2010 Log
8/1 to 8/15/2010
This is the early Nova Scotia portion our log for 2010. At the bottom of the page are links to this year's pass weeks; our earlier voyages are in Prior Voyages.
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Updated on 01/28/2011
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8/1/10 - Clear and crisp this morning, feels like fall in WI. I got up and turned on the heater for Buddy and Ruth while I made coffee. We sailed, motor-sailed, sailed, motor-sailed the 39 miles to Halifax. Enroute we saw a couple of sunfish (6' diameter) and lots of seals. No whales - bummer. We motored up the northwest arm to the Armdale Yacht Club where we fueled, took on water and rented a mooring for the night. Halifax is the biggest city we've seen since Boston. It's weird, but Buddy knows we are in a mooring area, she can't stop talking. Actually its pretty funny. Movie night tonight, Ruth is making popcorn and Buddy is begging. 8/2/10 - A fog was trying to form as we slipped our moorings. The sun won and we had a beautiful day. The three boats motored around the Halifax peninsula, taking face docks in the city downtown. It was Natal Day, celebrating the birth of Halifax... all the museums were free as was waterfront entertainment. Talk about great timing! We walked the old district, climbing to the Citadel, lunching at corner shops. Back on the boat we were part of the "scene" with folks stopping to ask how we got there from Wisconsin and did the parrot talk. 8/3/10 - Ariel departed at 7am, heading west toward Mt Desert. I went back to sleep after turning on the heater to take the edge off the coolness. It's great having WiFi, I'm going to hate to leave this area; but it's a beautiful morning and there's more places to visit. We did the tourist bit again today, walking the waterfront area of Halifax visiting Pier 21 (their Ellis Island), the Gardens, Freak Lunchbox and the area in general. This whole part of the city was blow away during WWII when two ships loaded with explosives collided creating the largest man-made explosion before the A-bomb; 1900 people were killed, 10,000 left homeless the day before a blizzard. At 4pm we move inland, passing the naval yard and container ship docks before anchoring in a small cove on the eastern shore of the Bedford Basin. It was now raining lightly after what had been a beautiful day. 8/4/10 - My brother says he thinks AA is a time machine. We keep skipping days. Okay, it's corrected and we're back on track given that this is the start of Wednesday's posting (and the start of a new page for August). Rain and wind moved in last night. We spent the morning reading as it was too nasty to do anything outside. Our anchorage has proven to be protected and secure - nice feeling. I cooked Ruth a nice warm brunch then went over to Sampatecho to help Bradd plan their heater installation. We answered most of the questions and are ready to start mounting components... time to commit and drill holes. Back on board I tried to get a WiFi connection to no avail. I think our antenna needs a new driver to work optimally with Windows XP. 8/5/10 - Listening to the sounds of daybreak I was again treated to the haunting call of the Loons. We've been hearing them regularly at dusk and dawn, so frequently that we forget how beautiful their call is. Our first move was back to the Halifax waterfront for WiFi and to wait out a fog. As we passed the naval yard we noted 3 WWII submarines moored off in a corner looking like candidates for salvage. Two small later generation subs were in a service area; they were cute when compared to the large nuke haulers we see along the US coast. Putting their navy in perspective, it's like California supporting their own navy. While we were docking Maeve noticed that the entire seawall of the dock was covered with starfish. It was interesting to note the variations in size and shape - everything from 1 arm to 5. While at the dock I went up the mast to straighten the wind vane... second time in a week that an Osprey has landed on it. On my way down I noted that the mainsail headboard slug was worn and ready to detach so I cut a piece of webbing and hand sewed it in as a repair. Cruising is often defined as boat maintenance in exotic locations. 