Trinity to Trepassey

 

As the days fly by, I am getting more anxious of my trip down to New England, a d the necessity to make way before mid-September; I don’t want being stuck in StJohn for days, for instance. Eric is due to fly out Sept 3^rd, and we have a bit of slack left in the planning, so we agree to past StJohn, and aim to Trepassey: it will put me past Cape Race,  and in a good staging position for crossing the Cabot strait. The only difficulty is to find transportation from the South coast to the airport: there are no bus lines, nor the “taxi” service  some bigger towns have (it consists of a cab making the round trip to the capital every day). Fortunately, Paul had noted the number of “our” Uber driver,  who agrees to fetch Eric Monday 2^nd.

We have a good crossing of the Trinity bay, which is not a given apparently (all those bays and capes are temperamental, the sea state can vary considerably), we skip over the top of  Conception bay, followed by a night passage off the East coast, a fast one, windy and getting  borderline gnarly by midnight. I have to be extra careful at night, as my navigation lights are not working anymore (I made a trip up the mast to check but could’t find remediation).  We are sailing with the mooring lights instead, and it can be confusing for the other boats. Sure enough, just past Stohn I find myself squeezed between the coast and a freighter – I clarify the situation with a VHF call, something I will have to do onwards I when I will come close to a ship.

Some upwind work (see the video),and  we are Back to Trepassey! 

I must say, on our first call there, I had found it a bit lugubrious, and it feels the same this time too.

You really want to have your quite to setup a house here, right on the Atlantic shore...And then in the village, some folks make a nice cosy place. It is actually the only village, where I saw sheep, and even a cow! 

We are lucky to fit on the small quay, getting a good protection from the quite strong SouthWesterly. By coincidence, we learn that Patrick Favre just arrived in Baltimore (see our post on the first call in Trepassey) – as Eric remarks, he crossed the Atlantic rowing, whereas we are still at the same place ! I appreciate the irony, but it also makes me even more aware that I have to make tracks as much as I can.

I joked with the restaurant owner that he should setup a plaque commemorating the departure of Patrick Favre, next to Amelia Earhard ! It seems to like the idea.

 

We have a nice surprise, as three local boats arrive to spend the night there; nice evening taking with them. 

Trepassey ….not very cheerful…. but 3 local yachts called in the evening (Islay Mist, Resolute, and .....see their masts over the quay), that was a nice encounter ! 

Next day, the Uber guy is on time, Eric leaves, and for me it is a very different trip that starts for me...