ST PETERS TO HALIFAX - THE ATLANTIC OCEAN - AUGUST19 to 25, 2016

Map of our route for this blog post

During our hour and a half in St. Peters, we got a holding tank pump out, topped our fuel tanks, bought groceries and filled one of our galley propane tanks. Then Tug’n, Wings and Sir Tugley Blue were off, through the St Peters Canal and lock, out across Chedabucto Bay and out into the Atlantic Ocean to head west southwest down the coast of Nova Scotia. 

Technically, this is our first outing in the Atlantic Ocean and she was kind to us for our introduction. If you let your mind wander, you realize, far off to our port side (left), the ocean stretches all the way to Europe. That is a lot of open water! For sea conditions, we had 1 to 2 meter ocean swells from two directions - from the east and from the south. The good news was those ocean swells were well spread out. Also, there was a 10 to 15 knot wind from the northwest providing “wind waves” of 1/2 meter from that direction. Our course was west south west and while those swells and wind waves sound like a confused sea, it was really quite comfortable. Occasionally the swells combined to give the boat a big lift and it felt like our bow was briefly pointing up to the sky to climb on top of the water. 

Along our 36 nautical mile trip to our anchorage at Yankee Cove I spotted a thin black and rather straight fin at the surface of the water (for about 4 seconds), about 30 feet off the side of our boat and I immediately thought shark. But looking at pictures in our cruising guide later, it was the wrong colour for a shark, it was too small a fin for a killer whale and it was straighter than the fin of a porpoise so I have absolutely no idea what it was, other than exciting.

Our anchorage at Yankee Cove was interesting. We entered a low tide so the shoreline was strewn with rocks covered in seaweed, reminding us that we were back in tides of about 5 1/2 feet as compared to about 6” in the Bras D’Or Lakes. The ever present evergreen forest covered the surrounding land. The spruce beetle attacked and killed many of the spruce trees some time ago and about 30% of the forest is dead, providing a rather unique look. There was an oyster aquaculture farm in the cove and we shared the anchorage with one other sailboat. It was a lovely and quiet evening, perfect for cooking our maple glaze salmon dinner on the BBQ. 

Sunset in Yankee Cove - oyster aquaculture in
background

Saturday August 20: Today’s destination was Shelter Cove in Popes Harbour, about 71 nautical miles further along the Nova Scotia coast. Locally, the anchorage is known as Sally’s Cove. Once again, it was a lovely cruising day with somewhat smaller ocean swells and light wind waves. Watching the shoreline pass by, one couldn’t help but think of the immense challenge for early explorers from France, England and elsewhere attempting to navigate this rock strewn shoreline with its seemingly infinite number of islands, inlets, rocks and shoals, some just above the waters surface and some much scarier ones just below the surface. Tides, currents, plus fog, rain and mist would be serious obstacles to a safe passage along the shore. We learned at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic that there are well over 10,000 wrecks along the shores of Nova Scotia and its possibly as many as 25,000. Those navigators and captains of centuries passed would surely marvel at today’s electronic navigation tools with chart plotters, radar, depth sounders and auto pilots allowing us straightforward navigation to each days destination. 

Shelter Cove was recommended by our sailing friend Denis as a favourite. Indeed, it is a well named anchorage providing tremendous protection from the wind and seas and surrounding us with lovely scenery. It was a rather late arrival, but we fit in a short happy hour aboard Wings. We stayed put in Shelter Cove on Sunday and after completing some boat chores unique to salt water cruising (clean and wax stainless steel railings and fittings), we toured around the area by dinghy including a nearby beach that locals picnic at. We had a Happy Hour and game of Sequence aboard Tug’n. 

We’d heard about another lovely beach one could explore by going to the head of the cove we were anchored in and traversing a 200 meter piece of land. This was apparently best done at low tide, so when the water rose, your dingy would be floating, rather than beaching your dinghy in a falling tide and not being able to drag it back in the water when you returned. So, after dinner, we went off to see this beach. We got our dinghy within 10 feet of shore and it hit bottom. I climbed into the water with water sandals and found myself ankle deep in black muck and quickly concluded this was not a great idea. I pushed the dinghy around and back into deeper water and with some difficulty got back in with muck covering me from my toes to my knees and making a colossal mess of our dinghy. Not all adventures end well…

Shelter Cove at low tide - seaweed covered rocks

Monday August 22nd. As usual, we studied the forecast first thing and then had a three way VHF radio discussion to make a travel decision. Our next destination was Halifax and the forecast would put the ocean swells on our stern corner resulting in a significant rolling, corkscrew kind of motion of our boat while underway. While the forecast was not great, it was much better than the next three days, so, at 0900 hours, we raised anchor and were on our way with Sir Tugley Blue and Wings. After a short while, Sir Tugley decided they’d return to the Shelter Cove anchorage. For the first few hours, about every fifth swell would give us a really good roll of up to 26 degrees to one side or the other, which can be quite tiring. We experimented with different speeds and concluded about 7.2 knots was significantly more comfortable than 8 knots. The further we went along, we were on a more westerly course and the ride gradually got more comfortable. 

