(05) Drina NWP attempt - Gloucester to Halifax via Shelburne 19 June 2014

Shoes by Bruce Gould...

We rose bright and early after a very quiet night and breakfasted while we debated the state of health of the various crew members, me recovering and the 3 others in various stages of serious "Man Colds".  

Halifax is about 265 NM from Gloucester with a stop over at Shelburne 35NM short of Halifax.  It would require at two nights at sea.  Michael, in recovery mode, decided we were fit enough and so the anchor was taken aboard at about 0830 and so we headed down the channel and out to sea.

As we made our way down the channel we hoisted our main and very carefully threaded our way through the myriad of brightly coloured buoys marking lobster pots and fish traps. 

Our course was almost east at 080T this would take us out into the Gulf of Maine for about 200NM before the next landfall at Cape Sable in Nova Scotia, then around the Cape to our next port Shelburne to clear in with Canadian Customs and then on to our real destination, Halifax about 130 or so miles further up the coast.

So the crew set about deciding on watches, stowing loose articles, getting the wet weather, safety gear, torches, reading material etc. ready for a sea leg.   

Matt sighted a big seal as we left harbour and we took this to be a good omen.

For most of the day we motor-sailed with main only, towards evening the wind went ahead and strengthened  a little and we rolled out the big headsail and stopped the motor.  The silence was deafening and Roosco, a serious dinghy sailor,  was thrilled, this was his first time "Off Shore".  After dark a clear sky, with no big city light pollution to spoil it, displayed more stars than it seemed possible.  Later, while on watch with Rossco we spotted several shooting stars and one satellite. 

At sea on Drina.

Blogging again...

It seems only a little while ago that this Blog was a going concern.  It was updated as often as possible and usually, the content was timely and roughly in sync with my life.
Then along came the North West Passage attempt on my old friend Michael Thurston's beautiful alloy ketch Drina.  At first, it seemed that the attempt would be a wonderful bonus providing exciting experiences over the northern summer of 2014 to blog about.  A change from the more mundane southern hemisphere regattas and the occasional canal or river trip in Europe.

Beset in the pack August 24,2014

At first, things went swimmingly and words flowed fast and furious as I posted  our progress from Newport RI along the coasts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine then to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.  There in St. John's we paused to take stock and hide from the tail of Hurricane Arthur which was now only a post-tropical depression with lots of wind and rain forecast.
I began numbering posts to make it easier to keep track of the narrative and our progress.  So the last blog posted from Newfoundland was the number (14) "St. John's 2/07 to 8/07".  After this things went rapidly downhill.  At sea, we simply didn't have the technology to post more than the briefest details of our progress and for the next 10 days, we were at sea.  On arrival in Greenland, we had our first taste of how difficult it was going to be to post updates and photos.  From now on it was to prove either technically impossible to blog or so expensive as to amount to the same thing .
Greenland simply hasn't the infrastructure to support large data transfers over the internet so it was that my last posts (15) "St.John's to Greenland" and (16) "Nuuk Greenland, new friends and a Big Gun" were the last published.
I continued to write my journal and keep a log of our adventures with the aim of posting the most interesting pieces whenever we found connectivity again.
As it turned out the next time I had an internet connection was Anchorage airport some 140 days later.  I had a long wait here for my connecting flight on my way home at the end of our by now, a successful transit of the NWP and our entry into the record book.
Access to the internet at last... So much to catch up on, emails unread, bills unpaid, correspondence unanswered blogs to post.  Compared to the excitement and tension of the past four months on Drina it all began to seem less important and urgent than I'd imagined.  During the transit, the thing I missed most, apart from the lack of Jameson, was not being able to post my blog and keep all those that had supported and were following our NWP attempt in the loop.  Now it all seemed less urgent and a bit like yesterday's news.  So I foud a vacant bench, stretched out and went to sleep.

Commodore John Brooks

Since that day I've not spent much time reliving our NWP adventure with the exception of time spent with those close to the attempt, Commodore John Brooks CYCA, Commodore Malcolm Levy RSYS, Gwenyth Taylor, Donny Finch, Peter Semotiuk, Douglas Phol and our technical team in London, Warren and Stuart Kerrigan and last but by no means least my old friend Bruce Gould or as he's know universally "Gouldie" for his unstinting support of our attempt.  



Without the support of these friends, it would have been impossible for us on Drina to have succeeded.  John and Malcolm gave many hours of their time each and every day of the attempt analysing weather reports plotting pack ice movements and supplying us with a nearly continuous stream of advice, analysis and information.  Their efforts were such that despite our comparable lack of technology we were hands down the best-informed boat with the possible exception of Steven Brown and his boys on Novara and she was not part of our northern group in any case.  Peter and Douglas were ever at the ready to answer our questions and supply advice based on their vast and encyclopedic local knowledge that helped us avoid many a miss step. And Warren and Stuart were always ready to fix our technology and communications problems any time of the day or night. Then there was the Canadian Coast Guard and in particular the captain and crew of the CCGS Pierre Radisson. This little piece would not be complete without mention of our wonderful Norwegian friends on Tandberg Polar (Refloat Maud Expedition), without whose very generous help with our diesel supply we would have had to abandon the attempt and winter over in Cambridge Bay.

Gwenyth

Donny

So now it's November 2016 and I find myself with some time on my hands as a result of an operation to correct a little problem with my right eye.  So by way of thanking those mentioned above I've decided to complete the narrative of Drina's transit across the top of the world.  Enough with the excuses, I've decided to begin blogging again and so I first must finish the NWP story as it happened.

PK
Sydney Nov 2016 

(16) Nuuk Greenland, new friends and a big Gun.

Nuuk Greenland
We arrived here middle of the afternoon yesterday 17/7/14 and rafted up alongside a neat alloy sloop belonging to Glen and Anne Bainbridge called Gjoa.
They hail from Canada and have most recently come from Ireland (a two plus week trip) They were waiting on customs so we decided to sit pat and wait for them as well.  By 1700 there was no sign of the officials and we reasoned that they were unlikely to turn up out of hours so we headed ashore to explore the town/city of Nuuk. As it happens we found the supermarket, the ATM withdrew some cash and headed for the Fishermens Hostel/Motel for dinner, rumoured to be all you can eat...  Alas, to Rossco's chagrin this rumour proved false, though the meal was more than adequate for everyone else!

