In love with West Newfoundland

Our crossing from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland was foggy. We left Niels Harbour early, but we never leave early enough to go before the fishermen. It was a 70NM crossing to Port aux Basque and the sky was blue for the first hour but before we noticed it, a dense fog bank had swollen us up. That is what Newfoundland is known for. Once again we found ourselves motoring along in the fog with the radar and fog horn on, keeping a keen eye out for lobster pots – the last ones for this seasons sailing. Hurray!

It is a busy area and a fast ferry goes back and forth between Sydney and Port Aux Basque several times daily. When you into a10NM zone of the entry to Port Aux Basque you have to call the traffic centre and inform them of your intentions, so they can keep and eye on you and let the ferry know you are there. It was very comforting to know that someone was keeping an eye on us and clearly keeping the ferry informed about our position in the fog.

Friendly harbour master in Port Aux Basque

On the plotter we could see that 4-5 other boats had also decided to cross this day, so we decided to call the harbour master to hear how crowded the place was. The very friendly lady let us know that we could place the boat wherever we wanted and if we needed help with the line, she could call someone to meet us at the dock. We politely declined the offer, but what a service!

The town has a sleepy feel to it, but we had a nice walk along the harbour. It was another foggy day and for a quick moment we were unsure if we should have stayed in Nova Scotia with it’s sunny weather and beautiful anchorages. We spend a day doing laundry and some shopping, before we decided to head for the Bay of Islands on the West Coast.

Friendly catchup in Bay of Islands

There are not a lot of places to stop between Port Aux Basque and Bay of Islands. We had originally planned to stop at Codroy, but when we came out of the harbour and the wind was from a much better angle than in the forecast, we decided to continue overnight direct to the Bay of Islands.

Lovely Woods Island

As the morning came and we finally saw the sun and the beautiful shoreline before Bay of Islands, we were happy to be back in Newfoundland. We had planned to anchor at Lark Harbour as it seemed as an easy to acces anchorage, but as we got there a lot of work was being done in the bay and didn’t feel as cosy as we had thought. Also they seem to have extended the breakwater, so if you arrive at night, then you will find the charts are not updated accordingly!

We decided to motor to the nearby Woods Island, which has a tricky entrance because of some shallow bits that are not on the chart either. There are some markers on land, mentioned in the cruising guide, which are ment to help navigation, but we found not following them and instead keeping further to the right, you will enter with deeper water below the keel. We could see that reef clearly on our drone shots.

This anchorage is lovely and protected all the way around. We spend two nights here paddling, swimming and walking on land. While we were in this paradise a message ticked in from our lovely friend Overton from St Anthony, who had taken us to L’anse aux Meadows. He had noticed us on the tracker and reminded us, that he lives in Corner Brook.

Reunion in Corner Brook

With no wind we motored the small trip into Corner Brook Yacht Club, which is placed quite a bit outside the center of Corner Brook. This turned out not to be a problem at all – both because the friendly Overton came and took us on a ride around town, and because both he and several other people in Marina offered to lend us their cars. The newfoundland hospitality is amazing. In the excitement of documenting the marina, we crashed the drone into the water, where it now rests in peace.

We went to see a local attraction, the “Man in the Mountain” Can you see him?

The marina is a little tight and shallow, and even after being tucked in at the dedicated spot, Snow Bear’s stern was sticking out. There are both showers and laundry here and everything in the marina is managed by the friendly and helpful volunteers.

This whole area was surveyed by British explorer James Cook in the 17th century and the town has a historic monument for him, interestingly many of the charts we are using are based on these very detailed surveys. The town has several good supermarkets and many shops and as we knew this was probably the last big supermarket before heading further north we took advantage and did a lot of shopping.

Bonne Bay is very bon (good)!

We continued up the coast to the beautiful Gross Morne National Park and entered Bonne Bay, the only true fjord on the coast of Newfoundland. The bay gives easy access to the national park and it would seem quite a few tourists visit this area.

