WINDJAMMERS AND PANBO

Coast of Maine with our route over the past week

Monday June 12, 2017; Another perfect day with bright sunshine, very light wind and the promise of warm summer temperatures. As pre-arranged, we were underway at 0900 hours for Castine Harbour, a 13 nautical mile run. Castine Harbour is on the Bagaduce River and the moderately narrow river causes a significant 2 knot current in either direction with the tidal flow, so when grabbing a mooring ball, it requires great coordination between the Captain and the Admiral. We chose to rent a mooring from the famed Eaton’s Boatyard. Owner Kenny Eaton has been a fixture in Castine for many decades and he distinguishes his business from others with such things as delivery of morning newspapers to a free lobster with your mooring fee in July and August (we were a little early for that benefit). A local author has written a book about Kenny and his friendly antics and his helpfulness to all. Inside his prominent and crotchety building is, what appears to a casual observer, the most disorganized collection of boating gear imaginable, both new and used. But if you ask Kenny for something, he knows what he has and where to find it. 

Castine is one of the oldest towns in New England, predating Plymouth be about seven years. It was originally a fur trading post. During its tumultuous history, Castine changed hands 25 times among the English, French, Dutch, Spanish and American colonists. The entire town is on the National Historic Register with many fine examples of its historic architecture. 

Today Castine is home to the Marine Maritime Academy, established in 1941 to train merchant seamen and now offering a range of courses in engineering, management, transportation and nautical & ocean science. 

Marine Maritime Academy

Tuesday June 13, 2017: 

This summer weather is addictive - another sunny day, bound for temperatures in the high 20’s. We got underway by 0830 for Camden, Maine, about 19 nautical miles away on the west shore of Penobscot Bay. Camden was first settled in 1771 by folks trying to scrape by with modest farming in the mountainous terrain. Like Castine, Camden has a storied history of conflict. In the mid 1800’s the town had sawmills, gristmills and carriage factories. There were six shipyards launching six to twelve vessels annually. Lime quarries were also a significant source of commerce. In the late 1800’s Camden’s natural beauty was discovered by sportsmen and those seeking summer and autumn homes and those nostalgic for the sea. Thus began the property buying and grand summer homes being built by the wealthy from Boston, New York and Pennsylvania. 

One of the most enduring symbols of Camden and Penobscot Bay are the schooners or windjammers. Once, thousands of wooden sailing ships raced up and down the eastern seaboard in hopes of being the first to market with their cargo. Now a days, instead of carrying fish, granite and lumber, these venerable tall ships sail the bays of Maine, transporting guests back to the golden age of sail. Most of these ships are schooners, which have at least two masts, with the shorter mast forward. They were first built in the 1700’s, designed for speed and minimal crew. In their heyday, schooners were the workhorses of a young and thriving America carrying everything from coal and oysters to bricks and Christmas trees. 

By the 1930’s commercial sailing ships couldn’t compete with trains and steamships and they were on the verge of abandonment. An artist named Frank Swift from rural Maine saw the beauty of these schooners and through his paintings and finally through buying a schooner in the mid 1930’s and offering “Windjammer Cruises”, he single handedly started the revival of schooners in Maine. 

Today, there are vessels in the Maine Windjammer Association, seven of which have been designated National Historic Landmarks. 

Here are some pictures of this wondrous fleet. 

Penobscot Bay Windjammer Fleet

For boaters, the name Panbo and Ben Ellison may ring a bell. He is the Senior Electronics Editor for Passage Maker Magazine, Sail Magazine, Power & Motoryacht and others and he uses his boat is a lab for testing and reporting on new electronics. A friend and reader of our blog, Tim, who boats on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay was following our movements via the AIS website (https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5038556/mmsi:316015007/imo:0/vessel:TUGN) notices we were in the same harbour as Ben Ellison’s boat Gizmo. He encouraged us to go visit Ben, which we did. I introduced myself as an avid follower of the Panbo info emails and let him know how many of our Great Lakes boating friends read his material. 

Ben was just finishing up an install of a Webasto Hydronic Heater, which I was very interested in and during our discussion, I was delighted to be able to solve a problem he was having with a wiring question. I also took the opportunity to discuss a problem I was having with our cell phone signal booster and Ben offered to see if he had an antenna extension and replacement cell phone cradle at home for me which will hopefully see our signal booster back in service.

