Arriving in Labrador, Canada

So it has been a little quiet on the blog and we are behind with our posts, but it has been very relaxing getting to Canada! No ice bergs, comfortable marinas and no nights adjusting lines and fenders due to wind and tides.

We had originally planned on arriving at Lewisporte, Newfoundland, because all the cruising books said that this was the closest port of entry. However, a week before leaving Greenland, we read that someone had gone straight to Mary’s Harbour, Labrador, shortening the crossing by approximately 150 nautical miles, which is at least a days sailing time. This was a very tempting alternative for two cruisers, who prefer seeing places to spending days offshore sailing.

We contacted Mary’s harbour and the local RCMP officer confirmed that we could make landfall and clear customs there. He agreed to make the arrangements with the local Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA) office at Goose Bay so that we could call them on arrival in Canadian waters. For us this was a much better route and we also had heard good things about Battle Harbour, which was 9 miles from Mary’s harbour.

Crossing the Labrador Sea

The Labrador Sea is known for its cold, nutrient-rich waters. It plays a crucial role in ocean circulation through the Labrador Current, which influences climate patterns across the North Atlantic. This marine environment supports a diverse array of life, including various fish species and marine mammals like seals and whales, making it a hotspot for marine biodiversity. For a sailor the Labrador Sea is notorious for its ice bergs, fog banks, hurricanes, complex currents and turbulent waters, so we were cautious in our departure planning.

Several times we moved it forward, but were also mindful the winter could arrive quickly when sailing across. When we finally had a good weather window our recharging sleep was disrupted. The before setting off we were bullied at our anchorage by a large ice berg floating around the fjord. We spent most of the night on ice berg watch.

This meant that we took off without being fully rested, into what from the forecast would be turbulent water, but with light winds to sail or motor in. The wave forecast was only for 2 meter height but it told us, that we would experience a lot of vertical acceleration for half the crossing. This is the rapid up and down motion, that makes it difficult to move about and induces nausea and seasickness.

The first day we still had to keep watch for ice bergs and though we got to the outer part of the ice forecast area by night time, it was still an unpleasant night: Completely dark with the uncomfortable sea, but at least we had good speed from the sails.

We spent day 3 and 4 were motoring, with short periods of sailing and motor sailing. Still in very uncomfortable sea, but now we also had the dreaded fog during most of the daytime. The only bright side to these days were the beautiful aurora at night and the phosphorescence in the water.

On day 5 and 6 the fog cleared and the vertical acceleration eased. The mix of sailing and motoring continued, but now we started to see loads of dolphins and whales along with beautiful sunrise and sets. At one point we could see the waterspouts of whales everywhere we looked on the horizon and we were surrounded by an abundance of birdlife.

On this passage we had some mixed feelings about the phosphorescence, because the white flashes from that and the wave crests sometimes looked just like ice in the water. At night your mind likes to play tricks with your imagination.

Overall the 6 day passage was relatively uneventful. We ended up motoring almost half the way, but considering how unpleasant the sea was, we were happy to reach protected waters of Canada.

Mary’s Harbour

We were met by the local RCMP officer, who was the most friendly and helpful guy. We had already sent the border control at Goose Bay the official papers and answered a few questions over the phone and by email, so he was just checking that we had arrived well and had been in contact with them. Later in our post you can read about some sudden surprises we got with the Canadian border control.

Over the next few days he helped us get petrol for the generator (a 2 hour return drive!) and took us for a trip around town to try and find some black bears.

They had a good supermarket for stocking up and it was a nice protected harbour for Sarah to get some time on the stand-up paddle board.

Historic Battle Harbour

We had heard that Battle Island and harbour (just 9NM from Mary’s harbour) was worth a visit, even thought it had just closed for the season.

This place is an absolute must do! It is such a charming place and we were lucky to meet a local man, who had a cabin there.

Battle harbour was one of the original Labrador communities and was an extremely important fishing harbour. It’s known as the unofficial capital of Labrador and was once the salt fish capital of the world. It was also an important communication link relaying messages between Labrador and Newfoundland via its Marconi wireless station. The antenna towers can still be seen on the Island.

Battle Harbour fell into decline following reductions in the cod fishery and a major fire in 1930, and was finally abandoned as a permanent settlement following government resettlement activity in the 1960s.

Now it is a museum and seasonal accommodation owned by a historic trust and there are also a few people who still have cabins there, they can use in the summer.

We were greeted by a friendly resident, who could give us personal tour of the place and tell us the stories of how it was to live there as a kid.

The island also has a small, but somewhat gloomy hike where you visit a plane crash site, the old cemetery and end at the new cemetery. But it is a very picturesque walk and we also enjoyed meeting the local arctic fox.

The harbour is sheltered and is a popular staging post for boats heading to Greenland. We can imagine that the space can be a little tight if several sail boat arrive at the same time.

We were ready to sail the short distance to Newfoundland where we will visit the location where the first Vikings set foot on North American soil, there we can say that we have successfully completed our Viking Route.

We also have several large packages arriving at Lewisporte for some technical boat work, such as installing North American shore power! More on that later in a new technical post.

A note about the CBSA and arriving in Canada

We always try to be compliant when it comes to immigration and customs so we had spoken to the CBSA a few times before sailing to Canada. We followed the advice we had been given and on arrival in Canada, we were issued a Form A6 by CBSA Goose Bay as evidence of our customs and immigration clearance into Canada.

We have subsequently been told that this is the wrong form/process and that we should have been given a CANPASS number. However, we are still confused as we understand from reading everything on the CBSA website that CANPASS is only applicable for US citizens and boats. We were informed by a CBSA officer in Halifax that the A6 form is usually only used for visiting cruise ships with over 100 passengers.

This has resulted in us having to give more lengthy explanations when speaking to the CBSA about our onward travel plans and our short trip to Europe. We are leaving our boat in Canada when we visit the UK and Denmark and have had to complete a temporary import declaration in person at St John’s CBSA office. We know of other boats that have not had to do anything and some that had to leave a deposit. What we have learnt is that the law and regulations can be interpreted differently depending on which CBSA officer you speak to with one often contradicting the other.

The lessons for us are: Firstly, to try to get everything in writing. Secondly get the name of the person you are dealing with.

It’s just one of those first world formalities we have to deal with when travelling from country to country.