| July 8th – Sambro, NS (my sister and Dad’s birthday – A very special day) |
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| Written by Eliza Garfield - Captain of SV Amistad | |
| Sunday, 08 July 2007 | |
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It has been a challenging time for everyone… We are all eager to get to sea, yet one more delay arises. A pump…. Ben the engineer has an inventory of spare parts a mile long and one pump got away from his eagle eye. They (those people we need to blame) said it was to arrive Friday. There was also word we had paid for Saturday delivery… We had pilots pushing us to leave Halifax in one trip, rather than what I would have preferred some sail training time and anchoring over night in the harbor. So we left Halifax and spent Saturday night lumping along outside of the harbor – waking up the latent seasickness that had been waiting for just such a moment to overwhelm a few crew members. Between the early morning fog, Halifax traffic control making off handed remarks about how slow we were going as we lolled around in the light winds and refused to use diesel fuel while just waiting for a pump, the night was taxing. In the end, we snuck into Sambro Harbor to quiet things down and let the few who needed it recuperate before this long journey. It seems we cannot do anything here without the whole community knowing about it – this is of course strange for a New Yorker like me, where no one ever cares if you do anything, especially take a small schooner through the 911 Harbor. The people of Sambro, however, are wonderful and Patrick Gray was out with the local Coast Guard to welcome us in and tell us we had to go into the dock so that the town could come visit. The Grays appear to be the folks of Sambro and they are just like all the Nova Scoatians I remember from the past – welcoming, helpful beyond belief, and gentle as can be. As soon as we anchored, spirits improved, the skies which had been leaden for 24 hours started to clear and by evening the cloud formations against a clear crisp blue sky were phenomenal. I gather throughout the night some discussions of celestial began and the stars came out in that kind of northern clarity you have to see to understand. I will be sad to leave Nova Scotia, her people and the beauty up here – but we are already making plans for our return in August 2008. These visits are always so packed with frenzie, press, logistics and people, I find it hard to make the fuller connections with potential friends. People like Gilbert and Laurie, John H-S and Wayn Hamilton, a friend I did not even have time to look up Crane Stookey and perhaps the most unique friends are Zoe and Gerry out on Sable Island. I had hoped one way or the other we would get there this trip - and visit the foul they named after Amistad last year. But the clock is already ticking too fast in England, and we have to get moving as fast as this little ship can move under wind alone. This will be our next challenge, one I think Amistad welcomes and one few aboard can truly comprehend - yet. That is of course – if we can track this pump down and get it through customs, before clearing it and ourselves out of the country – again! Comments
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 13 July 2007 ) |
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