Day 25 – Lockeport to Brooklyn
The wind was already strong when we headed out of Lockeport. We sailed out of the harbor to find the wind, though forceful, was not creating much swell as it was coming from the shore. The skies were clear, the wind was with us, a great day for covering some miles. I was in high spirits.
Isla cruised forward on a broad reach, and we watched our speed climb as the wind grew even stronger. We saw over nine knots, an impressive rate for a boat with a hull speed of seven. Before the gusts grew too strong to handle, we pointed up wind to take the air out of the sails, dropped the headsail, and reefed the main. This rigging proved very manageable, so we put up the storm jib, which balanced the force of the reefed main nicely and kept us moving comfortably in the extremely powerful gusts.
As we passed Mouton Island, which seemed to lack its namesake moutons, we saw a minke whale fifty yards to starboard heading south. Eight whales! Not long after, Andrew caught sight of another dorsal fin this time just ahead of the boat. As we drew close, a shark, stocky and five to six feet in length, darted away into the deep green water. It appeared to be a porbeagle, largely harmless to humans, and not to be confused with the dog moping in the cockpit, the poor beagle, who has been known to nip an arm when roughhousing.
We dropped the sails and motored into the wind up the wide mouth of the Mersey River to the Brooklyn Marina. The Marina is run by volunteers, nice folks, who didn’t hesitate to offer a ride to Liverpool for supplies, if we needed anything.
Across the inlet was a huge paper mill, closed in 2012, and the decommissioned HMCS Iroquois, waiting to be further scrapped. Despite the somber industrial scene surrounding the Brooklyn Marina the rest of the area was very pleasant. Andrew and I made use of the clubhouse Wi-Fi and showers and wandered around the surrounding well-kept houses. The weather forecast for the next day looked especially unfriendly for sailing. We committed to stay another night, and we celebrated with the cheapest tallboys we could find, Colt 45.
