FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Ordinarily we take the view not to be critical of the countries we're visiting, after all they didn't insist on us coming,  but on this occasion we came to the conclusion that the incident merited a mention...

   As the temps began to warm a little and we came down to the last 15 days of our visa we contacted the local Customs and Border Protection agency in Bangor about extending our stay to give us a better chance of a kinder weather window and to complete outstanding work.... the only way, we were told was to present ourselves at the nearest border crossing and make the request. We hired a car, drove 125 miles to the border and explained what we needed. The woman spent 90 minutes interrogating me about how we funded ourselves, how many times we'd been in the US, when were we back in the UK and for how long, were we legally married (?), did we ever work in the US etc. All fairly regular questions although slightly odd as we were already legally in the US and simply enquiring, and hoping to get, an additional 5 weeks. In the end she said No we couldn't have any further time and had we wanted to leave in May or June, rather than April, we should have arrived in the US later in the year...... I kid you not. Pointing out that a) crossing the Gulf of Maine in October is cold enough, trying to cross in Nov or Dec could be dangerous and b) we had, on two other occasions been granted in excess of 8 months was met with a blank look. The best she could offer was that we go back to Belfast, complete as much work as we could and then try again just before our visa expired. Was I angry? For sure, having endured a 90 minute examination of my motives, honesty and financial integrity, obviously been found wanting and then be told to try again in two weeks struck me as ludicrous. What could possibly have changed? What could happen over the next fortnight that would reverse the decision? Well what happened is we wrote an extremely critical account of the incident, slept on it, re-wrote it and sent it to the Port Director. Nothing happened for a week and then we had an email asking us to contact them. We would, we were assured, if we returned to the border crossing be received favourably and the outcome would be different. Good friends drove us up there. We parked up, walked, as instructed, across the Canadian border and re-entered the USA. A CBP officer greeted us by first name and we thought "Heh mebbe they have been told to expect us..." The guy inside presented a blank face, asked the same questions that were asked 10 days earlier, queried the May 31 date we were asking for and behaved as though we were just another set of, possibly, dangerous cretins trying to damage the integrity of the USA.... Yeah right! How the hell does he think the rest of the world views the nonsense that passes for the Presidential nominations? I digress. Without warning the mood switched, the guy addressed us by our first names, fingerprinted and photographed us (this is at least the sixth time we have been finger printed/photographed -don't they keep records??) and then produced a pair of pre-printed I94's, the slip of paper we needed to remain legal until May 31. Pre-Printed! So all this shite questioning, all this quizzing of how we funded ourselves etc was just this bored guy jerking us around 'cos he could. How many brain cells does it take to work out that these two people have 1) hired a car; 2) driven a 250 mile round trip; and 3) are asking for a 5 week extension all in an effort to remain legal. Not one US citizen we spoke to, not one, thought we'd done the right thing in bothering to ask in the first place.... Almost as annoying is being told by a number of  these same citizens that if we were Mexican we could pretend to speak no English and we'd be allowed to stay. What nonsense! Particularly in a state where non-white people are almost non existent so the experience of immigrants may only be gleaned from Faux News or other rabid news stations. But someone needs to remember that for everyone visiting ANY country the Customs people create the first impression. Anyway onto other things.

THE REAL SECRET BEHIND SUCCESSFUL "HIGH LAT" SAILING....

From time to time folks ask us about the "north" and how cold it is, thinking, perhaps, that the temps are always around freezing, the sun never shines and you need rum coursing through your veins to stay warm - I wish! What most people don't realise is that British boats have an unfair advantage on the rest of the northern wanderers. The UK may have been the last of the northern clime countries to understand the "benefits" of central heating; I can vividly remember, as a small child, leaving the only warm room in the house where an open fire burned, and climbing stairs getting colder with each step until finally reaching a bedroom on the top floor. If it was 75F near the fire it must have been closer to 35F in the bedroom but we knew the bed itself, or at least parts of it, would be warm. The secret?

Our collection of HW bottles..

 Nowadays many boats have electric blankets believing them to be superior to the hot water bottle....but how can this be? Many is the time we have wandered around the deck, a bottle stuffed inside our clothing, as we've reefed, sat out in the cockpit watching the shenanigans of a fishing fleet or the northern lights pulsating above us. Sitting below decks with a bottle inside your clothing warming your belly or easing an aching back; a bottle placed under a pan of rising dough or to help kick start a batch of home-brew; to make the bed Toots is in enticing enough that she'll lie there in contented purrdom. It is the sheer versatility that makes them a winner. At anchor with the fire burning we always have a kettle on the go, at sea it takes a few minutes to boil a kettle. Contrast that with the energy consumption of an electric blanket that needs to be run through an inverter but perhaps that is the draw (a poor pun I know)... Yotties seem to love having energy intense items on board, seemingly feeling that they should be entitled to live exactly the same life on board as they do ashore? Water-makers have been popular for a few years now, despite their reputation for being prone to failure, and folks seem happy to run their generators for hours on end to produce gallons of fresh water. Not content with using all that diesel to produce the stuff they then install electric toilets that use fresh water to flush.....

