We departed N Sydney about 1 1/2 hours late this morning around 9:30AM for Port Argentia, Newfoundland. The trip is normally a 14 hour crossing but because the ship has one of its four engines shut down for repairs we will be 17 hours to NL. The weather is cloudy but we seem to have left the four days of Cape Breton rain behind and the forecast for St John's NL where we will be spending the next ten days is promising.
Loading was quite easy as we were directed straight into the aft center portion of Deck 1 among the RV's of the caravan that is headed to NL
Jeff did not reserve a cabin as it was planned as a daytime 14 hour trip that would arrive around 10:00PM so we have day/nighter recliners in a quiet area on deck 7 towards the front of the ship. Just to the front of our area is the movie lounge that has a weak WIFI signal from the bridge so Jeff spends quite a bit of time there. Once aboard we did rent bunk in a curtained area for Sue to nap in tonight.We also have gone down to the entertainment lounge to listen to an enjoyable show put on by Bugs and Debbie Greene from NL who are funny and sing a variety of music with a Newfie touch. Bugs told us that he came home and informed Debbie that they were gong on a year-long cruise: 250 trips to Port a Basque on board the Newfoundland Love Boat!
The seas are gently rolling waves of 4-6 feet so it looks like it will be a good trip. We boarded in the middle of a RV caravan that included a couple from Peoria where we spent 20 years before moving to the Seattle area. One of the couples worked at Caterpillar and Monk worked with one of our good friends and for our son-in-law's uncle. Almost daily we are reminded how small a world it really is! Our latest joke is that one of the ship's engines has been shut down all summer because the engines are Cats and Marine Atlantic can't afford the parts to overhaul it!We will arrive around 2:00AM local time so plan on driving a few miles to a shopping center to nap for a few hours before driving on to St John's.
