Storyline: Atlantic Canada, Take 2
10:46pm, June 27. It’s still half an hour before departure. I’ve found my reserved seat. There’s a reasonable distance between seats, but not 6’ (2m). Only about 25% of the passengers in here are masked. I’ve checked out the outside deck and it’s a possibility if things don’t quiet down in here. My main issue is the guy in the row behind. He’s already snoring heavily. Arrrghhhh.
Loading was interesting. We were all directed to return to our vehicles at around 9pm and the transport trucks began loading immediately. Then the regular vehicles that, I suppose, were below 2.5 metres high. Doranya is 3.05. So we are parked on the big boys’ deck. I was finally given the go ahead to embark at about 10:15. Knowing that the ferry wouldn’t leave without me made it unimportant when I boarded. But only because I had a reserved seat. For the return, and much longer passage there are no reserved seats. So it’ll be Hobson’s choice for me, I guess.
The chain saw behind me has apparently run out of fuel, so I’ll try to get 40 winks.
Damn. Only 37 winks. Decided to try to film our departure. Time will tell if the videos are usable. So I explored a bit. My reserved seat is on deck 9, which also sports a snack bar (closed). The ‘sundeck’ is up a set of stairs on 10. 8 is the cabins and 7 is reception, the non-reserved seating, snack bar (open), restaurant (closed), bar(open, of course), internet stations (not working) and gift shop (open). I also peered through a door and looked at what appears to be a buffet (not set up, but perhaps in the morning). There is also a notice that they are trying to offer wifi on a trial basis. I logged in and was able to get a marine forecast (wind warning for overnight and morning) for the Cabot Strait (which we are crossing). Hmm.
When I left deck 9 there was lots of chatter and it wasn’t very relaxing. There were lots of available seats on what was a quieter deck 7, but that may be a matter of timing. We are about 45 minutes into the voyage and I’m feeling the ferry begin to roll with the waves. Not much, but noticeable.
3:45am: had to get out of the lounge at around 3:00. There was a symphony of snoring, plus I had a catch in my throat that was making me cough to clear it every few minutes. Decided to check the sundeck. We’ll, not only was there no sun, but it was pouring rain, too. The ferry is rolling a bit. Nowhere near enough to, say, put a glass of water at risk, but enough to be noticeable. And to severely incapacitate Diana should she have been on board. ‘‘Twas a good choice to have her fly to Deer Lake, although it may have been a better choice for her to have flown in tomorrow. Finding a meal was a bit of a challenge for her. Not that there’s nowhere to eat in Deer Lake. It’s just that you really have to like battered and deep-fried food. From the sound of it when she texted me, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d been told that they deep fry the drinks, too.
Back onboard the ferry, I found a very quiet spot in the internet lounge. It’s like an alcove near the now closed bar and the restaurant. Maybe 5 x 7 metres. Along one wall is a counter with 5 computer monitors ranged along it. On the opposite wall is a long banquette…a 7-seater. There are a couple of round bar-type tables mounted to the floor, and a couple of uncomfortable-looking chairs to go with them. And there is absolutely nobody here. I ( gulp) even took off my n-95 mask.
Spending my time reading and now writing this, but I’ll try to get some more sleep so I’m ready for the drive to Deer Lake when I disembark. Can’t wait to dig into some of that deep-fried food. 🤤
6am (6:30 NL time). Almost 2 hours of sleep! I had put on my mask before dropping off. Glad I did! The table next to me is now occupied. Don’t know when he showed up. To sleep I had put my bag of warm clothing on the table and leaned over to put my forehead on the bag. I just remembered that was a favourite position of mine when I was in hospital and too uncomfortable to sleep lying down.
It’s also daylight. It’s very grey out here. But the waves are pretty small. With only the occasional whitecap. Can’t feel much movement. We appear to have also left the rain behind us. If we’re on time we should be arriving in about an hour. That means our wake up announcement should be coming in the next 15 minutes or so.
Ha! I got fooled. My phone had already switched to NL Time. So it was 1/2 hour earlier local time than I thought when I wrote the above paragraphs. So we still have 70 minutes to go if we are on time.
And oops, also got fooled about the rain. Still chucking it down.
And it chucked it down for the first hour and a half of my 2.5-hour drive to Deer Lake. I must say that the scenery for first half hour was absolutely stunning, and perhaps more so because of the moodiness of low clouds and mist. Other than that, the trip was uneventful. The highway was well-maintained and went a long way towards allaying my fears of huge potholes throughout. The fears were based on my experience driving here a little over 20 years ago. I remember the construction signs from then: “Please bear with us while, for your discomfort and inconvenience, we are installing new improved potholes”. Memory is a funny thing, isn’t it?
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