Tuesday 7th July.

There are strong tidal currents along the Great Bras d’Or passage, so we set off at 7am to get a fair current through the narrows.  No wind, so we were motoring and made great time.  We had intended to get to Otter Harbout, 46 13.15N 60 31.78W, but made such good time (with the fair current’s assistance), that we pressed on to Kelly’s Cove, 46 17.34N 060 26.21W.  So tomorrow we only have one narrow, strong tidal section to negotiate. 

We tied up on the public wharf, hoisted our bullet and connect to wifi!  There was one fishing boat tied up behind us and a small powerboat in front.  We reckoned that we had left enough room for one more fishing boat, should one turn up.  One did, and the skipper was a miserable old b*gg*r.  He indicated to me that I should move forward with sign language, and so I did.  (He was already tied up by the way).  After he had left I realized that he had left a much bigger space between his boat and the boat behind, than he had between the two of us.  I guess we just looked like a couple of rich tourists, (and probably compared to him we are), but it made me realise just how nice, friendly and helpful 99% of the fishermen we’ve met along the way have been.

Teresa went for a walk, and Ron tried to make sense of the several sources of tidal data we had.  They didn’t seem to agree with each other and didn’t agree with the length of the fair tide we had experienced this morning.  Then we looked at the weather forecast (SW 15-20 increasing to SW 20-25 in the afternoon).  Gulp!  Oh well for most of tomorrow’s trip the winds will be behind us, so we’re planning to set off early and hope we get similar tides to those we had today. 

Ships Log: 4630.4, Todays Log: 19.6, Seasons Total: 182.5