Southwestern Shore, Nova Scotia

We left Halifax after spending 6 beautiful days at the Armdale Yachtclub, on Saturday, August 24.  We were  very lucky with our weather....lots of heat and sunshine, however already starting to cool down quite a bit in the evening, so lots of dew in the morning!!  While there, we ordered a sirius satellite weather system.  We have decided, after much consideration and consultation with some friends we have met along the way who have lots of experience on the Maine and New England shore, that we will continue on to the United States this fall.  Although we were originally concerned about the Caribbean's hurricane season affecting us in September, and thought we might stop in Halifax, we realize now that although it is still something to keep a close eye on (hence the weather system!!), it is, in fact rare that the full force of the hurricane can make it this far north, while the chance of both fog and crowded anchorages is greatly reduced in the fall.  Should a hurricane decide to brave our northern shores, we will have lots of warning and there are lots of places we can hide out.  So, with that in mind, and a new weather system successfully installed, we headed back out the Northwest Arm and in to the Atlantic, to begin the next portion of our journey; the Southwest Shore of Nova Scotia!

Northwest Arm

We had a propitious beginning....cloudless sunny day with a 10-15 knot N wind filling our sails from our stern quarter, and a following sea!!  We spent the entire day sailing with a beautiful schooner who couldn't quite pass us!!!  It was actually quite fun sailing with her and also seeing a number of other sailboats out on the water!  For the majority of our trip we have been the only boat in sight, so this was a pleasant change!  Because the wind was so great, we decided to push on to our original destination of Prospect Bay, even after a late start to the day.  We had heard all kinds of good things about Rogue's Roost, however we have also heard that 'the secret is out!', and especially on weekends, it is extremely crowded with motor boats and boom boxes, since it is so close to Halifax and therefore relatively easy to get to.  As a result, we decided to give it a miss.  Our hope is that we will find future anchorages along the way that will make up the difference!  As fate would have it, we found a lovely little anchorage behind Pig Island in Prospect Bay that was reported on as private and secluded.  However, as we rounded the corner, we realized we were going to take the last available anchorage site!!!  Another sailboat was already there, together with two other groups of motor boats rafted together, and, yes, playing their music for all of us to 'enjoy'!!!  Fortunately, some left shortly after nightfall, and the music stopped about 11pm, so the night was quiet!

sailing southwest, out of Halifax Harbour...with company!

our 'racing' partner

entering the cove behind Pig Island

Here are a couple of photos of the granite coast!

The next day dawned sunny and warm again, so after fiddling with our sticky jib furler, we headed back out to sail to Lunenburg!  This portion of our trip between Prospect Bay and Peggy's Cove has been dubbed the 'Granite Coast'...and for good reason!  I have included some pictures of the changing coastline for you.  Actually, that is why Peggy's Cove is so famous!  Any geologists in the crowd will know that there is all kinds of interesting history in the rocks of Peggy's Cove that is unique to the area!!  Although we have visited Peggy's Cove from the land when we lived in Nova Scotia, this is our first chance to see it from the ocean, so have also tried to share that with you!!!

Lunenburg is a beautiful little village to sail in to!!!.....Like Baddeck on steroids!  Because the day was again so beautiful and still the weekend, we continued to see lots of other sailboats enjoying the water, many of them schooners of all sizes!!!  And how appropriate, as we enter the village where so many of them have been built, the most famous of them being, of course, the Bluenose, whose image graces our Canadian dime!  We really enjoyed our short stay in Lunenburg and would have liked to stay longer, but we see bad weather coming in a couple of days, so feel we should continue to move on and try to take advantage of the days that are good for sailing and being on the water!

Bluenose II in refit

So, the next morning, we watched Lunenburg slip in to our wake, and made our way to La Have Harbour.  Picked up 15-20 knot SW winds almost immediately leaving the Lunenburg Harbour, so reefed early and enjoyed a fast sail to Le Have.  The water was starting to get rough just as we entered the Harbour, so were happy to find an anchorage and hide from the now 25 knot winds!!  We did not go up the river, so it was a bit tricky finding somewhere in the harbour, but eventually found a protected area just behind the Spectacle Islands. (There are actually a number of them, for those familiar with the ones in Lake Ontario!!)  Our trusty kerosene heater went on the fritz shortly before we reached Halifax, so we had picked up a propane heater, which we were very glad of that night!!!...Kept us nice and cozy while we watched a movie we had purchased at a used book/movie store in downtown Halifax!!

planning the next route.....is that a cup of tea on the chart??!!

