Halifax, Nova Scotia

Well, we have put many miles under the keel since I last had an opportunity to update the blog!  We have spent 9 days making our way down the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, with nary an internet or phone connection to be had!!

We ended up leaving St. Peter's after only the one night, as the weather predictions were for rain the next day, but more importantly, 30 knot winds the day after that!  We decided to make for Canso in the rain, and then hold out in Canso for the high winds.   We have met a lovely couple, Guy and Pika, who are also making their way to Halifax and have made the same weather-window decision, so the two of us went through the St. Peter's locks together, and headed out in to the Atlantic in the rain!!  The wind was predicted to pick up to 20 knots in the afternoon, however we were both in Canso by noon.  The rain stopped about an hour in to the trip, so we weren't too wet either!  After tying up, we went for a walk around a nature loop near the town called the Chapel Gully Trail.  The first portion is all a very well kept boardwalk which circled the tidal flats of Winter Creek.  It was a lovely walk, and weather permitting, we hoped to do the bigger loop the next day, but it was getting late and we needed to make dinner.  Just after we finished dinner, the marina manager came by with two bags of snow crab, freshly cooked, for George and I and Guy and Pika!!  What a treat!!  Thank you Mike!!  Although we were full from dinner, George shelled the meat right away and tested everything to make sure it was alright........???.......it definitely was!!!  The next day we had crab sandwiches for lunch...so good!!  The wind and rain hit with a vengeance during the morning, but slowly cleared up by the afternoon.  I walked in to town and did some shopping at the local co-op, then took the waterfront trail back to the marina.  Canso has a rich maritime history, as it is the first port of call for fishermen coming back from the ocean, so was a thriving fishing and fish processing town.  They still process some (hence fresh cooked crab!) but it is a quiet little town now.  There are some old pictures of the harbour packed with fishing schooners!  We have found Canso to be a very friendly little town and are glad we decided to weather the storm here!

St. Peter's Lock

Canso

Looking out to sea from Canso Marina

The next few days were all being given similar forecasts....10-15 knot winds in the morning, climbing to 15-20 in the afternoon.  Keeping in mind the seas also pick up as a result of this wind, we decided to essentially get away early in the morning, sail until about noonish, and try to have an anchor down before the winds get too high.  This meant that we spent our first night just past Tor Bay, in Fisherman's  Harbour, and the next night just past Liscombe in Marie Joseph Harbour, in the lee of Goose Island.  We realized we were in our good friend, Fred Wilson's, old stomping grounds!!  We were sorry we couldn't see Wilson's Point, but we thought of Fred and wondered if he had also found shelter in Marie Joseph Harbour in his youth!!!!

cockpit view of Goose Island

sunset behind Round Island

The next morning we were surprised to awake to fog!!  We could hardly see the shore, so decided to stay put, as we were in the middle of what is locally called the 'Inside Passage' and is strewn with rocks, shoals, and small islands.....not all of them marked!!  We settled in and made french toast with blueberries and a whole pot of coffee and a good book to help dispel the 'Foggy Morning Blues'!!  At 10:00 am the fog suddenly lifted, and we decided to take advantage, as we hadn't received a good weather forecast for the next day yet and, although we liked our anchorage, we weren't well protected from NW winds, and we had been getting predictions for 30-40 knot winds from the SW coming the next day.  We picked our way through the rocks and shoals in beautiful, clear, sunny weather, and as soon as we hit the open ocean, the fog rolled back in!  We weren't too concerned, because at least we had cleared all the immovable dangers, anyway!  Now we had only to worry about other traffic, of which there seemed to be very little up here!!  We did pick up a fisheries vessel on our radar right in our path, as it was between two dangers, so a natural route to take.  George radioed him to see what he was doing and to notify him of our direction of travel, only to find he was anchored there!!  It seemed a strange place to anchor, especially in the fog, however, 'ours is not to question why, but to simply veer south around him'!!!  (OK, that is not the exact quote, but it will do for now!!)  Eventually, we arrived at Pope's Harbour.  Guy and Pika had recommended Shelter Bay on Pope's Harbour as a well-protected place to hide out a blow, as well as a beautiful little bay, and we were anxious to be in a good place for the predicted high winds of the next day.  We arrived just as the fog lifted again, so were able to see our way in to the bay and met Guy and Pika who had arrived there the day before!  George added a small anchor to our anchor chain to act as a kellet in case the wind did pick up, and we settled in for the night!  The next morning we woke to fog again, which did not lift for the whole day!!!  Also, the winds that we had been hearing about for three days never came either!!!  Made a mushroom soup with biscuits for supper (which didn't help decrease the now very high moisture content inside the boat as well as outside!!) and got through the lion's portion of our book we have been reading!

