#10: Every Roseway Trip Has Its Thorn

The Roseway team patiently awaited in Yarmouth for a mechanic to drive from Halifax to inspect our generator on Tuesday, August 18. He arrived in the afternoon and promptly got to work. Unfortunately, he delivered some bad news to us after a few hours: the entire generator would need to be replaced. This is not a quick nor inexpensive fix.

Taking a close look at the generator.

 Sadly, the decision was reached that the observers would travel back to Maine while Captain Joe stayed in Yarmouth with the Shelagh until the generator could be replaced. We packed our bags, comforted Joe as best we could, and made our way to the Nova Star ferry early in the morning.

Upon boarding, we were excited to see this clever ad from NEAq and one of our funders, Irving!

The Nova Star ferry was a very comfortable way to travel from Yarmouth to Portland, ME. While the transit took about 10 hours, there were ways to stay entertained: a gift shop, a lunch buffet, and scheduled presentations and activities. Luckily, there was also plenty of room for us to stretch out and nap. 

The lounge seating we chose had loads of room for us to spread out.

Since we chose seats near the windows overlooking the bow, we were able to keep an eye on the water. The fog monster was real and persistent throughout the trip, which brought a small amount of consolation- had we been able to survey from the Shelagh, we would have had a very difficult time finding whales. For brief moments, the visibility would increase a bit and we held a casual watch, which paid off- we saw one humpback, several dolphins, and a few pilot whales!

Keeping a watch for right whales, just in case!

When we reached Portland in the evening, our colleague Dan met us with the work truck and all six of us piled in for the four hour drive to Lubec. Fog covered the road and the going was slow, but we made it to Lubec in one piece around midnight. A few days later, Joe and Jerry would bring the Shelagh back to Campobello Island- the generator can't be replaced before the second Roseway expedition, so the next team will have to make do without it.

Foiled by this guy...

...but still smiling!

-Marianna