Ben Ellison

Gizmo

Camden is a very picturesque town whose population triples during the summer. Its combination of historic buildings, attractive and busy harbour, great restaurants and boutiques makes it a great stopover. We stayed at the Camden Yacht Club on one of their inner harbour “float docks” and used their tender services to get back and forth to shore. everyone we met were so very helpful and friendly. Interestingly, an initiative by the State of Maine reimburses marina’s offering pump out services (for our black water holding tank) to help keep the ocean clean. Very impressive and how it should be. Canadian maritime provinces could learn from this example. 

Stephen aboard Camden Yacht Club tender

Camden Harbour

We have seen small cruise ships in Castine and Camden. One can also see this area on one of those magnificent schooners whether its for an afternoon or w week. Interestingly, however, the summer boating season is not fully underway yet. Most mooring fields are quite empty and shops, yacht clubs and marinas say things will really begin to pick up at the end of June. I'm thinking, with this great weather and light crowds, our timing is pretty perfect. 

THE CRUISING BEGINS

Wednesday June 7th is our launch day. Sunrise is very early hear, currently 4:52 am, meaning it gets light much earlier. We were up and out of bed before 0600, fed and freshened up by 0700 and completing last minute odd jobs prior to launch. At 0830, Wayne brought Atlantic Boat Company’s huge tractor and hydraulic trailer to Tug’n, knocked on our hull and called out that its time to launch. Atlantic Boat can only launch boats about 2 hours before high tide to 2 hours after, so you don’t want to miss that window. The day is perfect - a bright clear sky, 16 degrees C and a very light breeze. No matter how well prepared we are and how highly competent the boat yard staff are, my adrenalin level always jumps when it is time for launch or haul out. Seeing our boat high up in the air on a hydraulic trailer or a travel lift just fills me with nervous excitement. 

Launch at Atlantic Boat Company

Launch goes without a hitch. Our big Cummins diesel fires up on the first try and seems excited by the prospect of another summer of cruising with us. We idle out into the bay going through a check list of tasks to be sure all is in order. After a short three mile run we are back in the bay to grab a mooring ball. I spend the rest of the day checking further equipment (generator, electronics, water maker etc) completing a tweak here and there to get things working the way I want. Our friends Bob and Jan on Wings get launched a couple of hours later and they are going through exactly the same steps with equipment check outs and solving the occasional head ache. 

The gentle wave slap on the hull on our first night on the water prevents me from getting the best sleep, but I’ll get used to it over the next few days. Prior to launch, we’d had a couple of happy hour discussions with Bob and Jan about where to start our cruising in Maine. We decided on heading southwest from Atlantic Boat Company to Deer Isle. 

Last year, friends Lee and Barb, aboard a 37’ Nordic Tug named Encore, spend a few hours with us, marking good anchorages along the New England coast and we are now making use of their guidance. Deer Isle has many possible anchorages and we chose Pickering Cove as it will offer good protection when the forecast strong northerly winds arrive early Friday. The anchorage is a leisurely 9 nautical mile trip past many gorgeous waterfront homes. Lobster fishing seems to be thriving as we zig and zag our way along our intended route dodging hundreds of lobster pot floats. Following a straight line is absolutely impossible and our autopilot is getting a break as hand steering is the only way to avoid running over these floats and getting one of their lines wrapped around our prop shaft. I certainly don’t want to have to get in that 11 degree C water to do a repair. 

Pickering Cove was lovely, with a few fantastic homes along the shoreline and only one large sailboat on its private mooring ball, there was plenty of room for us to anchor. This was our first anchoring of the season and we were not as well prepared as we should have been. We went through the mental calculations on water depth, plus tidal range to sort out the length of anchor rode we needed. But, we didn’t have our wash down pump working so when our first attempt at anchoring left us too close to a lobster pot float, without the wash down pump, we got lots of mud on deck. I scurried to get the wash down hose in place and turn on the pump only to realize the connection to the output side of the pump was not attached and sea water was being sprayed all about in our bilge. After successfully anchoring, I had quite a mess to clean up.

The prevailing southwest wind caused a minor swell in the anchorage until the wind swung around to the north. In the afternoon, the bright sunshine gave us a brief high temperature in the low 20’s and we enjoyed a couple of hours in the cockpit doing some bird watching, reading and having a happy hour refreshment. After a lovely dinner and showers, we enjoyed a movie on our tv before an early night. 

