Bouctouche

Bouctouche has been our home for the past three days - one day longer than planned because of the weather. However, when we are caught someplace, we try to turn it into a work day, which we have done for the past two days.

We only had one complication in working here, and that is the demise of Bad Boy. As you may recall from earlier posts, Bad Boy is our wireless amplification system, allowing us to pick up wireless signals and connect from on the boat. While we were in Summerside over the weekend, Bad Boy stopped working. On Monday, I called the company and told them about the problem. They had me run a couple of tests, and narrowed down the component causing the problem. They immediately replaced it at no charge. The new part is being shipped to us in Cape Breton, so in a few days it will be up and running again. A big thumbs up to Bad Boy and their service.

In the meantime, this marina has a wonderful and very comfortable building which has made a great spot to sit down and do some work.

Yesterday, we took a walk through town here, and discovered that it was National Acadian Day. Bouctouche, of course, is a strong Acadian community, and they were celebrating. As we walked through town, the parade was just about to start. This wasn't a parade with floats - this was a Tintamarre. Hundreds of people walked through town, making as much noise as possible. Noisemakers, thunder sticks, pots and pans and yelling people were complimented by horns, sirens, and even the ringing of the huge bells over the church made it quite the scene.

Tomorrow morning we're off to the Charlottetown area, where we're planning on anchoring for the night before making a run to St George's Bay and Cape Breton.

The Kindness of Fellow Sailors

The Summerside Yacht Club is one of our favourite stops along the western part of the Northumberland Strait. The Marina has nice showers and laundry facilities and is downtown, close to a grocery store, Spinnakers Landing and other amenities. Marina staff are friendly and helpful. The other sailors and boaters are also very warm and welcoming.

In fact, it was in Sumemrside last year that we met Chick and Cheryl of Great Habit, a CS 40.  We struck up a friendship and have kept in touch all year. They have been wonderful sounding boards as we were looking for our new boat, and have always been very willing to share their knowledge and experience with us.

Chick and Cheryl were among the first people we saw when we arrived in Summerside and it was wonderful to see them again. We joined them and Dave and Halle from Shamul, a Whitby 42 from Ontario,  for the Thursday night BBQ at the Yacht Club. The next day, Glen and Kendra arrived to take us to breakfast and then they ferried me around Summerside while I took care of a few errands and Jay worked.  Upon returning to the marina, we struck up conversations with several other sailors and debated the merits of different types of boats - one of my favourite passtimes!  I had the pleasure of going aboard a Mirage 30 and an Aloha 27, both beautiful boats.  

We had intended on Saturday to go to the Summerside Farmer's Market and then to head out by mid-morning. However, at the Market we ran into friends and ended up having a wonderful 2 hour visit. By the time we returned to the Maina, it was noon. We decided to stay another day. Chick came by and offered to lend us his buffer and with some oxidization remover we were able to clean the yellow beard that had formed on My Obsession's bow after almost 1200NM of sailing.

Later that day J.P. Hawsingham, a Nor'Sea 27 from New Jersey, arrived and we met Pat and Janis. They spend several months aboard every summer and cruise. Wherever they are in the fall, they haul the boat and then launch her again in the spring and continue their trip.They had just come down the St. Lawrence River, a trip we are planning for next year.  Pat was full of advice and information on sailing the St. Lawrence and very generously gave us his charts for the area. How excited we were to get the charts!

Later that night we shared a drink with Chick and Cheryl and once again, we learned alot from both of them abut passagemaking.

Sunday morning dawned sunny and beautiful. With help from our some of our friends at the marina, we slipped My Obsession free of the dock and moved around to the fuel dock. After filling the diesel and settling the marina bill, Chick again offered some very useful advice as he showed us a technique for springing the bow out when it is being pushed on dock by the wind or current. We threw off the bow line and spring lines. We moved a fender to the stern quarter and looped the stern line to a cleat on the dock just aft of midships. While I held the stern line, Jay reversed into the dock, the fender keeping the boat off, but the bow swinging out. It worked perfectly! Waving goodbye to our friends on the dock, we set sail for Bouctouche NB, feeling grateful for the friedship, fellowship, kindness and generosity of fellow sailors.

Brudenell to Summerside

After anchoring in Brudenell overnight on Tuesday, we sailed to John's Bay in Amet Sound on the Nova Scotia side to anchor for the night. As it has been so often this summer, it was raining, though not too heavily and was a bit foggy. The passage was a m ixture of sailing and motoring. The wind was on our nose leaving Cardigan Bay, so it wasn't until after we rounded Panmure Island that we were able to sail. We did have to perform an overboard rescue for our friend Glen's favourite hat as we neared Panmure Island. It was a great chance to practice manoverboard skills under power.

It was a nice close-hauled sail along the south eastern coast of PEI, with winds between 15-20 knots. We did have a surprise when the bowline came undone on the jib sheet. But it wasn't difficult to fix. We rounded into the wind and shortened the sail enough that Jay wouldn't be swept off the deck as he went forward and retied it. It had been tied by the previous owners as the boat was commissioned in May and now after 1100NM it had just come undone. Within minutes we were under way again.

