Grey River 
Barb and Clarke
Ann and Stan
Jim and Lea
Burgeo
Leaving Burgeo
Tuesday July 22, 2008Our friends, Barb and Clarke, decided to cruise the south coast of Newfoundland in their recently acquired Tartan 35 and asked us to come along. When we met Highland Flyer at the Marine Services dock in Burgeo, Captain Clarke was waiting to greet us. Tied up alongside the boat was “Grey Ghost”- an unusual CCA boat out of Philadelphia. That was to be the only other sailboat we would see for the entire time.
Xan, our son, sailed the first 10 days with the “Tastes Great” crew. When we arrived to switch crew in Burgeo, we heard about their down wind crossing of the Cabot Strait from Baddeck NS to St Pierre – arriving on Bastille Day for the July 14th celebration.
Notes from the HF Log describe:
July 14-15 St Pierre: hot croissants, music and dancing, Dory races. Saw dolphins, puffins.
July 16 Fortune: customs
McCallum: fog and mist – met Herman Fudge and Terry and Margaret MacDonald.
July 17 – enter Hare Bay – steep cliffs- 15 waterfalls on way into Morgan Brook – ran aground at low tide – anchored directly in front of the waterfall – on way to Sandy Pt hit hard on a rock – bounced off.
July 18 Rencountre
July 19 Francois
July 20 Grey River – rafted with Weather Gage (old Reindeer)
July 21 Grey River
July 22 Burgeo – arrive 11 am. Sand Banks Provincial Park. Dinner at Jay’s Place.
As they told us about their trip, we learned about “Alpine Sailing” – A term coined by Xan describing how sailing in the fjords of Newfoundland offered mountainous experiences. They anchored close to waterfalls and gave the Captain a new name – Captain Crunch! They fished for trout in streams and ponds. They danced at a 40th anniversary party in Francois (Franz way) - a small village encircled by 1000 foot rocky peaks. As we listened to Sara, Debbie and Sean, Francie, and Clarke, they all seemed so satisfied, so happy – as if they had just lived a ‘dream come true’.
After driving from Gloucester MA to Baddeck, NS, then from Baddeck to the airport in Halifax, we flew to Deer Lake, Newfoundland. We got a rental car that immediately had a flat tire, traded it back in, went food shopping for our 10 day cruise, and then drove the LONG and winding 60 mile road south to Burgeo. We were tired.
We stowed our gear and organized the food. We, the “Less Filling” crew, whipped up a nice dinner of fresh salmon, salad and cookies. Happy to finally be starting this carefully planned trip aboard Highland Flyer, we realized how lucky we were to be together with our dear friends, the Blynns and Sneaths.
July 23, 2008 Wednesday
After a nice breakfast of coffee/decaf, granola and fresh strawberries, I walked around Burgeo admiring the gardens and homes so carefully tended.
Jim, Stan and Clarke filled the gas jugs and got Highland Flyer (HF) ready.
We headed out the passage at 11am under an overcast sky with light easterlies. We sailed east for about 2 hours. A dolphin show delighted us with fins peeking out of the dark water and then whole fish jumping right out of the water! Such a happy sight to see – we laughed and squealed with excitement with each move they showed us. A school of dolphin was feeding in a circle. A few rode our bow wave – big beautiful fish swimming with their white bellies sliding along – right within reach of us.
We marveled at the huge mountains rising out of the ocean. The openings to Mosquito Harbor and Grey River were hard to see, but we aimed where the chart directed and an opening appeared for us to enter Grey River. Clarke played my favorite song on his IPod; “Touch of Grey” as HF motored in through the narrow passage. I danced all over the boat. Being from Gloucester, we hear a lot about the wonderful people of Grey River who nursed our ‘home town hero’ – Howard Blackburn- back to health after he and his dory mate rowed ashore in a blizzard from their shipwrecked fishing schooner.
While fishing in 1883 on the schooner, Grace L. Fears, a sudden winter storm caught Blackburn and a dorymate unprepared. They were in their banks dory and separated from the schooner. Blackburn rowed for shore. He knew his hands would freeze, so he kept them in the hooked position that would allow him to row. He tried to save one hand with a sock and worsened his condition by freezing his toes and yet not being able to save his fingers. His crewmate gave up, laid down in the dory and died on the second day. Howard carried the body to shore for a proper grave.
After five days with virtually no food, water, or sleep, he made it to shore in Grey River, Newfoundland. Blackburn's hands were treated for frostbite, but could not be saved; he lost all his fingers, and many of his toes, and both thumbs to the first joint.
Blackburn returned to Gloucester a hero. He went on to oursue many other challenges - always ready for an adventure!
We passed Jert Cove where the town of Grey River is to anchor in the Northwest Arm ¼ mile from a waterfall in 13 feet of water. Along the shore five seasonal cabins dot the cove. We rowed over to the stream in Babar, the grey inflatable. Hiking up the right side and then the left, we realized this was not going to be a great place for hiking. The rocks got larger and impassable, and the growth of ground cover is very tight. Jim fished and got a few strikes, but no fish here. Jim said he liked the right side of the river better – the sunny side!
Back aboard HF, Stan and Ann cooked up a steak & potatoes dinner with a good veggie side dish and Clarke’s favorite Maple Leaf cookies for dessert. This was the night for spilling red wine on the cockpit floor and then breaking a glass lantern, too – just part of our transition from land to sea – leaving our regular lives and entering into the cruising mode. We talked into the night looking up to see Venus rising near the opening between the high mountains.
