Sailing the Labrador: a once-in-a-lifetime expedition
We are aboard the good 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 placed. It’s 4 in the afternoon and the clouds rush by very close. The worst of the wind should be over before dark, which will be around 11pm. I stand guard here in the wheelhouse while the other seventeen adventurers relax below. We are seven days into our 12-day Labrador Coastal Expedition aboard the Wanderbird ship.
Yesterday, while sailing very close to an iceberg that dwarfed our boat, Karen and I hugged each other. We had just begun to fully enjoy the culmination of four years of hard work since we began the conversion of our North Sea fishing trawler into an expedition vessel suitable for cruising the remote Labrador coast. We built on the already strong hull to create this unique 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 Labrador charter trip. We had all planned an adventure of a lifetime and we have not been disappointed! While sailing from St. Anthony Harbor, we received word 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 sight of this king of the food chain. We powered north at 7 knots to clear Cape Bauld and then set a course that took us through the Strait of Belle Isle to Labrador. I must say I have NEVER seen a wildlife exhibit like the one presented to the crew of our excellent 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 innumerable varieties. We all agreed that this remarkable show was the ultimate definition of the term “Bursting with Life.” Our wonderful dolphin companions never left our side as we sighted land and toasted our own arrival in this wild and beautiful place, El Labrador!
The first port we entered was Henley Harbor in Temple Bay on the south east 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 completely abandoned in 1995. After a good afternoon of hiking, exploring and Storing our fresh berry supply, we returned to our floating home for another of the delicious feasts we would enjoy throughout the voyage. After breakfast the next morning we set off heading north. After an hour of working along the magnificent shoreline, our forward lookout called out “Iceberg Ahead” and we all ran to the starboard side to see another one first. The shimmering behemoth appeared bright blue/white at a distance of 5 miles. Having never seen one of these behemoths before, we had trouble gauging the size of the behemoth until we were close enough to see that it towered over our sixty-foot main mast and shrunk the 150-ton Wanderbird down to the proportions of a boat. toy while we were standing. together at a respectful distance. WOW, all this in our first twenty four hours in Labrador!
By the time I’ve been writing this summary, the wind has already died down and the sun is beginning to peek through the rushing gray clouds. The weather here in Labrador is wonderfully described in this paragraph from The Labradors by Lynne D. Fitzhugh.” The breeze that glorifies a summer morning can whip through it in the blink of an eye: dark shadows that cross the limpid sea like shivers, ripping the skin of the flattened water and hurl it against the land with such force that it makes the ledges flap and screech, leaping and foaming like a pack of crazed wolves in the ever-deepening waves.In October 1885, one of many gales that swept across Labrador that fall claimed sixty-four boats and three hundred souls in about an hour.” “The weather in Labrador is dramatic, capricious and omnipotent, ruling the lives of residents like a band of outlaw gods. Temperatures in a single day can reach sixty degrees, the wind turns 360 and the weather changes in minutes from thickest fog to brilliant sunshine to torrential rain But there is a terrible beauty in such unrestrained wilderness, and the sky shows are spectacular: lenticular clouds drifting closer from the great icebergs like a fleet of spaceships: mist of white ice spreading over islands and hills like a heavy blanket, holding the shapes of the earth below; nightscapes chiming with larks and lit by the lingering golden twilights of northern summer: double rainbows radiant against the dark back of a retreating storm: burnished sunsets in four acts; northern lights that begin as gently flowing curtains and end an in storms of fierce pulsing energy like 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 team 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 on board a ship to see who can don their suit the fastest. This incredible journey has been presented with one wonderful show after another and tomorrow sadly 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 steadily with every northerly breeze bringing us temperatures of over forty degrees straight from the Arctic. It’s amazing that when the winds turn south, the temperature rises into the seventies! We will soon return to our wonderful new homeport of Belfast, Maine to share photos and stories from this remarkable expedition. A look 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 “out of touch” with the news, television and radio have turned into quiet satisfaction as we become completely immersed in the natural environment and the fellowship that can only be shared. among travelers on adventures such as this. The solitude, scale, and savagery of Labrador 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.
chaps.