We are aboard the fine ship Wanderbird, comfortably anchored in Shoal Bay, on the south central coast of Labrador. The wind is blowing over the boat at 50-55 knots and to my relief the anchor is well set. It is 4 o’clock in the afternoon and the clouds are accelerating very close. The worst of the wind should pass before dark, which will be around 11 a.m. tonight. I’m on duty here at the wheelhouse while the other seventeen adventurers relax downstairs. We’ve been seven days on our 12-day Labrador Coastal Expedition aboard the ship Wanderbird.
Yesterday, while we were sailing very close to an iceberg that dwarfed our ship, Karen and I hugged. We had just begun to fully enjoy the culmination of four years of hard work since we began converting our North Sea fishing trawler into an expedition boat suitable for cruising the remote coast of Labrador. We built on the already robust hull to create this small passenger expedition trawler, the Wanderbird. Twelve guests from England, Switzerland, and the United States joined us in St. Anthony, Newfoundland to join us on our first letter from Labrador. We had all planned the adventure of a lifetime and we were not disappointed! While sailing from the port of St. Anthony, we learned that there was a pod of orcas or killer whales in the vicinity. The Orca’s six-foot-tall dorsal fin was soon located and we all recorded our first glimpse of this king of the food chain. We motorized at 7 knots heading north to clear Cape Bauld and then set a course that took us across the Strait of Belle Isle to Labrador. I must say that I have NEVER seen a wildlife display like the one that was presented to the excellent company of our ship aboard the Wanderbird.
During the five-hour, 35-nautical-mile voyage, we spotted no fewer than seventy-five humpback and fin whales accompanied by hundreds of white beaked dolphins and thousands of pelagic seabirds of myriad varieties. We all agreed that this most remarkable show was the definitive definition of the term “brimming with life.” Our wonderful dolphin escorts never left our side when we sighted land and toasted our arrival at this most beautiful and wild place, El Labrador!
The first port we entered was the Port of Henley in Temple Bay on the southeast coast. We all gasped as our sturdy boat weaved through the rocks to enter this long-deserted fishing port. Henley Harbor was defended by an English fort built in 1766. A graveyard and the remains of the fort were visible on the outskirts of a quaint and run-down town that was totally abandoned in 1995. After a pleasant afternoon of hiking, exploring and Stocking our fresh berries supply, we returned to our houseboat for another of the delicious feasts that we would enjoy throughout the trip. After breakfast the next morning we set off north. After an hour of work along the magnificent shoreline, our bow lookout yelled “Iceberg ahead” and we all ran to the starboard side to see another one first. The gigantic glowing appeared in brilliant blue / white at a distance of 5 miles. Since we had never seen one of these giants before, we had trouble gauging the size of the giant until we were close enough to see it towering over our sixty foot mainmast and reducing the 150-ton Wanderbird to boat proportions. toy while we were standing. together at a respectful distance. WOW, all of this in our first twenty-four hours in Labrador!
During the time that I have been writing this brief, the wind has already subsided and the sun is beginning to peak through the rushing gray clouds. The weather here in Labrador is beautifully described in this paragraph from Labradorians by Lynne D. Fitzhugh. “Labrador’s is among the deadliest climates on the continent, not because it is the harshest, but because it is utterly disarming. The breeze that glorifies a summer morning can whip into a heartbeat: dark shadows running across the limpid sea. like chills, peeling the skin out of the crushed water and throwing it against the ground with such force that it makes the Flemish ledges scream. a pack of crazed wolves in the deepening surf. In October 1885, one of many gales that They struck the Labrador that fall claimed sixty-four ships and three hundred souls in about an hour. ” “The weather in Labrador is dramatic, capricious, and omnipotent, ruling the lives of residents like an outlaw gang of gods. Temperatures in a single day can reach 60 degrees, the wind spins 360 degrees, and the weather changes. in minutes from thickest fog to brilliant sunshine to torrential rain. But there is terrible beauty in such wild debauchery, and the spectacles in the sky are spectacular: lenticular clouds drifting from the great icebergs like a fleet of spaceships: white mist of ice that slides over islands and hills like a heavy blanket, keeping the landforms underneath; nightscapes chime with larks and stars by lingering golden sunsets of northern summer: radiant double rainbows against the dark back of a storm retreating: burnished sunsets in four acts; northern lights beginning as smoothly flowing curtains and ending in pulsing energy storms sante fierce as the trumpets of the apocalypse. “
The Wanderbird is perfect for comfortable sailing in places like this. We are completely self-sufficient for up to a month without refueling, and our fuel supply gives us an operating range of six thousand miles. The safety equipment on board is second to none and daily safety drills keep us prepared. Tonight we will have a survival suit demonstration in the form of a fun competition aboard ships to see who can put on their suit the fastest. This incredible journey has been presented with one wonderful spectacle after another and tomorrow, with regret, we will begin our journey south back up the coast towards our return to civilization. It’s hard to believe we haven’t seen another person in almost a week. Our “Little Cod” wood stove in the garage has been burning regularly with each and every northern breeze bringing us temperatures of over 40 degrees straight from the Arctic. It is amazing that when the winds turn south the temperature rises to the seventies! We will soon return to our wonderful new home port in Belfast, Maine, to share photos and stories from this extraordinary expedition. A glance at the ship’s log shows that we will have traveled nearly four thousand nautical miles by the time we return to Belfast. We have all found that our initial fears of remaining “disconnected” from the news, television and radio have turned into a quiet satisfaction, as we fully immerse ourselves in the natural environment and the companionship that can only be shared by travelers in adventures like these. like this. Labrador’s loneliness, scale and debauchery cannot be described. Karen and I are hooked! Labrador has touched us very deeply and we have decided to return next August for three more expeditions. Six of our twelve guests have already agreed to join us.
Capts.