Next morning we headed over to the fuel wharf to fuel up.  We stocked up on some some provisions and selected a gun and ammunition at the Arctic Supplies Store across the harbour.  It was Matt and Rossco's turn to pay as we are trying to keep the expenditure per person roughly equal as we travel so there is less sorting out to do at the end.  As you'd expect the bill was largish running towards the several thousand DK.  None of their cards would work and the Store would not take their filthy American $ either!  The Store owner offered to drive them to the Bank a few Ks away and get their cards sorted and maybe change their US$ for proper Greenland money, Kroner.  

This process all proved fruitless as the Bank, where the sister of the Artic Supplies owner  worked coincidently, couldn't solve the CC problem and there was a limit on the amount of US$ they could take in a single transaction.  So  we made other arrangements.

That wasn't the best part though, while they were driving to the bank Matt casually asked their driver (of Artic Supplies Fame) if he knew anyone by the name Arne Petersen.  A bit like asking the taxi driver in Dublin if he knew anyone by the name of Paddy Murphy!  Ah! He said "there's only one Arne Petersen in Nuuk and he's my best friend..."   I'll take you to see him as soon as we've finished with the bank!

And so he did and it was the right Arne Petersen and he invited us all to his home last night where we met his beautiful Greenlandish wife Lisbeth who is a famous local artist and is very interested in native greenlandic culture etc. etc. then a friend of Lisbeth's heard there was a party at the Petersen's as they had visitors from far away and so they came round and the evening went on and on and on... Very Greenlandic we're assured!

Michael and I left, very weary, at about 0130 and make our way (carefully) down the long flight of wooden steps
(think Seaforth Battle Boulevard steps) to the boat harbour and retired to our bunks.  Rossco and Matt held on for another few hours and fell into the boat about 0500 this morning...  Arne G Petersen and Lisbeth "Drina's new best friends in Nuuk Greenland" Many thanks from Drina for your wonderful hospitality and kindness.

Some Pic's attached, Approaches to Greenland Nuuk, rafted up in the boat harbour, The boat harbour from Drina, Nuuk as you approach the Harbour Leads. PK in Nuuk Greenland.

(15) St. John's NF to Greenland - Tuesday 08/07 to 16/07

(15) St. John's NF to Greenland - Tuesday 08/07 to 16/07

Tuesday 08/07: We left St. John's with a slightly overcast sky and a steady SW wind.  Soon we were in sea fog with very limited visibility between 100 and 200 meters.  The AIS transponder showed lots of other traffic during the day however we were more interested in the fishermen and the ice bergs.  We have a chart listing the positions of the latter but not the former and neither have transponders.  So we sail slowly on with the rdar working overtime! 

At dark we hove too and slowly fore-reached during the next six hours then on Michael's watch at 0300 we made sail again and carefully plotted a course to avoid the worst patches of bergs.  The ice Berg chart is set out in squares each one about one degree of Latitude by one degree of Longitude  and the number of bergs is listed in each. Higher up the coast (of Newfoundland) these numbers are large, 360, 128, 50 and so on. Our track would take us through a series of squares 6, 5, 5, 2,2,2 then hopefully into clear water!  At the end of day 2 Mike and Matt our ice master agreed not to hove too at darkness but to motor slowly at about 3 kts during the hours of darkness.

On day 4 we suddenly emerged form thick fog into bright sunshine.  What a relief to see the horizon again.  The day got even better as the breeze built soon after dawn and soon we were all sails set on a beam reach and heading up our planned course... Champagne sailing!  

By the end of the week we had made enough northing to be entering the land of the midnight sun (well bright sky at midnight)  The log says 53 degrees North and 48 degrees West, and notes that the moon and the sun just below the horizon  at Midnight on Friday 11th July.

To pass the time Matt and Rossco watch a movie on afternoons when the weather is light and we're motor sailing, they are allowed to consume power if the motor is running...  

We play the usual games like guessing the Noon to Noon distance run.  So far Rossco is champion having won the first 4 or five days in a row and is consistently in the first two.  There's cheating going on, I just can't prove it!  

Matt has  been putting messages in bottles for as long as he has been sailing and continues to do so on this trip.  He lets one a day go one at noon and I'm helping him keep up the supply of empties!  He has a surprising number found and confirmed back to him, around one in 10 or so. A bottle set sail in Tasmania washed in Chile two years later and those he set sail in the Galapagos turned up all over the pacific including Papua New Guinea.  Sort of a romantic thing to do!  The other day we had the occasion to use an empty Jameson bottle, can't imagine how it got in that state, and I was allowed the honour of chucking it in the drink as it were.

 It's now wednesday the 16th and we've been at sea for 8 days.  We have no darkness now and although the sun dips below the horizon it remains light.  Today we have been closing the coast of Greenland and are now for the first time in a while dodging ice bergs and small bergs or bergy bits again.  These little bits can be a big as a London bus and that's the bit on top of the water!  They are often very hard to see on the radar and we are constantly calibrating our visual sightings with the image on the screen when the visibility is good.  In fog we have to slow down and rely completely on the "Green Screen"  Today the visibility has been several miles so we are motoring (there's no wind) along at a fair old clip attempting to close the coast in case the next wind is a head wind!   1900hrs The fog is back and now we are back to the old routine, like playing battleships!

Dinner is cooking, a Michael special "rack of lamb" or rather several racks with lots of roast vegs and steamed greens... Can't wait.

(14) St. John's 2/07 to 8/07

(14) St.John's NF Wednesday 02/07 to Tuesday 08/07/204 The Story...

The public Wharf was full when we arrived and so we rafted up outside a small local yacht Roll'n Rose.  This manoeuvre, accomplished in a reasonably seaman like manner, we introduced ourselves to our neighbours on UNA a beautiful Hallberg - Rassy,  Reidar Oesterhaug from Norway and brother in law Mike from London.  They were on the way to cruise the NF coast, Mike had just joined and was without luggage, didn't make the plane in London or missed the connection in Dublin!  He only recovered his lost baggage the day before we left almost a week later.  Next was a very nice looking Alloy sloop with a french couple onboard whom we waved to briefly before they departed for a berth further up the harbour, making way for our NWP buddy Moloda with Gary and Li onboard as they arrived a few hours later.

This was to be our first real catch up with our NWP attempt buddy boat so Gary and Li were immediately invited onboard for drinks and a big catchup on plans, provisions, weather, ice melt progress, information sources and so on and so on...