Happy Hour in the cockpit

Sunset at Pickering Cove on Deer Isle

Friday June 9, 2017. We woke to a chilly 9 degrees, wind and rain (as was forecast). We stayed in bed until almost 0800 hours. As planned, we were underway by 1030 hours for a lunch stop at the town of Stonington on Deer Island Thorofare. It’s a picturesque town with plenty of white houses on a hill sloping down to the water where the bay is filled with lobster boats tending to all those traps we do our best to dodge. Stonington’s residents initially made their living harvesting granite at nearby quarries and running sardine canneries. Lobster fishing and tourism now drive the community’s economy. 

Cold and wet in Stonington

There is no real visitor docking here, but we managed to get approval to tie up at “The Landing” dock for a few hours, in the pouring rain, allowing us to walk into town fur lunch at the Harbour Cafe. We split a bowl of fish chowder and a plate of haddock and chips, that was most welcome after our outing on this damp and chilly morning. After lunch, we headed off further west to Perry Creek Cove on Vinalhaven Island, at the south end of the famed Penobscot Bay. As we cruised along, admiring the shoreline, the forests and the lovely homes, we were struck with how similar it looks to our home cruising area on Georgian Bay. The big difference of course is the salt water, the tides and the look of the rugged, seaweed strewn shorelines at low tide. But at high tide, one could easily believe you were cruising Georgian Bay.

Perry Creek Cove is a lovely, well protected anchorage which we were pleased to share with two other boats and of course a bunch of lobster trap floats. Vinalhaven Island's more recent history since the arrival of Europeans some 250 years ago, was focused on fishing, shipbuilding, logging & shipbuilding. Later, high quality granite was discovered in 1826 and Vinalhaven became one of Maine's largest quarrying centres for the next century. Today, the island's residents are focused on fishing and lobster and the island is also home to wealthy north easterners mostly from Boston, New York and Philadelphia. 

Maine’s coastline has many islands, coves and channels and each one needs a name. It has been quite fascinating getting acquainted with the area as we sort out our cruising plans and reading the names one thinks those responsible for naming them must have had quite a lot of fun. Check out these names: Eggemoggin Reach; Naskeag Harbour; Burnt Coat Harbour; Isle au Haut; Mount Desert Island (that locals pronounce it Mount Dessert, probably due to the French origin of its early European inhabitants); Brimstone Island; Crotch Island. Trust me, there are many more entertaining names. I’m sure there is a story behind each one and I plan on doing some digging to see what I can find out.

Saturday June 10, 2017: This morning was one of those days that is just picture perfect. Cloudless, mirror calm water, silent and breathtakingly beautiful reflections of the tree lined shore. The rain/dew mixture on deck begged for a wipe down, which I did before breakfast, pausing every few minutes to admire the beauty. A mom & pop small lobster boat swung by to tend to their traps in an efficient and orderly manner.

By 1000 hours, we were underway for a new anchorage in southerly Penobscot Bay called Pulpit Harbour on North Haven Island. Our route took us between Vinalhaven Island and North Haven Island, past many gorgeous properties with huge homes (summer homes?) all in splendid condition and many with elaborate piers with ramps and floating docks, which is an engineering challenge with 10’ tides. 

North Haven home

Pulpit Harbour is reportedly a huge favourite among the boating community and we found it littered with mooring buoys. Fran and I remembered it from a one week schooner cruise we had aboard The Heritage in 1997. We had anchored in Pulpit Harbour and sailed one of their lovely wooden tenders about the harbour. 

Upon arrival, we approached a sailboat with a New York registration, to ask for guidance about the mooring balls and we were encouraged to pick up any of the mooring balls as most owners had not launched their boats yet. Come July, it would be a different story and the sparsely populated anchorage would likely be packed. So, we happily picked up a mooring and settled in. Shortly after, our new sailing friends Nick and Jennifer came by to tell us about a public floating dock we were allowed to use and a recommended shore walk to take. Nick and Jennifer are retired from the hectic New York advertising business and in retirement, Nick is an artist and Jennifer writes and publishes children’s books. Jennifer Berne has published four books: Manfish; Calvin Can’t Fly; Nighty-Night, Sleep Tight; and On a Beam of Light. We completed a lovely walk with Nick and Jennifer to the North Haven Grocery Store and Fran and I split a dish of ice cream - mmmmm. I think this is our first day where the temperature was warm enough to truly desire an ice cream.Afterwards, we did a few chores, enjoyed a game of Five Crowns over Happy Hour and then barbecued a pork tenderloin for dinner as the wind died and the sun set behind the Camden Hills off in the distance. Perfect.