8/6/10 - I woke in the middle of the night noting we were socked in... dawn revealed that a fog had settled. The sound of a train startled me before I realized it was a large container ship rumbling by in our cloud. By the time we dropped our mooring we had 1-2 mile visibility. Once at sea we had 100' to 50 yards. It was hard keeping the two boats near each other in limited visibility and 20 - 25 knot winds. Several times we had to search for Sampatecho using radar then ease up on her until she materialized like a ghost ship. We shortened our planned route, making Ship Harbor our new destination. As we reached the shelter of the islands at the mouth of the inlet our fog lifted and the 6' seas settled to 2'. Much nicer! Maeve invited us to dinner, spaghetti with meat sauce and Bradd's world renown Caesar salad - what a great way to end a tiring day. As we ate we tried to guess where Ariel was. I figured they were rounding Cape Sable enroute to Mt Desert; others felt they were still working their way west along the coast of Nova Scotia. 8/7/10 - Beautiful clear morning. I turned on the heat to take the edge off as I made our morning cuppa. Then it was time to get the log updated. Editing the photos takes the most time but is most rewarding as I get to revisit the sights we've selected. What a difference sunshine makes. We motor-sailed and sailed to Liscomb Harbor, population of Liscomb and West Liscomb about 300 people. It was a great day though the water is getting a little crowded... we saw 4 sailboats along with our familiar sea birds and seals. We anchored behind Hog Island with only 5' of tide. It's wild when you consider that across Nova Scotia from us, in the Digby area, tides run 45' twice daily. They have sirens on the beaches to warn folks when the tide is coming in so they can run to safety. We had a great sail all day; coming into Tor Bay we turned into the wind, gust to 45 knots apparent, fighting our way to our anchorage. What a thrill. 8/9/10 - Cool, bright and sunny; a high moved in late yesterday - not a cloud in the sky. I turned on the heat (it's getting to be part of my waking routine) and made coffee. Our anchorage proved to be snug and flat though the predicted 20 knot winds did not materialize. We're only 60 miles as the crow flies from where the new Squander is being readied. With side trips it will likely take us 4 days to get there. Again we sailed most of the day before motoring through a meandering waterway that crossed the eastern tip of Nova Scotia (we've now traversed the entire length of the province). After crossing we unfurled the headsail and sailed into the Canso channel on 25 knot gusts. This is a major shipping lane for bulk carriers and oil tankers. We met three while enroute to Port Hawkesbury in Cape Breton where we took a slip for the night to get groceries and do several loads of wash. 8/10/10 - It looked like a t-storm when I went to bed last night but nothing materialized. Morning revealed high light overcast. We hung around Hawkesbury until after lunch, giving Bradd & Maeve time to do some provisioning and business on a great WiFi connection. I finished reading The Book Of Negros, a novel about slavery tracing a heroine from Africa to the Carolinas, New York, Nova Scotia, back to Africa and on to England. It's a great story based on extensive research. Ruth and I found it interesting that many of the places we've visited with AA were focal points of the book. Our journeys have taken us through a lot of history... most recently Acadia where the French were driven onto ships for Louisiana by the British and Shelburne where freed Negros and Loyalists fled after the American Revolution. Heavy rain accompanied us on our short run to Descousse Harbor on the Lennox Passage. It stopped just before we anchored in their secure little inlet. Ruth scurried to put the finishing touches on dinner; we'd invited Bradd & Maeve to join us (Buddy needed a Bradd fix). 8/11/10 - Woke to a wet morning, no wind, light fog and drizzle. We had a WiFi connection so we hung around until lunch while Bradd & Maeve caught up with work. After lunch we motored to St Peters, about 6 miles. The canal to the lakes was blocked as a 125' motor yacht threaded her way out of the lock. We entered and were greeted by a couple that wanted to know if we were really from Appleton, WI. They were on vacation driving from Watertown, WI. Small world! They took pictures noting their friends would never believe a Wisconsin boat was at the northeaster point of their trip. As we entered the little harbor off the St Peters Marina we caught our first glimpse of the new (to them) vessel Squander. No one was aboard though Adrian came out to greet us in their dinghy. Later we stopped to see Jan at their motor home as we headed to town for groceries. On our way back to the boat we stopped at a liquor store where Ruth got sticker shock when she saw a bottle of Bacardi run was $37.00. She gave up alcohol on the spot. Heavy taxes on cigarettes and alcohol help support their health plan. 8/12/10 - The sun greeted us this morning! Beautiful day! After our morning coffee and a little reading I went over to check out Squander. Jan & Adrian have a huge project restoring this boat and they are proceeding quite nicely. The project of the day was to finish and varnish the new oak floor in the main salon. Ruth and I repaired their canvas dodger today, applying a layer of gray fabric over a series of tears that were leaking. It was just a fix until they get a new dodger built later. At dusk the three crews got together to trade tales and grill dinner. Really enjoyed the evening. 