Only 75 more miles to Reykjavik in the morning. We have a lovely ride that gets even better when we approach the Keflavik peninsula and get away fro the swells.  We thunder on at 8 knots under 15 knots of wind, rather close-hauled.  Not bad at all!

At about 1600 hours (local time, we haver advanced our clocks 2 hours from Greenland time) we double the northern tip of the peninsula.  15 more miles into Reykjavik…!  According to instructions we contact Iceland Coast Guard and announce our arrival.  Further instructions include contact with the Reykjavik Pilot and eventually we are guided to a berth at the Brokey Yacht Club.

Brokey Yacht Club was recommended to us by Chris, the skipper on the UK Army yacht that we met in Qaqortoq and skipper got the impression of a pretty cold and fancy yacht club.  The reality was quite the opposite.  Brokey is piled together from a bunch of construction site containers.  There is a sort of a bar, one shower (yes, with cold and hot, sulphur smelling warm water) and not much more.  After a second thought one realized that yachting might not be the biggest sport on Iceland so, OK, the people were very nice and we had a good time there.  They did have a washing machine that we crucially needed.

We end the evening at the Icelandic Bar where we had traditional Icelandic food  

Log 13665 (636 nm to Iceland which is pretty exactly as the crow flies) Motor 3 hours.

We keep on going in th same in wind, that, however, eases up a bit in the morning.  Duing the entire day this very constant north-easterly.  We cannot reach up to the Keflavik peninsula but keep on a due easterly course in the hope that there will be some kind of change in the next 24 hours.  Close-hauled, almost, the same 15-20 knots.  We suffer from the big swells that keep rolling in from the gale yesterday.

 At 1330 hours we decide to start the motor and go straight into the wind when the swells have subsided so that we can make reasonable speed without burning too much fuel (diesel engines have a “capacity” to up the fuel consumption considerably when the resistance increases).  We make progress in exactly the correct direction but only slowly so, 5 knots.

At 2330 hour at last there is a wind shift and  we hoist and carry on under a south-easterly, about 15 knots.  Wonderful to shut off the engine!

Early morning we cross just behind a big Icelandic trawler.  First sight of Iceland

Log 13595 nm (100 nm during the 24-hour period).  Motor 10 hours.

The wind keeps constant during the day but increases to 30-35 knots in the night!  This is not at all according to the forecast that foretold a calm night and then southerly winds.  A bit disconcerting beside we do not know what weather system we are now in.  Has the low behind us moved faster or has a northerly low moved to the south?

The night is tolling. Lots of wind and bumpy waves.  Loads of water sprays into the cockpit where we huddle behind the spray hood.  The autopilot does the steering.

The wind eases up a bit in the early morning, down to 15-20 knots but still in the same north-easterly direction, precisely the direction in which Reykjavik lies (!)  We keep on due east and hope for a wind change in the coming 24 hours.  If not we will have to tack up round the Keflavik peninsula….

Log day 3 13495. (131 nm  during the 24-hour period)

According the the weather forecast we are now slowly getting into the windy areas.  We are expecting northerly winds of moderate force 10-15 knots.  Should do the boat good as well as our souls; motoring along is strenuous business…..!  We have had > 24 hours of it so far.

At 1200 hours, noon, comes the wind…as predicted.  We get 10-12 knots from the NNE which suits us perfectly.  All of a sudden we make 7 knot under sails precisely to Reykjavik.  Ingemar serves lunch, pasta + a veggie sauce, delicious.  Life is sweet again(!)....

……but bumpy and leaning all the time.  So not exactly comfortable.  You are best in the cockpit all dressed “up” (rain gear + life harness) or in your bunk trying to get some rest.  Sleeping is difficult.  We thunder on through the night.  Wind keeps very constant at about 20 knots (as forecasted).  We use the jib, slightly reduced and a reduced mainsail.

