August 31, 2013 Day 101  Lower Bay of Fundy

Killam Brothers Marina
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

An appropriate weathervane on the clock tower
in Yarmouth!

We have all decided to stay in Yarmouth today.  The next weather window may be Monday.  We went to the Visitor’s Center and then to the Farmers Market this morning and came back with bread, orange cake, fresh corn on the cob, fresh yellow and green beans, and lemon pepper pasta – a successful trip!

Next, we stopped at a marine supply store and picked up a small anchor for the dinghy.  Joyce and Lisa went to a few other shops downtown while Bill took the food back to the boat.  The afternoon was spent chart plotting, napping, and reading – just relaxing after our long day yesterday.

We had dinner on board and then watched a movie. It is foggy and very gray outside and is not a good evening for a walk.  We will probably be here tomorrow unless the forecast improves. 

Here is an interesting quote from the town of Yarmouth’s website: “Yarmouth sits at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy which is known for having the highest tides in the world and being the second roughest body of water on Earth.”   We will cross the southern part of the Bay of Fundy when we depart for Grand Manan Island! 

August 30, 2013 Day 100  Lower Bay of Fundy

Killam Brothers Marina
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada


Carried  Away cutting through the waves in the Atlantic

Just a short post ….Day 100! What a day we had on the Atlantic Ocean. We traveled from Shelburne to Yarmouth in a variety of “seas” - fairly calm until we reached Cape Sable Island then not so calm. We had wind against tide and were taking waves it seemed from all sides.  But, nine hours later we were tied up at the dock here in Yarmouth, tired but safe.  The first thing we did was wash the boat down to get the salt spray off.

Two fishing boats

One of many lighthouses we passed today

We went to dinner at Rudders, a nice seafood restaurant a block from the marina, with Outbound and Esmeralda.  They both want to leave tomorrow but we are unsure of our plans. We had hoped to spend a little more time here but the weather window is not great. We will decide in the morning. (If we leave we may not have wifi)

August 29, 2013 Day 99  South Shore of Nova Scotia

Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club
Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada

Today was a day to work and sightsee!  There were several chores to complete and a town to visit.  After several loads of laundry (Joyce) and fixing a pump and monitoring it (Bill) we finally took a break.

Charlotte Lane Cafe

Colorful simple homes on Charlotte Lane

Bill chose to stay on the boat and rest while Joyce went to lunch with Ron, Lisa, Richard and Shannon at the award winning Charlotte Lane Café.  We were not disappointed – the food was excellent!  Then we walked around the small streets and went into several shops.  The town is very quaint and has many of the colorful houses that Lunenburg has, only a different style architecture.  Many of the homes date back to the 1780’s when the town was founded. Shelburne like others, was a shipbuilding community. In 1994 the move, A:The Scarlet Letter was filmed here.

Greek Revival style and former office
of Joseph McGill Shipbuilding
(dormers were added in 2003)

Cranky & Ectsatic are next to each other on the dock! We wonder
how that works for them!

Richard and Shannon feeling very small!

There was much more to see but it was very late in the afternoon and unfortunately we did not have time to visit the museums. (We could put Shelburne on the “return list” too!)

We had a quick dinner on board and made preparations for our trip tomorrow with Outbound and Esmeralda. We will head to Yarmouth which is a 70 mile trip – a very long day!

August 28, 2013 Day 98  South Shore of Nova Scotia

Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club
Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada

Another day of fog. This was the heaviest yet of our trip. We departed our anchorage at 7:10 and ventured back out into the ocean. We were only 1/8 mile from Outbound and we could not see them. We did not see them until 11:40!  Again, the radar is our only guide. The seas were not bad today but we did have 3 ft. swells for a while.

We arrived at our marina, the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club at 12:40. (No fog here!)  We headed directly to the fuel dock before going to our face dock.  We have decided to say here two nights – weather coming in! 

Bill walked to the little downtown area and bought engine oil. He also picked up brochures from the visitors center. We will see the historical area, including some museums, tomorrow.  Shelburne was settled in 1783 by Loyalists who left New York and there are many original homes and commercial establishments here.

