Lost at Sea

July 23-24, 2015 – Day 38-39

When I woke up this morning, my voice was gone—lost at sea!  It started yesterday, with what I thought was a sinus infection, but then the voice went.  I wish I could say it was because of a big night of partying on the boat, but not the case…I think it’s just a cold that is being passed around our group.  At least writing a blog doesn’t require a voice! I took some cold medicine and a nap but my voice is still lost at sea. (Jim and Spot are cheering in the background!)

The Newfoundland weatherman was released from jail when the sun popped out yesterday and gave us a pleasant farewell.  It has been so long since we’ve seen blue skies, it just made everyone happy as we travelled from St. John’s to Argentia to take the ferry back to Nova Scotia.  The ferry trip was 280 nautical miles and took16 hours!  There was a stiff wind, but the ship was big enough that it was a fairly smooth ride.

We had to line up and be ready by 2pm, and they started loading at 3.  It took about 1 hour and 30 minutes to load the people and cars, and the ship was on its way by about 5pm.  Some of our group used their time to get a good game of cards going! 

We saw some beautiful scenery as we left the port. It was a really nice boat, and close to capacity.  There were over 200 cars, a slew of motorcycles, and quite a few rv’s.  There were two tour buses of people that boarded just before we did.  Each of us had a cabin, just like a cruise ship.  There were a bunch of people without cabins, and they laid around the lounges just like they were in an airport.  One guy brought his sleeping bag and slept on the floor; most people laying around had pillows and a blanket.  This morning, we got coffee and sat in the lounge to watch out the windows, and there was a big guy laying on the couch snoring so loud that we had to move!  I heard one of the “regulars” talking who said he was on a wait list for a cabin…they are sold out for 2 months!!  When you consider the only way to reach the island is by plane or by boat, it makes sense there is quite a demand for a ferry ride!

We enjoyed a nice buffet dinner last night (two trips to the dessert bar) and a guy played the guitar and sang in the lounge after dinner.   We were also entertained by a pretty sunset. There was a movie theater with reclining chairs, but it had been overtaken by those “camping” overnight.  There is a pet station on board, but pets must be in kennels and muzzled, so we opted to leave Spot in the motorhome in familiar surroundings. We had a long talk with him before the trip to let him know he was going to have to be a big boy.  We left him a “piddle pad” with some grass and greenery on it (just in case) since he was going to be cooped up for so long. He did great…he was really glad to see us this morning, and didn’t use his supplies. What a great traveler—he lasted over 16 hours!  I visited the pet area on board early this morning to see how they were coping, and one girl was sitting in a chair inside.  Her dog broke out of his kennel, so they required somebody to stay with him all night.  Her husband sat from 10pm-3am and she took over at 3—a long night for all of them.  I was glad Spot stayed where he did.

It was a very efficient exit from the ferry.  They released us about 9 am to walk down to the lower level for our vehicles and we were on the highway by 9:25!  We were the very last one loaded, so Jim was able to get a few pics of the area.  We thought we were going to be the last one off, but it didn’t work that way…they had a method to unloading quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

We are staying in North Sydney Nova Scotia for the next several days.  We had to change our clocks for the 30 minute difference in Newfoundland time…that still is a very weird thing to me.  We have the rest of the day to rest up for our next adventure!