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..  Thursday--June 14 A force 2-3 wind carried Naomi down Great Bras d’Or Channel towards the sea. From a long distance away, we watched Seal Island Bridge as it grew in size. |
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| Like a blast from a 12-gauge
shotgun,
we shot under the bridge and through the narrows with the strong ebb
tide
and following wind. As quickly as a shotgun charge loses its
power
and dissipates, so did our momentum also. Naomi was deposited
ignominiously
in the basin off Table Head and left to drift. We searched for
random
breezes while the tidal current carried us southward at less than a
knot.
Lobster pot buoys surrounded Naomi. From here to Scatarie Island there were hundreds of these pot buoys with their excessively long floating lines to plague us. The lines snag under the rudder fittings and drag the float against the rudder. In light breezes, it's easy to push the buoy under the hull and free but in stronger winds, the float jams tightly against the rudder stock. |
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| Soon we heard the blowing of whales. We spotted minke whales a short distance off. They travel in small numbers or alone in contrast to the more common pilot whales, which congregate in pods of a dozen or more. Stubby little puffins with colourful beaks floated on the calm sea as we crept on a course for Point Aconi. From a distance, the low slab-sided cliffs and jutting outcrop of the point resembled the forward section of a large unladen tanker. Even in these docile sailing conditions, I wanted to close my eyes and not watch as Allan squirmed Naomi through the shoaling rocks separating Aconi Island from the bulbous bow of Point Aconi. |
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| Gradually we made way down Spanish Bay towards Cranberry Point. There we’d have to make a decision. Should we turn into Sydney Harbour and wait out the calm conditions in North Sydney or Sydney; or should we row on and hope a wind would appear and not leave us stranded in Sydney approaches and the shipping channel overnight. I couldn’t decide what to do and fortunately a south-easterly breeze appeared at that time. Naomi tacked across the wide approaches toward the lighthouse on Low Point. One of the Newfoundland ferries crossed our path as it left Sydney for Argentia or Port-aux-Basques. In the distance we saw the town of New Waterford on the sea cliffs. Towering on the skyline behind the town were the twin chimneys of the Lingan Power Station. |
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| Just as the lighthouse on Low Point came abeam, our breeze failed us again. We rowed along below the cliffs of New Waterford. Finally, we rowed around North Point and passed alongside the huge coal-fired power plant. |
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| The barrier beach enclosing Bridgeport Basin is breached by a narrow channel at this point. We beached Naomi inside the basin and set up our tents among the dunes. This had been a long day and we were soon in our tents. The rumble of the generating plant throughout the night was a change from the previous nights of rural cruising. |
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