At the end of last year we got in touch with Dayle Ward who with her husband Tom run Traditional Rigging. Tom spliced up much or our rigging in 2004 and now we needed Dayle to make us a mains'l. Well the main is here, bent on and looks great. But different. Although we could have used Duradon as before it would need to have been imported and the duty would have made it as expensive as the Oceanus cloth we opted for. We looked at using tanbark but in the end went for cream. Walking into the loft and seeing the sail stretched out we both thought "we don't like the colour" but having lived with it for a few weeks find it has actually grown on us. Dayle made some subtle changes to this sail compared to the last and we'll report back on how we've fared. Typically as we took delivery we received a raft of emails from folks commenting on how they loved our red sails.

We've made a few changes to the boat in the month we've had to get stuff ready. Some of it involved nothing more than a paint brush whereas others took a winter of mulling or arose out of a visit to Morgan's Cloud last year. For years we have put up with the inconvenience of the main blanketing the reefing cleats when we happened to be on the wrong tack. The cleats were on the starb'd side of the boom so a port tack reef inevitably meant fighting your way beneath a pile of wet main, particularly with the second reef, to get a clean pull at the pennant. Taking a lead from MC we've now installed cleats on both sides of the boom and the pennants, rather than ending in a thumb knot at the port side, are led back to the new cleat. Now we simply heave on the pennant on the windward side, making life a lot simpler. John and Phylis use winches but the principle remains the same and whilst their boat is much more high tech than ours it was the seamanship of the idea that grabbed us. One of the other changes we made was to use a modern line rather than 3 strand. For the most part we use 3 strand everywhere but using different colours enables a far quicker identification when vision is restricted and with the combs well greased with tallow they should slip through particularly well. We've done the same for the mizzen too. Incidentally if you're not aware of their site Attainable Adventure Cruising it is well worth, as I've said before, having a look.

Some of the amazing shots Russ took last year.....

With May now well on us we're looking for a window to leave; firstly to friends Philip and Helen before crossing to Nova Scotia and then back to Europe, probably via Iceland and Norway. We're looking forward to a change of cruising ground even though we will miss the amazing 'bergs and bears of the northern end of Labrador. If you see a yellow gaffer with a cream rather than a red main, do drop by and say hello.

Bit of a nostalgia trip...and an update on selling Hannah

Along the Nova Scotian coast last year - a tad windy

For those of you who have come to these pages via the advert on the ferro site, indeed for anyone wondering what happened to the plan we had to sell…..well it’s on the back burner. We felt we had another trip in us, did it and then we felt that we might have another long trip in us, which is where we are with our current thinking. Where we will go to is still in the thinking stage and we’ll write it up once we decide but for the moment the possibility of the sale has been postponed. However things can change so if you have an interest you can write to us at hannah4sale@outlook.com

Labrador reality, fog, motoring and rocks...

As March moves toward its end and the snow comes, retreats and then comes again we realise with a bit of a shock that we're down to the last 4 or so weeks of our visa…soon be time to get the show on the road. 

We were recently sent the tale of a French boat that sailed the Pacific from 1966 to 1968 and the photos alone got me going….but would it be this way now we wonder? Folks we know who have sailed the area say it is still possible to have anchorages to yourself as so many boats seem to stick to a very narrow track, rarely deviating from that which is written up and just 20 or so miles off the line can open up new, relatively unexplored vistas…..we’ll see. Plenty of time at sea make it all seem very attractive

One of the reason's we keep getting drawn back..

But whilst I’m on a ’60’s theme, you will know, I’m sure, of the wonderful Golden Globe 2018. I’m not into racing boats, sure as a young child I crewed and raced dinghy’s, did the odd race when I was at BKYC but I’ve always been drawn to boats that look interesting, work boats and such. Having said that I followed the original race and the subsequent books that came out of it. The modern RTW race does nothing for me, the speeds seem insane, the technology beyond belief and the boats bear no resemblance to anything I could possibly own, or want to, afford. Then I read about this and found myself smiling, chortling at the number of people who are eager to get involved but mostly gratified at the ordinariness of the boats that will race. It will be a hard race for sure and the restrictions on modern equipment (essentially, if it wasn’t on Suhaili you can’t take it) may make it “un-newsworthy” simply because reports can not be obtained instantly and so will hark back to a different time but if you haven’t already checked it out, I’d urge you to do so. 

this mess will be tidied up before we leave...

