Thinking of Challenges Ahead
Tuesday July 2 and our day to leave the town of Fogo. Our destination is still on Fogo Island, but tonight on the south shore. We slip away, easily, from the wharf at 12:45. It is busy here today, after the quiet long weekend. There are at least 30 cars in the parking lot and the little transit bus delivers 15-20 more workers.
There is no wind so our transit westward through the tickle is without trouble.
No white water in the tickle today.
Our passage takes us south, around Brimstone Head, and passing Hare Bay. I think of Max, an elderly friend of Lewisporte Yacht Club. He was born in Hare Bay; no longer owns a boat or his place at Exploits Island, but he visits the marina and chats with whoever is there, nearly every day.
There is no wind and the water is flat calm. We see capelin “rolling”, leaping from the water. This can only mean one thing - the whales are on their way.
The flat water simplifies the passage between Fogo Island and Watch Island - the unmarked rock the only hazard along our way, according to Duncan. To some, the only nuisance to be mindful of, is the Fogo Island Ferries. They both go to Farewell on the mainland, but one makes a stop at Change Islands. We know the only passage between Fogo Island and the shoals off the southwest corner belongs to the ferry going to Change Islands. There are two at the dock and one begins inching forward - we are one quarter mile away. It is the Change Island Ferry so I head toward shore in the little bay west of the wharf. It passes and we move on. Then the second ferry moves forward, horn blaring. Best we do a few circles.
Timing is everything
Our planned stop was Stag Harbour, favoured by Duncan and Rene over Seldom. Bricolanto also told us of conditions there not being very pleasant, with no place to dock.
Stag Harbour is narrow and runs southeast to northwest. Duncan mentioned it being shallow at the narrows but I am not comfortable with possibly less than six feet, even if it is high tide, so we carry on to Little Seldom Cove, just twenty minutes further. The cove is fairly open but we can anchor quite far in, behind the little island and across from the very quiet Marine Centre. There is no wind now and none expected overnight so we drop the hook and watch the jellyfish swim by.
This is a one night stop so we do not install the enclosure. It is 4:30 and getting cool, so we put the boards in the companionway and I prepare supper of veggie stew. We eat in the cabin. In for the night, we read and knit. Bed is early at 9:00.
Our plan today is to land at the wharf in Musgrave Harbour, 14 nautical miles to the south east and back on the mainland. The furnace is running while I make egg wraps, which again, we eat inside. Harald spots a bald eagle at the top of tree on shore across from us.
The sea state is once again flat when we depart at 11:00am. We had hoped if we waited until late morning, there might be enough wind to sail. Harald raises the main and we do manage a five and a half mile sail in 5 knots of wind from the southwest.
With such a flat sea we decide to make the most of a comfortable day and head to Lumsden instead. This was to be tomorrow’s destination but gets us seventeen miles closer and just west of Cape Freels. We motor sail and have the picnic I prepared before we left.
No sailing
The wind picks up at Muddy Shag Island, just off Musgrave but we carry on as the sea state is still comfortable. At the Penguin Islands the wind is only about 12 knots, but the swells are building. I am momentarily distracted by the vast flocks of puffins flying past us. They fly so low to the water that if a swell is in front of them, they just crash into it. Quite comical. Murres and gannets also entertain with their diving.
We can see the shoreline between Musgrave and Lumsden, and the many beaches - seems so unusual after three summers of just rocky shores, some very jagged and high.
The guide book tells us the entry to Lumsden Harbour is difficult to find. There is a range which I don’t use coming from the north but am mindful of the many rocks and low water to starboard. We enter the marked channel and the chart plotter helps us find the entrance - just a 100 foot gap between two 15 foot high break walls. Definitely wouldn’t be coming here in a rough sea.
Narrow but protected Lumsden Harbour.
Others we know tie up on the east side, along the wharf and away from the “action” of the offloading fishing boats. The wind catches us and we have to run a few maneuvers before arriving safely at the wall. There is a large fishing boat ahead of us so we pull back a bit with the help of Gary Stokes, the harbour master.
Gary is very friendly and apologizes for not answering our two phone calls. He has been busy offloading snow crab but is now here and very willing to help in any way he can. He drives Harald to town for fuel and tells us it will cost $20 for the night. We tell him we will not be needing power as we had recently learned of the reverse polarity at some of the shore outlets. (Thanks to Bricolanto and her comment on Active Captain!) He smiles and explains, yes, they have seventeen outlets that need replacing. It has been sunny so our solar panels have been doing their job of keeping our batteries charged while not at shore.
Gary shares his cell phone number which I save for future reference.
Beef stir fry for supper and then a short shore walk for the requisite photo of Seabiscuit at her place for the night. The sunset is pleasant and the bugs few.
We had wanted to spend a day at the beach - such a novelty, but back at the boat the decision is made to leave in the morning while the weather holds. So we review our charts and notes - Cape Freels has been on our minds since we left Lewisporte. A local sailor warned us “the Cape is not something to take lightly.” Another local sailor, and friend, responded “You guys made it this far; you’ll be fine”.
Our biggest fear is fog. We can manage around the many shoals but fog is disorienting and not a condition we would deliberately aim for.
But this is all to be considered again in the morning.