Log day 2, 13364 (173 nm during the 24-hour period)

The day for the second big leap, to Iceland.  The weather window is open and there should be no big winds.  We rely on “Weather4D” an app. where GRIB-files can be downloaded. This has to be done when hooked up to the net (WiFi).  They give a 10-day forecast and has proven to be surprisingly reliable.  Yes, there can be a bit more wind than they predict, but usually from the “correct” direction and at the expected time.  Reliability decreases, of course, the longer interval between uploads.  This time, however, we expect a 4-5 day crossing and for this period we should be OK.

The day is bleak, low clouds, fog at sea.  No wind.  We rise early and try to make oats porridge.  The oats were too old though and was thrown away by Marion a couple of days ago, so Ken has to wait for his porridge.

We leave at 0745 hours.  Motor out into the mist.  There are very few icebergs but they are there and all of a sudden we have a big one straight ahead (!) A bit of a “Titanic situation”!  The berg was huge, however, and we were quite far away. Majestic!

In the middle of the afternoon, Hurtigrutten passes us by at rather close range.  They feature quite expensive cruises on the very same route that we have covered, Halifax to Reykjavik.

The night proved exactly the same.  Clouds, no wind and motoring on at 7 knots.  We do see an occasional whale blowing in the distance and there are always birds.  Otherwise….nothing.

Log 13191nm (164 nm in the first 24 hours).  Motor 24 hours.

The night has been active.  A ship leaving next to us, a new one arriving and has to push our UK-army friends (that arrived very late) aside by honking VERY loudly.  Of this skipper heard nothing but some of the crew did.

The morning as perfectly calm and foggy.  So already at 0630 hours we slowly sneak into the fog glancing vigorously into the mist to avoid growlers.  Radar watch, and some bergs do appear like ghosts in the gloom.  We motor the 15 miles along the cost until we reach the entrance to the fjord system of which Prince Christian Sound is a part. 

This is a world heritage site and we do understand why. When leaving the sea fog behind a spectacular and overwhelming sight mesmerizes us.  Mountains higher then 1000 meters dig vertically into the water, water falls, small glaciers, turquois water.….wow!  It is a moon landscape, totally barren, and in the middle we find… a little settlement (!) 50 houses on stilts.  There is even a grocery store.

Skipper decides to get some spectacular footage with the drone; Aquaryd under full sails.  So we launch…and find it too windy.  The drone cannot handle this and we are very near to loose the thing.  At times we don’t even see it….. Only Ken’s resolute grabbing of the machine when skipper managed to manoeuver it close by saved the day. A nearby seagull looked very sceptical!  On top of it all, skipper forgot a little detail and we did not get a single shot (!)

We approached an iceberg to hack off some ice for the evening drink (a must for the true Greenland farer).  Proved difficult and in the end we got a floating little piece in the bucket.

In the afternoon we got almost over-satiated with mountains and a certain calm set in. We do see, however, a number of glaciers feeding directly into the fjord.  Spectacular!  We motor on.  It is a perfect day, the waters are calm and no rolling at all. 

We end up at the Prince Christiansund Weather station that proved to be deserted.  There is a fine small but well protected harbour and huge installations with helipads, satellite discs in every direction, antennas up on the hill and….nobody is there -  we had hoped to get the final weather forecast.  In a blog from 2015 we read about full activity here. Anyway, we roam the place 280 stair steps up and find very recent additions to the maintenance.  One wonders what happened?  We descend again in the setting sun and then retire to have late coffee+ (glacier ice).  Tomorrow we go for Iceland.

Log 13029.  Motor 13 hours

The morning is crystal clear, sunny…and very, very cold.  We assess the temperature to be 5-7 degrees Ç and that is about the se as the water.  Today is departure day.  At 1030 hours, Marion will leave Qaqortoq and fly home using “the fast boat” that will take her to Narsuaq and an international airport in 2 hours.  At 0830 hours, Aquaryd leaves the wharf and moves to a pontoon with a water hose.  Final preparation!  At 0900 hours we leave.

