Newfoundland is a world-class cruising destination and we’ll certainly be back for more. Our initial plan for cruising the province was to circumnavigate the island, hitting the highlights. But after our first taste of the beautiful fiords and amazing view hikes along the south coast, we were hooked. We decided instead to spend our time there, visiting as many of the fiords as we could. We ended up travelling 277 miles in Newfoundland, while only covering about 50 miles of the outer coastline between our arrival and departure point.

While we very much enoyed our time in Palm Beach and Boston, we loved being back out in “the wilds” again after spending so much time in marinas. We anchored every night and only visited towns on foot or by tender. This is partly why we didn’t stop at the French holdings of Ile Miquelon and Ile Saint-Pierre when we passed close by on our arrival into Newfoundlad. We just wanted to get out there and ride on the hook. And the hassle of checking into France and back into Canada again also played a part.

Trip highlights from our last day in Newfoundland on August 28th are below. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. For more details on our trip, see the blog entry list or our complete trip map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps

Dolphins Position: -57 16.39, 47 34.34 A group of dolphins were leaping and jumping completely out of the water as we approached the Ramea Islands, but became a little more subdued as we neared.

Ramea Islands Position: -57 20.19, 47 32.83 Looking south towards North West Island in the Ramea Islands. Several wind turbines are on the right side of the photo.

North West Island Position: -57 22.53, 47 31.60 We initially were planning to spend a couple more days in Newfoundland and visit White Bear Bay, but the forecast for our planned departure deteriorated this morning so we decided to take today’s good forecast instead. We anchored briefly off the northern end of North West Island to secure our towed tender on the boat deck prior to the passage.

Ship Cove Position: -57 23.02, 47 31.24 MV Gallipoli moored at Ship Cove, the Ramea commercial harbour. The ferry runs between Grey River, Ramea and Burgeo and is the only car ferry we’ve seen so far serving a Newfoundland outport. Atop the hill at the left of the photo is a viewpoint with steps leading up to it. Northwest Island has several excellent walking trails and viewpoints. Had we not wanted to take advantage of the good forecast to make the run across Cabot Strait, we likely would have anchored off Muddy Harbour to the south of Ship Cove and spent at least a day here touring around.

Northwest Head Position: -57 24.31, 47 30.53 The light on Northwest Head will be the last Newfoundland lighthouse we’ll see on this trip. A web of thick cables secure the radio tower, indicative of the strong winds the area must see. The white line through the grass at the right of the photo is a boardwalk that leads from town to Northwest Head.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps.