We were off early and motored to Nain arriving around 2:00 pm with many local children running to meet us at the dock. After getting secured a new friend, Mark, led Skip, Pat and Kip to the hardware store and local hotel where we were able to get on line. Downloading all your comments is like getting lots of mail and we all enjoy it. Thanks! Nain is inland and the winds and seas are less aggressive so there are trees again giving the scenery a look of the Yosemite high country. Very beautiful! The water was like glass today so we moved along quickly.

Many have asked what a typical day is like aboard. Pat is up by 4:30am and Walt by 5:00am who then starts the motor and rousts out the rest of us. We run until 10:30 pm when it gets dark and put as much water under the boat as we can. We eat breakfast underway around 6:00am, lunch at noon and dinner around 7:00pm. We have used most of the fresh things and are into the dried beans, peas, bulgur and brown rice made usually into soups. I use a pressure cooker and can soften these dried things in no time. We have had fresh bread and cookies. We use noise canceling headphones and listen to tapes, DVDs and CDs, we read, plan the day’s route, I knit and everyone naps when they can as you can see! 🙂 We have had lots of laughs as Shane sneaks around and uses our own cameras to take goofy pictures of us unaware! Skip locked himself in his room and we let him call for a while! Pat threatened to shoot a ice berg to see what would happen! Shane and Skip like to shower in the cock pit while the rest want to be warm. We went for three days without seeing another boat so who cares?! We have been having fun.

As we pulled in Walt could not turn off the engine. He made a quick call to Maine and has been at work while I am writing this so hopefully we can continue on tonight further. Skip and Walt plotted out the whole trip and think we are on a good pace to make it and the ice reports have been encouraging.

[editor’s note: be sure to look back at the last 3 days of posts. New photos have been added]

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We departed Webeck Harbour today at 7:15 AM after cleaning the watermaker filters and topping up the batteries. When Shane pulled up the anchor there were several spiny sea urchins on the chain. The day before he found pink worms the size of his small finger in the sea weed we were anchored in that he also hauled up! UGH! We went about 100 nautical miles further north in absolutely perfect weather and calm seas to Nunaksaluk Island and anchored at Harrigan Harbour. We haven’t seen another boat for the last three days; since Cartwright. By the way, the boat engine is running great since the repairs.

The surrounding area is very rugged, rocky with few trees and reminds us some of Caples Lake area above the tree line near Lake Tahoe. There are no signs of human intervention here except a navigational light and on a far mountain top, a radar tracking station! We saw an incredible number of icebergs today- maybe 50- throughout the day so the frequency is really increasing. We saw a couple up close and personal: wait for the pictures when we get internet access. We also saw a fata morgana. This is an arctic mirage created by cold water and warm air (it got as high as 76 degrees today.) The mirage looked like a 100 foot high wall with multiple bergs; very bizarre and fortunately for us unreal! We spent time on the flybridge which was lovely.

The refrigerator died completely today. It is sad that after two repair men worked on it, it is now worse than when we started. DEAD! The good news is we picked up some glacial ice from the bergs and have two ice chests full.

Tomorrow we are off to Nain which is the northern most ferry stop in Labrador. There is an active Moravian Mission there which we hope to visit along with getting fuel. We hope to access the internet and download pictures there. Who knows when the next opportunity will occur.

Kip is keeping us well fed; no complaints in that department. Even Mr. Boselli is happy!

We send our love to you guys and miss you so much. What an adventure this is.

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Tonight I got to talk to Mom and Dad on their satellite phone. When I saw a caller-id with 12 digits, I thought that it might be them. It took a few seconds for the connection to get established, and then I was talking with Mom, as if she was just around the corner! They are now in a place called Webeck Harbour, in Labrador, Canada, which is just past a peninsula of land called Cape Harrison.

This morning they headed out at 4:45 am, leaving early to try to make a very long run. The seas built up until they were “terrible”, about 8-10 feet straight on the nose. Eventually, they decided to pull in and wait out the storm while anchored in a place called Fulton Harbor. They all had a good nap, and took showers to pass the day. Apparently Skip and Shane took showers out on the back deck (they air temperature was 48 degrees!). She didn’t say why they chose to do this — it would take more than a dare, or a desire to test out the deck shower to convince me to shower in the cold outside!

They left Fulton Harbor at 5 pm after the storm had passed, with enough sunlight left in the day to allow them to still make about 60 miles. They passed 5 more icebergs, and were especially impressed with a large one that was crammed up against the land as they “turned left” near where they are anchored tonight. It was at least 30 feet tall, and I think that it is the closest that they have been to an iceberg so far. Skip and Pat have taken lots of really great photos that they look forward to sharing with us when they can.

Mom reports that the mosquitos in Labrador are “major” and that Shane has given quite a bit of blood and is covered in bites. He is sleeping in the rearmost area of the boat near the doors and windows and is trying to expose only his nostrils as he sleeps buried under his covers. As the air temperature continues to drop, they are beginning to use the heater for the interior of the boat, and some condensation is beginning to form on their windows.

I asked if they have made any decisions regarding their route. They have not decided whether they will be turning west into the Hudson Strait, or whether they will continue up the coastline of Baffin Island. They are inclined to stay near the shore rather than to cross over to the coast of Greenland, as they have liked being able to pull into harbors to ride out storms or make repairs, and they think that ice conditions will allow this.

Mom again said how much they have appreciated all of your prayers. When things have gone wrong, they have always been near a place where they can get help. Thank you!

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We left Cartwright at 2 PM after effecting repairs. We had more fuel related problems. In addition, we had a leak in the exhaust manifold which allowed salt water to escape onto alternator #2. So we had trouble. The entire city turned out to check us out and offered help. We also met the ferry and the ferry captain and first mate who also offered help, but at the end of the day it was Shane to the rescue. Shane fabricated a cold patch to the exhaust using epoxy, rubberized tape and aluminum tape. I reworked the alternator so it again puts out 14 volts. Shane also cleaned out fuel lines and swapped out the on-engine fuel filter. In short all was in order & we were off. We only went about 50 miles in sloppy seas and overcast sky to Indian Harbour where we are anchored for the night. The boat ran really well.

What a beautiful and interesting place Indian Harbour is. It once was a hospital & fishing outpost but now has been abandoned since the late 90’s. Who knows why it was here; I surely can’t figure it out.

We are beginning to see the Inukshuk rock formations on the surrounding hilltops. For those who have read about the Nunavut flag elsewhere on the website will know that this is a landmark symbol the Inuit people used for for direction and is now the symbol of Nunavut and the Inuit people in general.

I am writing this at 11 PM and it is almost dark. The moon is about to rise over Indian Island. Sunrise will be about 4:40 AM. We also have left the heat wave of Nova Scotia behind and we are now in a cold climate – 50 degrees. Pat wore his silk long johns for the first time (picture that 🙂 The water is colder too, in the 40’s when no ice is present. We did see a small berg this afternoon and a growler plus some brash ice.

We will set out early tomorrow to make up some time. We will be traveling up the Labrador coast for the next few days. We still have 1400 miles to go go north before turning west. It’s off to bed.

Hope all is well on the home front – miss you all.

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