(Continued after tea.) The boys have come. All are cheerful. One by one the natives drop in to see us.
I was welcomed at the landing as the first woman to come to Newfoundland. I didn’t get the point. Perhaps the agent mean flyin’. I dunno. I said I was honored. He said Nfld. was. La de da.
School had been let out early and I have a vision of many white pinafores and aprons on the dock. As soon as we stepped ashore we were given three cheers and the (aforementioned) government agent rushed up. Also the telegraph operator with three telegrams for me. We were led to a dinner of chicken and dandelions and “badadoes.”
Mrs. Deveraux (at the home of whom we are lodged) was quite overcome, and felt me to be sure I was present in the flesh.
We may not get off tomorrow as the wind is as violent as ever; which means the expected storm is coming nearer.
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The wind held the key to our problems. For three days it blew briskly from the northwest. This was ideal for the flight itself, but far from ideal locally, as it stirred up such sea it was impossible to load the gasoline with safety. What’s more, Bill feared that the heavy weight of the load left on board the Friendship might seriously injure her as she was buffeted about in the rough water.
The necessity of landing at all at Trepassey was a tragedy for us, the extent of which became apparent during the fortnight of delay which followed. Had we been able to carry enough gas from Halifax we certainly would have kept on eastward as the flying conditions on the day of our arrival appeared ideal. But once in Trepassey we were trapped.
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Log Book: