Today we had to cover 550 miles in 14 hours of Atlantic
Ocean.
I personally felt quite anxious about this passage ahead, and on
to our final destination of Pond Inlet, and would at this point,
love another month to sort and plan. But instead we are minutes
from leaving and the sun is coming up and we want to make the most
of the light while we travel.
Faced with an easy run in the first few hours has relaxed me
greatly and allowed me to adjust the boat and get familiar with the
navigation systems and adjusting seats to get comfortable. We have
installed a console called an 'ICE' console, built and designed in
Canada by shockwave seats. A system that includes suspended seating
on shock absorbers normally seen on big 4x4s offering a smooth ride
in any sea state.
For the time being the floating ice is minimal, however as we
travel further north it will become a normal encounter and will be
the biggest danger we face.
Reaching our first stop of Cartwright Bay was quite easy apart
from the unlit harbour entrance and it's not on the charts.
Thankfully the hotel owner guided us in with car lights and
some late night shouting from the pier wall!
Currently sat in the Cartwirght Hotel trying to get free wifi to
get the weather and ice reports, in a town with a population of 460
people in the summer and 200 in the winter, and a fishing licence
of just 5 weeks to catch all the crab they can. What an amaxing
exsistence, especially when some people cannot sit still for
20 mins in a major city.
Next stop Nain, in Labrador where we have our stop for fuel and
the promise of a big BBQ from an Australian, who the guys in
Newfoundland Marine Safety Systems put us on to.
John Coffey
Cartwright Bay
53o
41'N 56o
58'W