Snow Dragon II: Labrador: Makkovik Population 360

Once Snow Dragon was settled at anchor in Makkovik Bay we launched the dinghy and headed for shore since we couldn’t raise any officials on the radio. We tied up at a wooden pier that had seen better days, and we gingerly walked along on the supports to reduce our chances of crashing through the weak boards. After not touching land for 7 days it was a strange feeling to walk along a pier that was actually moving underneath us. The sign on the neighboring pier said, “Caution boards bad on warf. Enter at your own risk,” a comforting sight knowing we would have to return to our dinghy. Frances still felt the ground was moving once we reached the dirt road but the swaying feeling quickly passed.

The town was surprisingly quiet for a sunny afternoon. We walked up to the grocery store but the chain on the door told us it was shut before we got close enough to read the sign in the door saying they were closed for Labor Day. In true Snow Dragon fashion we arrived in Makkovik on holiday.

We braved the wooden pier and returned to Snow Dragon to make our post passage breakfast, a tradition we follow regardless of our arrival time. After eating our fill of eggs sunny side up, sausages, bacon, fried onions and toast we went to bed still not knowing the local time or being officially checked into Canada.

In the morning we were woken by the arrival of Astron a coastal freighter. Krystina got up to double check we were well out of their way and the crew gave a friendly wave. Makkovik is an Inuit Community that is only accessible by plane or sea. In the winter it is possible to reach Goose Bay, the nearest larger town, by snow mobile. It’s a 7 ½ hour trip that the locals enjoy doing.

Later a couple on their way out to fish stopped by Snow Dragon to welcome us, bearing gifts of hat pins. One was a Canadian flag, another the Newfoundland and the local Makkovik flag as well as a polar bear charm. They explained the polar bear was the official mascot of the community and asked us if we needed any information about the town. Krystina used the opportunity to ask them for the time which turned out to be only an hour behind Greenlandic.

Torn Staysail

Frances Repairing The Sail

After our visitors departed to go fishing, we continued repairing our staysail which we had taken off the furler that morning. We used the pilothouse table as a makeshift sail loft floor as large flat surfaces are in short supply on a boat. Initially the damage was intimidating but once we applied the sticky back sailcloth to both sides, it began to look much more manageable. It was a full day’s work, over 4 meters of hand sewing and a bit of blood sacrifice to secure the patches but once done the repair seemed much more minimal than expected. The hardest part of the process was maneuvering the sail onto the table and then out of the pilothouse.

During a break in the sail repair, we headed back to shore to find out if we could check in to Canada. Once again our timing wasn’t brilliant and we ended up arriving in town as offices and stores were closing for lunch. Instead of going back to Snow Dragon we decided to hike out to the point where we had seen a lookout with a flag. Not wanting to walk through people’s yards we decided to go along the beach but when the owner of the house near the viewpoint saw us, he welcomed us to use the trail that runs through his yard. On our way back into town 2 Golden Retrievers ran up to us, though we were in Labrador, goldens seemed to be the breed of choice in Makkovik.

Eventually we ended up at the RCMP who were extremely helpful and helped us get our CANPASS number even though the official they had to call wanted us to sail directly to St John’s Newfoundland over 600 miles south, to clear in. The RCMP officer diplomatically told the official he was mistaken and that it could be done by phone. It was helpful that the official could see that Snow Dragon was already in the computer system from her time in British Columbia and finally relented and gave us our official CANPASS number that registered Snow Dragon for Canadian waters.

We thanked the RCMP and then headed for the grocery store hoping to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. The store was large but after looking and shelves of Pop-Tarts, marshmallows, Chips and other heavily processed foods we realized we were out of luck. After a bit of searching we managed to find 2 sweet potatoes, onions and dried dates. At the checkout we asked if we could get cash back as we wanted to make a purchase at the local craft store and were told the store was out of cash but to try the town hall. The town hall did not have any cash either, we went back to the craft store and asked if their was any chance they could take US dollars. They agreed and we made our purchase of handmade mittens and a novel, Confession In Moscow, by Michael Johansen who lives in Labrador.