We took two more hops down the coast of Nova Scotia: Shelburne to Cape Negro on Monday, and Cape Negro to Yarmouth on Tuesday. Yarmouth is a popular port for boats leaving to or arriving from Maine. It is also the port for the high-Speed CAT ferry from Bar Harbor.
The crews of True North, Amuleto and African Queen IV assembled at Rudder’s waterfront restaurant, for a casual dinner, to toast our last evening in Nova Scotia and Canada, and to plan the crossing to Maine.
Making new friends and sailing as a group is a wonderful experience. It is fun and exciting to travel together and share our experiences. In addition, when working as a group with a common goal, we are fortunate to get to know each other pretty intimately pretty quickly, as can be seen by our latest challenge in the discussion of our voyage from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Bar Harbor, Maine.
To determine whether we would do an eighteen hour overnight trip or whether to break the trip up into two hops, we had an intense discussion. We not only discussed the pros and cons of each option, but we also discussed our values and needs as individuals. For example, some of us thought the two day hop option was best and worth the extra day because it was more safe. We learned that some of us feel significantly more confident sailing in daylight with a continuous amount sleep versus the disrupted two hour on/two hour off sleep schedule required for an overnight sail. We feel we are best able to respond to an unforeseen situation such as unexpected high winds and waves, a problem with the boat, or in the most extreme case, a crew-overboard situation.
However, there were others who thought the one day overnight sail would be best. After all, we are experienced sailors, and we have the skills, the stamina and the experience needed to do the overnight cruise successfully. In addition, based on our research, this was the recommended way to do the crossing.
In the end, even though the overnight trip may have been thrilling, take less time and be safe, we wanted everyone to feel confident and comfortable for this important crossing from Canada to the US. I think the lesson learned is that facing challenges with our friends is one of the best ways to really get to know them.