Aboard Hannah things are moving along as a brief, and welcome, warm interlude enabled us to crack through some cosmetic type jobs, brightwork and non cosmetic, replacing bowsprit shrouds etc. We needed to come up with a way of supporting the Pudgy on deck and with the help of long term friend John T we were able to sketch out and then make a template. He found a fabricator who could knock up the steel base very quickly, whilst John roughed out and then cleaned up the wooden cross piece. All we needed to do was paint the steel and then bed it to the deck. It all came together so smoothly and watching John casually measure the angles, the amount he wanted to remove and then do so with a few clean saw strokes etc was a joy. The dinghy sits solidly on its mount and lashing it down will be simple. Very pleased.

Another result came about when I mentioned to another friend the problem we had been having with our radar. Essentially it wouldn't produce a return at any distance above 0.75nm. We'd lived with it but it was a little frustrating at times. His immediate response was to "check the ground" We did. The contact was good but it was a poor ground in that it was attached to the engine block. We moved the wire to one of the studs that hold the zinc anode and turned it on. A return all the way up to 16nm! 

And finally. You may remember me mentioning Trevor Robertson when we were in Labrador last year. Well he did leave Newfoundland in November as he intended and headed out. We heard this morning (Apr 1st) that he had arrived in Freemantle, Aust. yesterday after 171 days. We have no other details; I believe it was non stop and his account will, eventually, be published. I can hardly wait.  

Only a few weeks back.

 Lastly, the first 3 pictures on this post belong to Russ Nichols. Please don't use them outside this post without written permission. Thanks.

On a similar note: I've noticed a lot of traffic of late from two specific areas. One was Russia about 6 weeks or so and Germany in the last fortnight. The latter came about because an article I written for AAC was lifted, re worked and published over there. But Russia I have no idea how that happened... I'm curious how folks get to know of an English sailor's blog and how it "translates" to your language. Drop me a line if you can shed any light.

Ash blocks to Baggywrinkle by way of mats

Here we are, possibly half way through winter and very little snow, by Maine standards, has fallen. The temperatures have been up and down with last week recording 50F (10C) and next week-end projecting to fall to -6F (-21C). Still beats being in the Caribbean as for as we're concerned.

A couple of posts ago I wrote about the ash blocks we had bought from Peavey's....at the end of a recent astro class John, the guy leading the course, said he'd had a message from his mate, Brian in London, asking what we intended doing with them. “Burn them” I replied. It seemed a straight forward answer to the question but John took a step back, his face draining of colour and in a strangulated voice croaked “burn them.....!.” 

Ash blocks from Peavey's - $10 for half a cord..

Well two things were going on here. Both John and Brian are wooden boat people and the ash blocks they were thinking of are frequently used aboard traditional vessels. Indeed we probably have twenty or more scattered about our boat. But I was possibly guilty of sloppy English by simply referring to the wood as ash blocks. So here's a pic of said item to ensure that wooden boat people everywhere are not even more offended that the heretical concrete gaffer crew burns precious stuff.

On a recent trip to HM we were looking at lobster rope mats. Kathy,the HM, thought we could knock them up ourselves and ”it might be fun”. She duly talked to the lobster men around the harbour and asked them for their old float rope. 

As they can no longer legally use the stuff  (the Northern Right Whale can become entangled in it) we were given several hundred feet of the rope in a variety of colours and we set to work after Bee had found a site that showed a jig, Kathy organised the needed bits, made the jig and turned us loose. The first couple were pretty disastrous as I completely got the measurements wrong and the mat was too big for the space we wanted to put it in. 

Bee adding a "through" line - still a bit of work to complete

However undoing and restarting isn't hard and we now have several mats that fit the intended spaces. The time to complete varies – anything from a couple hours to most of the day for the large size and if we were going to produce a number of them we might well re-design the jig and save ourselves a lot of work. The biggest advantage, as far as we're concerned is, unlike the mat that has normally sat on the bridge deck, they don't hold water and are fairly easy to keep clean. Plus a good use of colourful, old rope.

The start of the baggywrinkle process

And here's another good use of old rope, Bee, having cut down the old 3 strand to the required length can be seen cow hitching the strands onto line in the first stage of making new 'wrinkle for the rigging. The bitter end is tied off, the strands teased out and then the whole lot is attached to a shroud and wound around to produce the mop like effect that constantly baffles folks wandering by. 

 

Just needs teasing out..

And once, notably, a yot motoring by us in the BVI, filming as they went. The audible conversation went along the lines of wondering what they (the baggywrinkle) might be, before concluding they must be to trap rats or some such nonsense. Jeez where do they get it from.