Unfortunately, about an hour after we rounded Cape Bear, the wind, now on our stern, weakend to the point we needed to motorsail. We motorsailed for most of the rest of the day, under gray skies, mist and rain. We entered Amet Sound and anchored.

The following day, Wednesday, we crossed the Strait again, and passed under the Confederation Bridge on our way to Summerside. The forecasted 10-15 knots of wind never materialized and with 4 knots of wind on our stern we motored all the way. Again, the weather was overcast, misting rain and just plain wet. The seas were fairly calm and Jay and I played cribbage at the cockpit table as Glen took the helm. (I won.) Being on the helm required even more vigilance than ususal as the lobster buoys were plentiful as we neared the Bridge.

We arrived in Summerside late afternoon. We tied up and headed for the showers. Although the weather had not been the greatest, Glen insisted he had a great time. Hopefully we will see sunshine the next time he sails with us.

Cruising Guides and the Beginning of a New Adventure

Well, we have finally pulled ourselves away from our land-based resposibilities in order to take some more time on My Obsession. Despite the fog patches and mist, we left Souris around 1pm today and headed for Brudenell. Our friend, Glen, is aboard with us for a few days.

The wind was light, so we poked along under sail for two hours, then turned on the engine and motorsailed. The sea was fairly calm and we easily spotted seveal seals as we left Souris. As we left so late in the day, we decided to anchor off the resort in Brudenell.

Before we left this morning, Jay had to make a small repair to a valve in the head. Maintenance is never done on a boat. While Jay effected the repair, I chatted with sailors who had cruised up from Maine. While discussing cruising guides, he informed me of an older book, now out of print, by Peter Loveridge titled, A Cruising Guide to Nova Scotia. After we anchored off Brudenell this evening I went online to search Amazon for a used copy, I stumbled on Peter Loveridge's blog and the news that he has published a revised version of the Guide on DVD.  I wish we had had this Guide on our recent trip up the Nova Scotia coast.  I will be ordering a copy of the revised guide.

As for cruising in Prince Edward Island, the best cruising guide is Harbours and Marinas of Prince Edward Island by Sam Cioran. Sam keeps his boat in Souris and has amazing knowledge of cruising grounds in PEI. We have found the small blue covered book, the Cruising Guide to Cape Breton, which is also out of print, to be the best cruising guide for Cape Breton. Anyone know of a good cruising guide for New Brunswick?

We have the Down East Circle Route Cruising Guide by Cheryl Barr and the Cruising Guide to the Canadian Maritimes also by Cheryl Barr, but we find them lacking in detail. Maybe someday we will have to write our own cruising guide. Can you imagine having a job that required you to sail? Sign me up!
 

Home at Last

‎1078 nautical miles, one close encounter with a ferry, lots of whales, dolphins and seals, three thunderstorms, fog, great sailing, some motoring, wonderful sights, and 39 days living on the boat. That sums up the trip up the coast with our new boat, My Obsession. 

We have been home in PEI with the boat for a week now. In our last blog, we were travelling overnight from Halifax to Port Hawkesbury. It was a magical night on the water.  We arrived just after lunch in Port Hawkesbury and saw family that evening. It was a treat to stay at a marina for a night after all the nights at a mooring or anchor.

The next day we passed through the Canso Canal Lock and into St George's Bay. About halfway across the Bay we were treated to an incredible sight, 30 or so whales and porpoises. It was amazing to see these sleek creatures of the sea. One minke whale passed about a boat length in front of us. I tried to take a few photos, but the batteries on my camera were low and I was too enraptured by the sight of them to go below for fresh batteries.

About an hour later we found ourselves in a thunderstorm - the third one of our trip from New Jersey, but definitely not the worst. The rain was not heavy, nor was the wind strong, and visibility was at least a mile. However, one lightening bolt came uncomfortably close. My brother who came aboard in Halifax for the trip home swears he could have thrown a baseball and hit it, but I know it was more likely 3/4 of a mile away or so.  Luckily, only the one strike was that close. The others were much further away.

That afternoon we arrived in Ballantyne's Cove and enjoyed a visit with a friend. The next day was calling for patches of fog, so we got an early start. About an hour out of Ballantyne's Cove we were in a patch of fog that followed us the rest of the way to Souris, our home port this season. We saw nothing on the radar until we were almost in Souris. We arrived just as the ferry to the Magdalen Islands was leaving and we ended up directly in its path. We each sent off blasts of our fog horns and I made a quick course correction. Unfortunately, the ferry changes its course once it rounds the buoy and I had to make a second quick course corrrection to stay out of the way.  I was very happy for the aid of the radar! Visibility was about 3/4 of a mile. Yet in a few minutes we entered the Souris Marina and there was no fog at all.  

In the week since we have been home we have only been able to take one short day sail with friends. However, we are already planning another cruise for August around the Maritimes, so stay tuned for more adventures. I can't wait!