The next day dawned bright and  sunny, but cold and, finally, windy!!  So stayed put again, trying to dry out!!  Had Guy and Pika over for pot luck supper.....I tried to force summer weather by making three supper salads and more biscuits, but nothing doing I'm afraid!!  Day just got colder, but did stay dry and sunny!!!  We enjoyed watching a bald eagle fishing in the bay this morning!

The next day dawned sunny and cold again, but 10-15 knots wind in the morning, increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon, so off we went at 0630, to make Jeddore Harbour before the winds picked up.  We passed by Clam Bay on our way to Jeddore, which brought back all kinds of wonderful memories spending the day at the beach with the boys!!  That was such a great beach!!  Lots and lots of sand with shallow water....great for swimming, not so great for sailing!  So we passed by, full of memories!  The Jeddore Inlet is long and narrow, well-bouyed, but not a lot of room for error, which eventually opens up to a small harbour where we dropped our anchor and enjoyed a sunny afternoon.  However, as we shared a cup of evening coffee/tea on the SV Tina with Guy and Pika, we could see the fog bank looming over the coast, and we wondered what tomorrow would bring!

George woke early the next morning, and although he could see fog out at sea, the channel looked clear, so he roused his sleepy first mate and we got the anchor up and started under way.  We were not too worried about being at sea in the fog, as this passage to Halifax was pretty straight forward, but we did want to get out of the channel before the fog rolled in.  Unfortunately, the fog moved faster than we did, so by the time we were in the channel, so was the fog!!  Thank goodness for GPS!  We kept our eyes peeled for the bouys and retraced our passage in from the day before, which led us out to the ocean without incident, as the banks are so low and muddy, they do not pick up on the radar.  Once out to sea, we turned our radar on and motorsailed all the way to Halifax in the fog!  As we were passing Lawrencetown Beach (another beach with lots of memories!!) the fog lifted, and we entered Halifax Harbour under sunny, clear skies, that were warming considerably!!

entering Halifax Harbour

entering the Northwest Arm

We dropped our sails and our winter coats and pants as Point Pleasant Park hove in to view.  Leaving the park to our starboard, we headed up the beautiful Northwest Arm, full of summer sailing activity!!  There are three yacht clubs on this arm, and it shows!!  The land has essentially been left alone, so although there are lots of houses, there are lots of trees, too, so it really is peaceful and beautiful here!  At the very end of the arm, we arrived at our destination; the Armdale Yacht Club.  Here are some views from our dock!

stone bank is the causeway leading to the island; grey brick building is the old prison

The AYC is built on and around a small island called Melville Island.  The docks are situated all around the island, like the spokes of a wheel, with the island being attached to the mainland by a small causeway.  On the island is a small, brick building that was originally built in 1796 to hold prisoners of war!  It then went on to incarcerate POW's from the War of 1812, barracks for men training for the foreign legion, and then ultimately, prisoner's again in WWI.  In 1948, the yacht club bought the island, and has owned it ever since.  The prison is still here, and the cells are now rented out to the boat owners as storage lockers!!  There is an old house at the top of the hill which is used now as a restaurant and bar for the members.  We like the feel of this yacht club and will enjoy staying here for a few days while we do a few jobs on the boat (replace lost hydrovane, replace non-working charger, maybe some brightwork??) and re-provision.  We are pretty much out of food, and this will be our last chance for a little while to do a big shop!!

Delicious brunch at the Armdale Yachtclub!...Happy 34th Anniversary!!