About an hour before the entrance to Halifax Harbour, I spotted a new target on our radar about three miles ahead of us and I started to “track” it with the radar tracking feature. Because of mist and light fog, we could not see it with our eyes. A minute later I was shocked to see the radar reported the target was moving at 81 knots and was off my screen in no time at all. The answer came shortly afterwards as the blip turned out to be a military helicopter. A little while later we came upon a smoke flare on the water that the helicopter had dropped and they were practicing approaching the flare and hovering about 50 feet above the water. There is always something interesting to observe on the water.

Entering Halifax Harbour is exciting. We saw two cruise ships tied up at the downtown Halifax piers as well as several container ships at the commercial harbour. The city of Halifax is located on a peninsula. Downtown Halifax and its commercial harbour are on one side of the peninsula and several yacht clubs, rowing clubs and fabulous residential housing/mansions are on the other side on what is called the Northwest Arm. Originally, at the suggestion of our friend Denis, we’d planned on staying at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on a mooring. However, on entering the harbour, the south east wind was causing waves to move up the Northwest Arm and it would cause quite a bit of wave slapping on the hard chines on our hull making a lot of interior noise for sleeping. We decided to go all the way to the end of the Northwest Arm to Armdale Yacht Club and took a mooring there with a little better wave protection. The trip up the Northwest Arm was amazing as we gawked at the waterfront properties along both sides. We had no idea Halifax was so picturesque. 

Beautiful properties along Northwest Arm

Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron

Denis had offered to take us around town by car to do our chores. He picked us up at 0930 and in the space of two hours we bought groceries, filled a BBQ propane tank, got a haircut for Fran, picked up beer, got cash from the bank, visited Canadian Tire and got back to the boat. What a wonderful treat that was as normally these activities might take a whole day. That left our afternoon open for a trip into downtown where we met Bob & Jan from Wings for a lovely lunch at the Bicycle Thief restaurant on the waterfront. After that, we did a tour of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. This wonderful museum included presentations/displays on:

• Days of Sail - stories of Nova Scotia’s magnificent sailing vessels
• Shipwreck Treasures - Nova Scotia has well over 10,000 wrecks (possibly up to 25,000) and an immense amount of underwater archaeology as a result
• Convoy Exhibit - tells how Nova Scotia helped in the struggle to supply Europe in the face of submarine attacks during World War II
• Halifax Explosion - a moving exhibit on the 1917 Halifax explosion from the collision of two ships, one loaded with explosives, that levelled a large part of the city instantly killing about 2,000 and injuring more than 9,000 residents
• Navy - an exhibit explaining the early hears of Halifax as a British naval power

and much more. One comes away from this museum with a deeper understanding of the immense seafaring history of Nova Scotia.

Lunch with Bob & Jan at the Bicycle Thief

One of many model ships at Maritime Museum


Canadian Hydrographic Society ship Acadia in service
from 1913 to 1969. Also served in Canadian Navy in
two world wars


Models of complete Canadian Navy (13 vessels) at
the start of WWII. By the end of the war the Canadian
Navy had 452 ships

On Wednesday, after a morning of washing and wiping the boat hull (removing all the salt crystals) we were picked up by Denis for a lunch with he and Denise at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. Their club is sensational, situated on the south side of the Northwest Arm. The club relocated here in the early 1960’s, converting a former lovely residence into a club house, digging out a basin, adding docks, moorings, two swimming pools, a junior sailing school and more. We had lunch out on their patio under a large awning overlooking the boats and the water and had a wonderful time catching up with Denis and Denise. The last time we’d had a get together was about 18 years ago in Oakville.

After lunch, Denis dropped us off at Pier 21.

Fran & I with Denise & Denis

Pier 21 - The Building of Canada

This is another wonderful museum managed by Parks Canada. Pier 21 was the gateway for over 1 million immigrants from Europe from 1928 to 1971. They all arrived by ship and were processed (medical, immigration, customs, temporary housing and for those headed beyond Halifax they would board the train right beside the warehouse for points west). 

