We've just returned south to Newfoundland after a few great weeks in Labrador. While we didn't get as far north as hoped due to unusually heavy concentrations of ice this late in the season, as well as heavy fog (a navigational challenge when trying to make big miles.....can you spell TITANIC???), we had lots of fun dodging icebergs, hiking, and checking out the mostly abandoned fishing villages and whaling stations along the coast.
Labrador is remarkably remote. We normally would go many days without seeing any other boat or other people, and in all the time we were up there, we only saw one other sailboat. Self sufficiency is key, as parts and technical expertise will absolutely not be found anywhere. You bring it with you, or you do without!!!
We spoke with one man and his grandson who motored over to say "hi" at one anchorage. He was building a cabin. I asked how he brought building supplies to the island, as there obviously is no Home Depot type store for likely hundreds of miles. He said that they get supplies trucked to the end of the road from Goose Bay in the winter when the water in the area is frozen. He then loads them on a large sled and tows them across the frozen tundra and ice for 40 miles or so, and leaves it so it will be waiting when he arrives the next summer to build the cabin. Amazing resourcefulness!!!
Except for a couple of small fishing communities, we had every anchorage to ourselves.
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| A favorite anchorage, Eagle Cove |
ICE HO!!!
As we headed across the Strait of Belle Isle (water separating Newfoundland from Labrador) in pea soup fog, we began to see icebergs on the radar screen.
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| Iceberg targets on radar screen in thick fog |
AIS is obviously useless for detecting ice, and radar became our best friend in the frequent dense fog. While the radar displayed the full icebergs, it didn't pick up the smaller growlers (the size of amphibious VW's) or smaller still bergy bits. It was the growlers that worried us the most, as they were big enough to do serious damage, while, being mostly submerged, not showing up on radar. The fog made for some tense times, and sailing at night was a non starter for us.
The bergs were beautiful. Shapes, sizes, and colors were amazingly varied, as the light changed as we went in and out of fog banks. Great stuff, and many pixels were killed recording their images!!!
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| Typical foggy day. |
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| Some bergs so large that they could have multiple postal codes!!! |
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| Brave puffins swimming under the bergs! |
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| Couldn't get up the nerve to fly the drone through the hole! |
It was fun in very calm weather to stop and fly the drone around a berg.
Anchorages could be interesting!
The only cruising guide of Labrador has reports from earlier cruisers, and might say something like, "John D. anchored here in 1987 and reported decent holding of his anchor. Then in 2003 Steve H. reported dragging in a strong SW wind". And that would be it!!! No reports since then!!! And the publication date of the book is 2020!!! Not a lot of intel!!! Charts could also be a bit "approximate" in the abandoned fishing bays, and we were very happy to have a rugged aluminum boat, with a draft (depth below the water) of just 1.2 meters (4 feet) with our centerboard up. Often we anchored with just 1 meter below the boat at low tide. We also made good use of our forward scanning sonar.
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| Red Bay appears in the fog after crossing from Newfoundland |
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| Easy to spot the outhouse, built over the water! |
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| Penny Harbour |
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| Derelict whaling ship |
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| Old whaling station in Hawkes Bay. The most "successful" of the Labrador whaling stations, responsible for an estimated 25% of the total Labrador whaling catch between 1898 and 1972. At it's peak it was processing 10 to 15 whales daily. The station was finally shut down in 1959 after processing approximately 5,500 whales, and today is considered to be largely responsible for the reduction of Atlantic whale stocks, especially blue whales. |
Hiking could be good, as most of the area is tundra like, with thick lichen and rock. Much like Iceland, bushwhacking and route finding is pretty straightforward. Find a hill and go up! But the mosquitoes......ah yes, the bloody mosquitoes!!! A force to be reckoned with!!!
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| Mozzies on our screen door, waiting for a chance to dive below for dinner!!! Often we'd see over 15 lying in wait, the little bastards! |
Wildlife
The wildlife, at least in the southern portion of Labrador, was not as plentiful as we've seen in Alaska or British Columbia. We saw several minke whales, a couple of gray seals, lots of puffins and other sea birds, and just one very healthy looking black bear. One of our goals for the trip was to photograph polar bears as Labrador is known for it's large and growing population. Unfortunately they had already moved quite a bit further north than we had the time to go, as they come down during the winter on the pack ice to follow the seals, and head back north in the spring and early summer as the ice melts.
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| The puffins were very skittish when we tried to approach by boat. Much more shy than those we enjoyed in Iceland a couple of years ago. |
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| A couple of healthy looking grey seals stayed with us for a day at Eagle Cove. Hopefully they remain safe from polar bears and the annual seal hunt, which Canada still allows. A quota of 40,000 is hunted every winter, mostly on the eastern Newfoundland shore. |
Battle Harbor
We enjoyed a visit to Battle Harbour, a historic whaling and sealing port. At one time it was the largest community in Labrador, and was considered the unofficial "Capitol of Labrador" for nearly 200 years. In 1892 Dr. Wilfred Grenfell built a hospital here, the first in Labrador with a year round doctor. Also there was a large radio telegraph station, providing communications with the world outside Labrador. Robert Peary came here on his way from his polar expedition to announce to the world that he was the first person to reach the North Pole. Then, with the decline of the cod fishery, it was largely abandoned in the mid 1960's as part of the government's resettlement program.
A group, the Battle Harbour Historic Trust was formed to preserve the village, and today operates it as a sort of museum, dedicated to the commemoration of the life and society of the life created here by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It was designated a National Historic site in 1996.
Today the settlement is very well preserved. Repairs to the structures are done in keeping with the original methods and materials, and visitors to the island (accessible only by boat) get a real sense of what life was life in this once thriving remote fishing outpost. Many of the buildings are equipped as they would have been when used for fishing for 200 years. There is a small dock which could barely accommodate Bravo, but all worked out fine.
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| Remaining towers of old Marconi station, in operation until mid 1960's |
We're now back in Newfoundland, in the Gros Morne National Park. We'll head south as the weather allows, as we'll be meeting Seattle cruising friends Dan and Kristi in Port aux Basque on Newfoundland's SW corner. We'll then spend a couple of weeks exploring the fjords of the south coast, reported to be beautiful.
