Back On The Rock!
Fog surrounds Henley Harbour as we weigh anchor in Pitt’s Harbour at 10:45 so we anticipate there will be more on our 25 nautical mile passage across the Strait of Belle Isle. We activate the fog horn and the radar before leaving the protection of Chateau Bay.
It is cool as we travel straight south, so we huddle on the helmsman’s seat, leaving the steering to the auto helm. The wind is straight out of the south so we motor through the 25 knot winds and big sea.
With the fog comes some mist which stays with us most of the way. Newfoundland is not visible until the last 30 minutes of our passage and the Labrador coast has been lost to us since we left it. The light station at Cape Norman is a welcome sight.
At 4:00 the anchor is secure and the sky is clearing, in Cook’s Harbour, but the wind continues. Harald raises the Newfoundland flag….it is comforting to be back on The Rock. We are not far from shore and there are many homes and fishing stages nearby.
This is a fishing community recorded by Captain James Cook as Cook's Harbour in 1764 when he used the harbour as a place of anchorage while surveying and charting the coastline in and around Newfoundland.
Due to its abundance of excellent beaches and proximity to the coast of Labrador, Cook's Harbour was fished by the French and English in the 1700 and 1800's, and was likely used as a fishing station. Additionally, it is within the path of the annual seal migration, making it a superior spot for land based seal hunts, and a ship based seal hunt station. By 1951 the population had reached nearly three hundred as families moved from Flowers Cove and the St. Anthony area to live at Cook's Harbour. There are now about 120 people living here.
The fishery, principally herring and cod, remained the main source of employment in Cook's Harbour. The fish plant seems to be no longer in operation.
Nachos are the best dinner option after a tiring day.
Saturday is bright and sunny. Belle Isle lies 22 miles north east but can be seen today, as well as the Labrador Coast which was not there all day yesterday. We are heading straight east, 15 nautical miles to Noddy Bay, passing Pistolet Bay and the Sacred Islands off the shore of L’Anse aux Meadows. We have time, good weather and a nice breeze so we are able to sail most of the way.
A large Coast Guard vessel appears offshore and stays with us until Hay Cove.
The wreck of the S.S. Langleecrag lies on the shore of Great Sacred Island, just as we recall from our visit to L’anse aux Meadows five years ago. Coming from England with a load of grain, the 416 foot vessel ran aground here in November 1957. Apparently, the ship’s mate mistook the light at Cape Bauld for the light at Cape Norman. (Navigating is not the easiest job for any of us!) The ship was torn in half when the boiler exploded from the impact. Rescue was not easy in the heavy seas and scattered shoals.
I can see the buildings at L’Anse aux Meadows scattered through the green and rocky hills and hope we are able to get to Norstead on this trip as we missed it 5 years ago.
We cruise into Noddy Bay, with the original plan to anchor in Hay Cove, which would be a very short walk for us to the Viking settlement. It seems too open for the current conditions and expected stronger wind, so we move just a mile further in the bay and anchor off the fishing wharf at Garden Cove and the village of Spillard’s Cove. This is a small wharf, but as we find in the next couple of days, also a very busy one.
Great Sacred Island with Belle Isle in the distance.