Joyce stayed on the boat to tackle the laundry and take advantage of having wifi.  She was soon visited by Canadian Customs agents who wanted to see the customs number we were issued when we entered Canada in July. No problem!

Esmeralda arrived around 7pm and we went with them and Outbound to a nearby restaurant. We had already eaten so we tagged long for coffee and dessert. 

August 27, 2013 Day 97  South Shore of Nova Scotia

At anchor, Port Mouton off Carters Beach
Nova Scotia, Canada

We departed Lunenburg at 7:00 and encountered fog shortly after we left the harbor.  Our quiet harbor turned into fairly rough seas when we turned into the ocean with 4-5 ft swells for about three hours.  The fog lifted about 10:00 and we could finally see Outbound. We knew where they were on radar – only ¼ mile from us.  By 11:00 the sun was shining and the seas had calmed down considerably.  We anchored by Carters Beach at Port Mouton in a beautiful setting with a beach, large rocks, Spectacle Island, coves, and trees all in striking colors.  We were surprised at how cold the water is!

Carters Beach

After lunch, Ron and Lisa picked Joyce up in their dinghy and we had a relaxing time walking on the beach playing with their dog Gizmo, and finding some interesting small shells.

A sunbathing seagull

at anchor

We had leftovers for dinner on board and spent the evening chart plotting and reading in this peaceful anchorage.



Outbound and the sunset

August 26, 2013 Day 96  South Shore of Nova Scotia

Lunenburg
Nova Scotia, Canada

As the wind picked up and the clouds moved in we were happy we chose to stay here at least one more day. We are rocking at the dock!

We took a walk down to the Boat Locker, a marine shop and the location for the management of this wharf, to pay for our dockage.  We stopped at Adams & Knickle (you do pronounce he “K”), a business in the scallop fishing industry, and bought a small fan to replace an old one on the boat. We have to confess we made a brief stop at a grocery store too!

After lunch, Joyce went back to do more browsing in the shops, returning just in time before the rain arrived!  Then she baked a pound cake.

We had dinner on board then went over to watch a movie on Richard and Shannon’s lovely boat, Esmeralda, along with Ron and Lisa. We had a such a fun evening!

We plan to leave tomorrow with Outbound and head to an anchorage at Port Mouton, so we will not have wifi.  We have had a wonderful stay here in Lunenburg and would definitely put this on a “return” list!

August 25, 2013 Day 95  South Shore of Nova Scotia

Lunenburg
Nova Scotia, Canada

Another change of plans!  We are now going to stay in Lunenburg a few days. After looking at the weather forecast we have wind and rain coming in tomorrow so it was a decision of where we want to spend our time. And Lunenburg won out over an anchorage. 




Early morning reflections

Joyce exiting the pilot house of the Theresa E.Connor

Ron and Lisa

A view of the harbor from a main street.. Note the golf course
 on the other side of the harbor!

We arrived at the Fisheries Museum when it opened at 9:30 and were there until after 1:00. It is an amazing museum that depicts the fishing industry and shipbuilding industry here in Lunenburg. The museum itself is located in a former fish processing plant. From ship models, to the aquarium, exhibits of the 500 years of the Grand Banks fishery off the East Coast of Canada, to the famous schooner, Bluenose, to many hands on activities such as knot tying, net mending, mat hooking etc., there is so much to see – and that is just inside the building. On the docks are two boats built here – the Cape Sable, a side fishing trawler built in 1962, and the Theresa E. Connor, the last dory schooner to fish from Lunenburg. We spent quite a bit of time touring and inspecting these vessels!

Another inn - same architecture
as many homes with the prominent "Lunenburg Bump"

We finally tore ourselves away and returned to our boat for lunch. Then Joyce put a roast in the crockpot for dinner and ventured back out to browse through more of the shops.

After dinner, we took another walk and relaxed for the evening.

August 24, 2013 Day 94  South Shore of Nova Scotia

Lunenburg
Nova Scotia, Canada

What a lovely day we have had!  We left Halifax at 7:00 and traveled 47 miles to Lunenburg, arriving at 1:15.  We had a beautiful day on the ocean – sunny and calm. It could not have been any better. This part of Nova Scotia is the South Shore - also called the Bluenose Coast.