Tug'n & Wings on mooring balls in Pulpit Harbour

Sunday June 11, 2017: It’s another beautiful, sunny morning. We were up by 0530, woken by the very early sunrise. Waking so early also goes together conveniently with falling asleep shortly after 2100 hours (9pm). Strong winds are forecast for later this morning, so we are on our way by 0740 for a short, 9 nautical mile run to an anchorage at Warren Island by Seven Hundred Acre Island. Warren Island is described as a wild, remote State Park. The State maintains 9 mooring balls that are rented on the honour system for $20 per night. 

Shortly after lunch, Wings launched their dinghy and ferried the four of us to the dinghy dock. We met the Park Warden who gave us a map of the island in exchange for our fee and warned us about protecting ourselves from ticks and lime disease, which we’d prepared for. Warren Island used to belong to the William Folwell family, wool manufacturers from Philadelphia. Their dream home was completed over 10 years at a cost of $75,000 and was completed in 1901. It was built from spruce logs cut on the island and it included a large dining room, kitchen, ball room and 27 bedrooms all connected by a balcony. Summer days were filled with sailing, fishing, clambakes and visits to the mainland, but the highlight of every summer was their masquerade ball. All this activity came to an end in 1919 when the summer home was destroyed by fire. The property was donated to the state for a park. Remnants of the summer home’s foundation are still evident on the property. A walk around the well maintained property perimeter shows off its wonderful views of Penobscot Bay.

Today reached a high of 25 degrees - how perfect is that.

Some lovely summer homes we saw

Our walk on Warren Island

Sunset at Warren Island

SEASON 2 - DOWN EAST CIRCLE ROUTE

Dear Family and Friends

We are about to embark on the second half of our Down East Circle Route adventure. Saturday May 27th, Bob and Jan (from Wings, the 35’ Nordhavn) drove from their home in Michigan to our home in Oakville. Then on Sunday, the four of us drove back to Brooklin, Maine to the Atlantic Boat Company where our boats have been stored for the past winter. Atlantic Boat Company moved our boats from their storage building out into the yard so we could have a few days to get them ready to launch. Our pre launch projects include:

• Installing an AIS (Automatic Identification System) allowing us to see information (boat name, length, boat type, radio call sign, boat speed & direction) on other boats / ships in our area and for them to see our boat information.
• Replacing zinc anodes on the hull, rudder and skeg
• Check battery voltages and re-connect them
• Check/change impeller on Cummins diesel
• Update software on Chart Plotter
• Check all thru hull fittings
• Check steering mechanism
• Fill and start up water system and check system for leaks
• Install optional posts on mast for GPS and Furuno Weather Station for improved performance
• Replace carpets in engine room
• Apply Rain-X to windows
• Apply wax to exterior stainless steel 

Outline of the Down East Circle Route

Our loose plan for this summer involves:

• Cruise the coast of Maine for the month of June
• Then head south along the coasts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut to New York City
• Then head north, up the Hudson River, through Lake Champlain, crossing into Quebec and on to Sorel on the St. Lawrence River
• Then up the St Lawrence to Montreal and up the Ottawa River to Ottawa
• Then down the Rideau Canal from Ottawa to Kingston and finally, through the Bay of Quinte to Trenton and up the Trent-Severn Waterway to Georgian Bay and our home port of Beacon Bay in Penetanguishene 

Our location in Brooklin, Maine

Tug'n and Wings "on the hard"

This season, it will be just us aboard Tug’n and Bob and Jan aboard Wings making the trip back to the Great Lakes. Our friends Dave and Judy aboard Sir Tugley Blue have decided to spend the full 2017 season cruising the coast of Maine and hauling out again at Atlantic Boat Company  next winter. Tentatively they will make the return trip to Lake Michigan in 2018.

BLOG Comments and Feedback: Last year, many of you tried to leave comments on our various blog postings but were unable to. Thankfully our friends Tim and Bice helped sort out this problem last fall and you are now able to leave comments on the blog. So, we look forward to hearing from you this summer with your comments and questions or to just say hello. 

