Women’s Gossip:

 

Every now and then you get a few amazing and memorable moments at sea when mother nature rewards you with things of beauty. We had one of those moments last night.

 

I came on watch at 10pm as we were making fast speed (7.2knts) towards Leopold Island, just East of Cape Mercy. (Great names!). This would all make for good sailing except it was dark, thick fog and with the usual possibility of ice hazards. We were headed for an unnamed bay where we expected good shelter from the gales forecasted to be coming our way. With 2NM to go to the island’s southern tip we reduced speed to a more manageable 4knts and using the invaluable radar picked our way between a shoal of rocks, an iceberg, and the island. By now we were 0.5NM from the island and getting into the lee of the southern tip. All of us on watch (Pete, Dave and myself) were staring continuously into the foggy gloom trying to get a sighting of land which the radar was showing. Then...the Northern Lights began to shine, creating a bright sky of whirling white light. (We still haven’t seen the coloured variety). As the sky lit up I caught sight of a black mound of land close on our port beam. Then stars appeared and very slowly the mist cleared, revealing the island clearly with it’s various inlets and headlands. Then to cap it all we had a shooting star flying past our bow. The Northern Lights continued to glow, create amazing shapes whilst we sailed safely past the island and onto Cape Mercy.

 

As we approached Cape Mercy the winds began to pick up and we were glad of our decision to come into this anchorage rather than press on across Cumberland Sound.

 

We are now at anchor, having moved around a few times in an attempt to avoid the willy walls which the strengthening winds are now picking up. Fortunately the anchorage has good holding and is well protected from any swell. Unfortunately it has high cliffs creating accelerated winds. Its likely to be 36-48 hours here with a tiring whistling of the wind in the rigging. Gusts are currently around 40knts with a forecast of winds to strengthen slightly over the night.

 

I’ll let you know how we get on......

 

Catherine