We were particularly impressed that the museum told the whole story, acknowledging what an enormous impact European immigration had on the First Nations population, who had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before. Additional and notable components of the museum included:

• A video made up of interviews with immigrants to Canada covering where they came from, why they came to Canada, how they got to Canada, what their first impressions were, how they landed on their feet and what they are doing today. The stories were very personal and some made you laugh out loud and some made you cry tears of joy and sorrow
• Explanation and acknowledgement of the abuse of Chinese immigrants brought here to build the railway across Canada and once completed, charging a head tax if they wanted to stay & refusing to give them citizenship or rights
• Explanation and acknowledgement of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the second world war, confiscating their property and assets and denying them their rights as Canadian citizens
• Acknowledgement of a variety of exclusionary immigration policies that barred immigration from many countries 
• Explanation and acknowledgement of racially charged events such as the Christie Pits Riots that pitted Jewish and Italian immigrants against anti immigrant white thugs
• Detailed explanations of how Canada’s immigration policies evolved over the last 400 years to today’s far more enlightened and equitable policies. 
• Many examples of how immigrants helped build this country - Canadian Railroads (Chinese and Irish immigrants); Canada’s first subway in Toronto and the Rideau Canal built by Irish immigrants etc
• Tour guides walked visitors through the process an immigrant would go through and what it was like arriving at Pier 21

In the end, we felt very proud of the Canada we have today and the leadership it is showing with its immigration policies and the contribution immigrants have made to Canada’s rich culture, economy and way of life. 

The sign immigrants to Canada would see upon entry
into Pier 21. Language was a big challenge for the
staff and volunteers


An historical photo of immigrants getting an explanation
on what the process at Pier 21 would be

Thursday August 25, 2016

Today’s main event was touring the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site. The site was originally founded in 1749 as a strategic base for the British Royal Navy and a strong counterbalance to the French stronghold in Louisbourg on Cape Breton. The site has been home to four citadels, all built on the same high ground above the original town plot. The first three forts were built of earth and logs and served through the Seven Years War, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. But after 1815 the British authorities decided that the old wooden forts defending Canada’s strategic strong points should be more powerful and permanent and built of stone. The new and current Citadel was built between 1828 and 1856. The star shaped fortress is formally known as Fort George and its massive masonry construction was designed to repel a land-based attack by Unites States as well as having a clear harbour view. It was inspired by designs during Louis XIV’s time. 

In 1867 British North America became the Dominion of Canada, but the continuing importance of Halifax as a port for the Royal Navy saw British troops remain there until 1906. After that, the Citadel was occupied by the Canadian military and it remained active through two World Wars until 1951 when it was transferred to Parks Canada. Today, as a museum, it is staffed and organized as it would have been in 1869 when Queen Victoria reigned and the new Nation of Canada was just two years old. Exploring the ramparts and tunnels, talking with staff in period clothes and using the interactive tools one gains an understanding of what life was like in this bygone era. 

The combination of visits to the Citadel, the Immigration Museum and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic really gives one great insight into the extremely important role Halifax and Nova Scotia have played in Canada’s history. Each site does a wonderful job of presenting the history and we’ve had a great time enjoying the hospitality of Halifax. 

The adventure continues.

Fran and Judy at entrance to Halifax Citadel


Courtyard inside the Halifax Citadel


Display of WW1 trenches in France


Posing for photo after noon firing of the canon

BRAS D'OR LAKES - AUGUST 8 TO 19, 2016

Here are the places we travelled during this blog

Monday August 8, 2016

After five days at the St Peters Marina, we were all more than ready to go anchoring and exploring the Bras d’Or Lakes. As you’ll see from the photo below, the Bras d’Or Lakes have a southwest to northeast orientation in valleys carved by the glaciers. While the surrounding oceans of the Atlantic Maritimes have big seas, fog, tides, currents and other navigational challenges, the Bras d’Or Lakes have barely 6” of tide, next to no fog, moderate seas and easy navigation. We’d all been gathering local knowledge from other boaters we’d met at the marina and gradually sifted through the many recommendations to come up with a manageable list of anchorages to choose from. 

Our first anchorage was at Cape George Harbour in St. Peters Inlet, an anchorage favoured by local boaters. It was not particularly attractive and it had a steady stream of boats passing through, so we here happy enough to move on the next day to Little Harbour along the north shore of West Bay. It is a larger anchorage with a narrow entrance providing good protection from all directions. On our first night we were the only four boats in the anchorage. The second night we shared it with a ~55’ Selene trawler and a 90’ Burger yacht, among others. We’ve been surprised by the number of very, very large yachts that come to cruise Cape Breton’s Bras D’Or Lakes. It was delightful to be anchoring again and we kept ourselves busy with a few boat chores/projects and doing some exploring by dinghy as well as happy hours for board games with our gang.

On Thursday August 10th we moved a short distance to explore Malagawatch Harbour, eventually anchoring in River Cove. While it was pretty enough, we woke up the next morning to a deck covered with microscopic bugs the size of finely ground black pepper that were tough to wash away. Also, when raising the anchor we hauled up some sort of large, abandoned aquaculture container for muscles or oysters, which thankfully proved simple to remove. Our next stop for Friday and Saturday was through the Barra Strait into Great Bras d’Or Lake and into  Maskells Harbour. It is a snug, well-sheltered harbour surrounded by high rolling hills with a long, low-lying sand and rock spit almost closing off the entrance. So far, this is about the prettiest anchorage we’ve seen. The water was clear and about 20 degrees C, the sun was bright and warm and the wind was light, making it irresistible, so I gave in an enjoyed my first salt water swim of the summer. Various boats came and when during our two day stay. We were intrigued by a local practice of both sail and power boats to run them up on shore (power boats) or run the keel into the sandy bottom (sail) for a few hours, then back off and head home. An added bonus at Maskells Harbour were the two resident bald eagles who spent hours watching for fish and swooping low over the water to attempt making a catch. They failed to complete a catch while we watched, but based on their healthy glow, we assumed they'd enjoyed reasonable success. 