Some History of Maine: The history of the area now called Maine spans thousands of years. The earliest inhabitants called the Red Paint People (3,000 BC to about 1,000 BC) were a maritime group known for elaborate burials using red ochre. They were followed by the Susquehanna Culture, the first to use pottery. By the time the Europeans arrived in about 1525 the inhabitants of Maine were Algonquian speaking Wabanaki peoples including the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy and Penobscots. 

The first Europeans to explore the coast of Maine sailed under the command of the Portuguese explorer Estevao Gomes in service of the Spanish Empire. They did not settle in the area, but they mapped the coastline. The first European settlement was made on St. Croix Island in 1604 by a French party lead by Samuel de Champlain. The French named the area Acadia. French & English settlers would contest central Maine until the 1750’s when the French were defeated in the French and Indian War. The French developed and maintained strong relations with the area’s Native American tribes through the Catholic missionaries. 

During the American Revolution, Maine was a centre of Patriotism, with less Loyalist activity than most colonies. Merchants operated 52 ships that served as Privateers attacking British supply ships. Captain Henry Mowat of the Royal Navy was in charge of operations off the Maine coast during much of the war. He dismantled Fort Pownall at the mouth of the Penobscot River an burned Falmouth (present-day Portland) in 1775. He was reputedly heartless and brutal, but historians note that he performed his duty well and in accordance with the ethics of the era. 

In 1779 the British started to seize parts of Maine, especially around Penobscot Bay, to make it into a new colony named New Ireland. The approach was promoted by exiled Loyalists so it could become a permanent colony for Loyalists and a base for military action during the war. The plan failed due to lack of interest by the British government and by the determination of the Americans to keep all of Maine.

Peace was signed in 1783 and the New Ireland proposal abandoned. In 1784 the British split New Brunswick off from Nova Scotia and made it into the desired Loyalist colony. The Treaty of Paris that ended the war was ambiguous about the boundary between Maine an the neighbouring British provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec and this would set the stage for the bloodless Aroostook War a half century later.

During the War of 1812, Maine suffered the effects of warfare more than most sections of New England. US Army and Navy resources were concentrating their efforts on the west and few resources were assigned to the Maine region. Eventually sufficient militia mobilizations managed to discourage enemy interventions from the British army and naval forces from nearby Nova Scotia.

Maine gained statehood in March 4, 1820 (supported by over 70% of its 24,000 residents) as part of the Missouri Compromise in which free northern states approved the statehood of Missouri as a slave state in exchange for the statehood of Maine as a free state. In this manner, northern representation remained in balance with southern pro-slavery influence in the Senate.

Maine’s industrialization was focused on logging, lumber, shipbuilding and a disproportionally large merchant marine to deliver lumber all over the world. Later, the emphasis was on cotton textile mills and textile manufacturing, followed by pulp and paper. 

Maine’s population includes significant immigration from Ireland, French Canadians from Quebec and New Brunswick and English & Scottish immigrants coming via Canada. There is also a significant group of Somali immigrants from the early 2000’s. 

In the mid 20th century, the textile industry was relocating to the lower cost American South. Shipbuilding was also in decline and in more recent years, even Maine’s most traditional industries have been threatened; forest conservation efforts diminished logging and pulp & paper; restrictions on fisheries put pressure on coastal communities.

Maine attempted to buttress retailing, service industries and tourism resulting in more outlet shopping centres, more state and national parks, increasing the number of visitors enjoying Maines vast unspoiled wilderness. However, since the 1970’s, Maine continues to be the poorest state in all of the USA with its exceptionally high levels of welfare.

Cruising Maine’s Coast: Enough history. Maine is reputedly one of the best cruising grounds in the world. It combines the best of broad ocean passages, magnificent rivers, coastal islands and mountains, and even a fjord. Wildlife abounds, as do safe harbours, and apparently you can feel as if you are one of only a few lucky souls out there exploring in your own boat. We plan to find out.

The typical cruising season in Maine lasts from the first of July through Labor Day. The days are warm, the nights are cool, and the prevailing southwest winds are light to moderate. So, we are on the early side of that time frame an hoping for better than average weather and temperatures.

