CRUISING ROUND NEWFOUNDLAND
Two beluga whales flanked Frances B, our Mason 44, as we threaded out of Ingonish, on northern Cape Breton Island. Belugas don’t live in this area so this unexpected show was a symbolic beginning to a summer of surprises.
Frances B headed across Cabot Strait, vaguely pointing towards the south-west corner of Newfoundland. The plan was to circumnavigate the island whose coastline, including all bays, fjords and sounds, tops 10,000 miles. In view of weather patterns the whole operation had to run efficiently – we’d better be out of these waters by the end of September. Now in July, and for the rest of the summer, south-west winds would prevail but come September depressions begin to slide from the Arctic bringing strong northerlies. Whether to go around clockwise or counterclockwise was the question.
During a night of flopping in expiring puffs we decided on a counterclockwise route. At dawn the night fog lifted over a line of dark islets, with long, lazy swells foaming over sunken ledges. A couple of guys fishing in a dory by a red buoy waved cheerfully.
The town wharf in Isle aux Morts settlement now became our springboard to eastward exploration of the southern coast. The village has probably existed for five or more centuries. The Indians