Tug'n at anchor in Maskells Harbour

Beach combing in Maskells Harbour


Lovely rolling hills in Maskells Harbour. Tug'n,
Encore & Wings in background

On Sunday we made our way to Baddeck for a few days to enjoy this most charming waterfront village and boating centre. Approaching Baddeck one can’t help by notice the lovely large estate on the hill above a point of land called Red Head. It is Beinn Bhreag, the old home of Alexander and Mabel Bell. Baddeck residents are justifiably proud of their former resident whom most know is responsible for inventing the telephone. 

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Due to health issues experienced by Alex and his brother, the family moved to Brantford, Ontario in 1870 and shortly afterwards Alex moved to Boston to teach. Five years later, he had his telephone invention patented and then spend the next 18 years successfully fighting about 600 lawsuits over his patent. While on holidays in 1885, the Bell family visited Baddeck to see if it was as idyllic as advertised. Falling in love with it, they bought property and built their home and this became Alex’s base for a vast array of inventions over the remaining 37 years of his life. In 1952, some thirty years after his death, his family decided there was so much more to Bell’s life that the public should know, so they donated the bulk of his photos, mementos, gadgets and gizmos to the Canadian Federal Government, who agreed to set up a museum in his honour. 

Parks Canada established the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in 1952. The museum is wonderfully done and contains exhibits and explanations of Bell’s many inventions and experiments, including:

• Silver Dart - the first controlled powered flight in Canada
• HD-4 - the hydrofoil that broke a marine speed record
• experiments in sheep breeding
• experiments with kite flying 
• world recognized work in the field of deaf education, Both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing his life’s work. 
• Bell’s most famous patient was Helen Keller, who came to him as a young child unable to see, hear or speak. She credits Bell with turning her darkness into light
• Bell strongly believed that with resources and effort, they could teach the deaf to speak and avoid the use of sign language, thus enabling their integration within the wider society from which many were excluded
• Alex and Mabel Bell’s own grandchildren did not know their grandmother was deaf until after she had died. They all assumed a family practice of taping the table when one was to speak was normal. That tapping action allowed Mabel Bell to know who to watch so she could lip read what they were saying.
• National Geographic Society - while Bell was not one of the 33 founders, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as its second president from January 7, 1898 to 1903

The Museum reveals the extraordinary heart and mind of a world-famous inventor whose genius helped shape the modern world. You can feel his legacy as you explore the remarkable artifacts, photos and full-scale replicas that mark his masterful career as an engineer, inventor, scientist and humanitarian. The Bell’s employed many Baddeck residents and stories still abound in the community from their descendants. Our tour guide’s great uncle worked with Bell in his laboratory at Beinn Bhreag. 

In Baddeck at Alexander Graham Bell National Historic
Site Museum. Fran & a working model of Bell's
Silver Dart aircraft


Model of Bell's HD-4 Hydrofoil


Fran meeting up with Mabel and Alec Bell


The Bell Estate on Beinn Bhreag


One of many lovely  homes in Baddeck

Ceilidh: (pronounced kay-lee) A Traditional Gaelic social gathering with usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Scotland and Ireland

When visiting Cape Breton, its Scottish heritage the Gaelic influence is impossible to miss. The Royal Cape Breton Gaelic College was founded in 1938 and it is dedicated to perpetuation of the Highland Scottish Gaelic culture. Its curriculum includes Gaelic language, Gaelic song, Gaelic history, Gaelic storytelling, Gaelic drama, Traditional bagpiping, Cape Breton fiddling, Cape Breton step dance, Highland dance, Bodhran, Harp, Whistle and weaving. The Gaelic heritage is a source of great pride for the Cape Breton residents of Scottish heritage.  

We attended a Ceilidh in Baddeck. Nancy, a local resident has organized Ceilidh’s at the local parish hall, seven nights a week during the summer months for the past 16 years. The hall only holds 100 people and it is sold out every night. On the evening we attended, we had a fiddler and a piano player, both in their mid 30’s and they entertained us with a broad mix of Cape Breton and Scottish tunes, modern and traditional, ballads, jigs, reels and more. They are both teachers at the Gaelic College and perform regularly in Cape Breton and many other venues across the country. Both performers grew up on Cape Breton and were immersed in the Gaelic culture and Ceilidh gatherings since their youth. It was a great treat to experience this music and appreciate that this music’s roots in Cape Breton go back to the early 18th century and have changed very little since then.