We ate onboard (another triumph by Matt) and later Rossco and I went exploring the night life in St.John's only to find that there wasn't any (that we could find) on a Wednesday night! 

Thursday dawned bright and clear on what  promised to be a hot St.John's day 24C was predicted.  Sure enough Summer was here and out came all the summer dresses, shorts thongs and hats, think Bondi without the bikinis!

Mike was off to explore the local supermarkets and to find more fuel filters, Lisbet, Matt's wife had flown in late Wednesday and they were off walking to the Coast Guard station on the far side of the harbour to set up our liaison with them regarding ice reports/analysis and position reporting etc. While Rossco and I went in search of "Free WiFi".

Gwenyth had, by coincidence,  been in St. John's early in January 2014 in a vain attempt to reach Fogo Island further north for a holiday with friends Phillip and Cate.  They had been snowed in at the Sheraton just at the top of the street for several days and so were a mine of information on the best places for coffee etc.  Thus forearmed with inside info we made directly for Coffee Matters at the top of Duckworth St.  So good was the info that Coffee Matters became my/our shore base for the next several days.  Very acceptable espresso, nice soup, good sandwiches and Vfast "FreeWiFi" with power to every table!

We met back at the dock towards sundown and choose the local Korean as a suitable place to eat.  This proved to be another inspired choice, the restaurant was run by Julia Kwon, Julia became our "new best friend of Drina" in St.John's and on Sunday  took Rossco and Matt "Hand Fishing" at a nearby lake and then to lunch before delivering them back to the boat where Mike and I were introduced to Julia's husband Ted and we all enjoyed a sundowner on Drina .

On Friday the US Coast Guard sail training ship the Barque Eagle made port and secured alongside within sight of drina just up the harbour.  They were here for a neighbourly visit and a crew change for some of the officer candidates onboard.  It turned out that we on Drina had several connections to the US Coast Guard Barque Eagle.

Rossco had been to High school (Oneonta) and came from the same part of Upstate New York as one of the Officer Candidates.  And myself who sailed against her on Norske in the Tall Ships Race (Hobart to Sydney) back in January 1988 as part of Australia's Bicentenary celebrations.  Some of you (Malcolm, Dicko, Leon, Gouldie, Watto, Jimmy D, Billy M and possibly more) will have fond memories of that race and the few weeks afterwards, tied up in Darling Harbour with a ringside seat for the celebrations.  If I remember correctly the our Commodore hosted the officers of the Barque Eagle to dinner at the club, the crews of Norske and Polar Bear became friends with many of the officers and continued a correspondence long after Eagle departed.

On the occasion of my visit to the Eagle alongside here in St. John's I was introduced to a very young looking Officer, before recounting my previous visit I enquired his age.  "24 Sir" he smartly replied, alas he was not even a twinkle in his farther's eye in 1988.  I was assured (but not shown) that the RSYS Burgee was still maintained in a place of honour onboard!

Rossco had more luck and was invited to dinner with his school mate Officer Candidate who turned out to be a very attractive young lady Officer Candidate!

Saturday Night in St. John's.  Rossco, Mike and I had planned to prove that there was some action in this town after dark.  However circumstances or rather a cultural opportunity intervened for Rossco and he had to attend a piano recital!  That left Mike and I to elplore.  We found the Brewery a nice enough pub and spent a pleasant time over a few pints of the local brew while we chatted up one of the US expats looking after the Oil Rigs.  We learned a lot about drilling and managing rigs in "Ice Berg Alley" as the area is known and very little about the night life.  Later we went for a stroll thro' the local "red light district",  think very small scale Kings X!

Sunday we had to delay departure as the Post Tropical Depression that had once been Hurricane Arthur made it's way up the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfound land.  

While sitting onboard planning our evening we had a knock on the hull.  A friend of a friend of Matt's had come to see if we needed any help, transport, food, showers etc.  The mention of showers was enough to move Frank O'Connor up to the top of our list of "Drina's New Friends"  Frank (an expat Irishman) lived up to his word and the following morning at 11.00 turned up to take Mike shopping for provisions and the very hard to find fuel filters.  Later he took Matt, Mike and me to his very beautiful home in Manuels, overlooking Conception Bay, north of St. John's where we showered, washed and dried lots of dirty laundry and enjoyed some traditional Irish cooking, wine, a tune or two on Frank's fiddle and the odd glass of Jameson.

Frank turned out to be a retired academic at St. John's University and a past Commodore of one of the local yacht/dinghy clubs at Conception Bay.  We, the crew on S/V Drina, owe him a big vote of thanks for his outstanding Irish/Newfoundland hospitality.  Thanks Frank!

Tuesday, the weather had finally moderated and turned in our favour and we planned to take advantage of "Arthur's" coat tails and clear out for Greenland.

Having successfully fuelled on Friday, all that remained was to take on fresh water.  We slipped the lines early on Tuesday morning and motored up harbour to Wharf #6 where we filled our water tanks.  Then with a quick goodbye and thank you to St.John's Harbour Control we made our way out through the  narrows and set sail for the North East coast of Greenland, ETA 15 days from now.

PK On Drina 

Apologies for the lack of Pic's Nuuk "Free WiFI" infrastructure can't support large data transfers!      

(13) Approach to St. John's, alongside the public wharf Queen St.

We crossed the ICE limit sometime on Tuesday (1/07) afternoon and by Wednesday we were running up the coast of NF with poled out headsail and main.  The wind had been building from early morning and we were making excellent time up the Newfoundland Coast having reached our waypoint at Cape Race just after midnight Tuesday.  The water temperature had fallen another degree or so and was now about 3+C 

During my watch 0900 to Midday Rossco sighted our first Ice Berg.  Matt our Ice Master confirmed his sighting,  to my inexperienced eyes it look like a big white cruise liner in on the coast.  But no, Matt was right it was big berg, too far away for me to photograph with the camera in my phone (the only one I have).

Soon we had several "baby bergs" in sight.  So great excitement all round as we closed on the second that was on our course as we made for St. John's Harbour.  Matt pointed out a few bergy bits that were floating in the vicinity.  These are of importance for us as they don't show up on radar.  Mind you without Matt to point them out I found it hard to identify any of the first few Ice Bergs that came in view.  Very faint echoes easily lost in the clutter.  

