We’re here in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia, just off the Chester Yacht Club, this classic sloop tugs at the mooring beside us, it’s now day 11 of, Down East Circle – Part 5, Sailing Nova Scotia’s South Shore.
16-July-2010, Day 1 – Departed Cobourg by Via Rail for the 30 hour trip to Halifax. The train ride was fun, relaxing, good food and an interesting group of passengers to meet, from Australians to Texans, many friendly people from the Maritimes make up the staff.
A night on the town in Halifax, although the train was late arriving we managed to make our dinner reservation at The Press Gang and enjoyed Bill Stephenson’s trio while dining. It’s the last night of the Halifax Jazz Fest.
Rented a car in Halifax and drove about 30 kilometers out to St Margarets Bay and Shining Waters Marina where the boat has been stored since last fall. We’ll need the car for a few days running around to provision the boat and to pick my father up who is flying in from Vancouver on Tuesday. That’s our Niagara 35 Phantasia II with our wee neighbour MegaHurtz.
Spent the day cleaning and provisioning the boat then went out for dinner at Shining Waters excellent restaurant. Jayne and Dad managed to get a big smile from the server as we enjoyed the sun set and view of St Margarets Bay. Boats of all descriptions sailing everywhere.
After struggling to re-rig Phantasia, as we seem to have forgotten how the furlers work, we depart on a brief 10 nm. shakedown cruise to anchor in St. Margarets Bay off of Troop Island. It’s a fine spot with good holding and protection from all sides. A family of Osprey Eagles nesting on the island keep us entertained catching fish and calling to one another. Jayne paints her first picture of the trip.
A perfect 6 hour sail from St. Margarets over to Mahone Bay in light to moderate conditions, we sail right up to the entrance to Deep Cove under spinnaker and enjoy a quiet night at anchor in this mile deep, fjord like bay. At dusk the mosquitoes drive us into putting on socks and citronella and we move inside to enjoy dinner in the saloon.
Our first break from the sun and 25 to 30 degree temperatures we’ve enjoyed since arriving in Nova Scotia. After a hearty breakfast of home made soda bread and eggs we depart under a rainy sky and motor 6 miles from Deep Cove across Mahone Bay to Chester. The Chester Yacht Club provide us with a mooring as we dodge race boats participating in a weekend event. There is a beautiful fleet of classic Bluenose sloops as well as other mixed vessels racing. Dinner at the “Rope Locker”, just a 5 minute dinghy ride away is superb, Jayne and I both have fresh halibut and dad tries the seafood pasta, lobster, scallops, mussels and fish, a litre of Annapolis wine to wash it down.
From Chester Yacht Club we sailed across Mahone Bay to Lunenburg Yacht Club on Herman’s Island. It’s an idyllic retreat with many boats on moorings as well as some well protected dock space, they’ve even got fuel. Dinner out at the club and a quiet evening at the dock capped a perfect days sail.
Sailing from LYC to Lunenburg itself was exciting, with fair winds in the 15-20 knot range we managed to almost, but not quite, get Phantasia’s rail in the water. Flying our small 8 oz. 100% jib it’s probably impossible to get the rail in.
Once in Lunenburg Harbour we grabbed one of the few available Yacht Shop moorings in the busy front harbour. We have front row seats at an evening classic yacht race, as well as a fantastic view of Lunenburg’s historic waterfront, Adams & Knickle buildings and all. There are sailboats here from all over; Victoria B.C., two boats that have crossed the Atlantic from the U.K and a sloop from Australia complete with small children and a kayak. Lunenburg is definitely one of the most interesting, historic ports we’ve sailed into. Dinner out at Trattoria de la Nonna to celibrate our arrival after planning this trip for so many years. Dad is catching his plane back to Vancouver in a couple of days and Jayne and I will spend a week exploring Lunenburg and area. After the Lunenburg Folk Arts Festival a friend we know from Ontario takes us out on an day trip in her car to the nearby town of Petite Riviere and “The Painted Saltbox”.
We’ve now sailed down to the La Have Islands near the mouth of the La Have River, passing near Shag Rock reef to anchor off of Spectacle Island. We spent a couple of very windy days, 20-25 knots with driving rain, fog and thunderstorms, enjoying the weathers display and the solitude of the anchorage. West Spectacle Island is great for short hikes, exploring and bird watching. The island is covered with unusual shaped and iron rich rock formations, tidal pools and marshes and a long abandoned house. Our anchorages location is, LATITUDE 44 15 – LONGITUDE 64 20. A welcome forecast promises clearing weather tomorrow. After a few days exploring in the La Have Islands we moved into the “hub”, the La Have Bakery, passing between Kraut Point where Covey Island Boatworks is situated and Fort Point, to enter the lower La Have River. The Bakery is a lively, fun spot and with everything from fresh pizzas to fresh eggs there is not a better dock to be tied to in Nova Scotia, all for the reasonable price of 50 cents per foot. You have to conserve water though since along the La Have most water is drawn from artesian wells. The drinking water in our tank could be bottled it’s so cool and tasty. Housed in the same building as the bakery is also a crafts co-op selling many products: instruments, carvings, glass, leather, that the local artisans and artists make. The Dory Shop on the pier side builds both boats and furniture. There is a gallery space and a skateboard builder on the 2 upper floors.
With time on our hands and no plan to progress further down the South Shore we spent a lazy week sailing up and down river to and from Bridgewater which lies at the head of the navigable portion of the La Have. It’s a much different climate, inland by 20-30 miles, the temperature soared to over 30 degrees, swimming becomes a daily necessity. Back in the La Have islands, which lie right on the Atlantic, it can be as much as 10-15 degrees cooler and often damp with fog while Bridgewater enjoys hot summer temperatures. Bridgewater has excellent provisioning and services, access to downtown and the mall is a just short walk from the harbour. Sadly there is no official town marina and as the area is suffering some economic downturn it seems like one would be a welcome asset to the community. There are many graceful old clapboard and shingle homes along it’s hilly maple lined streets.
Down river just before the bakery and ferry dock is the La Have Yacht Club which seems to have the perfect blend of climates of up and downriver, cool and hot. We came in on race night with a dozen boats in a race against the diminishing evening breeze and out going tide as well as one another. It’s a friendly club situated in Pernette Cove, they have fuel, water and a small bar and restaurant.
We’ve just spent another day walking and exploring “La Have” after returning to the bakery, there is a beautiful walk up into the forested hills to the old school, song birds fill the trees and the view out to the Atlantic is magnificent. Enjoying the walk so much we wind up in Dublin Shore 6 kilometers away. We must now begin to wind our way back towards Mahone Bay and then St. Margarets to haul out the boat and prepare for the coming winter. We still have to see the town of Mahone Bay and who knows what else along the way back …
