Threading the Needle

Fogo Island, Newfoundland August 10, 2009

“Rock! 10 feet to port,” came from the bow.

“20 feet. 15, 35,” came from down below.

“There’s a ledge coming out starboard side. Head to port a little. Careful,” came from me at the companionway

We’ve been sticking to our ever vigilant motto on this trip but 2 more sets of eyes and hands allow us a bit more margin. Combined with this area being more thoroughly charted and there just being more people around and we’re picking little slots to slip through. You know the kind, rocks to the left, rocks to the right. It’s breathtaking and qualifies as aerobic exercise when your nerves get your heart rate up that high!

Russ’ sisters, Patty and Debbie made the long drive up from the States. Up here they call the US East Coast, “the Boston States.” (I can imagine how my Southern family would take to that!) Everyone in Newfoundland has a story about the Marine Atlantic ferry, the big car ferry that connects Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. Due to a recent fire on one of the ships, the ferries were all running behind. Debbie and Patty ended up sleeping on the floor of the Atlantic Vision’s lounge.

In the above instance we were threading our way between Lower Head and the off lying rocks around Twillingate. Debbie was on the bow, Patty was on the depthfinder below and I was watching on the chartplotter with Russ at the helm.

We’re stopping at places we’ve been hearing about in songs and reading about in books for so long. First was Moreton’s Harbour where Russ and Debbie rowed ashore and waited out an intense downpour under a dockside awning. Their fellow awning mates told them there’d been a big wedding in town last night and everyone was hung over but we should all come ashore for coffee in the morning.

Next day it was onto Twillingate and that thrilling entrance, accompanied by some squid hounds. Great walking out to the cliffs Andante had sailed under on the way in, back through a small cemetery tucked into a little valley looking out over the sea and out to a huge cross. Some local boats suggested RJ’s restaurant and we splurged on a night out.

Andante threaded the needle between Twillingate and Burnt Island on the way to Fogo with all of us womanning a different station. Those rocks seem awfully close!

Fogo has been deemed one of the four corners of the Earth by the Flat Earth Society. A hike out to Brimstone Head meant we were actually standing on the corner!

They think the last Great Auk, a penguin like bird, was killed here. They didn’t know what it was so they saved the skin. It fed their family for 3 meals . . .

It’s crowded here!

Lewisporte Yacht Club

Lewisporte, NL

August 7, 2009

We shared a quiet anchorage with hundreds of moon jellyfish in Welsh Cove where it felt like we were the only people on Earth.

Then onto Boat Harbour, reported to be haunted by a Beothuk ghost, one of Newfoundland’s aboriginal people. The last tribal member died in 1829. It’s said that strange things happen to boats that spend time in this little cove with a few houses and stacks of lobster pots on the shore. Sure enough, our weird incident happened in the morning. Russ dropped the dinghy line thinking it was tied on at the end! A brief moment contemplating swimming for the dinghy and he took a big leap and managed to land in the dinghy versus the water. Someone’s laughing!

This is Notre Dame Bay, one of the crown jewels of Newfoundland cruising. There are enough coves and islands here to keep you exploring for many years. Our goal was the Lewisporte Yacht Club located at the foot of the Bay where we were rendezvousing with Russ’s sisters in a few days time.

We were amazed to see other recreational sailboats! 5 guys (not selling cheeseburgers!) took our lines. Turns out they were taking a boating class and were glad for the practice. That kind of hospitality marked our stay here.

Bonnie & Joe on Deep Powder, Vermonters that keep their boat here and cruise in the summers, gave me a lift to the grocery store and then we had an impromptu potluck with other sailors. Newfoundlanders Wayne & Elaine, Bruce and Lynn, Peter and Carolyn entertained us with boating stories and tales of Newfoundland. It’s the longest we’ve been in the company of others since we left home!

So, considering our home county has a population of 512,790 living in 588 square miles, (That’s 872 people per square mile.) Newfoundland’s population of just under 478,684 spread out over 69,214 square miles (6.9 people per square mile but that’s a little off since about 70% of the population live in St. John)it’s hard to believe this area feels crowded to us . . . but it does!

One is the Lonliest number . . .

One is the Loneliest Number

Round Harbour, Newfoundland

49° 55’N 55° 44’W

August 4, 2009

It’s easy to look back on the past with rose colored glasses and totally forget the backbreaking work it took just to survive. Charlie Foss reminded us of that as we sat in his kitchen sipping tea and telling stories. I asked him if he’d played around the cliffs as a young boy.

“Oh no,” he said, “You couldn’t wander away from the fish flakes in case it rained. We yong ‘uns would have to cover up the drying fish before they got ruined. When we weren’t doing that it was watching the sheep and pigs or any number of chores. My six year old sister worked like a 16 year old.”

Charlie went to the one room schoolhouse through 8^th grade but didn’t learn much. There was never time to do homework but when he missed spelling something right, the teacher would hit them with a ruler or stick. He wouldn’t cry and in the 2^nd grade the teacher hit him so hard it raised blood welts and he had the scar to prove it.

Kind of takes the rosy glasses off . . . but doesn’t blind us to the beauty of this spot today. Round Harbour is exactly that an almost perfect round bowl with houses built up all around. There are pictures of fish flakes, large flat structures used to dry fish, filling up every available space and all of it covered with drying cod. Today it’s a mix of colorful houses but most are empty and Charlie is the only full time resident. Yep, come winter he’s the only one here. So far the government keeps the road plowed so his mail can be delivered but as he put it, it’d be cheaper for them to pay him to move!

Nice hike out to the cliffs and we met a few more residents. There’s a beautiful Anglican Church and a nice place to stretch your legs. The anchorage is open to the swell and we were rocked to sleep at night.