Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club (RNYC) in Long Pond

June 21st 2015

I am writing this in slip 118 at the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club (RNYC) in Long Pond (more on this later.  We left Halifax early in the morning of Sunday June 14th bound for St. John's Newfoundland.  The first three day saw winds out of the South which made for a nice broad reach.  We alternated between the genoa and the staysail depending on wind speed but we did not see anything much over 25 knots.  We rounded Capoe Race on Wednesday morning which put the wind behind us in a big quartering sea.  The wind speed steadily increased - Canadian Coast Guard were forecasting gale force winds for the afternoon.  It was impossible to keep wind in the staysail so we motored.  For the last stretch into St John's we saw 40 knot winds, pouring rain and breaking 15 foot waves; a very good test for the new autopilot (which performed admirably).  We tied up at the floating dock at Harbourside Park (Queens Wharf) at 1740.  Canada keeps a very close watch on its coast line.  About two hours before arriving at Halifax we were buzzed - very low - by a small airplane who hailed us on 16 and wanted to know where we were coming from and where we were going.  About three hours before entering St. John's we were contacted by St. John's Harbour Traffic Control asking for a destination and an arrival time and asking us to contact them on Channel 11 when we entered the narrows.  They do not get a lot of small boat traffic.

St. John's harbor is full of massive offshore supply and anchor handling boats and they come and go all the time but the arbor itself is really not set up for small pleasure craft.  Queens Wharf has two floats that each can accommodate two boats (one each side).  there is a small boat wharf at the end of the harbor with power and water but it is fixed and is nearly always full of fishing boats.  Because our water maker was (is) not functioning we had to relocate temporarily to a space in the commercial supply boat wharf and were supplied with 80 gallons through a 2 inch hose.  Water costs $1.60 a ton; we got ours for free.

It is important to say a few words about Newfoundland and its people.  I have never been to a friendlier place where the people are more helpful.  Even though they do not really have small boat facilities - they only get about two dozen a season, the harbor office went out of their way to help us.  About 30 minutes after we tied up the first time we were visited by a port security person with a welcome package and a smile.  They do have a nominal charge per night which we were to pay on leaving but as we left on Saturday the office was closed so I am hoping we can send them a check when they open back up tomorrow.  Sue asked someone where the nearest liquor store was (we were out of beer) and the lady insisted on driving her there and then to the grocery store and then back to the boat - she would not take no for an answer.

One of the cruising guides we have is for the arctic including Greenland, Iceland and Faroe.  It was written by Andrew Wilkes and most of the photographs were taken by his wife Maire.  The day before we left St. John's a classic gaff rigged yawl came into the harbor and Gregers and I helped it tie up to the other side of the float.  The couple sailing it seemed very nice.  Next morning I was looking at the cruising guide and realised the picture on the front cover was of our new neighbor's boat. It was indeed Andrew and Maire and they came over for cocktails that evening - a very pleasant affair.

We left St, John's the next morning and motored around cape St. Francis into Placentia Bay.  Halfway down the Eastern shore is an oil terminal and the entrance to Long Pond, home of the RNYC.  We were met by the Commodore and the Vice Commodore and treated extremely well.  A very friendly and welcoming place.  They have good facilities - we filled up with diesel and I am now bankrupt - showers, a laundry electricity a restaurant and a bar.  We will stay here until about Tuesday when we will depart for Nuuk.