The next morning we woke nice and early to get a good start for our next destination...Liverpool; only to find ourselves socked in with fog!!  The fog was expected to disperse by about 9:00am, so put on a pot of coffee and had breakfast at anchor.  By about 9:30 the fog lifted and we decided to make our way out of the Le Have Harbour.  The sea greeted us with a 15 knot south wind, which gave us a wonderful sail all the way to Liverpool.  Unfortunately, we did get in to some more fog, but it lifted as we made our approach to Liverpool Harbour and the Brooklyn Marina where we tied up for the night.  After having a shower and then a walk around the village, we enjoyed an outdoor concert by the Salvation Army and a guest bagpiper, then headed back to the boat for a salad supper and another movie!!!  We woke to fog again the next morning, so decided to get some re-provisioning done as there was a Superstore in the village of Liverpool, and I was still smarting from my Sobey's experience in Halifax.......spent more money there than I have in a long time (in fact I am sure I was overcharged on some items.....) and ended up throwing out half my produce as it went bad almost immediately!  NOT HAPPY!  Anyhoo, came back to the boat after successfully re-provisioning AND fixing George's glasses, and we both decided that with a forecast of high winds in two days, that we would move on today and see if we could make it to Lockeport where we were only a short day to Shelbourne from there, but a safe place to ride out the storm.

As soon as we cleared the harbour we entered thick fog, and for the first time in our journey, remained in it the whole day, until we entered the harbour of Lockeport at 7:00pm.  Although it was tiring to be in fog all day, as we had to keep a close watch for any contacts, of course, everything else about the day's weather was quite benign.....glassy calm water with practically no wind, and no rain, so all in all, could have been worse!  The great thing was, it did clear up just as we were entering the harbour, so had good visibility for tying up, and then the fog came rolling back in!  We tied up at the White Gull Marina;  a spot with two docks, no electricity, no water, no toilets, no showers, but a really nice little restaurant, which we took advantage of as it was open until 9:00pm!!!  We then walked around the quiet, foggy streets of Lockeport before retiring for the night on our damp little boat!!!  That night, and the next day, the winds picked up as predicted, so stayed put in Lockeport, waiting for the weather to improve for our trip to Shelbourne.

entrance to Lockeport Harbour

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!!

Bras D'Or Lakes

We left Ingonish Harbour, stuck our nose in to the wind, and started to make our way through the high seas down the eastern coast of northern Cape Breton.  Our aim was to anchor the night in St. Anne's harbour, but because of the direction of the winds, we decided to work with them as much as possible, so we gave St. Anne's a miss, and headed directly for the Bras D'Or lakes!  We made the entrance of the Great Bras D'Or Narrows just as the tide waters were heading out!  We had 5 knots rung on the old 'iron jib' and were making 2 knots!!!  A 3 knot current made for a leisurely cruise up the channel!  As the afternoon progressed, the wind eventually died down and we headed for an anchorage in Big Harbour.  This turned out to be a lovely anchorage with lots of protection from the winds and impressive gypsum cliffs on one side, cottages on the other!  The sun gave us a beautiful sunset before we went below and hit the hay!!  The next day we stayed in Big Harbour enjoying the sunshine and warmth!  George got the engine on the dinghy so we took it out for a harbour cruise!   We were sharing the harbour with a couple of other yachts....both we had seen in Ingonish!  The wind picked up again during the day, but no swell!!!  Welcome to the lakes!!!  I was going to enjoy sailing with wind, but no real waves to speak of!  In honor of the 'return of summer', I made a salad supper...potatoe salad, tuna salad, and deviled eggs!

3 knot current!

Bras D'Or Narrows

gypsum cliffs

sunset in Big Harbour

The next morning rain was predicted in the afternoon, so we decided to make for Baddeck in the morning so that we would be settled by the time the weather turned.  As we came out of the Bras D'Or Narrows and rounded Cape Red and went in to St. Patrick's channel we spotted Alexander Graham Bell's house sitting on the point.  A grand old place, that unfortunately no one lives in now, and no one is looking after either!  The Grovesnor family still comes to Baddeck at times, but they cannot keep the place up.  They also haven't committed to allowing the public in to it either, so there it sits with all it's empty rooms and 16 fireplaces!!!

Baddeck itself is a very picturesque little village, population 1000!  It is very pretty to sail in to and a very vibrant sailing community!!  While we were there the Baddeck Yacht Club was holding their annual sailing regatta so all kinds of sailors and sail boats of all sizes and ages!!  The rain did not come, so we had another beautiful summer day on the Bras D'Or Lakes!!  We ended up staying at the Cape Breton Boat Yard as the marina was full due to aforementioned regatta!  It was a great place with good people!  AND it had lots of fresh water!!!  As soon as we were tied up, I washed the boat!!  It felt so good to do that!  We had had a lot of salt water crashing into and over the boat the last 10 days and no way to wash it off!!  The days of dipping my trusty pail over the side and washing down the boat are long gone for now!!!  Anyway, after I got the salt washed off the boat, George and I headed straight for the showers and washed the salt off ourselves too!!  Felt great!  Then we hit the town and had a pizza at the Yellow Cello and a cone with locally made ice cream...Marvelous Moos!  Then we wandered about the docks and soaked in all the atmosphere.