The day proves to be a bit boring.  No wind or not enough wind in from behind.  We roll heavily.  Iceberg are no longer spectacular, albeit beautiful and all that.  We are getting a bit blazé!

On and on until we reach the little village of Nanortalik about 40 miles down the coast.  The entry is nice with low islands protecting the harbour.  The village itself is rather depressing.  We barely manage to have dinner at Hotel Cape Farwell.  They are “sold out” for food but manage some “Thai boxes” and two shrimp salads, the latter actually delicious.  A stroll in the centre in the setting sun.

Tomorrow we aim for Prince Christian Sound out to the weather station in the eastern extreme.  It is supposed to b e free of ice and be very spectacular….

Log 12952, motor 8 hours

A different day.  Gone is the sun and the low clouds loom above the own.  The local tourist office put the flower pots inside; there is bad weather coming.  We realize that bad weather here might be – really bad.  We top up on diesel by ways of another tank truck ship side.  The local fuel station doubles as a “store of everything” imaginable that a boater may need in a tiny space.  Rounds of gun ammunition and peanuts are shelved right beside one another, better make the correct choice!

Our neighbour boat is a 72-footer, “Discoverer of Hornet”, run by the UK army for training purposes.  They are well equipped indeed and lend us their Arctic Pilot to have a look at and some advice on approaching Iceland.  We are supposed to mail their coast guard in advance with boat details and a crew list.  Very different from Greenland where they do not care a bit about formalities….!  Good advice!

We go and have a look at the local museum where original Greenlandic ways of living ar displayed.  It is a perfect symbiosis between man and seal.  Clothes, kayaks, food, artworks….everything were made from seals.

…and we buy provisions for a week.  This little place of 3500 people have a multitude of different food stores.  Amazing, really.  They have everything. Mangos, avocados, melons and all sorts of exotic food that is brought here by air (?)  A local entrepreneur describes his own habitat as “paradise”; few of us would say that of our own domicile.

A final warming up in the cockpit, dinner (myskox prepared the thai way!?) and to bed….tomorrow we leave for further adventures.

A leisure day in Qaqortoq in our hearts.  It is an endearing place.  The harbour is buzzling with activities.  Ships come and go, trucks, taxis (?!) and cars.  Even small traffic jams happen. There is a gigantic contraption handling containers in the harbour that is particularly busy.  Containers are placed, replaced, misplaced (?), stacked on top of each other and then unstacked again.  Very busy! After having looked for a while you wonder if there is a system to it all (?)

We roam the step streets, having looks at houses that seem very well maintained on most occasions. They are positioned in the most spectacular way and everybody has a magnificent sea view.  Sewers run in pips on the open ground.  There is no top soil at all to bury them so there are very elaborate nets of piping going down to a sewer station (one supposes).  There are whole carpets of flowers in many places.  Yellow and blue is sprawling.

Hotel Qaqortoq is our base.  The day is absolutely lovely so we can sit on a balcony overlooking the harbour and have lunch.  The air is a bit “nippy” but the sun is warm and the combined effect is quite pleasant. 

There is a “culture walk” around town to look at sculptures that were produced in a culture rally some 20 years ago. In the evening we eat at the “Thai restaurant” that is housed in a harbour shed. Looks terrible from the outside but the inside makes up for it.  Good food and pleasant atmosphere.

At 0700 hours the wind suddenly increases.  This is precisely as expected, again amazing how well the forecast corresponds to reality.  We quickly furl the main into the mast.  After some hours the wind increases even more and we find ourselves on a beam reach in about 40 knots. The mainsail is almost completely into the mast and the jib is heravily furled , too,  The water that sprays the boat constantly is only 6 degrees warm (!)  It is very, very cold!....but we make excellent speed and everything is well under control.   After 6 hours, however, the wind subsides – again precisely as forecasted and we make landfall with Greenland at about noon.  Majestic icebergs are the first sight.  These have come floating around the tip of Cape Farewell and head north far into the Labrador sea before they again turn southwards along the Canadian coat and eventually constitute a danger to ships outside New York.  The trip takes 3 years.

