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The 1990 Trip to Labrador
Maine Maritime Academy took possession of the Bowdoin in November,
1988, and after a token trip to Nova Scotia in 1989,
Captain Andy Chase decided that in 1990,
the Bowdoin would return to Labrador, with Macmillan's northern home,
Nain, the objective. On Sunday, July 1st, the Bowdoin departed
Castine, Maine for her first trip to Labrador in thirty-six
years.
Macmillan's trips north had relied on celestial Navigation to determine
the Bowdoin's location. Navigating was by compass and dead reckoning.
Charts were little better than nothing. The barometer and Macmillan's knowledge
of weather patterns and weather signs, what he could see, and what he heard from
other travelers about the ice conditions along the coast all helped Macmillan
choose a course. However, by 1990, navigation was aided by radios, a depth
sounder, radar, GPS, and a weatherfax.
But the Labrador landscape hadn't changed. Captain Chase wrote:
"This morning we got underway by 0430. The
weather is poor--colder'n hell (about 40°), drizzling and threatening rain and
fog. The cold goes right through you to the bone. We have a long day ahead--the
whole trip up the inside from Hopedale to Nain is one long brickyard. Many of
the passages are only a few tenths of a mile wide, others are wide open spaces
spotted with starred rocks. Depths range from 50 and 100 meters to zero, in an
instant. The fathometer trace looks like an EKG. My Good radar is still down,
but the little one is carrying the day. I sure hope he keeps ticking.
Also I have to consider that any of the
islands or rocks could be mis-charted…. There are 2 buoys on the chart that
covers about 1,000 square miles--there is one can and one nun inside Hopedale
Harbor. There are also two whole lighthouses.
Yesterday we came through a very tight hairpin
turn entering Hopedale Run, mark was on the wheel. As we approached what
appeared to be a cul-de-sac, with islands surrounding us just a few tenths of a
mile off, Zach asked Mark what he was steering. Mark's reply was classic. "3-2-5
Degrees, but Jesus Christ, has anybody looked up ahead?"
I can count 13 islands surrounding us. Only
one of them has a name--Nepalatik Island, to starboard. It actually has some
short trees on it. These may be the only trees we've seen in 2 days. The rest is
about 50% bare rock, 50% lichen and tundra.
The variation here is 32° W.
I wish we had a geologist aboard--there is a long story told in the
patterns of those cliffs.
Virginia Thorndike
The Arctic Schooner Bowdoin
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