March 28th – Port aux Basques, Newfoundland
Apr 1st, 2018 by rallyadmin
The weather since we left Maine has been beautiful. Real Chamber of Commerce post card days with bright sun and blue skies. That changed dramatically overnight. There had been a large low pressure system south of Nova Scotia and its high winds had caused the cancellation of the overnight crossing. Now its rain shield finally caught up with us. I’s going to be a miserable day, probably best to be stuck in the ferry.
It’s only about 10 miles to the ferry and we arrive early to make sure we get on the ship. It turns out that there is no problem getting on the ship. There is a problem getting into the port staging area, however.
I pull up to the entry booth for cars and light trucks. Hand the reservation sheet and IDs to the woman in to booth. “I’m sorry. “This going to take a bit of time. You have a commercial vehicle and the reservation is for a private vehicle.” “ It isn’t a commercial vehicle. It’s my private truck.” “But it has decals on it.” “That’s not my company. That’s a rally in western Canada and Alaska that I volunteer for.” “But your company owns the truck?” “No, there is no company.” “May I see the truck registration, please?” (Cue old Firesign Theater sketch: “May I see your passport, please.”)
The woman finally relents. She gives us back our reservation sheet and our boarding passes and our cabin vouchers. We cancel the cabin and take the refund. Settle in for the departure.
We load in time for an on-time departure and get settled in the lounge area for the crossing. Then an announcement: “We have an announcement. The departure will take place at 10 AM but we will only go away from the harbor, conduct some tests, then return to port to drop off the test inspector. Actual departure will then be 2 PM.” Looks like Port aux Basques for the night.
An hour later, another announcement. “The tests have been canceled because we now have a technical problem that will probably cause an hour delay in departure.” Here we go again.
An another hour: “Our crew is working on a solution to the technical problem but they have not yet resolved the probelem. We expect an additional hour delay.” But then a new announcement: “Our highly competent crew and officers have solved the technical problem and we are about to depart.” (They forget to add: “Into very rough seas and high winds with a suspect ship.”)
The crossing is a bit rough but not as bad as it would have been yesterday when the sea state was considered “unsafe”. But it’s rough enough for MG to get a bit queasy and MF to get fullon seasick. They had made the mistake of sitting in a lounge near the ship bow so that they could see the seas the boat was sailing through. Not a good plan.
In heavy seas the bow is very mobile. They needed to be in the main lounge which is in the middle of the ship and has the least movement. But they retreated too late and seasickness caught them.
Fortunately, the crossing wasn’t delayed and we docked about 10:30 PM. Straight to the hotel and check in. Tomorrow, we haed for St. Johns, NL. The farthest eash you can go by road in North America. It’s 900 km away.
Obi-wan