Sailing Terrapin

We untied from our multi-way tie up in St John's harbor and headed north. Al and Tess had just returned home from the winter in the Caribbean and had plans to meet up with a group of friends - and they invited us to come along. Who can say no to a good Newfoundland party?

As we motor-sailed up the east coast of the Avalon Peninsula, we saw whales and puffins and it was a beautiful day. We rounded Cape St Francis and headed to Middle Arm. The water was mirror calm and the scenery - unbelievable!

As we arrived in Middle Arm, Al and Tess had several friends who were already on moorings and we all either rafted up together or grabbed a mooring and the party began! We ran Kala to shore and then joined Ruthanne and Gary on their boat, Alibi, for drinks and appetizers. Ruthanne and Tess had made food that looked beautiful and tasted even better. Afterwards, the party moved to Wayne and Crystal's boat house that they generously share with cruisers in Middle Arm. The party continued past midnight and Baxter and I were still lacking sleep from the passage from Halifax so we said goodnight and left Dan, Al and Tess to discuss the universe (literally) and all that goes with it.

The next day, Al and Tess generously borrowed a car to go get their car from Tess' house. They drove us around Newfoundland provisioning at Costco, fueling jerry jugs full of diesel and refilling our propane, and stopping for a picnic on Signal Hill - the first location a radio signal was sent across the Atlantic Ocean. Once we were back in Middle Arm, we were worn out. We had one more round of sundowners aboard Terrapin and called it a night - still trying to catch up on sleep.

The next day took us to Holy Rood for the Squid Fest. The same group of friends from Middle Arm had headed to Holy Rood the day before and all rafted up again. It was another great party and so many wonderful Newfoundlanders to meet and share rounds of stories. We felt so grateful to have hosts like Al & Tess who shared these great people with us.

After Holy Rood, we headed to Brigus Bay. The scenery in Brigus was unbelievable! The granite rocks, the bays that are hidden until you're right next to them...we could have stayed for a week. As we checked the weather, it finally looked like the next day would be our weather window to leave for Ireland. We messaged our weather router who confirmed the weather looked good and we prepared to leave for our 1700 mile passage.