Greeted by the colorful wharf buildings

More dock in Lunenburg

We arrived at Zwicker Dock and had to dock ourselves.  Bill made it easy by getting very close to the dock so Joyce could just lasso a cleat and get us secure.



Yellow house - late 1880's.
Many of the  homes have ornate trim.

We loved Lunenburg immediately. It is colorful, quaint, inviting, historic, and is full of restaurants, shops, inns, museums, working docks, homes dating back to the 1800’s.  There are homes and shops of all colors – purple, yellow, blue, pink.  The town is very hilly and we walked along many of the residential and commercial streets.  Many of the shops built in the 1800’s have been converted into homes and have placards indicating the original use and date built.

Purple house - 1800's. This one is for sale!

Carriage passing in front of Grand Banker,
one of many restaurants

Love the steeple and weather vane
on this church!

The Dory Shop with a
typical dory in front of it

We came back to the boat and cooked dinner on the grill, then took one more walk.  We met with Lisa and Ron and will leave here sometime tomorrow – but first we want to tour a Fisheries Museum!  There are Dory races (Canada vs US) this weekend and we hope to see these Sunday morning as well.

August 23, 2013 Day 93  Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Halifax
Nova Scotia, Canada

This morning, we took a taxi to and from the grocery store (aptly named the Superstore) and did a major provisioning of the galley.  We need a larger refrigerator!  After lunch we took a tour of HMCS Sackville, the last of 269 corvettes built by the allies in WWII and that served in the Canadian Navy.  We also visited the Map Store which has many maps and books and gifts. 

We learned once again, that we had to move our boat.  So now we are on the Cable Wharf, not quite as protected from the wind, but we will manage for one night. The management did make it worth our while though!

Returning to Halifax by ferry from Dartmouth

We caught the 4:45 ferry boat to Dartmouth, a 15 minute ride across the Halifax River. We walked around for a little while then rode the ferry back. At least we had a good view of the Halifax harbor. We came back and had burgers at the Hart & Thistle Pub and then returned to our boat to get some things done.  

Dinner at the pub

Halifax boardwalk

more of the boardwalk

We plan to leave in the morning and head south.  We have enjoyed being in Halifax. It is a thriving city.  But, it is time to move on to Lunenberg.

(Note: we have many photos to post but the wifi is very slow here, so hopefully we can post them at our next stop.)

 

 

August 22, 2013 Day 92  Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Halifax
Nova Scotia, Canada

We spent the morning at the fascinating Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, with nearly 26,000 marine artifacts including a ship chandlery, exhibits on the ship explosion in Halifax in 1917, exhibits of the Titanic, small craft models, age of steam, shipwreck treasures, and the CSS Acadia, berthed next to us.  After lunch we walked down to one end of the boardwalk to Pier 21 where the cruise ship Carnival Glory docked this morning.  We stopped to see Ron and Lisa on the way back and then walked to the other end of the boardwalk, with many pubs, shops, more tour boats, etc.  The waterfront is busy with boats constantly coming and going, and hundreds of people enjoying the activities. 

The Carnival Glory departing Halifax
 with Outbound in the foreground

Maritime Museum

Boardwalk at Bishop's Landing



Ron, Allan, Geraldine, Richard,
Bill, Joyce, Shannon, Lisa at the Bicycle Thief

At 5:00 we met friends on Outbound, Stray Cat, and Esmeralda for dinner at the Bicycle Thief, and had great Italian food.  The restaurant is located on the waterfront and we were able to see the cruise ship depart.  We walked back to our boat and found the Bowdoin, a 1921 schooner that we saw in Maine in 1971! We were stunned to see it here and learned it is a training vessel that will return to Maine tomorrow.

The Bowdoin

We will do more sightseeing tomorrow and will have to do a major provisioning of the boat since there is a large grocery store here.  We will not have another one for some time.  We may also take a ferry boat across the river to Dartmouth.  Stay tuned!

 

August 21, 2013 Day 91  Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Halifax
Nova Scotia, Canada

Our plan to leave at 6:30 this morning was slightly delayed by heavy fog, but we did venture out anyway at 7:00 with Outbound and Esmeralda.  We were only ¼ mile apart but could not see them most of the time. The fog lifted at 7:45 and then returned 30 minutes later for another 45 minutes!  With radar, it isn’t a problem – we just have to get used to it! The seas were fairly good today. We will take less than one meter any time. 

