Friday, Saturday. September 2-3
On the eastern horizon the sun, partly hidden in the overcast, shows itself as a red orange glow. In front of us on the western horizon the first signs of land show up.
Labrador, land of the dogs, emerges from the sea and slowly wins the quarrel with the clouds.
Having sailed for 70 hours, under changing weather conditions, and a lot of “roll” last night, the mainland is very welcome. Small rock shaped islands make the first line of defence for the coast and bays. There are many bays in Labrador.
We enter the harbour of St. Lewis and moor near a desolate fish factory, also for sale. The village, with 180 inhabitants, surprisingly has three supermarkets. “Because we eat so much” joke an extremely friendly, elderly couple who we meet when we walk to the village. On advise from a local we decide to sail to the next village. There is more activity and the possibility to refuel. The name is St. Marie.
Under great interest of a group of fishermen we moor at the local Cooperative Shrimp Factory. Reception is overwhelming and they help us mooring the ship. We get local information and refill the water tanks. While on a 20 minutes walk to the village, we get a lift from a 4WD pick-up. Peter in a comfortable seat upfront, Edzard and I in the back box, LOL. The local General Store sells it all, food, paint, tools, bra’s, just name it.
There’s no local pub, not enough customers according our driver. So we return to the boat with an 8-pack beer and a pepper.
Next morning at 0900 we head out again, in the direction of Rocky Harbour, situated on the Newfoundland coast. Got the advise from the Harbour Master in St Marie.
When we sail along the coast of Labrador we notice the desolation of this land. Now and then an occasional and obviously desolate settlement on treeless, in reindeer moss covered slopes, between the weathered, eroded hilltops. Occasionally interrupted by, from the sea rising, steep cliffs. No shipping to be seen. Sometimes a small fishing boat, but the rest of the world is ours. Now and then dolphins tumble around the boat, and an occasional whale blows it’s air into the sky.
In the meantime we receive alarming messages from the homefront concerning the Florida hurricane uproar. Of course we keep an eye on her. Anyway the distance from Labrador to Miami is the same as Amsterdam-Sahara. … It’ll take a while till we reach Florida.
We are heading into the strait between Labrador and Newfoundland. In the distance a steep rock in the sea looms up. “ Will it be a ship or a rock”, wonders Edzard. We can’t locate the colossus on the map. It’s a mystery. After a while we realize it’s an enormous iceberg! So, we even meet them here! We set course towards it to explore the berg. It’s a magnificent specimen, both wild and elegant in shape. A picture lighted by a full sun and beautiful cloud formations.
In the distance we notice more icebergs but let them be. 150 NM to go to the Newfoundland coast. The sun sets into the water with glorious red-yellow colour.
The night is on its way. We carry on!
