Sunday, August 31, 2025

August 28, 2025 Splish Splash - Long Cruise to Shelburne

 Thursday  August 28, 2025  LaHave Anchorage to Shelburne Yacht Club  67 miles and 7 hours

The sailboat that was anchored with us pulled up anchor towards dusk and disappeared headed north leaving us with the anchorage all to ourselves.  We are at the start of a new moon which makes star gazing unbelievable in these isolated areas - but it sure is dark and lonely! I like having a few visible reference points when doing my nightly checks and there was nothing I could see.  Not a light on shore, nor the rocky shoreline, not even a lighted sea buoy.  Glad we had the electronic anchor alarm all set up earlier as a "just in case" warning if the anchor dragged. Wind and swells settled down overnight and we were able to get a pretty decent night's sleep.  Up with the sun for a longish cruising day.

The Big Dipper bright and visible in the clear northern sky

Sun just cresting the horizon as we leave our anchorage

 Pretty straight shot so "Otto" did most of the driving. Then up Shelburne Harbour to the yacht club.  We've waited over a week for better conditions, and these were about what we expected.  Still getting 3 foot swells which weren't an issue but as the day progressed a SW wind continued to build creating that windblown chop and spray all over the boat.  A mixed trip visually.  Sometimes several miles offshore and sometimes cruising almost alongside imposing rocky shorelines. 

Working our way through a near shore passage

Definitely hard surfaces should you experience a grounding

Working our way past the light protecting the shoal at Sandy Point 

Approaching the Shelburne waterfront

Finally caught up with several other boaters doing the Down East Loop.  We've crossed paths with Tom on Sky Blue several times since meeting back in Quebec.  Have seen Clementine on our Nebo app as they gained ground on us for a month. Got to meet the owners Brian and Dawn so now we can say "We're no longer stalkers, now we're friends".  Also met Peter and Pam on Brew-Ha-Ha.  Doing the loop but were "flying under the radar" and unknown to us until today. Had a nice dinner together at the yacht club watching their Thursday night sailboat races.   They all run faster than us and left Friday morning for Yarmouth.  So, at this point it looks like we're now pulling up the rear of the boats we know that arec doing this year's DECL!  We'll stay here another day to explore the town.  

Our DECL crews. L to R. Peter, Pam, Dawn, Tom, Brian, John, Martha

Catching the last of the sun and wind during the weekly race

Shelburne is a small quaint old town. As with many of the towns we've visited, an interesting history and grand glory days now long gone.  Spanish and Portuguese settlers were here as early as the late 1500's.  Then there were the French Acadians until the British deported them as part of the "Grand Derangement".  The initial big settlement occurred in 1783 when about 5000 British Loyalist from the 13 colonies accepted a British offer of land, tools and provisions to help establish the town.  Shortly after, roughly 1500 formerly enslaved blacks who had fought for the British during the revolutionary war arrived with the same promises of land, tools, etc.  Followed in the fall of that year by 1500 former British soldiers also with the same promises.  In all, by the end of 1792 there were over 17,000 inhabitants making Shelburne the 4th largest city in North America.  However, broken promises and open racism against the former slaves resulted in roughly 1000 of them taking up a British offer to relocate to the crowns new settlement in Sierra Leon West Africa.    Others moved on realizing there was limited agricultural land or infrastructure and few people with frontier living or development skills.  By 1820 the population was down to just 300. Those that remained took to lumbering, shipbuilding and fishing.   There are numerous houses and buildings along the waterfront that date to the late 1700's - early 1800's and they typically have a very New England look to them.  Wood structures covered in shingles as was typical for that area and time.  



Houses on Dock Street attest to a prosperous period in the 1800's

A nicely maintained home with that "Lunenburg bump" dormer

Look for the most significant building downtown and you'll find
 the old Post Office, Customs and Immigration Office.
  Ownership and future use disputes has it sadly sitting idle and deteriorating

 A major industry in the town as the Grand Banks fishery developed was dory building.  At one time there were 7 boat yards producing over 1000 dories a year for the local schooners and those headed from New England to the fishing banks. The J. C. Willimas Dory shop is the only remaining original dory shop in Canada and houses the dory museum. 

The J C Williams Dory Shop museum

Dory's were stacked on deck until fishing grounds were reached then lifted overboard.
A two-man crew then fished and brought their load back to the schooner

They still teach dory building

This all mahogony rowboat was a special order. 
 Purchaser never paid so it was put in the attic. 
  Sat there for 100 years before recently being found

Salmon aquaculture farming is evident by the large cages running alongside the shoresides.  A large vessel shipyard, once a WWII naval repair shipyard, is the other significant industry. Like many small towns, proud of its heritage but struggling economically.   Had an invitation to attend Karaoke Night at the yacht club but had to pass.  Didn't start until 8PM and we knew we would be up at 5 AM for an early morning start. 