We could see the city of Halifax on the horizon long before we reached it. Halifax, founded in 1749, is the capitol of Nova Scotia with a population of around 400,000.  The restored waterfront is very inviting and active with many small wharves for docking. A boardwalk with restaurants, shops, tour boats, Maritime Museum, visitors’ center, markets, etc. connects all the docking facilities.  We have loved the small fishing villages but it is fun to be here in this thriving city too!

We arrived in Halifax at 1:15 and went with Outbound to Bishop’s Landing.  We were temporarily put in a space reserved for another boat arriving later. After Bill washed the boat, we decided to move to the Museum Wharf to have better electrical hook ups, and more protection from the wind. We are right in front of the Mariner’s Museum, which we will tour tomorrow.

Since we had not eaten lunch, we had an early dinner of fish and chips on the boardwalk and sat on a park bench to enjoy the meal.  Next we walked to the Visitors Center to gather information on what to see in Haifax and other stops we will make as we head south.  Black Bear Ice Cream was the next stop before returning to the boat.  We saw Ralph and Cheryl (on Cheryl Ann) and talked to them for a while.  Ron and Lisa also stopped by and may move their boat here tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will do some sightseeing in Halifax!

 

August 20, 2013 Day 90  Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

At anchor, Shoal Bay
Nova Scotia, Canada

Change of plans!  Team decision was to make a run for it so by 10:20 we pulled away from our friendly dock at the Liscombe Lodge and headed back into the river.  Seven miles later and we were in the ocean.  The waves were probably 4 ft. rollers/swells today – not the best or worst we have seen, but tolerable.

We arrived at our anchorage in Shoal Bay off the ocean around 5:00 and are anchored near Esmeralda and Outbound.  The bay hosts many uninhabited islands so we have a nice view here with rolling hills and evergreen trees on the rocky shore. We were happy to see a bald eagle poised in one of the taller trees nearby.  They are so majestic and we never tire of them.

Once again, we cooked dinner on the grill. Phone calls with family and catching up on reading completed our night’s agenda. 

We are about 50 miles from Halifax and hope to get there tomorrow by noon. The wind is supposed to be strong in the afternoon and we want to be secured at a dock by then.  Strong wind means big waves.  We will depart by 6:30 in the morning.

 

August 19, 2013 Day 89   Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Liscombe Lodge Dock
Liscomb Mills, Nova Scotia, Canada

Today was a busy day. Joyce went to the grocery store with Ron, Lisa, and Shannon. It was a thirty minute drive each way and we were grateful to be able to borrow the dockmaster’s car!  In the meantime, Bill had repairs to do. We discovered water on the galley floor (twice) and Bill finally discovered the source – a broken hot water pipe under the sink. He did get it repaired and everything is ok now.  Other tasks included getting more laundry done.

We cooked dinner on the grill and then met the gang down at the fire pit for a fun evening sitting in front of the blazing fire that Richard kept going – all this under a beautiful full moon.  We had such a good time. Richard also had chocolate dipped strawberries for everyone in honor of Ron’s birthday! 

We will likely be here tomorrow as we wait for the waves in the ocean to subside.  It is a good place to be but we do want to head south soon. We are a two day ride to Halifax.  Today, two of the boats, Cheryl Ann and Esmeralda headed back up the river. Shortly after they reached the ocean they turned around and rejoined us.

 

 

August 18, 2013 Day 88   Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Liscombe Lodge Dock
Liscomb Mills, Nova Scotia, Canada

Thank goodness, a calm day on the Atlantic!  We left our anchorage at 7:00 and were very happy not to have a repeat of yesterday.  We needed to get to a marina for water, so we had little choice but to travel today.  After three hours on the ocean we entered the narrow, picturesque Liscomb River and went another 7 miles to our destination - a small dock at the Liscombe Lodge.  There is room for two boats, and since another boat, Cheryl Ann, already had a reservation, we rafted to Outbound at the dock.