entrance to Baddeck with Baddeck lighthouse

Back at the boatyard we admired the other boats.  Both boats we had seen in Big Harbour and Ingonish were there as well!  One done for the summer and spending the winter there, the other still sailing, but also winters there.....both American boats?!  We also found the internet....had to go to the office which was upstairs in the boatyard building.  A great big door opened up to the outdoors, letting in the sun and fresh air, and we shared the spot with a couple of dorries!  It was a great place!  Everywhere you looked there was a boat in some state of repair!  Outside at the dock, there was a gorgeous sailboat......2 1/2 million dollars!!!! And also the White Mist; a beautiful old sailboat that the Grovesnor family once owned and is now owned by the owner of the boatyard.  The boat is featured in a National Geographic article about 30 years ago, so it was pretty cool to see it in 'real life'!  Henry, the owner actually took it out the day we left and raced it in the regatta!

the schooner Aomeba

We really liked Baddeck!  The weather was absolutely perfect and the people were so friendly!  We enjoyed our stay very much.  After two nights, though, we decided to carry on and take advantage of the beautiful sunny, windy days and get a day of sailing in of our own, and then find an anchorage on Bras D'Or Lake.  So on our third day, after a visit to the Bean There coffee shop for coffee and a bagel, we said our goodbyes to the boat yard and Baddeck, raised the sails, and headed out in to St. Andrew's Channel, which would lead us through the Barra Straight and in to the Bras D'Or Lake, where we encountered our first real waves since we came in to the lake region!  Fortunately they died down as evening approached and we made for Little Harbour for the night.  After squeezing through a narrow passage between two sandbars, we found ourselves in a lovely, teardrop shaped harbour!  Again, lots of protection from almost all weather, and yet lots of room!  One other boat there, but at the other end, so felt like we had the place to ourselves!!  We ate a late supper....lotus land linguine!...a vegetable stirfry in a spicy peanut sauce poured over linguine noodles, although in our case they were fettucine!  Then the mosquitoes chased us below decks!  We listened to Ideas on CBC, then headed for bed and fell asleep under a silent, starry sky!

entrance to Little Harbour

Little Harbour!!

Cape George

The next morning was glassy calm, so started out motoring, but about noon the wind picked up, so got to do some more sailing as we headed for St. Peter's, at the exit of the Bras D'Or Lakes.  As we reached the south end of the lake, we rounded Cape George (!!!) and entered in to the inlet leading to the village of St. Peter's at the St. Peter's locks.  St. Peter's is actually one of Canada's oldest settlements and started out life as Sainte Pierre back in 1630 and was established as a trading post and a portage point for carrying canoes from the Atlantic to the inland seas...the Bras D'Or lake.  It also spent time as a logistics centre for Fort Louisbourg.  When the french lost possession of what is now Nova Scotia to the English, Sainte Pierre became St. Peter's!  Eventually, in 1869, the portage spot became a canal, and then a lock system was installed to help control the tides.  And tomorrow morning, following in the footsteps of hundreds of sailors, we, too, will transit the canal and make our way back in to the Atlantic!

Cape Breton

After spending 5 days in the Iles de la Madeleine, we set off on a foggy morning, hoping to reach Cape Breton by early evening.  The sun tried its best to break through the fog, but eventually the fog won....but only for a couple of hours!!  Then the sun broke through, the wind picked up, and we had a lovely sail!  We sighted the impressive Cape North, appropriately, at the north end of Cape Breton, at about 2:00pm, so had made good time with the winds on our stern quarter!!

Fog-shrouded Ile D'Entree

somewhere out there...Cape Breton!

Land Ho!!!  Cape North, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

These two pictures show the Cape Breton Highlands east and south of  Cape North

...no roads in this part of the country!

At about 5:30, we entered the tiny harbour of Dingwall and dropped anchor in the bay just behind the breakwater, in time to enjoy a drink and dinner while enjoying the sunset over the highlands of Cape Breton!!  It has been a long time since we have had the chance to have a view other than a giant stone breakwater once in harbour!!!

Sunset over the highlands

The next day we sailed out of Dingwall and continued on down the east coast of Cape Breton, admiring the impressive highlands as we went!  About 1:00pm Cape Smoky hove in to view, and soon we were sailing past Ingonish Island, bordered on the north by North Bay, and on the south by.....you guessed it, South Bay!!  We sidled along the north face of Cape Smoky and entered Ingonish Harbour in hot, sunny, calm conditions!  So many beautiful spots to choose from for an anchorage!!  As we explored, however, we discovered that the harbour is very deep, almost all the way to the shore, so decided on a spot fairly close to the entrance to the bay and by about 3:00pm we were anchored and settled in for a couple of days!!  Beautiful, sunny, protected harbour with ski slopes of  Ski Cape Smoky at one end, and both sides dotted with houses hidden amongst the trees!  While we relaxed, we watch kids try out their water skiing skills!!  George went in for a swim, but still too cold for the cold water wimp!!!!  I have yet to go in.....maybe the Bras D'Or Lakes????

Ingonish Island

Cape Smoky

Ingonish Harbour

Cape Smoky up close

We have spent a lovely couple of days here in Ingonish Harbour, but we are both ready for the next leg, so, next stop Bras D'Or Lakes!!!