The Kindness of New Friends

Sorry it's been a while. It's been harder to get internet connection than we were anticipating. We've heard so much about the beauty of Newfoundland and the amazing hospitality and friendliness. It hasn't been exaggerated.

We've been rendered speechless by the beauty here ~ sheer cliffs falling right to the water's edge, lighthouses holding onto the cliffside by their paint chips, fog laying over the land like a lover's caress. The warmth of the Newfoundland people hasn't been exaggerated either! We've been given filleted mackerel by the fisherman on the docks at Port-Aux-Basques, fielded curious questions from a group of youngsters at Codroy who greeted us as we tied up, been given keys to cars in Corner Brook and told to do what we needed to do. I'm currently sitting in a new friends house in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Gavin and Val of Waterdog have kindly lent us their internet connection and car and they're not the first do so. Many thanks also to Marina & Norris of Prijon for just dropping off their van for us to use for grocery runs. Both couples are cruisers who were treated kindly in the States. It's a pay it forward system. So if you're cruising through the Chesapeake, let us know and we'll do our bit to pay it forward.

Not much time as we're heading out today. Aiming for Woods Island tonight. It's the site of one of the outport communities that has been relocated. Home to around 1100 people at the turn of the century it now has great hiking trails and interesting places to explore and a very secure anchorage. Then we're on to Bonne Bay and Gros Morne for more hiking.

One of the quests on this trip was to figure out the proper pronunciation. Newfoundland rhymes with understand - New fund LAND.

Will write more when we get a connection. Fair winds!

The Baddeck Bubble

I keep waiting for some long evening around internet access to update the blog. It's still not happening but I'm taking a few minutes.

Ben Craig, Russ' nephew helped us sail from the Vineyard to Nova Scotia. What a great trip! Ben kept wanting some rougher weather but it was fine with me ~ a LOT of motoring on the way to Halifax but we were accompanied by whales and dolphins! The finback whales were feeding and we could see them on their side using their flippers to corral the food. Then a right whale wandered over to grab a bite. Such amazing creatures. During our last night watch, you could hear them come up and exhale by the boat. We were either on the whale super highway or it was the same pod that kept circling to check us out.

Halifax is a beautiful city but we didn't linger long. The Maritime Museum's dock was under construction so we weren't able to tie up there. The Armdale Yacht Club was our home for 2 nights. Our first experience with a "yacht club" and it was very nice. No blue blazers in sight but hot showers and a cookout for the Thursday night races.

We convinced Ben to stay with us for another offshore leg to the Bras d'Or Lakes on Cape Breton Island. His arm's only a little sore from that. Andante creeped out of Halifax in peasoup thick fog. Ben on the bow listening and watching the harbor seals. Russ down below on the radar and me at the helm. Nice to get off-shore and away from land hazards.

A night tied up at the St. Peter's Canal gave us a chance to stretch legs and me a great early morning yoga session on the wharf. During my practice I was aware of a car puling up. A man would get out walk around to his trunk, get out a fishing rod, cast 3 or 4 times, put the rod back in the trunk and drive off. This happened with 4 or 5 different car/man combinations. I heard one man mutter, "If they don't bite in the first 2 casts, they're just not bitin'."

Cape Breton is beautiful and you hear a Scottish brogue in the local accents. We sailed here with the kids and Russ' Mom and sister made a land visit 11 years ago. We probably bored Ben with all the "remember when" comments. We made a blitz up the lakes with Ben navigating. Passed the cove where Carolyn broke her toe on a rope swing 11 years ago and put the hook down in Baddeck.

We've started calling this the Baddeck Bubble. It's been warm and beautiful blue skies all week. I think it's cold, foggy and wet outside of the bubble. Better, serendipity stepped in and we're here during the Silver Dart celebration.

The Silver Dart was Canada's first flight. Alexander Graham Bell lived here and did a lot of his experiments here including the Silver Dart. We've enjoyed a star party on the Alexander Graham Bell Museum's roof. A local member of the Royal Astronomical Society brought his 12.5 inch telescope to the roof and we watched the stars "pop" as it got darker. The getting darker takes a while up here. Sunset is around 9pm I think and it's twilight for an hour after that. Not fully dark until around 11pm. We saw double stars, double galaxies with one on it's side and one flat, the rings of Saturn and so much more. It makes you feel small and insignificant and at the same time awed by the vastness of it all and the possibilities.