The Liscomb River

We were happy that Esmeralda arrived this afternoon and anchored nearby. Richard and Bill found some time for their guitar/banjo fix and then we all went to dinner at the lodge.  Ralph and Cheryl on Cheryl Ann, (former Loopers) also joined us.  At dinner we realized we saw them on the Hudson River in July and had talked to them on the radio.

Ralph, Cheryl, Ron, Richard, Shannon, Lisa, Joyce, Bill

We had a very nice meal at the lodge restaurant that included planked salmon and prime rib and rhubarb pie and much more. The lodge is very nice with a main building, conference center, cottages, chalets, heated pool, hiking trails, bicycles, kayaks, and offers many outdoor programs.  The lodge is spelled Liscombe, although the river is Liscomb!  The scenery here is beautiful!

Chester, the dockmaster is very helpful and offered to let us borrow his car tomorrow to do grocery shopping, etc.  We do appreciate his hospitality!

 

August 17, 2013 Day 87   Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Harbour Cove at anchor
New Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada

Our hopes to go to the town of Liscomb today were dashed soon after we left our peaceful cove at 7:15 and entered the Atlantic Ocean. We went about 2 to 3 miles offshore to avoid the jagged, uneven coastline.  For four hours we faced waves from one to two meters on the bow (3+’ to 7’) with no reprieve.  Then to make matters worse, we ran into fog at 9:40.  We talked with Outbound on the radio to discuss Plan B – to find a safe harbor.  There were some that we could not get into because we would have had to cut across too soon and we could not take those waves on the beam.  So, we had to continue farther and adjust our course to arrive at the shore more gradually.  Outbound was in front of us and arrived at New Harbour Cove first, announcing that it was a different world in there – calm, sunny, and no fog!  We were about 15 minutes behind them and could only spot them on radar!  What a relief when the veil lifted at 1:15 and we could see them anchored in the welcoming cove.  It is lined with some hillside houses, many trees, rocks, and a sandy beach area. We dropped anchor and took some time to decompress and then put things away that had to be stowed.  (More things than usual for sure!)

After lunch Bill took a nap while Joyce baked brownies and read.  Chocolate seemed in order after our harrowing ordeal all morning. By mid-afternoon, we were ready to venture out in the dinghy. First stop was to drop off some brownies to Ron and Lisa. Then we headed for the beach and pulled the dinghy up on the shore.  We walked on the beach for a little while but since the tide was coming in and we had nothing to secure the dinghy, we had to take it back to Carried Away. Did you know our dinghy is unofficially called “A Little Carried Away”?

The beach at New Harbor Cove

We decided spaghetti and meatballs was on the menu for dinner. 

We will try to go back out in the Atlantic tomorrow and head for Liscomb.

August 16, 2013 Day 86   Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

Portage Cove at anchor
Near Canso, Nova Scotia, Canada

As hoped, the winds subsided overnight and we able to depart at 6:30 this morning.  We stayed in St. George’s Bay until 9:15 when we entered the narrow Canso Strait.  Thirty minutes later, we entered the Canso Lock with Outbound and were pleased that the lockmaster said we could just float in the middle. This is the last lock on the down east loop which brings our total on this trip to twenty-five locks. 

Outbound leaving the Canso Lock

Town of Canso

By 11:00 we were out of the Canso Strait and in another large body of water, the Chedabucto Bay.  We were fortunate to have calm water today.  We passed the little town of Canso to our starboard side, well defined by the church steeple.

Ron taking Gizmo to shore

Outbound at anchor in Portage Cove

We chose Portage Cove for an anchorage which is past Canso and on the eastern shore, but protected from the Atlantic Ocean.  Portage Cove is surrounded by rocks, some of which are in the middle of the cove.  This reminded us of the Georgian Bay where we were last summer on the Great Loop. There are gray seals, herons, and other birds here to entertain us.

Carried Away silhouetted
in the sunset at anchor

We cooked dinner on the grill and then took the dinghy to Outbound to visit until the sun set.

We hope to go to the town of Liscomb tomorrow. They have a very small marina, so we will see if we can fit in or go to a mooring ball. At any rate, we need to get water and more fuel soon!  We are at last heading south and should be in Halifax in a few days.