St. Anthony, Newfoundland

On Tuesday, July 29, at 10 a.m., we cast off our lines from the dock in Bonavista. The wind was about 12 knots from the SSE, and we sailed up the coast of Newfoundland for three hours wing and wing, with the spinnaker pole holding out the clew, before having to turn the engine on. The wind was fickle on this trip. A half hour later, the engine was off again as we were able to sail. By 4:30, we were sailing dead down wind at 6.5 knots, wing and wing again with the pole, with the wind at 16 knots. There was a failure in the TinyPilot motor controller while I was napping, but Peter, of course, was able to fix the problem. Before sunset, the wind picked up to 20-24 knots and was clocking to the southwest. 

Sailing wing and wing with the pole

Early this morning, stormy skies poured down rain, and Peter and Enis put three reefs in the mainsail and partially furled the genoa. When Sherri took watch just before 9 a.m., it was still dismal and damp, but the sky cleared within half an hour, and we were motor-sailing with both sails. Enis was already asleep in the aft cabin, and Peter went to bed also. Alone on deck, I spotted our first iceberg! At first, I thought I was seeing a great white cruise ship on the horizon. When I realized that it was an irregularly shaped berg with bergy bits trailing after it, I yelled down the companionway; Peter came up but Enis was exhausted and didn't hear my announcement, and I did not waken him. The berg was about three miles away toward land. It was irregularly shaped, with a deep crevasse near the center from which an almost vertical face rose on the inner, southern end of the giant chunk of ice. Luckily, the sun was shining brightly and we could see it clearly, even the shadows where it had been undercut by the ocean waves.

First iceberg and a bergy bit to its right

The rest of our journey today was uneventful, with the capricious strength of the wind causing us to use the engine off and on several times before we arrived in the harbor of St. Anthony at nearly 7 p.m., dwarfed behind a 65-foot fishing vessel.

The fishing boat in front of us

Part of the St. Anthony fishing fleet on the eastern shore of the harbor

After all the lines were secured and we settled in, we put our layers back on and went for a walk even though there does not appear to be a town center. As it was, we never made it to the main road because we stopped by to see the trawler on the adjacent wharf, where Travis and Stephanie from Jibsea were visiting. The owners and their two children, ages three and nine, welcomed us onboard, and we stayed to chat for an hour or so. They also plan to leave on Friday for Greenland. I spent most of my time playing with the three year old.

Lovely wild flowers on the wharf

I hastily made dinner when we returned to Mantra around 9:30, and the three of us are all on our computers now.