Tied up with new friends
The calm spell of sunny weather in the Canadian Maritimes has come to an end. I was awakened in the night by a loose halliard slapping our mast and went on deck in drenching, wind driven drizzle to quieten it.
Sally set off early to collect fresh croissant for breakfast but got no further than the deck as we were being blown firmly off the dock. I tried pulling us alongside but quickly decided that the battle against wind and rain was not worth the pain au chocolat and, instead, settled for a breakfast of pancakes. Some battles are just not worth fighting even if pain au chocolat is the reward.
It is now a grey, wet and breezy morning and we sit in our warm and snug deck saloon watching the comings and goings in the harbour. On the other side of our wharf two robust alloy yachts are pressed hard against the dock by the wind. Their fenders squeezed under the strain. Two fine boats each with their own stories of adventure.
We had first come across s/v Jooley last year when our paths crossed in Greenland. We had chatted with Jean-Paul by VHF who was on his way to try his luck in the North West Passage. Like most boats that year he was beaten back by the ice and had retreated to overwinter in St Pierre. He is now re-launched and bound for Belgium via Stornoway. Jean-Paul and Ed came around for tea yesterday and we had a lovely time chatting about adventures in all parts of Greenland, close encounters with polar bears and friends in common.
Also on our busy social schedule yesterday we enjoyed a great time with Christopher and Molly Barnes from the other rugged alloy boat S/v Sila. As fellow OCC members we had yet more friends in common and we enjoyed hearing about their family sailing adventures in South Georgia, Easter Island and the Patagonian Channels. Their boat is a Boreal 47 prepared in every way for rugged adventures.
Beside these two ocean 4x4’s we feel a little overawed by their appetite for rugged adventure as we intend to ease our way south to warmer, calmer climes. In an effort to prove our hardiness I have now braved the driving drizzle and winched us in alongside the dock so that Sally can get ashore in search of fresh French bread for lunch!