When we first arrived in Belfast in 2004, a railroad ran long the front and up country, taking day trippers. Now the line has been torn up and a walk-way constructed and it is possible to walk the "line" out to the head of the tide where the railway now resides. 

We did it recently, tramping through snow on a brisk day, enjoying the day and viewing the river and surrounding countryside. Ice was much in evidence, and the sound of it cracking as the tide fell took us back to Greenland... but here the ice would soon be making its way down stream and probably gathering around the dockside boats.


 

Winter resting place..

Many of the houses along the river are, by US standards, quite modest although a number of "grander" ones are beginning to appear as Belfast loses its working class image - chicken processing plants, the river full of feathers and guts - and becomes more trendy. We recently walked back from friends who live out of town, through streets we'd never been down, marveling at the houses, sadly many of them shut down for the winter as the owners flee south to warmer climes.

 I think the railway has a chequered history and I don't know/remember enough to write about it but it adds a touch of colour to the landscape. To get back to town involves returning by road so not so interesting but a pleasant trip overall. 

 One of the joys of anchoring in this part of the world is to share the anchorage with loons. Nothing compares to a quiet, well protected anchorage, lit only by the stars and moon and the solitude broken only the loons haunting cry. It never fails to stop us doing whatever it is to simply stand and listen. 

Sitting out the falling snow..

Belfast Me

Henry Worsley

For the last two months we have settled down in our warm saloon, glass in hand to listen to the nightly “broadcast” by Henry Worsley from Antarctica. At the end of his, often difficult and arduous, day he would file a short report of how it had gone, how he felt and the progress he had made, taking time out to address questions from"Young Explorers", school children from around the world who were following the journey. Thus in that short time we came to appreciate and like this man, idly dreaming that we might meet one day and he could be sat around our fire entertaining us with his stories.....

Sadly not, as we read the dreadful news this morning that he had died from peritonitis in a hospital in Punta Arenas where he had been flown to. I can't begin to tell you how sadden we are, how the tears flow and the loss we feel. It is, as Bee said “a shit start to the week” You can read the statement on the expedition site here. Our condolences to his family and small comfort perhaps, but he has touched SO many people with his quiet courage and fortitude.
 

Blue sky days, wood stove nights

The end of the season, traps in the late afternoon sun

With a further spell of cold but clear weather we opted to get away for another few days. The wind strengths were nothing like our last jaunt and we took advantage of the remarkable abundance of anchorages and sailed across to Isleboro, the nearest inhabited island to where we are. Actually about 30 minutes before we cast off, Earl McKemzie had dropped off a bag of kindling and suggested we pick up his buoy in Seal Cove which we were happy to do so. Normally the buoy holds the 60' schooner Bonnie Lynn so we had no worries about its capabilities of holding us. As before we used only the mizzen and #1, enjoying a brisk sail across the 8 miles of water. Certainly cold despite the bright sunshine and we lost no time in firing up the wood stove once we'd sailed in and (almost) onto the huge buoy. We launched the dinghy and rowed ashore to view the progress on Bonnie and Earl's new house which has been on going for a few years, they having only part of the winters to work on it. Essentially it is a flat (apartment) built above a large workshop, warm, not too big and will afford them fine views over the water and the schooner they charter during the summer months. One of the other benefits of having friends who are building houses is there is frequently scrap wood lying around for the taking and we came away the following day with bag of kindling and a pile of mags to browse through. We took a short ride with Bonnie to the local Post Office, remaining in the car whilst she collected their mail. Apparently in the short time she was in there 2 people said to her they'd seen a real pretty boat on their mooring and what on earth were they (us) doing still sailing around at this time of the year...

The wind was a whisper and we motored gently to Warren Island some 3 miles or so from Seal Cove. It was here in 2004 that we decided to go to Belfast lured by the prospect of being able to buy coal and we fancied seeing the place once more. Deserted of course, all the mooring buoys hauled for the winter but plenty of room to anchor where we enjoyed the solitude, quiet and a big moon shining into the saloon. Oddly enough we were still able to pick up the Internet and checking the weather it looked as though the following day, Thursday might be the best until after the week end and we decided to sail back, hopefully getting in before the wind picked up too much. A leisurely breakfast, donning of warm clothes, up anchor and away we went catching the last hour or so of the flood. As before we neglected the main -don't you just love this about ketches, this ability to make fine speed's without bothering with the main? 

In fact we didn't even take the 1.5 metre chimney down or the wind generator but simply made sure the boom and gaff were well secured and headed out. The 11 miles passed fairly quickly, we slowed down a little toward the end as the tide turned to slack water and nearing the harbour area we came across a nasty bit of wind over tide but beyond that the waters turned calm with little wind to ruffle the surface. The jetty we are on requires us to slalom around another set of jetties before making the turn into the slot. We must have entered at least four times now and each approach has been different. This was one of the better entrances, certainly slower than the last one so seemed less frantic. But always good to get in without carving up the boat next door with an errant bowsprit...

