No Wind
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Sat 18 Aug 2007 19:42
Course: 015 Speed: 6 knots
Wind: light and variable
Daily Run: 110 miles Ave Speed: 4.6 knots
The last 24 hours have been uneventful. Fair winds carried us for some 24
hours after departing Lewisporte, now we have calm seas, blue skies, the sun
is shining but .... NO WIND! Mr. Diesel's cunning contrivance has once more
been reluctantly resorted to, and is noisily whirring beneath my feet as I
type, propelling us forward towards the northern tip of Newfoundland where
we should arrive by this evening before we turn west and then south.
I thought I saw an iceberg or two yesterday evening, I looked many times
through the glasses but doubted my eyes. I altered course towards them, and
proved myself right, as the sun set further the objects shining brightly
white on the horizon gradually darkened into unmistakably small wispy low
clouds. Disappointed but not surprised we resumed our course north. There
are many bergs further up the Labrador coast but for us this season's time
is running out. Maybe next year.
Yesterday we were treated to a dolphin virtuoso performance, many joining us
to play with "Sylph", leaping sideways from the water and returning to
beneath the waves with a loud slap, repeating this display many times over -
maybe it was a way of removing parasites.
And last night Max and I shared a moment of awe beneath the canopy of stars.
You could not hope to count even those that filled the span of your hand,
the wash of our bigger home, the galaxy we call the Milky Way, lights the
night out here, no need for the moon.
The forecast is for the wind to freshen into the north tomorrow, this is
rare and seems fortuitously timed for our approach to the Bell Isle Strait,
so if it eventuates we shall make the most of it. Perhaps our challenge for
this leg is simply to complete our circumnavigation of Newfoundland and get
Max home.