Things Happen For A Reason
You have probably realized by now that I like sharing pictures, but I will take some space here now to explain why we stayed so long in Port Saunders.
Our arrival there on August 30 was with the plan to get a few miles under the keel before heading to Corner Brook. The weather was changing so we knew this port was a safe place to ride out some wind and rain expected to come from the next hurricane.
Our first five days were spent being tourists and chatting with the staff at the Marine Service Centre about the things we needed repaired before next summer. We were all in agreement that we would be ok to sail/motor further down the coast, when the weather was in our favour.
The Newfoundland northwest shore is very different from the Quebec shore we just left on the west side of the strait, where rocks and shoals abound. This coast is “straight” with few bays or areas of protection. We knew to leave here we would need perfect conditions to take us to Rocky Harbour, 71 nautical miles to the south.
Part of our plan was to spend several days in the Bonne Bay area, including to anchor off the beach at Birchy Head where my Grandma Chevalier grew up. From there we would travel to Bay of Islands, finishing our journey at the Bay of Islands Yacht Club. Time was passing and the weather was turning worse as fall quickly descended on northern Newfoundland.
Sunday September 5 was our weather window! Winds would be from the northeast and swells were forecasted to be low. Saturday evening we spent preparing the boat and ourselves, made sandwiches, got our warm clothes ready and Harald resecured the dock lines so we could leave without having to go to shore to untie from the dock.
Very early to bed with an alarm set for 3:15am.
By 4:00am we were off the dock and Harald was raising the mainsail before we left the harbour. It was extremely dark so I just focused on the chart plotter as if I was playing a video game. (I think sailing at night is one thing, if you leave a harbour in the daylight, but this was not comfortable for me at all!)
We watched the sunrise, we ate breakfast in the cockpit, and four hours into journey our situation changed for the worse. The noise from the vibration got much louder to the point we agreed to shut down the engine and to return to the safety of Port Saunders. Tacking was getting us no where fast, in fact, doing the math, we would not be back to the wharf before dark that night.
Once again, we made the decision to call for help.
The Coast Guard was stationed in Port au Choix so we knew we would have help in just a couple of hours and that they weren’t usually busy! (thanks to our visit with them just a few days previous) As promised they arrived in less than two hours and, as is now customary, they towed us to the wharf and then took us “on the hip” and gently dropped us off exactly where we had left about 8 hours earlier.
Being a holiday weekend, we sat quietly at the wharf until the Marine Centre opened again on Tuesday morning. We walked and visited the shore, discussed our plans and remained grateful for this safe and friendly harbour.
Plans were made for haul out later that week after making the difficult decision that our journey would be ending this year in Port Saunders.
However…..we had a mechanic, a machinist, a sheltered location in the yard and dry indoor storage for some boat contents. We could stay on the boat once it was lifted from the water, with easy access to laundry so I could clean, dry and store everything that was staying on board for the winter. Groceries were a few blocks away and a ride to Corner Brook was arranged.
Perhaps this was all meant to be.
Crow Head Lookout view