Toots before the temps dropped...

Winter is beginning to creep up with -C temperatures regularly appearing. Oddly enough it wasn't until today that the temp. inside the boat dropped to 6C, a figure we had last seen in August when in Labrador. This was early morning, well 7am and it goes up gradually as we run the cooker and fire up the Aladdin lamp for the day. Generally the wood stove stays off until noon or later when we decide enough is enough and get it going. Toots who, upon finishing her breakfast, makes a beeline for the vacated bipeds bed and crawls into the specially prepared duvet "cave" Bee has made up. There she will remain, snuffling and dormant until the sound of a fire being lit is heard when she will poke her head out to check on progress. If it meets with feline approval she'll emerge, scoff some biscuits then take up position on the table, stretch out and fall asleep again.

Finally two sites you might be interested in.

Following on from the bit about celestial navigation (still plugging away) there is a free online course you might be interested in here

We also came across this by chance a journey on foot across Antartica by a descendant on Frank Worlsley. The trip has only recently started and his progress can be followed via a daily phone call he makes. This might be pod cast or something - we tend to be vague about all that is happening with this sort of thing but it makes engaging listening. Here's the link to Shackletonsolo.org

If this is the hardest frost we get, I'll be quite happy!

You need to look at this

Imagine you'e sailing along, trussed up as per the current thinking, in a pfd and harness. You're working on deck, the boat lurches and suddenly you're over the side... Well something like that happened to me a few years back, except I wasn't wearing a harness or a pfd. That story is here and if you wonder why on earth I wasn't wearing a harness etc (and perhaps think "well it serves you right") then take a look at this article.
HERE

People fall off boats, it's a fact of life; a risk we are aware of and take into account in our travels. Sometimes a mistake is made but on the whole we know that the boat is really a narrow path with a steep drop and you need to be very aware that death is a short step or stumble away. Go forward only on the windward side; keep your body low and crawl if need be; one hand for the boat, one for yourself always. I'm not saying this is the right way just the way we chose to work. Life jackets and harnesses may have a role but they are not a sure fire way of saving your life.

Port bound

A month drifts by as we settle into this dockside routine, hunting and foraging for cheap food and wood and getting ready to brew up some home made wine. Can hardly wait..

Belfast - early morning

With the tides dropping away we took a chance on being neaped and slid onto the scubbing berth at 5am one morning. We wanted to scrub, clean the prop and check whether our altercation with a growler in the summer had done any damage. Well it hadn't other than removing some anti-foul making us thankful we don't own a grp version of Hannah. What we did discover was this: When we painted back in the spring we used two different brands of anti-foul. One side had a tin we bought in the UK from Gale Force and might be described as "cheap and cheerful" whilst the other was Petit Trinidad. No doubt about which side had less stuff clinging to it and although the Trinidad is significantly more expensive than the other stuff it was clearly far more effective.

Bow end with bow thruster lowered.......

As mentioned in the last update the Shipyard now dominates the waterfront in terms of buildings and acreage. The docks don't appear too busy but perhaps given the time of year it's hardly surprising. At the end of the jetty we're on, lurks a massive shed and out of it recently came a 125' sail boat. It remained slung in the travel hoist supported fore and aft by a combination of stands, a cradle and a shipping container whilst it was rigged and made ready for the water. The rigging crew were lifted aboard via a “cherry picker” to attend to the mast stepping process and even the forestay had to be supported by crane as the weight was too much for humans to manipulate it across the foredeck into position. It remained on the dock for a week whilst various, who knows what, tasks where carried out then left for south at a rate of knots. Clear of the harbour it motored at close to 13 knots, arriving in Newport RI (about 200 nm) some 18 hours after casting off. Bound for the Caribbean, of course, to charter....$65,000 per week.

Here in reality we took our own journey; venturing up to see Philip and Helen in NE Harbour. We had been before we headed north and love the security of it. Little if any surge seems to enter and whilst it would normally be off-limits to us because of cost, in the winter the HM takes a relaxed view about those still wandering. The day we chose to sail up was dictated, naturally, by the wind. 25-30 with gusts of 35 from the NW would suggest we might have a good sail. It wasn't good it was brilliant! 

