The Canada Column

hi, set : you think anyone knows enough about 'rithmatics to be able to calculate someone's age ? see below and note what my friend homer says. have a good easter - we are thinking of you while we are enjoying a fine fry of various fishes - bailey and cleo shedding a tear , they would love to share with you (sending a charcoal biscuit for you !). hbg

FM, you'll wanna find out if you will be in the Davis Straits. Just about the strongest current on earth, it drains all of the waters of Hudson's Bay, and the waters north of Hudson's Bay and Greenland. I'd suspect those waters would be rough in the best of times. I've no doubt you don't need this advice, but, do be careful . . .

Has Miss Cleon been playing "Is that my biscuit?" with you? Last time i was in t.o., on Friday morning, she waited patiently by the kitchen door while i smoked a cigarette. When i came in, i discovered she hadn't touched her biscuit yet, because she was waiting to play . . .

Thats why were taking a year to plan. .Thanks hamburger for the Labrodor info. i have a friend in Eastport Me who did this trip by having his boat trailered to NB at Cape Tormentine, this gave him a head start into Northumberland Strait and St LAwrence Gulf

I want as much info on dock and repair facilities en -route, as well as sights and stops , LAnse aUx Meadows is the main Object and Hamilton Inlet is a goal. Ive done some work near there in the last few years so Ive got some friends that were going to try to see.

set, we wont be going that far north,That would take a waay bigger boat and fuel money. last year , when we went around NS we chickened out as we got closer to SAble ISland . The weather started to rise and it was high seas (at least for us) we -headed straight N to Canso an hid out for 2 dys before we continued. Our guts limits are not from "Master and Commander" , we do "white knuckle coasting"with at most 20 ft seas and no blowing whitecaps. So , as you see, we have to keep flexible and be able to dock and live on board for days waiting out wind , rain, fog and freshes.
But , as you said, the currents at all the crossings , like from Cape breton to Newfoundland were often running 6 or better . In a full inning tide our boat made little headway and we just wasted fuel because its a displacement hull and we cruise at 7-12 knots. So, doin the math, if we oppose a 7k tide at 7k , we just stand there watching whales and reading till it begins to slack.

setanta : still the same ! first biscuit in the morning requires the "that's my biscuit" routine ! hbg

If i don't intrude, FM, what takes you to l'Anse aux meadows? Haunting dreams of a wild Norge woman in a blood-soaked dress with an axe in her hand?

farmerman : when we entered the straits in early august the weather could not have been better. the little freighter did roll a bit, but generally it was smooth sailing . i don't think "mal de mer" medication was available in those days. we were told by the steward to stay as much as possible out on deck in the fresh air and just keep nibbling food. mrs.h and i were lucky and did not suffer; but i remember some other passengers that stayed in bed the morning we rounded the scilly islands when the ship rolled quite a bit ... they didn't come out of their cabins until we entered the st. lawrence river ten days later. when you take the ferry across the straits, the ship will be taking the waves broadside ! ... should be lots of fun ! hbg

THE CANADA COLUMN
farmerman : if you do not already have a map and schedule of the ferry service you can find it here >>> FERRY SERVICE you can find plenty more info in google under "straits of belle isle". happy sailing ! hbg

set, ive always wanted to see the settlement and the archeological digs surrounding it. the best way, like Thomas the twin, I must put my fingers in the site. We did Roanoke , Jamestown, Kahokia, Meadowcroft, Mesa Verde, Bandolier,Shoop. Im just a nut for North American archeological sites.

Hamburger, we plan to do this in our boat, and its an early Beal Island lobster boat that took us over 10 years to restore. Weve only been taking trips for the last 5 years. this summer were going to go up the Bay of Fundy for about a week or so and go to Parrsboro to do some photography . thats why the long planning time for the Labrador trip, its a fairly rigorous trip for our boat and us.
However, ever since weve been summering in Downest maine and Fundy area, we have not considered boating on the Chesapeake. Theres no comparison. The Chesapeake is like I-95 at rush hour, and all the boaters are weekend nuts. In MAine and Canada there are fewer cigarette boats and a**holes..

CANADA COLUMN
farmerman : here is a website that may be of interest to you (it's a clickable map) ...THE VIKING TRAIL i'm sure if you contact the various tourist facilities, they'll be happy to help you. i should mention that the newfoundland civil servants are on strike - it may turn out to be a long one a/t to the news, so you may want to rely more on non-gov sources. the newfies are an extremely friendly lot and are sure to give you all the assistance you need. (if i remember correctly, the sailors say : one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself - translated from the german). hbg

Re: CANADA COLUMN


I would say that is an excellent translation, as that phrase exactly has been anciently used in English. I would surmise that such salutary advice has occurred to all sailors sufficiently blessed to have sailed the North Sea--especially in winter.

Today its Ein augen fur das elektronischenswerken und die anderen fur das See.

Everybody pilots with their eyes on the screens and chartplotters alot so the incidence of groundings and collisions by pleasure boats is up since 1990.

Any good Canadian Calvanist understands that pleasure boating ought to end in calamity.

i suppose one could say that, upon capsizing, pleasure boating leads to 'pressure bloating'.

all deserved

how "UN" Canadia/en to say so!

Ill have you know that we have all the latest electronics and chartplotters and radar , so we will know, with extreme scientific accuracy, exactly where our boat sinks.

Im getting a list of things of concern on the belle isle atraights, they consist of
1fog

2 see item 1

3did I mention fog

when we entered the st. lawrence through the straits of belle isle in august 1956, the weather was just perfect : sunshine, just a slight swell - perhaps august might be a good time for your trip. still remember seeing the churches along the st. lawrence. we couldn't understand why they had roofs made of aluminum (or so it looked) shining brightly in the sun; also remember the pilot coming aboard at father's point (?) and he was wearing a business suit and hat !!! no proper sailor's cap. it was all so new to us. hbg

August is the normal window for least fog. However, if we go to Labrador, we need more time and Sept, the weather starts getting cold and sleety. My radar is an older furuno unit that I picked up at auction and Id need a newer multiple frequency with target descrimination and "inward or outward" auto plotting so if were on a heading and were down in the galley or not in the pilot we get continuous audible signals of approaching targets in fogs. As I saw on another thread, it prevents your boat from getting T boned by some bigass factory fish tub or a freighter carrying crushed rock.
Combo units with high and Lower frequency is good for headland mapping and fits with GPS to plot locations using the software. Sci-Tex makes a really neat unit that has everything in one unit including the GPS and forward depth sonar. Its made for bigger boats so its pricey.

Bad conditions with lousy equipment...that's the Calvinist ideal. You should be just fine.