aged in Newfoundland by the Newman company ever since.

Click here for a nice blurb on the history of Harbour Breton.

We hung out in the Funship Internet cafe and I got the recipe for the tea biscuits. They have a cookbook which I plan to take a look at tomorrow.

There were 2 weddings today and we could hear honking horns all over town. Rain started in earnest just past 6:30 pm. Finished off the first jar of spaghetti sauce for dinner.


Jon writes:

Meanwhile, Earl, though downgraded to a tropical storm, was scheduled to pass through that night. We ran some extra lines and cleaned up the decks, then hung on. The wind blew from the southwest right down the harbor and broadside into the boat rather than the southeast that was predicted, but in spite of a heavy strain on the anchorages of the floating dock, no damage was done. I added another bow line in the middle of the night because of the alarming creaking coming from the float. In the morning the instruments showed a peak gust of 36 knots (41 mph) and sustained winds of 30.

Tied to the float which we are assured is firmly anchored....

'Anomaly' is currently lying Baddeck Harbor, Nova Scotia