7 knots down Eggemoggin

 Not bothering with the main we ran with a reefed mizzen and #1 heads'l, the boat was light, comfortable and romping along. Whilst the tide was against us about half of the way it seemed to make little difference as we roared down Eggemoggin Reach with not a soul in sight. The wind seemed to be consistently around 27knots but no real seas until we crossed Blue Hill Bay when they picked up, covering the boat and us with solid water and spray. The sky was blue, the sun shone and it was pretty cool, probably high 30's F but just a wonderful day to be out on Hannah. The last few miles against wind and tide we used the engine as the sun was sinking quickly and a mostly

cloudless day meant it would rapidly get cold. Into the harbour to find Philip watching from a nearby dock as we tied up. About 7 and a bit hours to cover the 43 miles. Great company, a lasagne and wine to die for that night completed a wonderful day.

During the few days we spent with them they kindly took us off to see a friend of theirs they thought we might like. They were right. Donna lives off grid in eastern Maine in a house she and her late husband built. Her near neighbour is Geri, they have been friends for decades and were part of the “back to the land” movement of the '70's. The houses were stunning, both very different and their lifestyles have captivated us since we visited. Yes I know that we live off grid too for the most part but there is something about a simple house with solar & oil for lights; wood for cooking and heating that has such a pull on us. They share a well but neither has a pump so water is carried to the houses. Too much work? We don't think so and as we sat around a table drinking home made wine and cider exchanging stories both me and Bee knew we will want to get back there to learn more. It might be a couple of hours drive from here so more difficult to organise but next time, and there will be a next time, we'll see if Donna and Geri are ok with us photographing the visit. 

At the moment the weather is pretty benign ( for Maine at this time of the year) with temps rarely falling below 5C. In fact we can judge how cold things are within the boat simply by checking the washing up liquid which, in Labrador, would thicken to a gooey paste rather than its normal translucent runny self. But we are thinking about building a shelter, then believe we have a few more weeks before we might need it, then wonder if we should take advantage of the still weather to build it anyway....but these wonderful crisp days with the huge attraction of great anchorages a few hours away keep us shelter free. You can see when we do build by checking here ......Bee uses the webcam to check if her coast his clear to escape from the boat into town

  And finally. Some years ago our very good friend Cary gave us a gift. Well, many actually but this one in particular is special as it had come from his dad. 

 A Tamaya sextant, new and unused and as Cary would never go back to sea again he felt it would be fitting if I used it. I never have as what little I learnt has long been forgotten through neglect. It may be about to change as a bunch of sailors get together weekly to learn the skill thanks to a keen tradionalist who runs a boatyard. Early days yet of course  but this time, assuming I learn the skill, I hope to use it rather than lose it. Not because I think that the GPS will collapse as many armchair sailors would have us believe but simply because it is interesting.

Belfast, Me.

 

Home is where we park it...

 

With time on our hands before the visa appointment we spent it helping out around friends houses. Steve and Marilyn have swapped their life afloat (25years+) for a place overlooking Mahone Bay whilst John and Phyllis from AAC fame live close by and loaned us their buoy or dock dependent on which was vacant.

Toots making a leap for the shore

 Toots loved being able to stroll ashore via the gang-plank Bee had set up and we appreciated the easy access to the shore, notwithstanding the heart stopping climb up the hill from the boat. It is a fine anchorage too, excellent holding and great shelter from all but the south. On the appointed day J&P drove us into Halifax and dropped us outside an ominously busy building where the US Consulate resides. A fire drill was about to be called and access was denied to all. When eventually we were allowed in, made our way to the 9th floor and joined a short queue we were already 10 minutes late. But the queue was short and we thought we would soon be in.....More folks arrived, security asked for appointment times and as many of the newcomers were scheduled to be seen before us they slid to the front and we moved back. More arrived, the procedure is repeated, seemingly just as we thought we were getting close to the head of the line. It bore an uncanny similarity to beating in a gaffer against a foul tide....up and down the same bit of water gaining inches at a time. But we did get in, after being warned that access through the door meant your waiting was now down to 45 minutes (but at least we could sit down) The interview was painless and successful with a 10 year multiple visa granted without any hiccups. Not for everyone of course - if we read the body language correctly all white skinned applicants got in but not all non white skinned folks did.

