I'm on a boat!

Today I learned that me and ferries just aren't a good combination. We knew we had a tight schedule to begin with, but there was a chance we would dock in time and get down to Port aux Basques to catch the second ferry, scheduled to depart at 11pm. I kind of had a feeling it wasn't going to happen, but no guts no glory.

The first indication of trouble was when we left dock 53 minutes late. But an hour was still within the realm of possibility, so we didn't worry too much. Then we noticed there was a bit of ice in the water. It wasn't very long before we were hearing murmurs from the locals that we would be delayed. At this point it was time to start thinking of contingency plans. Plan A: We dock and there's even a glimmer of hope of catching the next boat, so we Cannonball Run it to Port aux Basques. Plan B: We know we can't make the boat and have to catch the morning ferry. Do we stay in Corner Brook and get up early, or drive down tonight through some rough areas, but take it easy in the morning?

When you're stuck on a ferry for any length of time, there are only a few options to prevent insanity: Sleep, walk around, play a game, or watch whatever is on the one tv in the lounge. I went outside briefly to get some pictures while in port during sunrise. Then the brutal wind and cold got annoying, so I went in and took a nap. After that, it was back outside. Basically, Ben, Carl, and I spent pretty equal amounts of time in and out of the cabin. 

I don't entirely remember when, but at some point we went outside and were standing just below the bridge. I'm not sure if we were supposed to be there, the gate leading to it was closed, but there wasn't a sign telling us to stay out. We did notice them coming over to the window and looking at us and Carl commented on how much he really wanted to go in there. Finally, we turned around to head back inside, and all of a sudden a guy appears behind us and asks if we want to have a look around. Um, yes please!

Inside was pretty much what you'd expect, but it was still cool to look at all the instruments and charts. They weren't entirely chatty, but they weren't rude. Any question we had they were happy to answer. But most of the questions came from them about our cars. They really can't believe those little cars can handle that terrain, but they were rather excited about the horsepower and mileage. We were also informed that the ship would definitely be docking late, probably around 9 or 10, after our cut-off. After a while the inevitable question came: Could we mount our GoPros there? Sure! We practically ran back to grab our gear. Several others heard what what going on and followed us back. I made sure to ask before just barging in with 6 people, but they didn't seem concerned. However, in the five minutes since I'd left, it was a completely different mood. Suddenly we were in the ice again and there were four men in the windows looking for thick ice, with I assume the captain calling out headings to the man behind the wheel. I made a hasty retreat after setting up my camera, not wanting to disturb them while they tried to keep us from going Titanic. 

MAPS!

I don't see Ludicrous Speed

After that, a good chunk of time was killed with a disturbingly funny round of Cards Against Humanity. It was kind of surprising who the most shocking answers came from at times. A few of the locals were intrigued by our boisterous laughter and came over to see what was going on. We would show them a few cards, and every one of them broke out in a big grin and chuckled. The Newfies are not prudes, I'll give them that.

Around 8pm I ran up to grab my camera. I found it amusing and unsettling that they just didn't care about me letting myself in. Clearly security is a little different than back home. We still weren't near port, but it was pitch black so I wouldn't have been able to film anything anyway. It also appeared that while I had prepared the camera to do a time-lapse, I hit the video button instead so my memory card had gotten full at some point. We popped it into the laptop and I was relieved to find that it had stopped filming right after sunset. I have almost 4 hours of us just cutting through ice, which I'm very excited to go through. It occurred to me that since I had set up the camera inside the bridge, I picked up any conversations they'd had, including anything about us. The ole fly on the wall! So I will literally sit through all of this hoping to catch just one funny line.

In the end, we docked around 10, and I'm actually typing this in the car so that I can upload it as soon as we get to the hotel. It should take us about 2.5 hours to get there, and Ross called ahead to book rooms. They even transfered our ferry reservations, so everything is good to go in the morning. Once we get to Nova Scotia around 5, it's going to be a mad dash to Blaine's. He thinks we should get there around 5am. I'll sleep for a few hours and then head home, hopefully getting back in the evening. I miss my bed dearly, and I'll have to wait a day, but I'll be happy to see Ruthie again. More than anything, I want a giant salad and all the fruit I can find!

Imagine staring at that for 12 hours