The Julianehåbfjord is wide and deep and this is why icebergs, sometimes, make their way in here and block the harbor (!). "Storeisen" (big ice) happens in early summer and now, late July, we are supposed to be OK.

Qaqortoq is a beautiful sight!  In a bowl of mountains lies a village of 3 500 people.  The surrounding landscape is...stone.  Green moss and grass but not a single tree to be seen.  Barren country!....and beautiful.

Moored in Qaqortoq harbour at 1700 hours after 4 days and 6 more hours. Beautiful sunshine and about 20 degrees Ç.  Log shows 12893.  666 nm to Qaqortoq (Julianehåb) from St.Anthony.  As the crow flies it is 640 nm, so we have sailed pretty straight....!

We see very little out here.  There are, however, birds.  Lots of birds that seem to “live” here, way out at sea. We see no whales out here, and no fish. Clear day.  The going is less convenient with a boat that constantly tilts but the rolling is gone and the boat is more steady.  We are now in a routine with a watch schedule.  Two crew are managing the boat the orther retire to their bunks to get sleep or to read.  Cooking is mostly pasta of various sorts that sits in a casserole for everybody to get when they pass by the galley.

Sea temperature is constantly sinking and we are down to 9 drgees now.  The heater works wonders.  The boat is dry and warm.

Log at end of the forth 24 hour period is 12857.  164 nm during the forth day

Around noon there is a front and cloud cover, during a period also accompanied by fog.  We glide along on a deep run and make pretty good speed in the right direction.  The wind turns more abaft, however, and after some hours we gibe and head north on a bean reach making good use of the westerly that appears.  This is perfectly according to the weather forecast that we downloaded in St.Anthony four day ago.  From now on the weather situation is different.  We will have westerlies that will culminate in a short period of heavy winds day after tomorrow.  We plan for this and steer slightly more to the north in order to be able to reach Greenland less than close hauled.

The night is clear and the sun rises are spectacular.  It never gets completely dark but the sky glows to the north at midnight.

Log (at 1000 hours) 12693.  The third 24 hour period =173 nm, among the most ever made by Aquaryd over a full 24 hour period.

The fog clears at about noon and in the far distance we see an iceberg which, after and hour and a half, proves to be gigantic.  Higher than our mast.  In the middle of nowhere and with no growlers close.  We have an amateurish theory that smaller “bergy bits” and growlers melt faster than the big bergs in these relatively warm (?) waters, about 10 degrees Ç. 

Hence we need only worry about the bergs and they show up on the radar……Wishful thinking?

In the evening the sky clears up and we have a terrific sunset.  The stars appear and we identify also Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (!).  It is never completely dark in the north.  The engine churns on and we check regularly - completely dry at 1700  rpms. And we make 6+ knots.  Good enough.

The morning is perfectly clear and at 0900 hours the wind finally returns.  We set sail and find ourselves floating along smoothly at 7.5+ knots in an oblique run

Log (at 1100 hours) 12520 nm.  The second 24 hours = 151 nm, even better.  Motor 22.5 hours.

Another bright day.  At breakfast we make “boxes to tick”; fuel, provisions, water, blogg, out boarder up.  Part of the crew goes to the grocery store.  At 0920 hours the fuel truck shows up and delivers about half a ton of diesel.  Ken and skipper gets the out boarder up on deck;  a way to ease the burden on the strops in heavy seas. 

At 1100 hours all boxes are ticked, all crew has OK:ed the weather report, we have had a last cup of coffee and we set off for Greenland.

The wind, that appeared promising in the harbour proved a “fake” so we star motoring again…

…until about 1400 hours when we discover that the leaking gasket in the cooling system had not been properly fixed.  We can, however, diagnose the fault and keep it under control.  No worries, hence and we continue towards Greenland.

