When we went to lift the anchor this morning the chain was firmly jammed into something on the sea bed and took a lot of force to prize it out. The anchor itself came up with a thick ball of gloriously gloopy mud. We made a mental note to set the anchor buoy in the future and not risk losing the all of our growing tackle.
We left Makkovik at first light (0500) and within an hour or two the wind was strong enough to sail. What's more it was off the beam and off the shore which means flat seas and fast speeds. Initially there were a few feeble spots of rain but soon we sailed away from clouds into a fine summers day.
Things could not have been more perfect. The route threaded us around island and narrow passages (called tickles here) and along the way we dodged numerous icebergs. All lit up by summer sunshine with the temperature in the 20's. Better still conditions didn't change and it wasn't until late evening that the wind died away and we reluctantly put on the motor.
A fantastic day of sailing in a remote wilderness decorated by sparse forests ashore and with the sea inlaid with icy jewels all lit up by the warm, summer sun.
When night came we slipped between some islands which seemed to keep the icebergs out so we were able to keep pressing on under a starry sky keeping an intense lookout by radar and night vision optics. By morning we will hopefully find ourselves a peaceful anchorage to explore ashore and wait for some headwinds to go through.
It doesn't come any better!