The Ceilidh at Baddeck Parrish Hall

Baddeck Marine was the first time we’d ever used a mooring ball. When we first approached the “mooring field” it was alarming how close the boats are to each other. Each mooring ball is chained to a great block of concrete on the bottom and it has a large ~ 20” float on the surface of the water with two long pendants (ropes) that you pick up with a boat hook and tie to your bow cleats. In the rain we managed to tie up to the mooring ball and then we began to watch closely as the boats all swung on their mooring. We were nervous at first, watching the boats move to and fro, with different timing and you’d swear there would be collisions, but they all stayed in order and no bumps were witnessed. The closest we came to a collision was during a period with no wind and Tug’n just missed the boat in front of us, by less than 3 feet. We’ve been told there will be many more mooring fields in our future as we head further down the east coast.

Tug'n on right - in mooring field in Baddeck

While in Baddeck we had a day of heavy rain day and found a small leak in our forward hatch over our bed. Temporarily I taped the perimeter of the hatch to stop any further leaking, while I collected the materials I needed to fix it when the weather allowed. After two great days visiting Baddeck, we headed off on Monday August 15 for an anchorage on Boularderie Island called Island Point Harbour. It was a beautiful sunny day allowing us to snap a few photos of the Bell estate as we left Baddeck. Travelling up St. Andrews Channel to our anchorage we passed many outcroppings of gypsum. The soft white rock is easily carved by the wind, rain and waves into various shapes allowing one to see faces, animals, angels and more. Our anchorage was lovely and well protected, but with the good weather I was more focussed on getting the hatch repair completed than enjoying the scenery. Removal of the hatch and frame went very smoothly with the two thin paint scrapers and wooden wedges Dave (from Sir Tugley Blue) loaned me. Removing all the old caulking from the deck and frame was another matter. Four hours later the clean up was done. Dave kindly joined me and took the lead on re-bedding the hatch frame in a most expert fashion and now, thankfully, our bed is no longer vulnerable in the rain. Wednesday turned out to be another 18 hour rain day, so the re-bedded hatch got a good work out and survived the test.

Sculptured gypsum rock in Island Point Harbour
Click on this pic. What do you see?

Thursday, we headed to one of the anchorages recommended by my sailing friend and former colleague Denis, who lives and sails out of Halifax. It’s called Marble Mountain and/or Clark Cove. Marble Mountain is the name of a small village on Bras D’Or Lake. The name of the mountain that was mined for marble from 1869 to 1921 is North Mountain. The enormous scar on the side of North Mountain can be see from miles around. In the early 1900’s, the mine employed over 1,000 men and supplied marble all over North America for flooring, counter tops and high end furniture. The town even had a power plant, built to supply electricity to the mine and local homes, while the rest of Cape Breton was still using candles and lamps for lighting. The area has many spots for anchoring and no visit is complete without a hike to the top of the marble quarry to soak up spectacular views of Bras D’Or Lake.

Views from top of marble quarry on North Mountain


Click on these for a bigger picture

Friday August 19th was the end of our visit to the Bras D’Or Lakes. We were up early and off to St. Peters to do some chores and then commence our journey down the south east shore of Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on this adventure. Stay tuned!

CAPE BRETON - CABOT TRAIL & LOUISBOURG FORTRESS - August 6 to 8, 2016

The Cabot Trail is a 298 kilometre scenic roadway loop in northern Cape Breton passing along and through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. It is of course named after explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497. Most historians believe his first landfall was likely in Newfoundland and not Cape Breton Island, although Premier Angus L. MacDonald attempted to re-brand Nova Scotia for tourism purposes, as primarily Scottish. As part of this effort he created both the names Cape Breton Highlands and Cabot Trail  and construction of the initial route was completed inn 1932.

While in St. Peters, our group managed to rent two vehicles for two days of touring Cape Breton island. Day one was devoted to the Cabot Trail. We packed a lunch and also an overnight bag in case we found a motel or Bed and Breakfast with a vacancy, as the driving distances from St. Peters are rather long.

En route to the Cabot Trail we stopped in the Dingwall area for lunch and then had a guided tour of the St Paul Island Museum and Lighthouse. Nova Scotia has more lighthouses than any other province in Canada with ~ 150 at the present time. St Paul Island, 13 nautical miles off the northeast coast of Cape Breton Island, is locally known as the graveyard of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with over 350 shipwrecks occurring there over the last 400  years. Because of the extreme danger to shipping through the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Quebec City, the British government decided to build two wooden lighthouses on St. Paul Island. The first southwest light was built in 1839, but was destroyed by fire in 1916. A cast iron replacement (the first in Canada) was prefabricated in sections in Ontario in 1915 and shipped to Cape Breton by train. It took two years to transport the sections to Cape Breton and move them to St Paul Island by boat and then bolt the sections together. This lighthouse was replaced in 1982 by an automated one and the cast iron lighthouse now sits in Dingwall at the St Paul Island Museum.

