Monday July 24 – Sailing the Gulf of St Lawrence

We lost an hour during the night because we entered another time zone. Lots of people either didn’t read their notice or just ignored it because heaps were having a really late breakfast! A sailing day, so perhaps they slept in. We didn’t, as usual, so breakfast was much quieter and very pleasant without the crowds.

It’s a lovely clear day, but a bit chilly at 11°! After we got up the ship passed four tall ships, motoring rather than sailing because the wind was in the wrong direction. The large four-masted ‘Esmeralda’, (a US coastguard training ship) was the last one so we must have passed all the others during the night and early morning. We will come across them again in Halifax, their destination. Lesley had told Gary that she was waiting for ‘Esmeralda’ so while we were having breakfast he told another of our group to say that it had passed on the other side of the ship! It hadn’t, and Lesley was fairly sure it was the one she had spied in the distance, but she reacted anyway, then realised her leg was being pulled. Gary is a wag!

Boats are wrapped in plastic for the winter, to keep snow out of them

lifting the gangway

casting off one of the ropes

US Coastguard training ship

This is the Esmeralda!

Sails at last, but way behind us

We walked around the promenade deck a number of time (about 3km) then went back to cabin. Lesley on computer and Stuart went to a Windows 10 workshop (half hour).

There are a number of wind farms on the right-hand side, showing how windy it gets.

Lunch was in the dining room, just for the Scenic group. We had a set menu, three-course meal. Very nice, and lots of chat. One of our group is an Australian Masters hockey player, and he and his wife travel all over, internationally as well, to play in the O'70s age group. They had been in Europe and Great Britain playing just before this tour, and his hockey gear is being stored in a hotel in New York waiting for them after this trip!

Another four laps (one mile) around the promenade deck and we felt we needed an ice cream (to undo the benefit of the walk) – the ship serves cones! We sat up top with three other couples from the group, leaning back on deck chairs and enjoying the scenery. Looked for whales but weren’t successful until we got back to the cabin and saw a spout every now and again.