Sunset over the marina

Journey for August 28, 2025


Thursday, August 28, 2025

August 26-27, 2025 Couple of Short Cruises

 Tuesday August 26, 2025    Mahone Bay Marina to Young Island Anchorage   7 miles and 1 hour

Our week reservation at Mahone Bay Marina is up and they have a 65' Nordhaven coming in to take our place at the dock, so definitely time to go. But first we needed to move around to the side dock and see if we can get their short pumpout hose to reach our fitting.  High tide, no wind and pushing the boat as far forward on the dock as possible gave us just enough hose to get it done.   Mahone Bay is a fantastic cruising area with a large number of islands worth exploring. A conservation group has bought several islands and even installed mooring balls for public use.   We headed for Young Island where the little cove on our charts looked ideal for protection from the west and southwest winds. Just a quick trip around a few islands and we were there.  Grabbed one of the mooring balls and had the cove all to ourselves. All secured by noon gave us time to drop a kayak and do some exploring.   Discovered the cove on the other side of the island has several waterfront houses making ours the better cove. Even got the drone launched for a few pictures.    Nice Sunset too.

Drone shot - can you see us? by the pilothouse door?

Panoramic drone shot of the Young Island anchorage

Water is 10' deep here and you can see the rocks, seaweed and kelp on the bottom. 
 68 degrees and still too cold for us to go swimming

Sun keeps setting behind trees 

It was still a beautiful sunset and evening


Short journey for August 26, 2025


Wednesday August 27, 2025   Young Island to LaHave Islands anchorage   36 miles and 5 hours

Sunset was nice but sunrise was even prettier. Weather apps have been forecasting Thursday as a good day to make the run to Shelburne.  We decided to try cutting a few hours off that trip by testing the offshore conditions today and moving a few miles east if possible.  Seas are showing at 4' but with a long period. 

Came topside to turn off the anchor light and caught this magnificent sunrise

No hurry today so we took the scenic tour around Mahone Bay past Oak Island before heading out.  Good to see them at work which will insure at least another season of the show.   Of course, since they're still drilling holes and planting caissons, they obviously haven't found that elusive treasure yet.  

Follow the yellow line for our detour around that Cursed Oak Island

Still drilling and hoping to find the money pit

Processing the drilling spoils by Smiths Cove

Heading out we could feel the swells building.   Not waves - just big swells and predominantly on the bow.  Never jarring like waves but a noticeable movement riding up and down.  Decided after a few hours to call it a day and anchor in the LaHave Islands.  

Passing some rugged shoreline

Came across these folks out fishing on a nice old woody

Swells breaking on the rocks

Not an area where you want to be having engine problems.

Charts showed several anchorages.  First one was a bit further in which got us away from the swells but after repeated failures to get the anchor to hook we gave up.  Must have been a solid rock bottom as we could feel the anchor and chain vibrating each time it dragged. This is the very first time we've had to completely abandon an anchorage.  Moved over to Bell Channel between two other islands.  Not as far inland so we feel some swells, but the anchor grabbed right away here.  Still have some wind protection and swells should decrease further overnight.  We'll be out early in the morning, so we'll make this work. 

Entrance into the anchorage

Scenery is not too bad

Even had a decent sunset

Journey for August 27, 2025


Wednesday, August 27, 2025

August 19-25, 2025 Hunkered Down for Hurricane Erin

 August 19-25, 2025  Tourists in Mahone Bay, Lunenburg, and Halifax

Mahone Bay: This has been a wonderful area to wait out hurricane Erin and allowing time for the seas to subside before continuing on along Nova Scotia.   While Mahone Bay is a small town it has a reputation for its historical homes, the three churches on the bay, shipbuilding heritage, artsy tourist gift shops, restaurants and even a brewery.  

Another cute house in Mahone Bay showing off the "Lunenburg Bump"

Thursday evening we decided to go listen to some live music and grab a beverage at the Mug and Anchor Pub.  Music was a local band who professed to play country and blue grass.  Let's just say all we ever heard was the blue grass portion and not a single tune we knew.   However, the evening was not a total bust.  As we were looking around the tables a couple people caught our attention.  Is that Jack? Is that Marty? Is that Laird? Is that Craig? Conferred with Martha and agreed - Yes.  For those in the know - they are some of the primary treasure hunters on the History Channel TV show Curse of Oak Island.    The island is only a few miles north of us further up Mahone Bay.  Hate to admit the number of hours we've wasted watching that show uncover an old shard of pottery or another metal spike. Now starting its11th year.  The saying around here is that "More money has been spent ON Oak Island than anyone will ever get OUT of it". 

