Position: 44 55.12 N 062 30.974 W
- Alongside Sheet Harbor public wharf
Distance Run: 166 miles (Shelburne to Sheet Harbor)
Average speed: 5.9 knots
The southerly breeze gave us a good overnight run up
the coast, we bowled past Halifax
early in the morning maintaining a steady six knots, but by late morning the
breeze was slowly easing. I did not want to be left bobbing wildly on a
heavily disturbed sea with no wind and we needed to stop. The next port
of entry, or so I thought, was Sheet
Harbor, so we decided to
make for there before dark. At 2 p.m. we were once more edging our way in
towards to coast through the fog, closely monitoring the depth sounder and
looking for any sign of land or buoys we were supposed to be passing. As
well as listening out I called periodically on the VHF radio to confirm there
was no traffic. We received no reply so assumed all was clear. Eventually
we saw a low flat rock emerge close on our port side right where it was
supposed to be and we continued on, confident of our position. As we made
our way further up Sheet
Harbor, the fog lifted
revealing a low steep shore densely lined with conifers, regular clearings
revealed a house or two, a church and on the southern shore a small wharf
facility for loading wood chips. At 4 p.m. we secured alongside the
rather rundown public wharf a short distance from town. Our next job was
to clear into Canada
with customs and immigration. This proved to be a little bit of a problem
as it turned out that Sheet
Harbor was not in fact a
designated port of entry. Fortunately a couple of phone calls sorted
everything out, clearance was provided by phone and this morning a team of
customs people and a sniffer dog came down to check everything out. It
took a while but the customs officers were very courteous and professional, the
dog was all over the place nosing excitedly into everything and, after a bit of
a search and quite a few questions (apparently my movements over the past
several years fit the profile of a drug smuggler rather well), our passports
were stamped and we are now fully and officially cleared into Canada.
Our plan from here is to top up with water and fuel,
purchase some fresh supplies and then pick up the next favorable wind onwards
and northwards.
P.S. I had hoped to upload some photos from here but
the only internet facility is at the public library which is closed Sunday and
Monday.