The wind picks up and we get a deep run a bit too much eastwards.  This continue all night long.  We make 5-6 knots leisurely gliding along.  The night is dark with a couple of hours of light rain/drizzle.  We have a lot of small, agile, terne-like birds that make angry noises.  We think they sleep on the water and are awoken by our boat.  In the morning we have …fog. So, again, the glass cupola…..  We watch our radar carefully for icebergs.

At 1000 hours we jibe and head more to the north.  We believe that we might be east of Iceberg Alley (?) and at 1030 hours we must start the engine…..no wind.

Log 12369 nm. The first 24 hours 142 nm (quite OK).  Motor 3 hours.

Into the starlit night still motoring.  Through the Straight of Belle Isle, the narrow (9 nm) stretch of water between Newfoundland and Labrador.  The Newfoundland side surprisingly well lit and Labrador side more sparsely so. At 0300 we meet a gang of whales, four on the starboard side, 20 m from the boat. Calmly rising up and blowing time and time again.  Majestic! Magic!  Another two soon shows up on the port side.

Around the corner and turning right, eh….sorry, starboard.  We almost make landfall at Anse au Meadows, the only known Viking settlement in North America and now turned into a tourist attraction.  That is that the floating wharf is not yet out due to the hard spring so instead we anchor up and use the dinghy.  The exhibition is worth every penny (Can$9.20 for 60+).  Longhouse, black smith’s shop, church (!), boat house for the recently built Viking ship “Snorre”, which sailed from Greenland to Anse au Meadows in 87 days (!) 1993. Lunch at a very decent restaurant, swim upon return to the ship (13 degrees….viking temperature!).

We aim for a short cut but chicken out in front of power lines that hang 68 feet above the sea.  We draw 75 feet, nominally…..eh..they looked awfully low!

Out and around a small island and….we have our first iceberg encounter.  A whipped cream wonder that gleamed in the sunshine.  Wow !

Finally we motor into St.Anthony harbour.  We are almost out of diesel and we need provisions for at least a week, until Greenland.

We wake to….fog!! Can’t see a thing around us.  So we cast loose immediately and steer out into the pee soup, having breakfast on the go.  The plotter is a blessing.  We monitor our progress on the electronic chart where the boat shows up as a “blip” slowly moving between the isles.  Our glass cupola, with a 50 m radius, could really be anywhere in the world; a small area of water and…nothing.  This situation keeps up during the entire day.  We run the radar, small “blips” show up and some also show up in reality; we see them as shadows in the mist. Small fishing vessels. Others never show up and many, no doubt, we are totally oblivious of.  In periods a bright sun shines on us from above but around us…still fog.

At about 1600 hours the engine stops…!!!  Aquaryd has two main fuel tanks, about 100 gallons each on the port and starboard side, respectively.  In the middle lies a third diesel tank, same size, that feeds the generator and the heater.  To alternate between the two main tanks there is switch that gets stuck and needs some “manoeuvring” each season.  We had “manoeuvred” this some hours earlier but, inadvertently, left the switch in the same position…! So we were out of “gas”. Smart!  Now the main engine needs to be bled from air and this is quite an undertaking, especially in the very hot motor compartment…..  After an hour or so we are on the go again.

Miraculously, while down in the engine room the fog lifted and we now have a warm summer’s day (!?)

A bright day with people fiddling around in the harbour.  Masts off, boats launched.  A US couple from North Carolina is leaving their boat here for the summer (?) “Start working on Monday”.  We have breakfast and wait for Wayne who must insulate the new exhaust pipe that gets terribly hot.  He does arrivr just as agreed upon at 0830 hours and fixes the final details. So...

