St Mary's

We had no choice but to go find fuel and the people of Trepassey assured us there was a diesel pump in the town of St Mary's. St Mary's is further west and north along the Avalon Peninsula. It pained me to be heading west - the opposite direction to Ireland. My captain tried to convince me that based on the forecasted wind direction, our departure trajectory would be good so we'd not really be going too far out of our way...plus by now we knew approaching storms would keep us held up for at least a couple more days so we might as well visit someplace new.

It was another cold gray day but without rain or fog so we were grateful. Light winds followed us forcing us to make most progress under engine power. By late afternoon we had reached the expansive and deep waters of St Mary's Bay where we found ourselves surrounded by whales that kept is entertained for hours. Some whales were curious enough to surface very close and swim under us.

We anchored in St Mary's harbour, ate dinner on board and then took the dingy to the town dock to begin our adventures ashore. At the end of the dock we were greeted by workers at the local fish plant who gave us directions to fuel, the pub and other amenities. This would be the first of many friendly conversations and acts of kindness shown to us during our brief and wonderful visit. We were in luck, the fuel station was still open (until 8pm) and afterwards they had someone drive us back to the dock. Next intended stop was the pub which is about 1 1/2 miles from the center of town. Before we could begin the hike, a supervisor, Tony, at the fish plant gave a us ride to the Harbour View Pub where we spent a fun evening chatting and exchanging stories with the locals, including pub owners Steve and Nicole who arranged for our ride back to the dock.

The next morning we took another stroll around town before regrettably saying goodbye and setting sail for Trepassey Harbour, only because it gets us just a little closer to Ireland...

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