Sheet Harbor

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Mon 23 Jul 2007 02:39

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.