Towards midday as we changed course onto the leads for St. John's Harbour, here we found to our surprise a Berg in the leads...  So it was that we came close to one of these beautiful things.  Up close they are both beautiful and scary, such a huge mass of frozen water and the bit we could see was probably between 1/10 to ⅛  of the total mass the remainder being below the water.  This berg was cracked and fissured with smooth bits where it had floated in a different attitude previously.  One of the dangers with these beautiful things is that they are inherently unstable and as the melt progresses they can roll onto a completely different axis unexpectedly.  So while we got close we didn't get too close...

     

Matt close up to the Berg in St. John's Harbour leads.

PK,  "all rugged up"

The First Berg or perhaps the second!

(12) An early start... St.Peter's, Cape Breton Nova Scotia to St.John's NF 29/06/2014

Preparing to leave St.Peter's canal Sunday 29/06/2014

(12) An early start...  St.Peter's, Cape Breton Nova Scotia to St.John's NF 29/06/2014

 The boys have been running round the walking/logging tracks in the vicinity of the canal and spending time sucking up WiFi at the local Tourist Information Centre.  There's only one chair inside so they took turns.  Michael and I shopped for fuel & oil filters (successfully) at the local automotive supplier about 100 meters up the road run by a very helpful, knowledgable lady and then paid a visit to Tim Horton's ("The coffee Canadians drink at home") for a little snack and to suck up some not so free WiFi.  

Afterwards we paid a visit to Wallace MacAskill's (1887 - 1956) home.  He was born in this house and his marine photography work is widely published. The home has been turned into a museum, and contains copies of much of his work as well as much of his original equipment.  His "Starboard Lookout" is probably his most widely published photograph and his take on the famous local fishing schooner Bluenose appeared on the Canadian 50 cent stamp.  His work was popular as wedding presents and was coveted by home sick Nova Scotians serving abroad in WWII. 

Mike returned to the boat via the supermarket and I set myself up at Tim's again to download some software updates for Mike's laptop and catch up on some photo editing and backup.

As I sat in Tim's I began to notice that many of the diners were dressed in impeccable leathers, the sort that only weekend bike riders wear.  Sure enough when I left to return to the boat the streets were full of very shiny, noisy Harleys.  I thought it must be some sort of Harley convention. I was wrong!  As I approached the canal I came across our friendly lockmaster polishing the most shiny Harley I've ever seen...  My friend was only too happy to talk about his favourite "machine".  A passing comment from me was returned by a 45 minute tour de force of every component, its source, cost &  provenance:  It seems that every Nova Scotian worth his/her salt is or aspires to be a "Harley" owner!  My friend the lock-keeper proudly showed me his "Chrome Dome" (helmet) that carried the words "I'm not turning gray, I'm going CHROME"

 

The Helmet

The lockmaster and his Harley...

==============================================================

Later Mike did his magic stuff in the galley and without seeming to lift a finger produced a splendid roast beef dinner for four.  Some rum and Jameson was splashed about and we all retired a happy crew.

Sun 29/06/2014: This morning we were up and about at 0500 local and after a short wait to check the latest forecast we slipped the lines and bade farewell to the canal.  We made our way out of the harbour in glassy conditions and threaded our way through the many of fish tap and lobster pot buoys sprinkled throughout the harbour including the channels.  Must be hard to make this harbour at night without tangling with one or several.

By 0700 we had cleared the last marker and turned onto what will be our course for the next few days, 095M and St.John's approximately 400 miles away.

At about 1100 the breeze filled in from the SW and we hoisted the Main and rolled out the Genoa, later, about Midday, we rolled out the Staysail as well and were soon making 6 plus knots towards St.John's. Michael killed the diesel and the silence was a welcome relief as I came off watch, Matt did his Sandwich thing for lunch and Michael got out the photo's for an afternoon show and tell session. 

Sometime before dinner we rolled up the Genoa and Staysail and started the Diesel as the wind had died and probably not make another appearance before mid morning Monday.  Matt busied himself in the galley and with a little help from Rossco presented us all with a very tasty  Bangers and Mash with a Wasabi twist, DELICIOUS!  I'm getting the recipe for my collection for sure...  Michael, usually very    parsimonious with approval gave it a high mark... " You can cook that again Matt"  high praise indeed!

==============================================================

Our Second Ice Berg, the first was too far away to photograph.

Mon 30/062014:  Daylight streaming into my cabin woke me at 0445, we are getting more and more daylight as we move  north.  It's hard to believe that we are at the same latitude as the atlantic coast of France and yet the days here hardly get to 20C and that's on a clear day.  If it's foggy or overcast and raining then we see the maximum in the low teens.  The water is getting  colder, now hovering about 4C and we expect it to get colder still as we approach the ICE limit below St.Johns.  We are taking bets on when we sight our first ICE.  The Canadian ICE service reports more than 100 Bergs in the area.   

At about 1500 local we crossed the Canadian Weather Service ice limit advisory and are now officially in iceberg country.  Matt, our Ice Master seems unconcerned and as yet we have not set an ice watch.  We are however playing games.... Guessing our Noon to noon distance, young Rossco won todays contest with a spot on guess of 123 miles.  Now we're betting on when we will see our first Ice Berg!

The wind has been helping since early this morning when we rolled out the both headsails and shortly after the Mizzen went aloft for the first time this trip.  We've been slipping along for most of the day at a fair old clip.

Michael's in the the galley working his magic on what looks like Salmon steaks, yum!  The wind is dying so we will be motor sailing again over night.

It's now about 3 hours later and the wind has filled in and we are sailing again.  Some clouds on the horizon to the west so we might be in for a blow.  And Murphy has struck again and it's my watch!

Our Second Ice Berg

Ice Berg in the approaches to St. John's Harbour

Leaving our first one behind...

(11) St. Peter's Harbour. Nova Scotia

You can probably see from our tracker that we are holed up at St Peter's Canal alongside.  Sitting out a warning for Northerly winds today and tonight.  We hope to get a weather window to cross the Strait to St John's Saturday 28th. a distance of about 400NM.  Possibly take us about three and a bit days, less if we get a favourable slant.

All's well here, crew asleep right now, however breakfast is looming and as soon as they hear the kettle sing they'll be up and about.  Then we are off to explore the town and find a grog shop... Very scarce in Canada it seems.  We could only find one in Halifax and it was shut.  The Jameson is holding up well, though the beer supply is sadly diminished. (Many visitors).