St Paul Island Museum & Lighthouse

The museum and lighthouse are a tribute to the light keepers and their families. From the photos and artifacts at the museum, it is hard to imagine a more remote and isolated existence. However, we were told folks lined up to apply for the job. Those who were married were given priority as it meant there was a backup light keeper (the wife) if the husband fell ill or died. These dedicated souls helped keep the lights burning and shipping safer, at considerable hardship for many years. Automation of course ended these careers but their story is forever linked to Canada’s early history.

The Cabot Trail and the Cape Breton Highland National Park are simply spectacular. The forests are endless. The switchback roadway climbs to high peaks with magnificent shoreline and ocean vistas. We passed many very fit cyclists loaded down with gear for their long and challenging tour of the Cabot Trail. We also passed many less fit folk on motorcycles enjoying the ride on the lovely winding roadway. Later in the afternoon we stopped for a great early dinner at the Rusty Anchor Restaurant along the northwest shore of Cape Breton for a feed of Crab Cakes and Sole Fish N Chips. We wisely heeded advice to do the Cabot Trail drive in a counter clockwise direction so most of the time we’d be pulling off to the right hand side of the road (and back on again) at the countless “lookouts” we stopped at for yet another photo. Despite our best efforts, we found no motel or B&B vacancies.It was a lovely day and we were blessed with perfect weather for this drive, but we were well worn out as we didn’t get back to our boats until just before dark.

Photos of Cabot Trail












Sunday August 7, 2016

Day 2 of our car rental took us back up to Cape Breton’s northeast shoreline to see the Fortress of Louisbourg. This 18th century French fortress is a National Historic Site and its also been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site. The original settlement was made in 1713 as a fishing port and it grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. Fortified walls eventually surrounded the town and by the mid 1740’s Louisbourg was one of the most extensive and expensive European fortifications constructed in North America. 

Louisbourg suffered several key weaknesses. It was erected on low lying ground with low-lying hills around it and all its defences were directed toward sea-based assaults leaving land-based defences rather weak. Secondly, it was a very long way from France or Quebec from where reinforcements might be sent. As a result, Louisbourg was captured by the British in 1745 and it became a key bargaining chip in the negotiations leading to the 1748 treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. Louisbourg was returned to France in exchange for border towns in what is now Belgium. It was captured again by the British in 1758 in the Seven Years War after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed. 

Starting in 1961 and throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, the Canadian Federal Government undertook a historical reconstruction of one quarter of the town and fortifications with the aim of recreating Louisbourg as it would have been at its height in the 1740’s. Unemployed coal miners were trained in French masonry techniques from the 18th century and other skills to create an accurate replica from drawings found in France. The work required interdisciplinary efforts by archaeologists, historians, engineers and architects. Today the site is run by Parks Canada and the fortress is staffed by locals in period costume helping visitors understand the history and what life was like in the 1740’s. It is an absolutely fascinating experience helping one gain insight Louisbourg’s importance in shaping Canada’s early history.

At the end of the day, after returning our rented cars, Jan (off of Wings) hosted a dinner in the marina clubhouse to celebrate Bob’s birthday. What a wonderful end of another perfect day on our Down East Circle Route adventure.

Pictures of Fortress of Louisbourg

Lunch, 18th Century style


Boatbuilding at Fortress of Louisbourg


Lighthouse Point, Louisbourg


35' Wings dwarfed by 90' Burger Yacht at St. Peters

CRUISING IN SALT WATER - MERIGOMISH HARBOUR, BALLANTYNES COVE, HAVRE BOUCHER, HADDOCK HARBOUR & ST PETERS - AUGUST 1 - 5, 2016

Here is the route covered by this blog posting.

We chose to a picture perfect day for our crossing the Northumberland Strait from Charlottetown PEI to an anchorage at Merigomish Harbour in Nova Scotia. This will be our 5th province on our summer adventure. The sky was brilliantly clear and we had a 10 knot breeze from the west north west. However, we were headed south south east, so the 3’ waves (occasional 4’ waves) were on our stern corner making for a corkscrew sort of ride that got a little uncomfortable. 

Today, we have three of our four boats (Tug’n, Sir Tugley Blue and Encore), three Nordic Tugs. Wings stayed behind for a few days in Charlottetown so Bob could go home for a short visit with one of his daughters who was gravely ill with MS. They will catch up with us in Cape Breton. 

Our 48 mile crossing took us about 6 1/2 hours and thankfully for the last few hours the waves calmed down providing a much more comfortable ride. We made our way all the way back in Merigomish Harbour to a lovely, well protected anchorage called Blackhall Gut. Almost as soon as we all had our anchor down and engine shut off, there began a parade of local boats into the bay to inspect our boats and wish us a hearty “Welcome to Nova Scotia. Where have you come from? Where are you headed? How long are you out for? Etc Etc”. It was as if word spread all around the local community and everyone came out to see us. It was really quite a special welcome. We had happy hour aboard Encore to plan our next day and then Fran & I enjoyed an exquisite dinner of grilled scallops followed by quiet evening with a spectacular sunset.