...at 1200 hours we finally cast loose.  In clear sunshine and little wind.  We motor out through the estuary and by then the wind is up.  We hoist full clothing and set off in a tight angle. Wind about 15 knots.  After a while the wind turns east and then south-east and we have a lovely sail into the night.  Our new heater works perfectly and not only is it warm, it is also dry! Very comfortable.

At 0500 hours the wind suddenly dies and we must continue by motor.  This is, however, outside Cape Anguille, the (south-)westernmost point of Newfoundland.  Drizzling rain!...that clear up after lunch into bright sunshine.  Rain gear can dry out and the sea is absolutely calm.  No whales, dolphins or orcas, however, we have high expectations….!!

Reach Lark Harbour, about halfway between Sidney and Saint Anthony, at 1600 hours.  Tiny place (pop. 600)  with a reasonable harbour.  The shore line is impressive.  Massive hills rise out of the sea with clouds circeling above.

Here we find the most hospitable community that invites us for coffee and welcomes us to the local restaurant (quite close to the harbour). Walk up to the community and the grocery store.  Detour into a local summer cottage whose owner from Calgary (!),  spends 2 months here every summer with his family. We have an enjoyable evening with fish and chips, pool and the lot.

We are now ahlf way between Sidney and Saint Anthony.  We plan to do the rest in the coming two days and be at the northern top of Newfoundland on Tusesday evening.

Log  11988.  Motoring 11 hours

At 0900 hours, Wayne is by the boat with a new heater !! We do, however, spend a cpule og hours trying to get the old one to work.  We fail, despite a new foul pump and many attempts.  So, change to the new one!  This turns out to be some work.  First to understand the new configuration.  The heater must be mounted horizontally instead of vertically like the old one, and in a crowded engine room this is no mean feat.  When this is finally done we need to get circulation in the system…and that means to get the air out.  At 2100 hours we do finally have a working system that promises to keep the heating water at 60-80 degrees Ç……oh, nice!!!

Meanwhile a detail of the crew has gone to buy provisions and come back with the whole store.  We need the squeze this into every other place in the pentry, evetually successful.

Late dinner, ratatouille, by Ken who has managed despite chaos and all floor boards open.  We go to bed relieved and with high expectation on the coming days.

Bengt joined us, finally, late last night.  Skipper picked him up in the darkness and fog across the river, somewhat scary….

Chris from Louisburg joined us in the morning.   He took on the Raymarine system and after spending 5 hours (!) pulling every cable in the system he had it working.  Loose connections/corrosion were his diagnoses and the this is probably correct.  The heater will arrive tomorrow so we spent the afternoon having a look at “Bluenose II” an absolutely beautiful replica of the fisher schooner that raced the Americans in the early century…and always won.  She is nowadays somewhat of a national-pride ship that sails around making good will in the Canada.

Sidney has a somewhat depressing “down town” but the surroundings are nice with beautiful homes in the “suburbs”; some of us walked to the boat on the other side of the rive by ways of a distant bridge.

The ubiquitous pizzas are easy to come by and they appear in the club house with some regularity.  We enjoy our memebership in many ways….!

The night has been warm. Water temperature in Lake Bras d’Or is 17 degrees and we feel the difference.  Morning showers, breakfast and finally our dues are paid at the harbour master’s office, Can$62 ? SEK 400which is quite normal…!

We have down-loaded new weather files:  Tomorrow there will be a bad gale to the east of us, just touching Cape Breton Island but hitting east Newfoundland badly.  On the west coast of Newfoundland, where we are going, there will be continuous south-westerlies for at least a week.

Off at 0900 hours.  The Raymarine system is now up running and behaves perfectly stable (??). This is, of course nice, but in reality the worst of all alternatives. We have a faltering system that works periodically.  Hard to error search such a system! So we auto-pilot up the narrow channel heading for the big Gulf of St.Lawrence.  Like motoring up a Norwegian fjord. We manage to catch a lobster bouy on our rudder and it takes a swin by the skipper to get it loose.  17 degrees and actually quite nice.