Rocky Harbour with a gnarly dock

When we arrived at Rocky Harbour the sea was calm so we tied to the outside of the public wharf as the inside (which is protected from the open bay) was filled with small motor boats. This dock was in poor condition so we used our big inflatable Avon fenders as we like how they roll up and down between the gaps and don’t get caught on all the sticking out bits, as fender boards often tend to do.

We had a lovely dinner at the local sea front hotel and they were very helpful when we asked if we could have a package with a new drone delivered to them. We had planned to go for a walk the next day, but the suddenly some horrible swell made Snow Bear bounce against the dock that together with broken timbers, there were some horrible big nails sticking out. So in a hurry we quickly left the dock and headed to anchor further into the national park. Later in Port Aux Choix the fishermen told us, that this dock has a terrible reputation and said they would never park their boat there.

Relaxing days at in the East Arm

We had a few days before the drone would arrive, so we headed into the East Arm. We spend a few days at an anchorage at the north end, where we had a few local motor boaters stopping by, but most of the time we were alone. The muddy bottom felt nice and secure and the surroundings were perfect for paddling, swimming and drinking wine in the cockpit.

After a few days we continued into the east end of the East arm and it was even more amazing. On the sail in there were several places we wanted to stop, but chose a spot away from the camp site. We had it all to ourselves and the anchor also had a good holding here, so we felt nicely tucked in between the beautiful mountains even when the wind came.

Friendly locals at Norris Cove and Neddy Harbour

As always we have to get back to reality, so we went into Norris Cove to top up on water and to collect the drone. Norris Cove has a lovely dock, very well maintained without big nails and as soon as we had tied on, a steady stream of friendly locals and tourists came to chat with us. From the dock you can easily walk to the water front trail, that will take you along the coast.

We were lucky to meet Zach, who drove us to the amazing restaurant at Neddies Harbour Inn and to pick up the new drone in Rocky Harbour, so we didn’t have to sail in there again. The reataurant chef is passionate about local and homemade food and it is wonderful! It was a beautiful night so we walked back to the boat. In hindsight it would be much smarter if we had dined there while anchoring at Neddy Harbour so we could have taken the dinghy.

We anchored a couple of nights in Neddy Harbour to hide out for some wind and while we were here we had the fantastic chance to try the iconic The Cat and Rooster Pub. What a special place. The owner welcomes you with a long speech about the place and the whole place is themed with cat items. He has built a “catio” for his three cats, who can walk outside the pub and into the converted ambulance that he lives in. As he is the only worker the menu is simple with burgers and fries, but it is well made!

Getting ready to leave Newfoundland in Port aux Choix

We had a nice reach sailing to Port aux Choix, but as the wind had been a little lower than the forecast so we arrived after sunset. As it normally goes, the wind then decided to come right back just as we were about to take down the sails and go into harbour – Why does the wind always do that?

The harbour is supposed to be the most protected one on the west coast and a small enclosed harbour has been built where we were able to tie onto the floating pontoon behind it. We were waiting for a big blow from the north and felt good on our spot as we would get blown off the dock. It is possible to tie onto the outside as well, but then you will be very exposed to northerly wind and waves as the bay is quite open. Anchoring in the bay is not recommended as it’s reported to be badly fouled with fishing gear.

As always we met some lovely people here too! We went to buy the French Bread Oven bun‘s and met a lovely woman, who managed the program. She drove us the the local light house at Point Riche, where we saw a group of caribou. Sarah decided to go for a run and had probably misheard the distance to the light house and along the coastline back to the boat, so she ended doing a 12K run on a beautiful very scenic path.

After the northerly had passed we decided to make one last anchor stop in Newfoundland, so we would have an easy short crossing to Red Bay, Labrador. We had an uncomfortable and windy sail up into to Pigeon Cove, where we spent the night before heading across the Belle Isle straits.