Lighthouse at Cape George
















Sunset at Merigomish Harbour

Monday August 1st

Mother Nature has been very kind to us and we are really appreciating the fantastic weather. An early morning mist cleared quickly as the warm summer sun rose. When we got underway a lovely ebb tide helped to push us along. The cruise through calm water this morning was quite uplifting with sightings of minke whales and porpoises. Today’s cruise was broken into two sections. The first was to take us out around the tip of Cape George and into the tiny village of Ballantynes Cove in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The community and cove are named after David Ballantyne, a lowland Scotsman and British soldier who served in the 82nd regiment during the American Revolution and who received a land grant for his military service. He settled in the area in 1810. 

Ballantynes Cove shelters a Small Craft Harbour and it is a principal trading point for Japanese merchants looking for sushi-grade Atlantic bluefin tuna. The harbour hosts Ballantynes Cove Tuna Interpretive Centre, which was the prime purpose of our stop. The harbour was small and required Encore to raft with a fishing boat and Sir Tugley and Tug’n to raft together in another spot. At the Tuna Centre we learned:

• There are a fixed number of licences issued and they are for life. The current price of a licence is about $30,000. A licence allows the owner to catch one Bluefin Tuna per year. Licences rarely trade owners and most often stay in the same family
• Tuna range in size from about 300 pounds up to almost 1500 pounds. The largest on record is  1496 pounds caught in Nova Scotia in 1979. The season starts on August 5th each year and runs to November. Most fishermen wait until the early fall as to start trying to catch their one tuna as the tuna are in these waters to feed and they gain about 2 kilos per day.
• Before a licence holder heads out to fish for his tuna, he must fill in and submit a series of forms. If he’s successful, he must call in his catch and his vessel will be met by the Harbour Authority to accept the catch, weigh it and prepare it for auction the next day
• Tuna are the worlds most sought after sport fishing catch - it is a “catch and release program”  in Canada
• Tuna are very fast swimmers, reaching up to 50 miles per hour
• The young lady who guided us through the Tuna Interpretative Centre is a member of a fishing family, who is training to take over her father’s lobster licence in about 5 years. 

Cape George


Bluefin Tuna Interpretive Center (Dave, Barb & Fran)


Model of 300 pound Bluefin Tuna


Tug'n, Sir Tugley & Encore at Ballantyne Cove

An hour and a half later, we were underway again, headed for an anchorage at Havre Boucher, close to Strait of Canso. True to predictions in our cruising guide, our crossing of St. Georges Bay was much windier than expected as the ocean wind is funnelled down between the Cape George Peninsula and Cape Breton Island. The waves kept growing until they were 4’ plus from the stern corner making for a very uncomfortable ride. It was a relief to get into the anchorage at Havre Boucher so we could relax. Havre Boucher is a small village that relies on fishing as well as providing services to the surrounding rural communities. For us, it provided protection from waves and an easy access for entrance to the Strait of Canso tomorrow. Once again we were treated to another great sunset.

Sunset at Havre Boucher Harbour

Tuesday August 2nd. 

The Strait of Canso is the narrow strip of water that divides Cape Breton from Nova Scotia. Canso Causeway is a rock-fill causeway that crosses the Strait of Canso. It is 40 meters wide and 1,385 meters long and it carries a two lane road of the Trans Canada Highway and a single rail line to Cape Breton. The base of the causeway is 244 meters wide and it reaches a maximum depth of 65 meters. Cape Breton remains a true island as the causeway has a 250 meter by 24 meter lock / canal and a swing bridge for vehicles and trains. Construction started in September 1952 and was completed December 10, 1955. 

Tidal waters produced very strong currents through the strait making it difficult for commercial vessels to transit it. Construction of the causeway completely stopped the tide through the straight making it possible for ships to pass through the straight via a control lock. However, the causeway caused some significant environmental damage due to the enormous change in the tidal regime of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence all the way to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. The causeway effectively dammed the waterway for migrating ground fish stocks and it took decades until some of these species were able to determine how to get around Cape Breton Island and into the Gulf. The causeway also allowed several non-native animals to gain access onto Cape Breton. For instance, bobcats migrated onto the island, slowly forcing the more gentle lynx out of its traditional hunting grounds. The causeway also dramatically affected lobster fishery with much smaller catches recorded ever since its construction.

Our transit through the Canso lock was very smooth and soon we were motoring along through the 27 kilometre long Canso Straight and from there on to Lennox Passage. Our cruising guide directed us into Haddock Harbour where we selected the best anchorage based on the wind forecast.