Right now at St. Peter's Harbour Nova Scotia for a few days probably until Sunday PM the way the maps look.  Have reasonably good Cell and good free WiFi at Tim Hortons (Think Canadian McDonalds) and lousy stewed coffee that I'm prepared to buy but not drink in return for access! (Nothing in life is Free)

This is a sort of country town on the far north coast of Nova Scotia, a little run down at the edges, French, English& Gaelic speaking and no tourist traffic except for the odd group of guys and gals on very shiny, noisy Harleys!  The traffic rules have to be seen to be believed.  If you even look like you might be thinking about crossing the road all the traffic stops politely and waves you across. ..  No wonder they all drive so slowly.  

We are novelties in town!  It's hard to shop or sit in the cafe without some local striking up a spontaneous conversation.  Soooo... it takes a long time to walk the few hundred yards from the dock to the Main Street of the town.  Passers by stop and offer lifts and ask if we need supplies ferried from the local shopping centre... "Where have you come from?", "where are you going?", "Australia! so far away!"  "Did you buy the boat in Halifax?", "You didn't sail it all the way!", "What about the dark?"  Oh and the one that I really like, "But you're so old!" 

A little overwhelming really! 

(10) Rum, Jameson and a cautionary tale from my old mate Captain Brooks

It will probably not surprise anyone that knows me even slightly that I/we couldn't do all this without someone pulling the strings and helping us puppets move.  Technically we refer to this as "Shore Support"  DRINA'S Shore Support crew includes a number of very special (to us) specialists.  They are scattered around the Globe and are called on from time to time to provide assistance and advice within and without their particular area of expertise.  As the adventure progresses I'll introduce each of them to you as circumstance bandwith allows.  

Just now my old mate Captain Brooks  (Drina's Weather Guru in Sydney)  has provided a piece of advice that has come in very handy.  So handy in fact that I've decided to share it with you all!  Earlier in the day I wrote to John by way of an update on our suitation, being weathered in at St. Peter's Harbour.  I included a few other details including a commentary on how well the supply of Jameson was lasting!  

Quick as a flash John replied with a cautionary tale that, for the sake of accuracy, I've included here verbatim.

"Kerro,

Defiance & the rum barrel:  Marshall Phillips had owned a string of competitive ocean racers named Sweet Caroline. After selling the last one he bought Defiance, a Swan 46, in which he planned to cruise around the world. Before leaving, however, he decided to do the 1985 Sydney-Hobart Race with most of his old Sweet Caroline crew, plus me. This beautifully fitted-out yacht had a wooden keg, about 5-6 litres in size, built into the furniture. Marshall’s racing boats had always been “dry”, but he consented to filling the keg with rum on the strict proviso that nobody touched it until we got to Hobart.

 

Defiance pounding south

 

In this race Col Betts was the navigator, with Marshall Phillips, Norm Hyett and a forward hand on one watch and Jimmy Bourke, “Kooka” and I on the other. On the first night out we ran into a hard southerly and after coming off a cold and wet watch at 03:00, Jimmy, Kooka and I eyed the rum barrel and decided that a tot each would do no harm, but not a word to Marshall or we’d be in big trouble. So we had our tot and bribed the navigator, Col Betts, with one to keep his mouth shut. It turned into a couple of tots and we repeated this practice each night when the other watch wasn’t looking.

When we got to Hobart the rum barrel was broached in Constitution Dock with much ceremony only to run dry after a shot or two each. Jimmy and I looked at each other nervously – surely we couldn’t have drunk 5-6 litres of rum over 3 nights. It took some tongue-loosening hours at the Customs House Hotel later that day for the truth to emerge – that the entire crew, including Marshall Phillips, had been getting into the rum barrel from the very first night at sea. It’s a mystery how Col Betts ever found Hobart as he was being bribed with rum by both watches."  John Brooks.

I've just checked the Jameson supply, someone has been putting the empties back in the grog locker! Probably to stop them rolling about while we are at sea....

PK, alongside the Canal at St. Peter's Harbour, Nova Scotia. 

(09) AYC Halifax to St John's 25/06/14

PK blogging late at night....

It seems we continue to be very lucky with the weather, the locals tell us that they usually see very little sun at this time of the year, it's mostly foggy damp and cold.

Today dawned a little chilly but with clear bright blue skies.  First order of business was filling up water tanks so we upped anchor and made for the club fuel dock.  There the crew showered and shaved with hot running water in a proper shower facility.  Something that's becoming more of a rarity the further north we travel.  Soon after 0900 we slipped the mooring lines and  backtracked down our incoming track of a few days ago to Halifax Harbour proper and then out through the approach leads and Drina was at sea once more.

The day passed quickly enough, Rossco now feels confident to stand a watch alone so we have split into 4 watches of three hours each, 3 hours on and 9 off, "sheer bloody luxury..."

Late in the morning the wind increased and we rolled out the headsail and motor-sailed for a while.  by 1400 hrs the wind had increased and we sailed with full main and Genoa for the rest of the day.  As darkness set in the wind eased and we rolled up the Genoa and stowed the main and continued under motor.  Soon afterwards the fog rolled in and soon visibility was down to 4 or 5 hundred meters.  We then relied on the Radar and the AIS systems to keep watch.  It proved a busy night with many fishing vessels and cargo boats to keep track of.  we often had as many as 7 or eight targets to plot at any one time.  The wind died completely by midnight and the sea was glassy with a small Atlantic swell rolling under our Starboard quarter.

The fog lifted at about 1000 on the 26/06/14 and the wind began to build again soon we were motor-sailing, making about 7 kts straight to the bottom of Newfoundland.

A forecast of adverse headwinds from the Canadian Coast Guard at 1230 caused us to change course radically and we are now running for cover as a result of a  strong wind warning for Northerly head winds.  (Gentlemen don't sail to windward) .  In a few hours we expect to make landfall at St Peters Hbr. approximately 30 miles away to the north and hide for a day or so while the front blows through.

As luck would have it, Drina has cruised these waters previously (2013) and so Michael has had the benefit of first hand knowledge of the layout and attractions.  These include being able to tie up to the Canal wharf, a short walk from the town of St Peters and within striking distance of the pub!

PK on Drina at sea 1405hr 26/06/2014

  

(08) At anchor, Armadale Yacht Club Halifax 23 & 24/06/2014

Matt's Thai Red Curry.... Yum, Yum..

