From
William’s Harbour to Mary’s Harbour we had fast sailing with lumpy following
seas. The rain stopped and the sun made a brief attempt to breakthrough the
clouds when we arrived in Mary's shallow, protected harbour. After
anchoring clear of the channel markers we headed to shore. All the small docks
were private and we headed for one where the owner appeared to be around.
Permission was granted though he did comment that Krystina was not optimistic
about the weather after taking one look at Animal, her furry hat. She explained
that it had been much colder on the water and promptly removed her hat.
Since the
general store was right by the dock, we made it our first stop. After buying a
bag of onions, apples and a can of pineapple, Frances put the plastic bag of
groceries under the seat in the dinghy. We wouldn’t normally do this but we had
seen so few birds over the past few months we thought it would be safe and
continued walking into town. Thirty minutes later we returned to find a crow
had taken an interest in our groceries, especially the apples. At least it
didn’t try to get into the can of pineapple and get its’ beak stuck, that would
have been messy.
Back on
board we salvaged what was left of the apples before grabbing a computer and
heading back to town. While Krystina used the Wi-Fi at The River Lodge, Frances
wandered around town in hope of finding out if it was possible to get diesel for
Snow Dragon. A woman greeted her when she paused to admire a full-sized wooden
person dressed in coveralls, a hard hat and even sunglasses leaning against the
porch stairs. Frances complimented her on the well-dressed lawn ornament and
they started talking. When Suzie realized that Frances was from “the little
sailboat,” she invited her in for coffee; a hot drink was especially welcome
with the cold wind. As they were having coffee and cookies Suzie’s partner came
home, when Suzie introduced Frances and explained there were just 2 women on
Snow Dragon he almost fell down the stairs with shock, the normal Labrador
reaction.
That
night Frances asked Krystina if she could use the hard drive to work on photos.
Krystina was using it so Frances decided to grease the engine room steering
sheaves instead. This entailed dismantling the sheaves, cleaning, greasing them
and reassembling. Krystina paused what she was working on to turn the wheel a
little to get enough slack in the cable for Frances to remove the sheaves. On
reassembly, Krystina tested the wheel, which had very little resistance and we
realized the cable must have fallen off the quadrant in the lazarette while it
was slack. So the simple indoor task that Frances had planned on turned into an
outside expedition to excavate the quadrant. This entailed completely empting
both sides of the lazarette in order to put the cable back. It was not a
difficult job but getting to it was a major operation, not made easier by rain,
cold and dark. Once our propane tanks, extra line, anchors, storm gear, folding
kayak and other numerous items we keep stored in the lazarette were on deck it
was easy to slip the cable back on the quadrant and Frances oiled the sheaves
in the lazarette for good measure. Then we put everything back in its rightful
place before scurrying back into the pilothouse to get warm. Next time Frances
asks for the hard drive, Krystina will give it to her, anything to stop Frances
from taking the boat apart in the middle of the night.
On the
second day we walked out to White Water Falls, passing the un-fenced gravel
runway along the trail, common sense being the only thing keeping people off
the frequently used runway. A wooden boardwalk kept us out of the wet
vegetation, though we periodically braved the marshy ground in search of
berries. Though we spend a lot of time together we still usually find something
to talk about while hiking, however, in bear country when talking is necessary
to avoid surprising a bear it becomes difficult to think of anything to say.
The falls were nice but what was really exciting were the wild cranberries
growing along the banks.
That
night while we were at The River Lodge using their WIFI, Carola who worked at
the lodge told us that a black bear had just been chased out of a house nearby
and was roaming town. She kindly offered us a ride back to our dinghy. When
Frances mentioned that she would love to see the bear, Carola, drove us back
via the town dump, our best chance for spotting one. Sure enough there were 3
bears enjoying a midnight snack, an enjoyable sight from inside a pick-up
truck. Though Krystina did joke nervously that maybe the dump full of bears was
where they dropped off pesky tourists.
On our third day in St. Mary’s we
walked out to Gin Cove. Though it was a shorter walk than to White Water Falls,
the trail was much steeper and more wooded. At least the 3 bears gave us
something to talk about. The cover was picturesque and we took in the view from
the picnic table on the beach.
The following morning we pulled anchor
at 9.30 and made our way over to the crab plant dock to fuel. At 10 o’clock as
promised, the fuel attendant brought the long hose from the diesel tank by tying
the nozzle to the back of his truck. Snow Dragon enjoyed her breakfast of 550
liters of red diesel. Diesel for commercial use in Canada is dyed red and not
taxed. Since we were putting red and not clear diesel in our tanks it was
important for us to keep the receipt showing we paid the tax. While Frances
walked up to pay, 3 of the construction guys working on building the new wharves
came down to look at Snow Dragon. When they understood it was just 2 of us, one
of them said, “that’s wicked,” a priceless comment coming from an adult male in
a hard hat.
For more photos please click on Mary's Harbour Album
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