Plan B: a unanimous decision

Even though part of the reason to spend the time on the boat is to be outside of the modern civilisation, I very much appreciate connectivity to the Web. For the past couple of days we have been watching the weather over Sable Island and last night we made a decision that today we sail along the coast: a low pressure system just formed in the Atlantic and its eye will move over the island, so on Wednesday the winds will be northerly. This precludes not only landing, but also staying at anchor: the 100-mile fetch to the north will create unbearable waves on the northern side, where we are expected to anchor. If we get permission from the island, we may have a weather window to leave tomorrow and land on Thursday. All the crew agreed quickly that this is the only viable solution.

Owl’s Head

The winds on Monday picked up right about lunch and remained a steady WSW. We spotted a couple of (presumably Minke) whales along the way, but otherwise it was pretty quiet, except for the rolling of Salty Ginger in the following seas. On the way to Owl’s Head I spotted Long Island, at least the 5th island with this name along the coast. We sailed around it and spotted a few birds like guillemots and probably eiders. Then we sailed close to a rock on Egg island that has an inconspicuous lighthouse atop. A few seals were hanging out on the rocks and in the nearby water. That was the extent of wildlife viewing.

Pulling into the Southwest Cove was very easy. We turned on the engine only to drop the anchor. Paid out 100 feet of chain and since it was still early for dinner, resorted to wine and cheese. Mark, Pasha and Katya tried fishing, but nothing bit.

The we saw a pretty boat pulling into the bay. Oh, oh, we will have neighbors. The crew of Gavlidae (registered in Duluth, MN!) consist of a grey-haired couple. The man was on the foredeck preparing to drop the anchor and suddenly they started heading towards us. “Where is your anchor?” Asked the man. “What?” I thought to myself. You see the boat pointing into the wind. It’s blowing 15 knots, so it’s obvious where the anchor is. I resisted responding sarcastically and answered that I paid out 100 feet of chain. For the next 20 minutes the boat was circling the huge cove until they dropped an anchor pretty close to us and Gavlidae is there for us to observe some 50 meters away. Inside a cove that spans at least 500 meters!

We enjoyed the sunset hues and then retreated into the cabin to play No Thanks! that Mark S brought last week. We missed the moonrise, but that did not take away from the beautiful colors of the moonlight on the clouds and the water.