As we manoeuvred to drop anchor out the front of the Armadale Yacht Club, Michael noticed an Australian Yacht at anchor.  It was Max and Sandy's Alloy sloop Vollo.  They had crossed paths with Drina in the past and been to many of the same places but Michael had yet to actually meet them properly.  As soon as the anchor was set we swung the dinghy out and Michael set off at high speed to invite the Aussies over for drinks onboard Drina (the club being shut).

The crew tidied up and made ready for visitors.  Max and Sandy joined us a little later and the remainder of the evening was a heady mixture of cruising adventures and swapping tips on the best places on the coast to visit and avoid.  All very enjoyable.

The following morning Tuesday 24/06/2014, dawned bright and clear.  After a breakfast of Matt's pancakes he and Rossco set off to explore the old Halifax about 7 kilometres away they intended to walk for the exercise... (two very fit boys)

Michael and I planned a visit to the local ship chandlery to pick up a few items on our list and top up our charts.  Then a visit to the Halifax Shopping Centre to see if we could get a Canadian SIM for one of our iPads, have lunch and visit the Halifax Wholesale place to stock up food for the next long leg to St John's.

We failed at the first objective, didn't have a Canadian Driver's Licence, Social Security Number and best of all didn't have a credit history... All we wanted was a Pre Paid SIM.  Lots of sympathy and understanding from the very helpful Cody Tanner at the Source Bell shop but no cigar.

Lunch was more successful, I had a Korean Noodle dish and Michael had something I couldn't identify from the Japanese stall.

Later we went shopping for supplies at a great barn of a place with limited range but great prices, Campbell's might be the Aussie equivalent.

We piled a very large trolly full of food into a taxi and headed back to the AYC.  There we were greeted by a Dave Campbell an old crew member of Drina.  While Mike and Dave chatted about old times one of the local members (Greg Aikins) approached us looking for assistance with his dinghy outboard.  I was delegated to assist so I set off with Greg to help with the outboard.

While I steadied the Outboard Greg set about changing the gearbox oil and we got to chatting.  I mentioned our earlier brush with Bell Telephone Canada in some detail, by way of passing the time, Greg looked up from the gearbox and said "I've got all those things, why don't we pop into the store when this is finished and I'll get the SIM for you"

And so it was that once again we are the beneficiaries of local hospitality.  Later, Greg drove me to the Bell Shop, I renewed my relationship with the helpful Cody and in a matter of moments Drina was the proud owner of a Canadian Data SIM.

Thanks again Greg.      

Dave Campbell and his girl friend joined us for drinks on board (the pub was shut again)     The boys returned from their 14 kilometre walk, we had dinner and an early night.  Tomorrow we are off on the long leg to St John's

PK on Drina at anchor, AYC Halifax Nova Scotia.  

(07 Lunenberg to Halifax 23/06/2014

Dental hygiene on board... 

Hi all,

First a bit of housekeeping: there we we a few typo's in my last update, thank you those that pointed them out.

1. The link to the blog should be : http://paulfkerrigan.blogspot.com

2. The MapShare site may ask for a password. The Password is: NWP (all caps).

3. The link to ShipTrack is working but no positions are being displayed for the last 

60 days.  Yotrep has been informed and they are working on whatever is causing the problem, so patience is required. As soon as it's working again I'll let you know.

4. Some on this list have elected to receive our automatic Satellite reports three times a day. I expect this may become tedious after the initial excitement wears off.  We can manage this list and remove any that so elect.  I like a clean inbox myself so don't be afraid to ask.

5. All of us enjoy getting your SMS via the Delorme InReach site, our Inreach tracker/communicator resides in the cockpit and all the crew have learned to use it to send and receive short messages.  It's something to do on the long night watches, so keep them coming whenever you find the time. 

Drina is at sea again enroute to St John's in Newfoundland about 500NM up the coast of Nova Scotia and  across the Laurentian Channel.  But I get ahead of myself, first let me tell of our adventures in Halifax.

We reached Halifax later than planned on Monday evening and dropped anchor just outside the channel about 100 meters from the Armadale Yacht Club (AYC) situated at the end of a long narrow channel off the southern arm of Halifax Harbour proper.  Think Northbridge or Cammeray arms of Middle Harbour as the Sydney equivalent.

The trip from Lunenburg to Halifax was a very easy sail, We started early and in glassed out conditions, left the very picturesque harbour of Lunenburg for the 65 mile leg to Halifax.  The breeze filled in as the morning wore on and by about 1100 we were sailing nicely on a fine, sunny and very flat sea.  By 1700 we were making the turn onto the approaches of Halifax Hbr. and on schedule for quick beer at the AYC, when Michael suddenly jumped to his feet and started pointing excitedly at something in  the water to our port side.  The skipper disengaged the autopilot and swung the boat round to close on the object in the water.  On closer inspection we were all left more that a little surprised.  A deer, or as Michael described it a Santa Deer was swimming steadily and determinedly headed for the open sea.  A quick calculation showed us to be more than a mile offshore and at the RATE THE DEER WAS SWIMMING WOULD SOON BE TWO.  We decided that the deer had lost it's way and that we should convince it to reverse course and head back to shore!  We swung the Dinghy out for this purpose however Murphy struck and we were unable to start the outboard.  So we swung it back onboard and set about herding the reindeer in Drina.  About an hour later after much coaxing we had the little fella ashore.  Good deed for the day accomplished, we resumed course and dropped anchor later than expected only to find the pub shut.

Drina at sea 25/06/2014   

(06) Drina NWP attempt - Shelburne to Lunenburg Hbr. Nova Scotia, Sunday 22/06/2014

After a big night at the Shelburne yacht Club,where we were made very welcome, we set off for Lunenberg about 65 miles further up the coast.  It was a perfectly beautiful crisp morning as we were escorted clear of the port by a Canadian Coast Guard cutter.  As soon as we cleared the no wash zone the cutter opened her throttles and surged ahead soon to be a dot on our horizon.  A little while later we made a left hand turn up the coast, the sea breeze started to fill in and we hoisted the main and rolled out the Genoa.  

We followed the very pretty coastline for the rest of the day, sometimes escorted by small dolphins and wheeling gulls.  