The visas were duly delivered and we scanned the weather for a slot that would see us across the Gulf of Maine and onto Belfast some 300 miles away. A small opportunity presented itself albeit with 30knot winds from the forward quarter but with nothing else in sight we set out at 08:30 Sunday. The passage down the coast of NS was fine with our course taking us gradually away from the coast. the wind from the NW and the waves small. At some point we had a snow flurry but neither long enough or heavy enough to stick although the wind remained cold. Rounding Cape Sable is always a challenge and, knowing the chances of arriving at Brazil Rock in time to carry a fair tide all the way round and well into the Gulf was slight, we opted to stay about 15 mile off to avoid the worst of the flood. As we cleared the now distant land the swell built up and the full effects began to be felt. In order to make better progress and keep the water off the deck we dumped the headsail, eased off the wind more and plugged on. The wind was blowing 30 knots with stronger gusts, we were comfortable although not heading in the direction we wanted. Worse as the flood strengthened our course suffered too. Through the night and the next day we sailed on, occasionally taking a big wave over the side. Sometime during the day the wind backed to the north then veered to the NW overnight. Around 1 am we found the self-steerer was behaving oddly resulting in us having to hand steer..... not a comfortable few hours. This was one of those occasions where a harness was deemed necessary as the wind had picked up and the seas too. By 4am I decided enough was enough and heaving to was a far sounder option where we remained for the next 12 hours. When the wind eased we set off again but still unable to get the self-steerer working we reverted to being hove to. The wind had moderated and we decided to have a go at repairing Stan as the steerer is called. The problem lay with a badly bent bolt that the rods connect to. The distortion was causing the bearings to bind when the blade was in one position. We could replace the bolt (once we had straightened it) but it requires the paddle to be held securely otherwise the chances are said paddle will drop to the bottom of the ocean. We opted to just straighten the bolt........... So making sure the harness is attached to both me and the boat I crawl across the aft deck, straddle the tiller and lie over the top of the horse with my chest on the top of the rudder. Clutching a 13mm spanner in each hand I start to undo the various nuts that hold it all in place. Stood in a dinghy on quiet water this is a simple operation; hove to in sub 2 metre seas it isn't. Not least because whilst the boat is not moving across the water it is certainly moving up and down in the water.... First my hands were under water then up my elbows, then inevitably a bigger wave came and my face was underwater. Bee meanwhile was crouched behind me as the nuts came off, the grips were handed to me and the bolt bent into some semblance of straight. A hasty reassemble and a retreat to the relative warmth of the saloon. By noon we had a favourable 15 knots and were making progress but by 4pm the breeze had gone and we drifted silently with the current. A faint breeze returned around 8am the following day and from the SE so we were cock a hoop. As the day progressed the wind picked up and we romped along. The islands off the coast came into view and soon we were amongst lobster pots and buoys. An occasional fishing boat but no pleasure boats at all and Penobscot Bay was ours. The tide turned in our favour and carried us to Belfast. By now it had gone 6pm, the harbour quiet and we called Customs and Border via Skype to check in. Not good enough it seems as they "require" incoming boats to contact them 2 hours before hand by phone and not having one is viewed as irresponsible! "What do you do if you get into trouble..." Still we got through it with gritted teeth, and the following morning the field officer arrived to check us in, stamp our passports and the yellow flag came down. Four and a half days from dock to dock. As Bee says it was probably one of the hardest trips of recent times.

A quiet night in the inlet

 Since then we have renewed our library cards, driven up to Peavey's to buy a pick-up truck full of ash blocks for $5 and met up with a few of the many friends we have here. The big shipyard that started up a few years back has grown bigger and dominates the waterfront. Not our cup of tea but we remain fond of the town and its people and will settle down to spend our third winter happily.

Port Manvers and south

'berg close up

 The run south from the anchorage at the north of Port Manvers was not without incident. The lack of wind meant we needed to motor and a late change of destination had us battling a stiff current through the 1^st Rattle. But the problem began when we were passing an island with the engine ticking over and the sails just drawing. The engine cut out and we clawed our way off before picking up a stronger breeze and continuing on to Nain. We re-started the engine which ran for a minute or so before stopping. We took the cockpit sole up to check, started it and it ran! Ah we thought; must be starved of cold air.... We arrived in Nain, fuelled up with R&A and headed out the following morning. We motor sailed that day getting in a decent run before anchoring close to the track south. We had just started digging it(the anchor) in when the engine cut out again and we spent several hours checking through things, changing a filter and running it. Ran with no hint of a hiccup and we collapsed into bed. The following morning as we hauled up the anchor, turned the boat to the direction we wanted it cut out again. We left under sail, beat our way out of the place and carried on south. Luckily R&A were behind not, as the would usually be, way ahead and when we ran out of wind and the engine still wouldn't play simply towed us to the anchorage we were intending to use. More late night mechanics, with Russ making very useful suggestion, identified the problem lying within the water trap and we cut that out of the system to get a clean running system.

Onward south and with the possibility of a blow coming with a head wind in the next day we opted to keep going through the night. Not a happy time as vis. was poor, bergs and growlers numerous and we still needed to motor but we did, eventually, make the safety of Smokey Hbr where we were able to stock up on wood before the rains and strong winds came. South yet again and as we approached the entrance to Grady, in the dark of course, the engine cut out when we were about ½ mile from the entrance. The main was still up and once again we bore away to get sea room and see if we could sort it. Well this time we simply connected a fuel jerry can to the pump, ran the return back to it and followed our exit track into the harbour, anchored and set about locating the problem. A chance remark by Bee about whether I had cleaned the barbs on the water trap before replacing it (I had) made us consider the barbs on the primary filter and there was our problem. Choked. Cleaned and checked and cleaned again we re-fitted everything and away the engine went and has continued to do so. No doubt a more mechanical minded person than me (not difficult) would have sussed it long ago.....