A capture from Martha's spy cam of Jack (bald head), Craig (white hair),
 and Laird  (baseball cap facing camera) from the Curse of Oak Island show.

Friday evening had live music at the Saltbox Brewery. Decent beers although nothing extraordinary.  Music was provided by two older men singing sea shanty's.  I thought it was pretty entertaining - certainly not your usual live music.  Discovered Famous Town Pie Shop and had to stop there two days in a row for their meat pies.  Small nothing fancy place in the front room of a house off Main Street but good golly was it delicious.  Pastry crust was to die for - all buttery and flaky.    Dinner reservations one night based on a recommendation at Mateus Bistro.  Seafood for us - haddock and halibut - both delicious.  Storm passed by far enough offshore, so we had nothing but a few blustery days in the bay.  Offshore is much different with significant waves which will continue for a few more days. 

Winds around 100 mph as it passed by.
We saw gusts into the 30's

Waves were a bigger concern.
Near shore 16' and well over 45' near the eye

Lunenburg:  Thursday we opted to go explore Lunenburg. Had a fun 10-minute taxi ride with a local character who also came and picked us up afterwards. It's a bigger town than Mahone Bay and founded a bit earlier in 1753.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered the best example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America retaining its original layout and appearance of the 1800's.

Residential street in Lunenburg.  Note the "bump" on the yellow house

Lots of well maintained and interesting shops in town

Many of the German immigrant settlers to Mahone Bay originally came through Lunenburg when England was trying to populate the area after claiming it in the Treaty of Paris.   Immigrants were offered a year's worth of food, land and some basic tools if they immigrated, providing they were Protestant and claimed loyalty to the crown.  Farming, fishing and eventually shipbuilding all helped the town grow.  Today it's a nice tourist spot.  The town faces the waterfront and proceeds uphill.  Many of the old fish plants have been repurposed with the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic the most noteworthy.  Worth the time we spent there.  Also got to see the wooden ship Bluenose II.  It's an exact replica of the original which was built in Lunenburg in 1921. A gaff rigged schooner used for fishing and racing. She was famous for having won the International Fisheries Cup multiple times in the 1920's and 30's.  She was being used as a lowly island freighter in 1947 when she wrecked and sank off Haiti.  Bluenose II was built in 1963 and completely rebuilt in 2010.  She now does tourist cruises and serves as an ambassador ship for Nova Scotia sailing to multiple ports.  Luckily she was in Lunenburg and returning with the morning tourist run for our picture taking. 

The Bluenose II returning to port with a catch of tourists

I don't believe her decks looked this nice during her fishing days

 

Martha made a new friend while walking the docks

Final stop today was to St. John's Anglican Church established in 1753 and the second oldest protestant church in Canada. The original church was expanded several times with the current design dating to 1892.  It is done in the Carpenter Gothic style where many features typically done in stone, such as the framing arches, are actually made of wood.  The church had a massive fire in 2001 which consumed roughly half the building and contents.  Enough remained that when it was rebuilt it was able to maintain its historic status.   A noteworthy feature is the blue sky and stars above the chancel.  Originally thought to be contain randomly placed stars, scientific research determined that they actually show the appearance of the night sky in Lunenburg on December 24, 1 BCE.  The first Christmas. 

St. Johns Church. 

The blue ceilinged chancel and Carpenter Gothic styling. 

The Fishermans Window - a favorite with locals for obvious reasons

Halifax.  A bit more of an ordeal getting to Halifax. It's a big city with more to see and do, so decided to take the local intertown bus over and stay a night.  After 3 months of navy showers, we're looking forward to taking a long hot shower!   First impression - it is a big city.  Nova Scotia has a population just over 1,000,000 people and almost half live in the Halifax metro area.  It was the first major town  formed by the British after securing New France in the Treaty of Paris due to its strategic location in an easily fortified, deep water, ice free, year round harbour.  Makes sense it also became the capital. Over 140 cruise ships visit annually, and we had a different one each day of our visit.  They crowd the boardwalk, museums, and restaurants.   Good for local business - not so much for us. Just added to the hustle and bustle feel of things we've been away from for awhile.  Halifax was built on the side of a hill with The Citadel at the top.  This is the fifth iteration of the fort and Parks Canada runs a very good interpretive facility. Interesting feature on the property is the old town clock.  Prince Edward - the Commander in Chief of the British Military was preparing to return to England and made a parting gift to the city - a clock on the hill overlooking town to ensure the city's military forces were always punctual. The clockworks were produced by the House of Vulliamy, a famous family of royal clockmakers based in London, and are still intact and in use today. 