12 hours of very relaxing sailing later we dropped anchor in Lunenburg Harbour.  One of then prettiest little harbours I have ever seen. Even Michael, who has been here twice before was speechless as we sat at anchor looking up towards the town with its pastel coloured timber houses dotted up the hill dominated at the summit by the church spire.  We quickly hoisted out the dinghy and took off to explore.  

Up close the buildings were even more impressive.  We walked to the end of the harbour to explore the local graveyard and inspect the headstones.  

Originally settled by French settlers know as Arcadians after the discovery of the port by the French explorer  De Razilly in1603.  He built a fort at the nearby LaHave as the capital of New France.  Sadly tension between the early settlers and the British Crown forced many of the Arcadians to move further north to distance themselves from the Protestant settlers that King George II had transplanted from his principality of Lunenburg in Germany.  By 1750 when Lunenburg was named a town only one of the original French families remained.  The street plan laid out back then remains almost unchanged today and many of the buildings date from the that time.

At sunset we headed back to Drina and dinner aboard.  Being Sunday all the shore options were closed to us, however we promised ourselves another visit in the morning, when we were assured the town would be "Open for business".

Drina at anchor, Lunenburg Habour Sunday June 22 2014.

Drina NWP attempt - Another day at anchor in Gloucester 18 June 2010

PK Fully Cold Proof... Thanks Captain Brooks...

Michael was unwell this morning (He's caught my cold) and decided to delay our departure for a day.  We the crew, were very sympathetic of course and while disappointed not to make a start on our next leg to Halifax, the upside was that we had an unexpected extra day to explore this beautiful little town. 

After a fairly smoky breakfast of delicious burnt toast spread with avocado and sprinkled with spice (Matt's secret recipe) the crew stole the dinghy and went ashore.  There we split into two parties.  Matt and Rossco turned right to explore the town and inner harbour and walk around to the eastern point, while I turned left towards the Western harbour.

My intention was to further explore the the area as far as the famous Blyman canal cut between the Western harbour to seawards and the Annisquam river.  This canal has an opening bridge and I was curious to have a look close up as well as explore the esplanade for the memorial to "Those left behind".

The canal was dug by a local churchman, from whom it takes it's name, in 1643 and the bridge was built in 1907.  We were told later (in the pub) that it is the second most frequently opened bridge in the US!  Maratime traffic having priority.

When I found the canal and bridge I was surprise by how small it was, probably not more than 40 meters wide at the bridge.  The tide was flooding and the sea was rushing thro' the canal into the river at, what seemed to me, a ferocious pace.  I simply couldn't believe that it was navigable.  As if to prove me wrong it opened as I watched to allow a police launch upstream with the tide and a coastguard cutter down stream against the tide.  Both seemed unconcerned and when the bridge reached it full height they both crossed successfully at full throttle sending big wakes up the embankments.       

From there I walked along the esplanade to the have a look at the memorials to those lost at sea and those left behind.  Pictures when I get bandwidth.

They are very moving memorials.  Between 1860 and 1906 at the height of the cod fishing boom some 600 ships and 3380 men were lost at sea, the other statistics were just as awful.  Men lost and commemorated by the memorial 5368. Total ships lost 1,000.  Lost with all hands 265.  

Further along the esplanade was an equally moving memorial to the thousands of widows who struggled to survive and raise their fatherless children.  Many of whom entered the trade of their lost fathers!

I turned up Washington street and climbed to the lookout at the aptly named Lookout street.  From there I could see the whole of the outer and inner harbours stretching away to the  south east to the lighthouse on Eastern Point to my right and the inner harbour with it's busy fishing fleet to my left.  The harbour is littered with buoys marking lobster pots and I'm told (in the pub again) it's little changed in the last hundred years.  A truly beautiful sight on a rare sunny day.

The afternoon was spent drinking coffee in a little Italian coffee shop on Main Street (very good coffee), crowded with locals all talking at once and not a word of english did I hear in the hour or so I spent sucking up their free WiFi!  

Stones Pub was last stop where Rossco joined me for dinner.  On his advice we had   hamburgers with crispy bacon and peanut butter and a side of sweet potato fries washed down with a couple of local craft beers from Belfast Bay called Lobster Ale.  We were assured by the bar staff that no lobsters suffered in the brewing process!

The pub was a mine of useful and surprising information (see above) as well as a small window into a very close and hardy community.  Rossco and I had a "cool time"

Back onboard we were surprised to find we had a visitor, Mike, an old mate of Matt's, who lives on Eastern point and commutes each day to Boston.  He had paddled several miles up the bay on his board to catch up with Matt.  

The rum was splashed about after our guest had departed and Michael (now somewhat recovered) filled us in on his day.

More later PK  

Rossco Keeping watch...

Drina NWP attempt - Gloucester to Halifax via Shelburne 20 June 2014

Drina NWP attempt - Gloucester to Halifax via Shelburne 20 June 2014

Overnight we alternated between sailing Main and Headsail when the wind was in to Motor-sailing with Main only when wind deserted us.  We averaged about 5Kts for the 12 hours.

Today the wind has been  light and variable mostly from behind.  So a slow day with about 50% Motor-sailing.  Beautiful weather, sunny with clear skies and no swell.  Very comfortable.

While standing on the back deck after dinner we had a humpback breech several times about 100 meters away.  Very spectacular indeed, what a sight to see such a large animal vertical in the air, tail clear of the water each time!

Tonight Rossco and I will be standing the midnight watch and we expect to see the light on Cape Sable on the bottom of Nova Scotia before the end of the watch at 0300hrs

An hour or so ago we polled out the headsail to port and set the staysail so we must now be quite a sight. 

PK at sea on Drina

Drina's NWP Adventure, the end of day two..

The day started well, nearly 5 hours sleep in a flat bed that didn't move has worked wonders. 

We are getting into the higher latidudes, the equivelent in Aus might be Melbourne.  In terms of out attempt this leaves us some 25 degrees below our goal of the Artic Circle at 66.5N  and we haven't started sailing yet!

Michael and Rossco arrived for breakfast of pancakes and some wonderful mapyle sticky stuff washed down with Matt's wonderful Jamacian coffee and I mean WONDERFUL!  (Result of long association with  Lisbeth I suspect). 

Breakfast was followed by:

Review of the wider strategy.

A visit to a marine consignment store. (pictures when I can)

Shopping for computers, we bought another printer...

Planning a food shopping list...

Making a small start on the list.

More coffee.