8/13/10 - We've another beautiful day. Adrian tried on their dodger and I had a small adjustment to make. Did it. We headed for the Bras d'Or Lakes. Beautiful country, evergreens, deciduous trees, long stretches with few signs of humanity. Unlike WI there are high ridges that rise behind the beaches. We all went beaching this evening. Took a long walk up a stony beach to a site where they once quarried marble. The shoreline was riddled with ice cold rivulets of clear water seeping out of the soil. A nice treat. Big surprise, the water warmed to 72 degrees, enough that I wanted to dive and see if our prop shaft had line on it. Big deterrent, the water is full of jelly fish. Who would have guessed that? 8/14/10 - Could not believe we were able to update the website last night in the middle of nowhere. We sure are becoming a global community, 5 houses in our range of vision and we found a WiFi. We lazed around until noon, reading and enjoying the scenery of Marble Mountain. After lunch we sailed in light air toward Barra Straits but the wind changed direction and died out so we motored the last 7 miles to the bridge. We motor-sailed another 4 miles beyond the bridge to Maskells Harbor a beautiful snail shell shaped inlet. The water was a toasty 74F enticing Bradd & Maeve to go swimming. While he was in the water he checked our prop shaft for lobster pot lines and declared it clear. Great news, I wasn't looking forward to sawing rope off the shaft. Bill Rohde had asked us to keep our eyes open for friends on Running Free. We heard them a couple of times on the radio but were not able to contact them. Maybe their mom told them not to answer calls from strangers. 8/15/10 - A beautiful morning! At 9am we moved 4 miles back to Barra so we could walk up the mountain and visit the Highland Village, a living museum of the homes they left in Scotland and the homes and businesses build here when the Gaelic Clans followed their dreams to the new world. It was several hours well spent! From Barra we sailed past Alexander Graham Bell's home and shop to Baddeck where we anchored. The scenery here is unreal, the air so clear that everything look surreal. Ruth and I are glad we had a chance to visit here with Sampatecho as our personal guides. 8/17/10 - Today we're paying the weather tax. Gray and drizzle. I spent a good part of the morning sorting through all the photos Ruth took at the Highland Village - whew! |
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We're not lost Our update may get a little sporadic shortly as we'll be dependant on WiFi hot spots once we get to Nova Scotia. Our SkyMate position reports will be posted daily as always.
Ariel in Halifax under the careful watch of the Canadian Navy. Yup, you're looking down the gun barrel.
Window art, a young manikin watches folks pass by
The brick face of this shop is hand painted to represent ceramic tiles - nicely done
Theodore Tugboat attracts kids to the waterfront museum and the waterfront (one of the friendliest we've visited)
Looking toward the Halifax waterfront from the Citadel
I'm telling you dude, winter is much warmer in Key West
Some of Ruth's recent beach finds, a nice collection of sea urchins
Astride the boom repairing a mainsail slug attachment
Ruth took this photo of some of the hundreds of starfish on the walls of our Halifax slip
Sampatecho anchored in Thor Bay
Canso, a small town nestled in the north shore of Nova Scotia, our exit after crossing the east end
Their church is by far the largest structure in town
Town dock in Descousse Harbor
As the fog lifted this red horse barn caught Ruth's eye
As we lined up for the St Peters canal this little lighthouse to our starboard side
Our first glimpse of the new Squander as we entered St Peters harbor
Adrian greets Bradd & Maeve for a tour of Squander
The abandoned quarry that give Marble Mountain its name
You don't need a big boat to cruise
Boathouse at our Maskells Harbor anchorage
The Gaelic Scots were forced out of homes like this in Scotland by economic constraints
This is typical of the first generation homes they build in Cape Breton
Gaelic farm at Highland Village
The Highland Village smith at work |
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