Comfy shelter at 40 knots

Another long day down to Punchbowl but under sail knowing that we had a blow coming through in a day or so. Both boats were securely tied up by the evening and a day later we awaited its arrival. The wind switched suddenly from west to north west and the wind speed went from 11 knots to 41 knots in seconds and stayed throughout 24 hours. Crab legs littered the deck having been blown from the wharf onto us but we were safe and dry. More wood was gathered and we prepared for the next stage down.

The other side of Punchbowl - vandalised buildings.

 By now we were getting close to the Belle Isle Strait and we could relax a little as the hardest part had been done. So we anchored once more before yet another day of motor sailing down to Red Bay where we could take on more fuel. R&A chose to do another 20 miles in order to get propane, showers and such. We stayed a couple of nights before sailing on down to the Quebec coast – The Lower North Shore (LNS). Fog and wind with a touch of rain accompanied the trip but toward the end it cleared giving us gorgeous views of gentle hills, multiple shades of green and gold and the chance of great anchorages. That nights was a cracker with good protection and decent depths. We'd spoken to R&A the day before as we'd passed the dock they were at, making vague arrangements to meet them in a day or so and we had, the next day, a short day to anchor near Passage Champlain. Despite numerous calls on the radio we got no response and we tried to work out what might have happened...were they ahead, not left,sailed over to Newfie....??

Just because...

With no response but a “favourable” wind, well it was behind us, we set off for the Petite Rigolot. The rain fell through the fog and the wind howled as we bowled along. This shore is particularly rocky and leading marks abound so we wanted visibility to get things right. The wind, dead astern, made closing the shore iffy and we decided we'd carry on, hoping that winds would moderate and fog lift before we made Harrington about 45 nm further on. We hadn't been back there for 5 years, I think, so were looking forward to seeing Jim and Sharon, a local couple who had befriended us. Conditions didn't change of course and as night came in and rather than face the rocks and islands we looked at the forecast for the next few days, saw it offered a chance to make it down to Dingwall in one hop and decided to carry on. No forecast survives contact with reality and we spent a frustrating few days gradually working our way south. Spectacular sunset one evening had us wondering what lay ahead but eventually we were closing the Cape Breton coast and our destination of Dingwall. The wind, by now from the NW and a steady 25k was accompanied by the ever present fog and rain. Dingwall now lay to windward, it was around 1am and the tide was ebbing.................we'll keep going for the Lakes we said.

Probably for the first time ever we arrived at the entrance as the tide was running into the Lakes and slid through with a bit of wind but an engine humming along. Once through we sailed, slowly, catching each small puff to move us along. The wind, still from the NW, was moving the tree tops that line that part of the Lakes but was fluky and variable at water level. Of course when you reach the open bay where Baddeck sits (and our new destination) it picks up to 20k plus and leaves you with a stiff beat.... or not in our case. We made one long board to see what sort of angle we would make, muttered “stuff it” and carried on for our 5^th new destination of this trip. A call to Barra Strait Bridge for an opening and we were racing through the gap with sails pulling and engine in stand-by,the bridge keeper snapping away with his cellphone. Finally, finally we made it to the other side of the Lakes and came upon our anchorage. The wind had once last go at us, snarling and snorting in an uncalled for squall but we were in, good water and lovely tall trees to shelter us. Time for a drink we said and slid below to a warm fire some four and a half days after we set off.

A short motor the following day saw us at the canal where we tied up with the help of Jack and Glenda, long time friends. A guy came down said “You must be here for the International Speak Like a Pirates Day” and roped us in to helping! A day or so later we had numerous kids aboard who were duly hauled up the mast,allowed to climb in the net and generally enjoy themselves. Not sure how the mothers/carers felt as the kids climbed across the bowsprit and into the net before leaning precariously over the water despite cries of “he/she can't swim...”

Russ and Alison turned up a day later having been to Harrington where, they were assured, we'd been spotted at anchor in a nearby bay....??

With good winds we forecast we headed away from St Peter's Canal on the Monday, down through Andrews Passage and onto Yankee Cove where we found Francis B the boat that had relayed the message from Trevor all those weeks back. They opted to remain but the next day Walkabout and Hannah were on the move again for a shortish hop to Fisherman's Habour and then onward to Lunenburg. Which is roughly where we are now except around the back anchored off friend's house's whilst we await our visa appointment.

The Button Island bear, bloody from the seal meal...