After half a day of motoring we get into Sidney  the largest city and industrial centre of Cape Breton Island.  The renouned Royal Yacht club that we read about in the pilot (from 2008!)  disappeared in a fire 2015 and this marina on the main side of the channel is no more.  We go to Dobson Marina across the river and become members (for monetary reasons; this is cheaper than to pay the daily fee).  We will stay here for 2, possibly 3 nights getting fixed up while a weather system sweeps by on the outside (eastern) side with quite sever winds (30 m/s).

Bengt is joining tonight by bus from Halifax.  We will drive across the river with the dinghy to pick him up.

Log 11784 nm.  Motoring 6 hours

We went swimming in St.Margret’s Bay in 17 degrees of water.  Up here the water temperature has already dropped to 11 degrees so we forego the morning swim.  Will probably be some time before this, otherwise compulsory activity aboard Aquaryd, is reinstituted.

The morning is foggy but the sun breaks through already 30 minutes after hoisting anchor at 0800 hours.  Wind is low so we motor along.  Today we aim for Lake Bras d’Or, supposedly a beautiful sailing fresh water lake right through Cape Breton Island.

We motor up around Cape Conso (north-eastern point of Nova Scotia) and further north towards St. Peter’s Canal, the inlet to Lake Bras d’Or. 

Suddenly the Raymarine system starts to act up big way.  The wind data disappears and goes on-and-off, the depth sounder does the same and finally the auto pilot, everything to th sound of different alarms, a real cacophony of noises.  After a while everything goes dead !!???  This system has been dead steady for three years after instalment in Sweden.  Thankfully we note that the electronic charts and GPS works perfectly, so we are not totally lost.

We make it up to the very bucolic St. Peter’s Canal, over Lake Bras d’Or, through Barra Straights with a bridge opening and end up in Baddeck, a summer resort with lots of activities.  Lake Bras d’Or turns out to be a marvellous sailing ground.  First a winding “canal” passed beautiful house spread out a great distances from one another; there is a lot of space in Canada.  The lake itself opens up, surrounded by high ridges, all covered in lush green forests.  Everywhere churches stick up their spires, surrounded by small villages.

All the while we have been telephoning and there seems to be a guy, Chris, in Louisburg (20 minutes away from Sydney, where we are heading). He will come and have a look at our navigational woes.  It is simply astonishing how things break down, also relatively new things.  Sailing is a constant fixing things….!

The evening ends at Bellbouy Restaurant where we indulge in fisheries of various kinds. 

Log 11743. Motoring 7 hours.

Ingemar has not slept well: He has pondered the failing fresh water pump all night and sets about it immediately upon awakening.  After changing three different parts from two pumps in every possible combination we do actually, finally, have a functional pump.  Gloom lifts and we are again one happy crew and Ingemar is hailed as our hero.

Sky again formidably clear and blue and the sun in shining. The wind is rather cold though but the sun is good and warm; we are at the same latitude as Bordeaux, France.  We set out at 0830 hours and motor out at large.  Wind the same and we make good speed north-eastwards “tacking and running”.

We get a telephone call from Andrew at the Webasto distributer.  They are planning a new burner for us to be installed “end of the week” in Sidney, on the northern shore of Cape Breton Island.  Wonderful news!

After a long day’s sail the wind suddenly dies and we are left with the swells. So we motor into Whitehead Harbour a similarly deserted place with I high quay that we forfeit.  We anchor in very well protected shelter and enjoy a good dinner.

Log 11675 nm.  Motoring 3 hours

Log at start 11518 nm.

Up and away, finally.  It is a rather gorgeous day, a bit nippy, though, and the oppressive heat wave/humidity is gone.  We clear some final things, get the border control papers back from the marina and at 1045 hours we cast off.  On the boat now is Ulla and Ingemar from Linköping, brother-in-law Ken from Brisbane and Marion and Skipper.  Bent E has finally “had” his fifth grand child and will join us on Wednesday.

