Good Decisions
Just as we were passing Black Island I hear a tremendously loud whale blow. Looking to my right, I can hardly see the whale through the spray from his spout he is so close. A very large black back surfaces and slides back, just metres from the boat. I believe too big for a minke, so maybe a fin whale. These whale sightings happen so fast, we cannot possibly get clear pictures. We just have to see it with our eyes - this view will live on in my memory for a very long time.
It is August the first and by noon we are pulling into Fortune Harbour, after passing Exploits Islands and the southern passage toward Lewisporte. We still have places to go and people to see!
The decision has now been made not to head to Goose Cove on Hare Bay, as was the plan, to see friends there and to attend the Garden Party in mid-August. Instead, we will continue to enjoy Notre Dame Bay, places old and places new.
We usually anchor off of Gillespie Island, to the right after entering the twisty passage into Fortune Harbour. This time we will find the coordinates Bricolanto shared with us, and anchor in the bottom of the bay in Squid Cove.
Saint Anne’s Catholic Church really catches your eye when you enter the harbour. It is believed to be the oldest wooden church still standing in all of Newfoundland and Labrador. We are hoping the doors are open so we can get inside on this or our next visit on our way back home.
There were only 78 people living here in 2016, in 31 dwellings. It appears there might be about 20 houses still lived in, and some of those might be weekend cabins only. The homes surrounding the bottom of the bay are updated old salt box houses.
It is 39’C in the cockpit after lunch. The energy just isn’t in us to go to shore and make the 2.5 kilometre walk to the church. We read and wait out some threatening sky but it never rains. Not today anyway. We do know there is weather coming tomorrow so we will stay here for at least another day.
We have no cell or wifi coverage so we rely on the CBC radio station we can reach on our transistor radio and the Coast Guard weather forecast on the VHF radio. It rains all day Friday. We play cards and read.
At almost exactly 1:00pm, the boat suddenly spins 180 degrees, now facing north. The temperature drops twenty degrees centigrade in a matter of seconds! Harald clocks the wind at 22 knots or 41 kilometres. There are whitecaps and 1 metre swells in the anchorage. We do not feel very protected and for a fleeting second consider moving to Gillespie but now we cannot even see the head of the bay. We have plenty of swing room and know our anchor has never let us down. I do continue to check our position relative to the anchor so we will know instantly if we are dragging. The centreboard is down and the full enclosure works as a storm sail. We are as comfortable as we can be until the wind finally stops nine hours later.
Sunday is just that - a sunny day. We are up early as the locals head out to fish, leaving us rolling in their wakes. Nobody fished yesterday so there are just two more days this weekend to get the necessary cod.
The anchor is surprisingly easy to lift, considering how it must have been dug in yesterday. We depart Squid Cove at 10:10 and make our way back out Fortune Harbour in light wind and 1 to 2 metre swells - big rollers. An eagle sits in a tree as we pass Bakeapple Gulch. We think that’s the same place we saw one last year.
This is an exciting day as we are heading to Little Bay Islands, a familiar place with friends waiting to see us.
