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!