After lunch, we began a relatively new ritual for us. It all has to do with “cruising in salt water”. So, what’s the big deal with salt water? Before embarking on this trip, I’d managed to build up this impression in my mind that salt is the enemy! It will rust any unprotected metal. It will penetrate the inside of your boat over time, causing various metals on the inside to get pitted with corrosion. Basically if you let it, salt will eat away at everything. So, this was one aspect of the trip I was dreading. Here is what we’ve learned:

• When out on the water, spray from the wind and waves will cover your boat. As the salt water dries it leaves salt crystals everywhere. You can wipe you hand along a stainless steel rail and get your fingers covered in salt crystals
• We have scuppers in the cockpit of our boat to drain water away. If the water is rough while underway, water from waves will splash up the scupper into our cockpit. We mostly walk barefoot around our boat, but stepping onto a deck that is damp with salt water doesn’t feel very good and you will track it back inside the boat onto your floors and carpets
• On the positive side, there are far fewer bugs (mosquitos, deer flies, horse flies etc) in a salt water environment. Also, the boat floats higher and goes faster and somewhat more efficiently in salt water vs fresh water. Salt water has tides and currents, so if you plan your trips carefully, you can move faster and use less fuel which is also great. We’ve learned to love tides, sort of. 

So, with all this new knowledge, the largest impact on our lives is the ritual of boat cleaning. After most daily travel, when at a dock or an anchorage, we dig out the hose and rinse the boat off and wipe it down. Just rinsing alone does not clean the salt off and the boat will still be a mess. We’ve learned you can do a much better job with a pail of hot water and a brush to do the initial light scrub, followed by a fresh water rinse with the hose, followed by a wipe with shammies and/or micro fibre cloths. It is a lot of work, but we are bound and determined to keep the boat looking good and keep the rust away. So far, so good. 

Later, we and the crew of Encore did a dinghy excursion to explore the anchorage before happy hour aboard Sir Tugley Blue. This was followed by another peaceful evening at anchor. We love to anchor!

Sunset at Haddock Harbour

Wednesday August 3rd:

This morning, Encore and Sir Tugley headed off for St Peters on Cape Breton. We stayed behind thinking we’d wait for Bob and Jan on Wings. I spent the morning giving the hull a good wash to eliminate layers of salt crystals. It was the hot water & brush, rinse with the hose and the wipe down. As you'll see from the “before and after” photos, it is very rewarding work. Later we had a phone call with Wings and decided we’d also head for St Peters and meet them there. While our anchorage was calm and I had hopes the boat would stay relatively salt free today, I was woefully optimistic. As we approached St Peters Bay, the wind picked up to 18 knots and we were taking regular spray over the bow, guaranteeing Tug’n another wash later in the day. Grrrrrrrrr.

Entering St. Peters was interesting. There is a man made, small shipping canal and lock that joins the Atlantic Ocean and St Peters Bay to the Bras d’Or Lakes in the interior of Cape Bretton Island. There is also a northern entrance to the Bras d’Or Lakes that opens to the Laurentian Channel and the Atlantic. Unlike most other channels whose water flow is in one direction, water in the St Peters channel flows both directions. Water on both sides of the St Peters Canal are tidal and timing differences mean one side or the other can be the “high side”. As a result, both ends of the lock have double gates allowing either end of the lock to be the high water side. It is the only lock of its kind in North America. Prior to construction of St Peters Canal and lock, a “haulover road” was established to portage smaller vessels from St Peters Bay into the Bras d’Or Lakes and back.The canal and lock were completed in 1869. Various additions and renovations were completed up until 1917 when the canal became too small for modern ships and since then it has primarily been used by pleasure boats. 

It was a great experience to transit this historic lock. A short distance after the lock, we arrived at St Peters Lions Club Marina. We’ve never stayed at a marina owned by a service club and it sure turned out to be a great treat. The marina has been run by a manager named Gerry, who has run it since the Lions Club of St Peters acquired it 26 years go. It is just about the friendliest marina you could wish to visit. A day later, Bob and Jan on Wings caught up with us. 

On Thursday Aug 4th, we celebrated Dave’s birthday (Sir Tugley Blue). Conveniently, the Lions Club had a fund raiser and were selling chowder dinners complete with a bowl of chowder, a roll & butter and a strawberry shortcake dessert. The Lions Club hall was full, so we had a “take away” dinner and all 8 of us sat around a table in the Marina club house and dined on the best seafood chowder we’ve had all summer. Who knew that a Lions Club would serve up the best chowder, but really, it was the very best. It was absolutely loaded with all sorts of seafood including a very generous amount of lobster. Everyone raved about it. I’ll go out on a limb here and say we are not likely to find a better chowder anywhere. 

Friday August 5th was spent organizing rental cars for the 8 of us, planning two days of excursions on the island and grocery shopping. We also had a surprise visit by boating friends Tim and Bice whom we normally see in Lake Huron’s North Channel. They were on a road trip to the east coast and we had a lovely, but short visit with them aboard Tug’n.

Salt spray dried on the hull


Same section of hull after cleaning the salt


Tug'n (left side) dwarfed by 68' Nordhavn (right) at
St. Peters Lions Club Marina