Ship Handling Experience For All Hands

Posted on: June 10, 2023

June 10

Good weather and a good sendoff from Lunenburg but before long we were motoring in little wind and plenty of fog. After about 12hrs of motor sailing we were able to cut the engine as a brisk NW wind carried Bowdoin along at 9-10 kts. Some crew were still gaining there sea legs, but nobody had to be asked to help out their shipmates. Top speed of the day was 10.9ktn. Once clear of Canso, we hardened up the sails and swung the bow towards Cape Breton and began to short tack in 10-25kts of wind. Very shifty up and down. It was a great several hours of ship handling and practice  for all hands. And the cook!! At around 1800 local time (AT) we struck sail, fed the crew and made our approach to the lock wall in St. Peter. The wind became calm and the water glassy due to what we like to call “lock weather”.  After watching us tie up alongside the lock wall, several locals stopped by to say “Hi”.  Amazing how many knew the history of the boat and that made a very nice welcome. Perfect weather combined with the town a short distance away combined for the crew to find Tim Horton’s and WIFI. Upon receiving the latest ice reports for Belle Ilse Straits, I was relieved to see the ice conditions had changed a fair amount in 42 hrs.

Sincerely,
Capt Alex Peacock

Student at helm