Wednesday was the big day with an airshow, street concert and fireworks. We ended up sitting next to the parents of the pilot of a C-130 surveillance plane. After he'd finished demonstrating the capabilities of his aircraft, he flew off to the west. Both parents stood staring after the plane and the look on their faces . . . so proud and happy. I wish I'd taken a picture of them at that moment.

The Canadian Coast Guard and this big Air Force helicopter demonstrated how they work together. The helo can work in winds of 50 knots+. Hoping this is the only time I'll see them in action.



Getting close to leaving the bubble. More to come . . .

Aahhh!

Aahhh . . .

. . . the sound of cans of diet & regular coke opening.

. . . a two a.m. mug of hot chocolate on a cold, wet, foggy watch.

. . . finally shutting the engine off after 12 hours of motoring and feeling the wind become our engine.

. . . the swish of water along the hull.

. . . watching dolphins playing.

. . . the sound of a whale’s exhale.

. . . seeing land right where you expect it to be.

. . . stillness.

Arrived in Halifax Wednesday morning after a night at anchor behind Little Sambro Island. Tucked on a mooring at the Armdale Yacht Club for tonight. Hot showers! Yippee.

It was a great passage even with a fair amount of motoring.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Captain Russ, First Mate Alison, Deckhand & Nephew William Carrier

We've been saying for a few months . . . if we could just leave the slip we'd be on our way!

William was great! Easy going, helpful, good at fixing things and most importantly fun and game for just about anything.

Andante at anchor in Lagoon Pond, Vineyard Haven, MA

Rest stop

Made it through the bridge into Lagoon Pond last night after a roaring sail up Vineyard Sound. Hit 9 knots over the ground with a boost from the tide. Long list of boat chores and will post some pictures tonight and hopefully a map showing where we've been so far.

Leaving on a sailboat

Don't know when we'll be back again.
Oh, Babe it's time to leave . . .


Today's the day!!! We're very excited to be starting this journey and thankful for all of the help and encouragement that's been passed our way. It's very cool to look and use certain things on the boat and know that so-and-so made that or painted that or whatever. So very appreciative of the good vibes, especially as we frustratingly untangle from land!

Enjoy the journey ~ even the frustrating parts!

Plan is to head up the Chesapeake, down the Delaware to Cape May, NJ where we'll wait for a weather window. Probably head off-shore from there to Martha's Vineyard for a few days. Then we'll point our bows North and see how far we get.

Roots to Fly

I'm editing my Mother's letter to her grandchildren.  It's more like a book and is a delightful look at her growing up years.   It's gotten me to thinking about my roots.  The faces in the old photos look out in an unblinking stare at the world.  What were they thinking?  What were their lives like?

This is my Great-Grandmother, Maggie Barton Mahaffey. With hands folded in imitation of his Mother's is my Grandfather, James Wylie Mahaffey. Before them stand generations of Mahaffey's, Barton's, Robert's, Harper's, Phillips', stretching back to the late 1600's when my ancestors stepped on a ship to cross an ocean. Once they arrived in upstate South Carolina they stayed put for another 400 years.  

So what motivated those people that stepped foot on a ship to cross into the unknown? Courage, desperation, a search for a better life? What drove them to leave behind all they knew to sail to foreign place? What were their hopes, dreams? What were they striving for? What made them different from the generations before and after that they would undertake what had to be an exciting, but frightening, journey? Leaving everything they knew behind. Knowing they would never see their families again and journeying to what had to have seemed like jungle wilderness . . . it's hard to fathom the guts it took to do that.  

Our summer adventure pales in comparison and I'm taking heart in that and sometimes feel their presence standing at my shoulder. What would they think of our trip? It's not done out of desperation but we are seeking something ~ a little adventure, exploring our personal limits, living a little closer to nature and getting away from some aspects of modern life for starters. But it's really a luxury in a way. Not something we have to do to survive, to eat, to put a roof over our heads. What would they think of an era where people have the luxury to do something like this? I hope they would smile and say the 17th century equivalent of "Go for it! Live the dream. We did and it turned out stupendously."

List Management

So you're going along doing things.  Checking 'em off the list.  You keep doing . . . then you realize the very important things you've just spent the last 7 or so hours on aren't even on the list!  Do you:

a) add them to the list so you can have the satisfaction of crossing them out 

b) have the task, and the doing of it, remain anonymous by not adding it to the list

c) fall to the floor in a hysterical mass because of all the things left on the list

I go for A!