' MARION EXPEDITION TO DAVIS STRAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 5 



regarding conditions that would ^jrobably be met by the Marlon in 

 the waters of the north. 



Halifax was left on the evening of July 14. and some 24 hours 

 later we ai'rived at Sydney, Nova Scotia. Foggy w^eather with 

 little intermission prevailed during our run northeastward along the 

 Nova Scotian coast. On the 16th the ship was fueled and loaded 

 up with fresh connuissary stores. All hands sent letters liome and 

 made last purchases of needed articles, for it was realized that no 

 other truly civilized seaport would be visited for at least some weeks. 



Just before leaving Sydney Harbor, Captain Falk, of the Beothtc^ 

 was. interviewed on board his ship. He was preparing to depart with 

 her on a far northern cruise which for several years has been annu- 

 ally carried out by the Canadian Government. Captain Falk's advice 

 was extremely A'aluable, and so were several special charts of north- 

 ern harbors that he generously presented to the Marion. His cheer- 

 ful description of the Arctic sunnner removed many doubts and mis- 

 givings, and heightened the pleasant anticipation which animated 

 the ship's complement when Sydney Harbor was left behind on the 

 evening of July IC. 



Fog enveloped the ship almost as soon as it got outside, and it 

 remained thick throughout the crossing of Cabot Strait. On the 

 afternoon of July 17, after the run north across the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence was finished, the Marion began skirting the western shore of 

 Newfoundland, the first land to be sighted l)eing the high rocky bluff 

 of Cape St. George. The fog which had surrounded us since leaving 

 Sydney, quickly departed and the weather became w^arni and fine. 

 The setting sun lit up brilliantly the colorful slopes of Eed Island, 

 as the Marion passed close by it on a smooth and bright blue sea. The 

 next day was clear and pleasant at first, l)ut a thickening haze grad- 

 ually cut off our view of the Newfoundland mountains and valleys. 

 By midafternoon fog had again shut in thick. 



Looking back upon the cruise, one of the most uncomfortable situ- 

 ations was the night of July 18, as we chugged heavily into the nar- 

 row Strait of Belle Isle. Running before a fresh southerly w^nd in 

 the dense fog, we had left the w^arm water of the gulf to enter 

 abrupth' into almost Arctic conditions. The thermograph, which 

 registered only a few degrees above the freezing point, brought home 

 only too vividly the prospects of colliding with an iceberg. There 

 was little solace to be had in attempting to seek shelter along the 

 l)recipitous rocky shore of Newfoundland, so we kept on, sounding 

 frequently with the fathometer and hoping for better weather con- 

 ditions at daylight. 



Throughout the night the Marion cruised northeastward in the 

 Strait of Belle Isle, sighting nothing the next morning because of 

 the fog's continuance. Some 15 icebergs were known from reports 

 received by radio to be in the strait, but fortunately none w^ere 

 encountered. Thanks to occasional radio Ijearings, the Marion was 

 able to proceed right up under the diaphone of the southwest light- 

 house, and then halfway around Belle Isle itself, despite the dense 

 fog. Not until the afternoon of the 19th did the visibility clear up 

 sufficiently to permit the rocky heights of the island to be sighted. 



Our arrival at the Atlantic' end of the Strait of Belle Isle marked 

 the inauguration of a rigorous program of oceanography upon which 