Only 250 miles as the crow flies, Maine’s convoluted coastline measures more than 3,500 miles. A new computerized study using satellite images has logged the length at a whopping 5,500 miles with 6,200 islands. There is enough coast here for a lifetime of cruising.

We’ve spent May 29th to June 4th living on the boat at the Atlantic Boat Yard, working away on projects. We made two trips into Blue Hill and Ellsworth with a loner car from Atlantic Boat’s General Manager and literally filled the car twice with groceries and other supplies. We’d planned to launch the boat June 5th and go on a mooring for a day or two to finish checking out our various systems. However, a very high wind forecast for one to two days is making us postpone our launch a little longer. In the meantime we managed to fit in visits to the village of Brooklin with its quaint General Store and Brooklin Inn, the Brooklin Boat Yard and the Wooden Boat School that offers live-in courses on the art of wooden boat building. 

The Brooklin Inn

The Wooden Boat School (Stephen & Bob)

A Work in Progress at the Wooden Boat School

Some of the Wooden Boat School fleet

Bob, Jan and Fran

For anyone considering cruising this area, we give high praise to the Atlantic Boat Company. Their price was the most reasonable we found in this area of Maine and the staff are the most friendly and accommodating you could ever hope for. It’s been a great place to store our boat this past winter.

The weather so far has been extremely variable. During one day, we’ve experienced fog, mist, brilliant sunshine, heavy cloud cover with frequent showers, calm winds, strong winds and temperature swings from 9 to 23 degrees C (that’s 48 to 74 degrees F). It’s been some variation of that list every day this week. It seems the best thing to do is enjoy those brief bits of lovely sunshine and warm temperatures when they come and be prepared to put your sweater and jacket back on quickly.

Many thanks for following our blog and we certainly look forward to your comments. We will definitely be launched and under way by the time you see our next blog post.

FAIRWELL TO NOVA SCOTIA

Here is our route covered by this blog post

On Thursday September 1st, we continued our journey southwest along the shore of Nova Scotia with a 42 nautical mile run from Lunenburg to Port Mouton (pronounced Matoon), passing numerous fishing boats along the rugged and rocky shore line. We did not go into the village of Port Mouton, opting instead to anchor at Carter’s Beach. This was a stunningly beautiful anchorage with a long and lovely white sand beach with lots of locals braving the cloudy, cool day to walk the beach. Some even went to far as to swim in the decidedly cold water. As it was just an overnight stop, we did not lower our dinghy and go ashore to explore.

On Friday, we were up and underway by 0630 under a clear sky and light winds, headed a further 39 miles to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. We took a mooring at the very hospitable Shelburne Yacht Club. Shelburne is a very picturesque town that was founded in 1738. The first Europeans to settle here were French Acadians who established a small fishing settlement. After the British expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, there were no further settlers in the area for almost three decades. In 1783, about 5,000 settlers came to Shelburne form the New York area. They were United Empire Loyalists who opposed the American Revolution and wished to remain loyal to Britain. The Crown offered them free land, tools and provisions to attract them to Shelburne. 

At the same time, the Black Loyalists, a large group of black slaves who escaped from the rebels to British lines, were promised freedom and free land. They were evacuated and transported by the British to Shelburne, which became the largest free Black settlement in North America. But the Black Loyalists endured long waits for their land, they got smaller parcels than the whites and they faced discrimination from other colonists. In 1784 the whites conducted Shelburne Riots against the African Americans. 

With multiple waves of settlers, by 1783, Shelburne’s population ballooned to 17,000 making it the 4th largest settlement in North America. However, with a lack of agricultural land and too few pioneers who knew how to develop the land, Shelburne’s population fell sharply. Its remaining population focused on fishing and ship building. 

Another notable event occurred in May 1945 following Germany’s surrender to the allies, German submarine U889 surrendered to the Royal Canadian Navy in Shelburne. 

