June 30, 2014. Monday. St. Bride's to the Labrador Sea.

Today was a melancholy day about leaving. We expected to spend the day making our way 50 km to the ferry, but we left the B&B late and didn't find most of the places to stop we were looking for, so we make it to town early.

We did make a nice stop at Cape Verde where we walked on the beach admiring polished surf-stones and spotting some 20,000 Sooty Shearwaters, a few gannets, and one Great Shearwater (LB#632) far out on the sea, and generally reminiscing about our time on the island. We are sad to be leaving.

Before catching the ferry, we needed to get some groceries and sort out our gear. By chance, there was a festival in the grocery store parking lot (in Newfoundland during summer, there is festival somewhere everyday -- Newfoundlanders are a hardy lot, but they do celebrate warm weather and friendships).

With a local band entertaining the small crowd, we stayed and listened to the music and packed for the ferry (no access to vehicles during the voyage). Having spent some time here learning the history and talking with people, the Irish ballads of leaving Europe and sailing to Newfoundland made sense, as did the ballads about men against the stormy sea, ballads about love lost back when the winter days were warmer and the summer fog lighter, and songs about being the proud son of a fisherman.

With some extra time and a change of music from ballads to Willie Nelson, I went to Tim Hortons for free wifi and Liz went to Canadian Dollar General to see what they had. On her return, Liz commented that they have the same junk as American Dollar General, except that it costs more up here (actually they carry different kinds of stuff too).

We arrived at the Argentia ferry terminal just ahead of the 3 PM deadline for the 5:00 PM sailing. The ferry runs overnight and takes 13-15 hours depending on conditions, so tonight we will "camp" in the Labrador Sea. Aboard ship, we met up with a group of birders we had seen at Cape St. Mary's. Together we looked for seabirds in the cold wind, spotting a few dozen Sooty Shearwaters and Great Shearwaters, and even several Manx Shearwaters (LB#633). I stayed outside into the darkness (about 10 PM) looking for Leach's Storm-Petrel and Wilson's Storm-Petrel, which up here are nocturnal birds that nest in burrows on islands and come out to feed on the sea at night. I got pretty cold, but never saw the birds.

We didn't get a cabin, as they are expensive and in short supply, so we will be sleeping in recliner chairs. Dinner was an excellent buffet with lots of fresh fish and vegetables, but too many desserts. We finished the night knitting and typing in the forward lounge listening to live music and several drunk people.

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
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