Lunch at DD's  (that's Dunkin Doughnuts for the not so widely travelled.)

Wonderful dinner on the back deck at Matt & Lisbet's

More coffee!

Jamesons and back to bed, where it all started.

New Bedford to Onset Bay - Joshua Slocum, Whale Museum. 15 June 2014

After an early Sunday Morning breakfast at anchor in New Bedford Harbour we swung out the dinghy and set off up river to visit the site of Joshua Slocum's departure for his famous circumnavigation.  He was the first man to to circle the world single handed in a small yacht.

The 37ft sloop, Spray was launched from a little beach in the harbour in 1895 and returned 4 years later to the same spot.  He wrote a book about his travels (Sailing alone around the world) that was a huge success and made his fortune.  He later left, again alone, to sail to South America and  explore the Chile Channels.  Some say to escape his wife who wanted a share of the book royalties.  Whatever the reason he was never heard of again, presumed lost at sea!

Later in the Morning we visited the New Bedford Whale Museum where we spent the remainder of the day. what men those whalers must have been?  If you're ever in New Bedford I recommend a visit to thiis museum, we four thought it really cool! One of the best museums I've ever visited.

after a few very expensive beers for lunch we went aboard and found the wind had returned and was now in a favourable quarter for the next leg of our journey on up to Boston through the Cape Cod Canal.  So we stowed the dinghy on deck, and made our way out the gates to overnight at Onset Bay, an anchorage just on southern end of the channel.   There we were attached by a swarm of midges, tiny black things that soon covered every surface including us.  Thankfully soon after we anchored darkness fell and with it the little black things disappeared as well.

Mike soon had dinner on the go, roast beef and veg with some beer starters and later a little snifter of Jameson to help us all sleep, we retired for the night after what had been a reasonably long and very enjoyable day.

Drina's North West Passage attempt: Almost Ready...

Here we are the 9th June 2104, almost ready to take off on QF107 bound for JFK to catch up with the good ship Drina again.  Michael and Drina are presently waiting patiently in Newport Rhode Island for myself and our two other crew members (Matt Jensen Young, ex pat Aussie presently in the US and Rossco Booker a young ex pat Pommie, who has been living in upstate NY for the past 12 years and recently qualified from Stonybrook University, Long Is.) to join.  

After a couple of days restocking and laying in an adequate supply of the Jamesons we four plan to cruise the Maine coast for the next couple of weeks then via Halifax and St Johns depart for Greenland later this month planning to be there about the first week in July.  

There we will sit and await the melting of the ice and the opening of the Passage.  We've been planning this for about three years and while there was talk of making the attempt last year, birthday celebrations got in the way.  So 2014 it is!

Now, after a long flight to New York and car drive to Providence, Rhode Is., here I am sitting in Matt's kitchen waiting for him to return with Michael and Rossco for breakfast and the first of what will undoubtedly a long series of morning briefings over the next 3 to 4 months.  Despite all the effort on our collective and individual parts lots still needs to be decided and executed before our departure.

Still, this morning the fun part really begins.

Rohde Is. June 10 2014.

Drina in the Beagle Channel

Wooden Anchor at Quinched yacht club/marina  up channe

-----------------------------------

Well it seems that Drina never stops anywhere for very long and now they are underway again.  Having done many miles with Michael I know that he hate's being weathered in and was/is always looking for a reason to leave wherever we were/are, even when it had taken us a long time to get there in the first place.  A day or so in port is all he really likes, unless, that is, there is another reason to stay.  For instance if some old cruising mate is due in port Michael will patiently wait weeks for them to arrive so he can have a chat...

-----------------------------------

"Dear Paul,

Sorry been out of contact for a few days, have the flue or a cold I think I caught from Sam the Irish Yachtsman.. I am feeling a bit better today.

There's four off us now, Maggie the new crew just finished college as they call Uni up there, so little younger then Alex.

She is a real nice person, I like her a lot.  She is very Irish. reddish hair etc. Alex knew her from her time in Hawaii. 

We where in Puerto Williams on Saturday when Pelagic arrived early morning, My crew said they saw them come ashore and we heard the plane take off (we're vclose to the aerodrome) so assumed Gouldie had left.  We decided to go up channel to Pia Glacier so Maggie could see one etc, so got permission to leave and was underway when Gouldie showed up. Typical Gouldie, no word, mails or calls since they left... Then there he is large as life on the rapidly receding dock.  So as we had cleared out with the Armada looking on all we could was wave....

We plan to be back in Port Willliams in two days time and if I am better which expect to be, and we have a window we are taking off for the Faulklands via the Horn.

Glad to hear St P day went well.  My ears were burning that day.

After Faulkland Islands I plan to vist River Plate etc. with Buenos Aires as highlight, plenty off walks there?

Then to Brazil.  Plan to be in Caribbean around Xmas and NY area next summer.

Yes I am really thinking seriously off Ireland.  I am getting used to the cold.  Yes will let you know in due course so you can show me where to go.  But it is a good two years away at this rate.

We are back at Ferrari today and the kids are horse riding tomorrow.

Kerro the days are getting shorter and colder, and the leaves are turning to gold, so it's really time to move on.  It has been great to see it all.  Find the Authorities in Chile and Argentina hard to follow.  Would I return here?  I am undecided on that at present.  I would like to have climbed more but found the undergrowth hard to penetrate. 

 

I am Glacier-ed out though.  When I checked all the charter and visting yachts in Ushuaia the other day, they were all metal except two.  Mostly Alloy with a few steel.

Looking forward to getting Gouldies impression of it all in due course.  Was good to hear result for the Audi race.

I note that Jeanne reached the Faulklands, and is now in Port Stanley.  I must eamil her soon. she is a interesting person but could talk the leg off a chair.   Sam my Irish friend says the Nereida is not seaworthy and unsuitable for the task of single handing a circumnavigation.  He has a old Rival around 40 or so feet..  But I did enjoy her company and her tales of her adventures.  She is amazing considering she came to sailing so late in life.

rgs Michael"

Shot of a Rival 41 similar to Sam's courtesy of eye-boats.com

Strewth: Jan 2010
Bathurst Harbour

To check Drina's latest position, click the link below. 
http://shiptrak.org/?callsign=vj5319&filter=90

To check Nereida's latest position, click the link below.
http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionReportsDetail.aspx?callsign=KC2IOV&filter=120

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