Today Shelburne is a lovely town with a beautiful historic section. We enjoyed a great lunch at Charlotte’s Lane. Later, we learned the Shelburne Yacht Club has local restaurants cater dinners at the Yacht Club on Friday nights (instead of running their own restaurant), so we took advantage of the great deal they were offering

Historic Shelburne, Nova Scotia


Charlotte's Lane Restaurant, Shelburne

Our adventure for this summer was going to finish up in Maine and for several days, we’d been discussing how best to complete the crossing from Nova Scotia to Maine, across the Bay of Fundy. Initially, we’d planned on a series of multiple stops (Yarmouth to Brier Island, to Grand Manan Island and finally checking in to US Customs & Immigration at Cutler, Maine. This route would involve relatively short runs of between 30 and 50 nautical miles. Hurricane Hermine (4th named Hurricane in the 2016 Atlantic Season) was an unplanned complication that was going to cause multiple days of strong ocean swells that could cause us to have to wait in one of these ports. Also, these ports all had fixed piers (as opposed to floating docks) and tides of 5 1/2 meters all of which were vulnerable to the forecast southerly ocean swells. 

The preferred route by my friend Denis and other local boaters we met, was a direct route from Shelburne to say Mount Desert Island in Maine, a distance of about 160 nautical miles. As it happens, the author of a popular Nova Scotia cruising guide, Peter Loverette was docked at Shelburne while we were there and he agreed to meet with us to discuss our plans. There were two key factors we needed to consider. One was rounding the southern tip of Cape Sable Island, nicknamed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”. Its low lying land coupled with strong tidal currents and rip tides demanded respect and everyone recommended you time your passing to coincide with low tide. The other key consideration was arrival time near Maine as their lobster fishing season is year round and lobster pot floats start appearing about 15 miles offshore, so we wanted good daylight when we reached that area. At our cruising speed of about 7.8 knots, it would take us about 20 1/2 hours to make the crossing

Taking all this information into account, we concluded we were best to depart Shelburne around 1300 hours on Saturday September 3rd, round Cape Sable Island at about 1730 hours and get clear of a variety of other smaller islands and shoals south of Yarmouth before dark. Then we’d be on a straight course for Maine throughout the night and we could adjust our speed as needed so we’d not arrive along Maine’s lobster fishing shore before daylight.

Fran and I had done several “overnighters” on previous boats and were fairly comfortable with the idea. The others had a little less experience but all agreed this was our best strategy. Looking at the forecast for the coming seven days, there was no better weather window than what we had for the next two days. Despite our previous experience, I find my mind becomes a whirl of thoughts and a sound sleep is not possible. When we got up Saturday morning we were excited to get going, but kept ourselves occupied until 1300. Winds and waves were lighter than forecast. On our way to Cape Sable Island, I spotted a large flock of seagulls prompting Fran and I to grab binoculars to check what they were doing. What a wonderful surprise - a group of humpback whales were doing their organized bubble feeding and the seagulls were taking advantage of their activity too. 

Rounding Cape Sable Island we got a great “push” from the tidal current adding as much as 2.8 knots to our speed for a while. Before it got dark, we figured out how to dim all the lights on the navigational equipment. We have dim red lights in the pilot house for night cruising and nearby switches for white lighting were taped over so we wouldn’t turn them on by mistake and mess up our night vision. As dusk arrived, we started our 2 hours on, 2 hours off shifts with Fran taking the first 2000 to 2200 hour shift. The three boats fell into a line about a half mile apart so we could always see the navigation lights of each other and we were in regular contact via VHF radio. The sky was a clear but moonless night, the winds remained light, there was very little boat traffic and the half meter swell has hardly noticeable. We simply couldn’t have asked for better conditions. As the boat was being steered by autopilot, for the person on “watch”, most of the time was spent staring at the radar screen to see if any other vessels showed up as a new blip on the screen. If one of us spotted something, we’d alert the other two boats so the three of us could keep track and determine if there was a risk to us. 

I took the 2200 to 2400 shift, munching on peanuts and other snacks to keep alert. I also kept singing that famous song "Farewell to Nova Scotia" to myself.

Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,may your mountains dark and dreary^]be.For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?

Fran surprised me on her 2400 to 0200 shift as she decided not to wake me and she continued on until 0400, which was a lovely treat. Through her shift, the three boats spoke regularly about the remaining distance to go before daylight and when we expected to see lobster pot floats and gradually slowed the boats down so we wouldn’t arrive too early. Sure enough, right after sunrise, the first lobster pots appeared. We were in 250 feet of water and gradually the numbers of floats increased dramatically. Soon, we could no longer use the autopilot as a straight course was impossible. It seemed to us like the “wild west of lobster fishing” making us wonder how there could be any lobsters left on the bottom. Fran woke up to quite a sight of lobster pot floats along with multiple whale and propose sightings all around us, such that Fran was afraid we'd hit one. 

