50:31.4N 12:34.8W
Sula Sula III
Mark
Tue 18 Jul 2023 12:48
Been thinking about New Found Land, trying to work out why it was such a special place. Why were the people so open and friendly? Why was there such a vibrant traditional music scene? Clearly the people who settled there were at the adventurous end of the spectrum; apparently St John's has had three "Great fires" and then of course there was the complete cessation of cod fishing in '93 which made more than half the population unemployed as well as devastating all the other support trades and shops etc so the people are used to adversity. I guess migrants are more likely to hold onto traditional cultural way points, and that might go some way to explaining why the music scene was so buoyant? Anyway with dozens of rivers with a salmon run and a good guide, could be a opportunity for a bit of Wilderness fishing?
19.00hrs. Wind down to between 5 and 7 knots, we are ghosting again, and the remnants of the swell mean quite a lot of sail slapping, but at 3.3 knots, that will still be 75 miles in 24hrs..,..better than no miles at all? Not entirely sure that Newfoundland culture might be a bit macho for all tastes. I have never seen so many Harley Davidsons in one place, and some of the Twin Cabs are pimped to the max..... Backracks with rows of spots and raised suspension are commonplace. In the bars most have beards, tats and piercings, and in the main drag there are two cannabis shops so the smell of weed is everywhere.
03.00hrs. 18/07. Just changed back to Genoa and full main; the 17 knots they promised turns out to be 13. I don't like a full main at night.....guess I will defer sleep for a bit. Still managing 6.3 knots and we need to go as fast as we can as guess what? Yep.... There is a blue hole chasing us. It will catch up with us around lunchtime on Wednesday unless we have got to around 8° of Westing. If we can average 6 we will beat it!!
07.30hrs. So there is a good reason not to have full main and Genoa at night......of course the wind got up.....I had to shorten sail in the dark. Going forward to wrestle with the Genoa was not much fun in the rain and nearly 20 knots, and I'm afraid the main has a couple of creases in it.... Have been averaging over 7 knots for the last three hours though which is great.
According to the plotter Lands End is 300 miles away. I had better get the tidal atlas out as I will pass pretty close to the Scilly Isles so might as well try and get there with best tidal support. will give me something to tax the brain anyway.
12.00hrs. sailing doesn't get much better than this! 16-19 knots of breeze, no sea to speak of, full main and 3/4 genoa and 7-7.5 knots. Obviously being chased by a hole, but nothing new there.
Spoken to Will and Alice this morning, they have been a great help to me, and Alice has arranged for my new phone to be mailed to St Mawes Sailing Club, from whence the adventure began last year. Am really looking forward to arriving now; trying to prioritize things after a shower. A beer would be pretty high up the list, a visit to the Barbour's in Falmouth ranks too, a really good steak gets up the list quite a way, and then finding somewhere to leave Sula. Would love to get her home to Woodbridge, but then I have all that filthy East Coast water to deal with..... Might be a bridge too far for the antifoul I purchased from some Venezuelan fishermen in Grenada (it is like antifoul used to be....there is not a sign of life on the bottom of my boat. Probably banned in UK waters...shhhh)
