The plan was to leave Happy Valley-Goose Bay of Sunday the 18th with stops in Rigolet, Makkovik, Postville, Hopedale, Natuashish, arriving in Nain about 23:30 on Tuesday. Departing Nain at 0900 Wednesday and reversing the trip, arriving back in Goose Bay about 06:30 on Friday. Hoping to see some icebergs and sea life somewhere along the way. That was the plan.
As I mentioned in my last post, that plan got seriously bent when the ferry couldn’t get back to port on time due to excessive ice on the southern circuit. My trip north was delayed 24 hours and Makkovik, Postville, and Hopedale were stricken from the itinerary because there was too much ice along that section of the coast to get into the ports. All in, maybe that was a wash – we leave a day late, but don’t have three stops to make, and we get back to Goose Bay on time and the ferry service is back on schedule.
First stop Rigolet. Six and a half hours from Goose Bay. Except for us. Eight hours later we are in Rigolet, a little late, but uneventful leg. Although at this point, I learn that we will have no cell service and no WiFi, at least until Nain, and maybe not then. A quick stop for passenger and freight to unload and we are back underway about 22:30. Off to bed while we start the crossing to Natuashish. The plan is to sail out past the ice, up the coast, re-cross the ice to get to port. The crew is very vague on how long that might take. Looking at the normal itinerary, I am guessing 24 hours. I later learn that they have never tried this before.
I wake up and go out on deck at 06:00 Tuesday and am surprised to see we are pulling into port. When I ask the Purser where we are, I am told, Rigolet! A crew member slipped and hurt themselves overnight. We have returned to Rigolet to get them flown back to Goose Bay for treatment. We depart Rigolet at 09:30, now 35 hours behind schedule. But it is a beautiful sunny day.
A beautiful day to meet up with the icebreaker. Have I mentioned the icebreaker? No? That’s because I had no idea. And where do you think we meet the icebreaker? Correct, right in front of the sea of ice. Which is absolutely amazing! But. Do you think we sail faster or slower when traveling through ice? And I learn, the icebreaker doesn’t sail 24/7. I’m unclear if that is because they aren’t crewed for round the clock operations, or it is unsafe to operate in the dark. It seems everyone is unclear on that.
Whatever the reason, we and the icebreaker come to a dead stop at 20:30 on Tuesday and drift in the ice. I have an inside berth with no windows. It is dark. I do not think there is any actual sound, but the ship rumbles and vibrates every time a piece of ice strikes the hull. I marvel at this through the night. At 07:00 Wednesday we resume our sail, following the reinvigorated icebreaker. The crew will offer no estimates of when we will arrive in Natuashish. I borrow the Purser’s satellite connected tablet to send out a quick email to family.
Wednesday is gray, windy, and rainy. Sail on!
We dock at Natuashish, population about 300, at 22:00 to unload passengers and freight. This is the first freight delivery since last Fall when ferry service stopped. Sunset is at 21:47 local time, so we won’t be getting underway until the morning.
This is the Solstice, Litha, the longest day of the year. I did try to light a candle for Litha; wind and rain on deck made that impossible. I thought lighting a candle inside the boat would get me marooned in Natuashish. I did my best to think Litha appropriate thoughts.
We depart Natuashish at 07:00 on Thursday, with our ice breaker, bound for Nain. Warm and foggy this morning. The sun seems to be trying to burn through. 37 hours behind.
Arrived in Nain and went ashore for a few hours. And a cell signal! Will post this and then provide an update when I get back to Goose Bay.
The Journey 