En route, we phoned in to Customs and Immigration announcing our arrival, providing our names, birth dates, Nexus numbers, passport numbers, our boat information, our starting place and our destination. They called back half an hour later confirming we were cleared but they’d meet us in the harbour to sell us our cruising permit. After an hour and a half of dodging lobster pot floats, we arrived at our destination, North East Harbour on Mount Desert Island. Here was another first time experience for us. In addition to regular docks and mooring balls, the marina had a series of 40’ docks anchored in the bay, but not attached to shore. These docks allow two boats on each one, thus squeezing more boats in the harbour than mooring balls. Some of these docks also had a fresh water tap as well, which was very convenient.

Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park, looked very appealing to visit with its rich history dating back some 6,000 years. We will  have to explore it next season as our time here is going to be devoted to preparing the boat for winter.

Monday was Labour Day, so on Tuesday, we contacted the Atlantic Boat Company in Brooklin, Maine to discuss timing of our haul out for the winter and agreed on Monday September 12th at 0715. They can only haul boats out at high tide, so it was going to be a bright and early haul out. We spent the intervening time getting our boat ready for haul out and winter storage by doing a wide range of tasks including washing and waxing the boat; engine and generator oil and filter changes, fuel filter changes, water maker winterization, washing all bedding, clothes & towels that would be bagged and stored on board for the winter, defrosting the two freezers, finishing up all our food supplies etc etc. Suffice to say, it was hard to stay awake after 2000 hours each evening as we were so tired from all the work. 

Recreational boats shared North East Harbour with many lobster boats who make daily treks out to pull up their traps, empty the lobster catch, rebate the trap and lower it again. Normally, they’d go to a commercial dock and unload their catch to an awaiting refrigerated truck before going to their mooring. One day Fran noted a loaded lobster boat was briefly moored behind us. We motored over in our dinghy to see the fishermen and Fran purchased two 1 1/2 pound lobsters and less than an hour later they were cooked and cooling off in our galley. She cooked them perfectly, shelled them and they were one of our best seafood treats of the summer.

Staring at this dashboard on our overnight passage
across Bay of Fundy


Bay of Fundy sunrise


Mount Desert Island, North East Marina


Some big yachts in NE Harbour


Recreational & lobster boats at NE Harbour


Fran's two lobsters all cooked up!

We moved the boats 15 nautical miles over to moorings at Atlantic Boat Company on Saturday September 10th, a perfectly lovely day. Haul out occurred as planned on Monday, followed by more washing and waxing of the hull, winterizing the water systems etc. We picked up a rental van on Tuesday and departed for home on Wednesday at 0620 hours. It was almost 1,200 kilometres to Oakville with four drivers taking 2 hour shifts. All was going well until we got stuck on highway 401 east of Kingston where the highway was closed for the day due to a horrific crash. That cost us over 3 hours delay and we ultimately got home just before midnight. Bob, Jan, Dave and Judy stayed overnight at our place and then after a final group breakfast at Cora’s Restaurant, they were on the road again to their homes in Michigan.

Tug'n haul out at Atlantic Boat Company

















Final fairwell breakfast with Bob & Jan, Dave & Judy

This is the wrap up for the end of Season One of our Down East Circle Route Adventure. What a privilege and magnificent experience we had. We got a much deeper understanding of the history and culture of the areas we visited and their importance to the development and shaping of Canada. We learned much about cruising in salt water, coping with tides and currents and learning to anchor in tides. We enjoyed a wonderful diet of seafood this summer, both from our own galley and in local restaurants. Finally, we met the most wonderful and helpful locals. /Wherever we went, they were always curious about our trip and anxious to help us any any way they could. 

We’ve enjoyed documenting our trip in this blog and loved all the emails we got from some of those who followed us along on our journey. Stay tuned for Season Two in 2017. 

Best wishes

Stephen & Fran Hill

Tug’n

Here are the numbers:

Distance Travelled: 2,135.9 nautical miles

Fuel Consumed: 2,107 litres of fuel (~533 gallons)

Engine Run Time: 327.5 hours

Days Away: 111

Nights at Anchor or Mooring Ball: about 35%

Nights at Marina Dock: about 65%

Provinces/States Visited: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Maine