Cannon firings every day at noon.  Masts at the signal station
for notifying the other four forts of dangers.

Impressive star shaped fortification included a dry moat

The town clock just below the Citadel and overlooking town and harbour

Size of the barracks attests to the number of soldiers stationed here 

Working our way downhill we stopped at the Grand Parade with the city hall building at one end and St Paul's Anglican Church at the other.  St. Paul's is the oldest building in Halifax dating to 1750 and the oldest existing Anglican church in Canada.  Next block down and we got a tour of Providence House - home to the Nova Scotia Assembly.  Canada's oldest house of government. It's a fantastically maintained 3-story sandstone example of Palladian architecture.  

City Hall

St. Paul's Anglican 

Providence House

Chamber room.  NS politicians are almost exclusively
 from one party - Progressive Conservativism

Worked our way down to sea level and spent the afternoon walking along the waterfront boardwalk and fighting our way amongst the cruise ship tourists.  Made it to the Canada Immigration Museum which is sort of their Ellis Island.   Received over 1,000,000 immigrants through this facility. Unfortunately, too late in the day for a tour, so stopped at Garrisons Brewery instead.  This is one of Halifax's oldest craft breweries so only natural we should try a flight.  Heavily IPA focused but tasty.  

Statue of Samual Cunard on the Halifax waterfront. He was a native and started
his shipping empire from this port. Saw the potential for steam powered
 vessels and had the first sailing ship with steam power built in Halifax.


Clock Tower at night from our hotel room

Great nights rest at Prince George Hotel once we climbed our way back up the hill.  Room had a nice view of The Citadel and the Clock Tower above us. Breakfast on day 2 was a stop at Le French Fix Patisserie for croissants and coffee. Probably the best croissant I've had on the trip!  Then to the waterfront.  We split up for the day with Martha heading to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and me to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.  First rainy day in eons so perfect for museums.   Martha found the Maud Lewis (1903-1970) exhibit most interesting. She had birth defects and severe rheumatoid arthritis but is considered one of Canada's most beloved folk artists. She sold small paintings and cards from her tiny house to passing tourists in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Most surfaces in her house were painted, and the entire structure is now preserved inside the art museum.  

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

 A typical picture recalling scenes from her childhood. 
Most were smaller to accommodate her limited mobility due to arthritis

She and her husband lived in this simple house from marriage until death

Preserved painted surfaces on the inside of the house

The Maritime Museum had a Titanic display but short of elbowing your way in past the cruise ship tourists it was impossible to see it.  So spent time looking at their small boat collection, massive collection of large scale models of ships, and what I found most interesting - their display regarding what is called "The Halifax Explosion".  During WWI Halifax was a major staging ground for convoys headed to Europe.  On the morning of December 6, 1917 the French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc, laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian relief effort vessel SS Imo in the harbour. The Mont-Blanc caught fire, drifted to Pier 6, and exploded devastating Halifax. Roughly 2000 people were killed by the blast, debris, fires, or collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured.  The blast was the largest human-made explosion at the time until the atomic bomb.  Nearly all structures within a 1-1/2 mile radius were obliterated. A pressure wave snapped trees, bent iron rails, demolished buildings, grounded vessels (including Imo, which was washed ashore by the ensuing tsunami), and scattered fragments of Mont-Blanc for miles.  Major relief efforts arrived from Boston and to this day Halifax sends them a Nova Scotia tree at Christmas in appreciation of their efforts. 

The number, scale and detailing of the ship models they have is amazing. This one was originally the Lusitania, but after sinking it was modified to the Mauretania - her sister ship

This lens was removed from a lighthouse we had passed and taken pictures
 of several days ago. See if you can spot it in our previous post

Cheap tourist attraction is taking the ferry across the harbour from Halifax to Dartmouth. Just $3 and you get a transfer ticket to come back free.  Unfortunately, not much over there  but we got a nice view of the Halifax waterfront and skyline. 

Halifax to Dartmouth ferry




Saturday Sept. 27, 2025 Around New Jersey and a Crisis at Night

Saturday  Sept. 27, 2025  Great Kills, NY to Cape May, NJ   135 miles and 12.4 hours  My weather apps are saying today is the last day to ru...