“What time is it at your shop? Sorry we’ve been traveling and we’re not sure what day or time it is…” Ted’s been on the phone with NAPA and every possible hardware store near any harbors between Newfoundland and Quebec the last day. Sailing through different time zones and being out at sea has everyone second guessing which watch is right.
It turns out one of our starter batteries died, so the crew has been trying to evaluate where and how they can find an auto part store that carries the battery we need. We could stop in Newfoundland since it was closer, but where’s the fun of exploring a new part of the country? Plus Quebec has boulangeries right?
Turns out, the best possible option that would have a harbor with a nearby store with the parts that we need is Blanc Sablon, Quebec. Located just at the border of Labrador, this small coastal town didn’t list any amenities from the cruising guide we have, but thank goodness for starlink and the ability to research and make some calls. We little tricky docking in Blanc-Sablon around 11:30am (not sure which time zone my phone is on) and the pit stop countdown begins!
While Ted and Graeme run to NAPA, and Al and Brian manually pump out the forward bildge, I’m taking the time to update ya’ll.
As we were coming up and around southwestern tip of Newfoundland yesterday morning, I had just come on watch and have been eagerly on the look out for whales. Within 20 minutes, I spotted a couple of AMAZING fin whales just to our port. We saw some porpoises shortly after and it was feeling like it might be a great day for wildlife spotting. But as soon as we sharted moving towards the center of the Gulf of St. Lawrence channel, the wildlife sightings dissapeared. We waved goodbye to Cape Saint George and it’s beautiful cliffside off in the distance, and settled back into ship life.
The weather has been pretty good, warm and occasionally windy in the right direction at times. The water temperature is cooling down to around 60 degrees F. We started feeling the swells coming through this morning which gave us some chop, so we slowed down a little to make the speed bumps less bumpy.
We are enjoying the multitude of crew meals…one of the things I love about our watch system is that there is not dedicated cook, that responsibility is shared by every watch. Each watch is either responsble for preparing a meal or clean up of a meal at the end or beginning of their shift. We eat around 6am, Noon, and 6pm each day. Al and Ted made pizzas one night, I made my “famous” granola and bougie tuna melts (some fresh dill and smoked gouda goes a long way!), Graeme made a cod/veggie version of his better burritos (a favorite from last time), and Rusy made a breakfast frittata this morning!
Ted and I have found a couple songs we’ll work on playing together, and it’s been fun for me to play with someone so talented! We’ll share a video at some point when we are able to get something without the engine running.
We’ve been trying to fish since we left Sydney, but nothing has bitten yet…we almost got a swordfish that we watched come check out the lures, but they didn’t take the bait…though as we were coming into the harbor of Blanc-Sablon, we saw some fish jumping! Hopefully we can catch some on the way out again!
In the time that I have written this, Ted and Graeme returned from the store successfully! A nice local man named Michael gave them a 3 minute ride to the shop (Thank you Michael!). And we were off the dock within the hour. Now that’s what I call a pit stop.
Now it’s time for croissants and some fishing! Next stop: Greenland!