There is a south-westerly blowing so we motor out of St Margret’s Bay.  Outside Peggy’s Cove we set sails, a grand sight of course from the hundreds of people on the cliffs by the famous light house.  We now start the down wind sail along the coast of Nova Scotia.  He wind is rather fresh, 10-12 m/s, so we do make quite good speed.  We sneak very close to Chebucto Head where there is a former costal battery installation.  On one of these concrete foundations, skipper’s former research fellow Michael D, has built a house perched quite precariously on top of the cliff.

Onwards along the coast!  We aim for Owl’s Head harbour and Marion googles. “Formidable resources, showers, restaurants and the lot!  When we get there, at 2000 hours the place turns out to be quite the opposite.  There is (a quite new) quay but apart from that – nothing and Marion’s google place turns out to be somewhere in Florida (!) – a slight misspelling in the search line.

Simultaneously, we discover that the fresh water pump does not function!!  This is disastrous.  We sit on one cubic meter of water but cannot get it out of the tanks!!  For this reason, skipper always carry a replacement, that, however, just now is a replacement itself – eh…not perfectly fit.

Ingemar and skipper spends the evening in the holds (machine room) and we have a somewhat gloomy, albeit well tasting, dinner.  The evening/night is cold and we do realize that a heater would be nice…….  We have high hopes, though

Log 11588 nm. Motoring 3 hours

Last day at Shining Waters.  Sun is just up and the morning is nippy. We are, however, at the latitude of Bordeaux, France, so in a while it will be good. We have had the heat wave of the century during the last week, and humidity to go with it, 32-34 degrees.  This is now gone.

We are good to go tomorrow and all, well most, things have been fixed.  The remaining problem is the heater, that has now been officially pronounced to be “obsolete”! No longer supported, no spare parts.  Now, when doing a life time sail to Greenland, and after having spent “some” money on the hoses for this system, it remains somewhat awkward not to have the burner itself.  So we are looking for a replacement that we hope will be installed somewhere up the coast next week.

Meanwhile, life in the Halifax area has been good..  The other day we were at the “Atlantic Museum” featuring the Titanic catastrophe and the “Halifax explosion”.  A ammunition ship collided in the harbour and levelled the entire city.  A 3 kT explosion, the largest non-nuclear bang ever.  Yesterday we went to Cape Split at the bay of Fundy where the largest tide is found, a full 50 feet !  Twice a day no less than 16 billion tons of water goes in and out.  That is equivalent to 16 cubic kilometres of water! So Nova Scotia is exciting.

This blog will be updated intermittently at various intervals when we hook up to the net.

About a week has passed at Shining Waters.  Well spent with a lot a things done.  Main engine started right away, the diesel generator was a bit more reluctant.  Took a complete change of all fuel filters before it started.  All the hoses in th heating system have been changed; a terribly awkward job, and the system has been purged of all air.  Remains still to get the heater running.  This will probably take another set of filters.

Halifax has wonderful no-nonsense fisherman’s stores where heavy duty gear can be bought.  Ken found all sorts of clothing that he needed, boots, survival suit, warm rubber gloves etc.

We went to a “hard wood specialist” and bought two 10 feet poles of ash, supposedly very strong.  On these poles we fitted boat hook make of bronze to push away ice bergs an the likes that come too close;  we are well fitted indeed.

Yesterday, July 1:st, was Canada Day and there was a party on the patio of the Marina and at 2200 there were fire works, quite impressive actually.  We ate and drank well and enjoyed ourselves.  In the daytime we also visited the Atlantic Maritime Museum featureing the Titanic disaster and the Halifax Explosion, the largest non-nuclear explosion of all times

Next Sunday, we plan to leave for Greenland.  Weather is looking OK so far, although it is too early to predict when we are actually doing the crossing. The ice situation, however, looks good and that is definite.  Will not change.