There was at least one boat that crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence this weekend, and it’s not the one you’re thinking of.
This is a 23ft Silver Dolphin – an all-aluminum boat designed to handle choppy waters.
The boat owner’s girlfriend Blair Roberts, who is a pharmacist in Forteau, NL, was stuck in Sainte-Barbe then — with the Qajaq W docked at the wharf in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec, in due to high winds — Roberts took matters into his own hands and decided to sail the Strait of Belle Isle himself.
“She likes to be back here at 9 a.m. and when the ferry isn’t running late Sunday night, it upsets her plans,” Roberts said.
“That’s a big part of why I go there, but every time I’ve been down there has been no problem. It’s kind of unbelievable that the ferry doesn’t come.”
He made the trip for the third time this summer, leaving L’Anse au Loup to travel by boat to Sandy Cove. It usually takes him about 30 minutes.
“The conditions were favorable”
Roberts says the water conditions were favourable.
“I’m not 100% sure the sea conditions are the reason the ferry isn’t going. … I’m not doing anything crazy in any way,” Roberts told CBC. Labrador morning tuesday.
Roberts doesn’t consider himself an expert sailor, but he says many people are questioning the continued ship delays with the Qajaq.
“No one knows the underlying conditions. I mean everyone wants to blame the weather, the dock, the boat or the captain, but I think there are a lot of unknowns for people,” said Roberts.
“You can clearly see when the conditions are bad, but when it looks like something you’d literally put a kayak in, it makes you wonder why it’s not working.”
Don’t expect to hire him for a crossing, he insists.
“I don’t provide a service in any way. I only go there when someone I know needs to show up or need a ride,” he said.
When asked if he would open his ship to passengers other than people he knows, Roberts said he would not be launching a charter service anytime soon.
“Obviously if someone I know or someone needs to cross for some apparent reason I don’t mind crossing over and having someone, but I would not run a charter service under any circumstances. .” he said laughing.
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