Yarmouth to Ingomar Island

 We left Tiverton at 0700 on Tuesday morning, before the ferry began its daily trek back and forth from Digby Neck to Long Island.  It was foggy and the tide was flowing from Petit Passage into St. Mary’s Bay, so we headed East along Long Island to take the St. Mary’s Bay route down to Yarmouth.  The fog came and went, but cleared up suddenly for us to get a good view of the famous Balancing Rock.  Pretty shoreline, but the rock itself is much more evident from that viewing deck on shore than from the water.  

Balancing Rock is the column between the two shadows.

When we got back into the Bay of Fundy, the winds had picked up and the swells were definitely not the “1 metre or less” predicted.  It was a rather lumpy passage and we were glad to round the point and head into the river to Yarmouth.  

Yarmouth Light 

We took a mooring at Killem’s Marina in Yarmouth so we could have access to hot showers and their laundry facilities.  We do have a shower aboard the Willie Dawes and I can do small loads of laundry, but sometimes it’s nice not to worry about letting the water run, and laundering sheets and towels are beyond my capability on board.  We also took advantage of the town’s offerings.  There’s a lot of fishing, shipping, and shipbuilding history here, and there are several museums to visit as well as a walking tour to see the many old Victorian sea captain’s homes.  We packed a lot into our day and a half stay in Yarmouth.  

Researching & prep: usual I read and Dan follows along on the Navionics chart.

        We left with the outgoing tide on Wednesday afternoon and headed South East.  We had a beautiful cruise down to and through Schooner Passage and anchored just off the end of Turpentine Island.  No sooner had we gotten settled when along came a speedboat with several worried locals, intent on rescuing us.  They’d seen us “stop suddenly” and thought we’d gone aground.  After supper, another speedboat came over and offered us a ride around.  Since they all had cans of beer in their hands and were pretty jolly, we declined but really appreciated their friendliness.  We sat down with our rum drinks to plan out the possibilities for the next day’s cruise, and enjoyed a colorful sunset.

Turpentine Island

Thursday was a gorgeous day - clear blue sky, glassy seas, and warm.  We left early and passed by Peases Island.  Schooner Passage, Peases Island… it’s like this place was meant for us!  A small seaplane buzzed us twice, low and close enough for us to see all its occupants who were grinning and waving at us.  Then we approached Cape Sable Island and the fog set in all around us.  We were here seven years ago and didn’t see the island then either.  As soon as we left its fog horns behind us, the fog started to lift and we had a clear view of our destination at Ingomar Island, where we anchored in a small protected cove.  

Buzzed

Peases Island

Tiverton

        The night before we planned to leave for Nova Scotia, the wind was blowing against the current, making conditions very difficult for the incoming sailboat seeking safe harbor. It didn’t help that the three people aboard were particularly unprepared. When it appeared they were going to collide with our starboard bow, their helmsman left the wheel to come fend off while the other two folks sat there watching. “Did they just hit us?” Dan yelled, coming down from the flying bridge. Not exactly, but we did receive a large scratch in the hull. While we were examining it, the sailboat was now heading for our stern. They gouged the dinghy as they tried to round our stern to head to the other side of the dock. Dan repeatedly offered to help which was repeatedly denied, but he went to help them tie up to a small fishing boat anyway, as it was apparent they needed all the help they could get. Afterwards, the owner came over to apologize, and settled with Dan for the damage to our boats. Canadians are so very polite and so willing to be responsible. Fortunately for all of us, the damage was relatively minor. Given the conditions and lack of seamanship, it could have been so much worse. Dan repaired the gouge in the dinghy and we will address the scratch in the bow at another time. 

The dinghy damage.

         We arose early to make the crossing to Nova Scotia. The Bay of Fundy has very strong currents and tides; making sure the wind is from the right direction and the tides are with you as much as possible during the crossing and at the entrances to the passages through Digby Neck is essential. We were headed for either Westport on Brier Island or Tiverton on Long Island in Petite Passage, depending on the time it took and the conditions of the tide when we got there. As it turned out, we were earlier than we thought, so we went into Petite Passage to Tiverton. The crossing went fairly smoothly and visibility was excellent. We saw a humpbacked whale, several grey seals and porpoises, greater shearwaters, petrels, and phalaropes. As we entered Petite Passage, we saw a mola mola. When we made the sharp turn into the very small man-made harbor at Tiverton, we saw five mola molas swimming about inside. We’ve seen them laying around lazily flapping their large fins, but we’ve never seen them frolicking around in a group like that. 

The harbor at Tiverton

         Tiverton - population about 300 - is an adorable little town that sports a post office, an art gallery/gift shop, a general store, and an ice cream/fried food shack that mainly serves the customers lined up to take the little free ferry over to the mainland of Digby Neck. The ferry runs at least twice an hour, taking up to 21 cars, and is almost always full. We tied up against a fishing boat and then moved to the ‘recreational’ dock when another visitor left. We’ve explored much of the town and hiked the short Digby trails to Boar’s Head lighthouse, taking advantage of the ripe raspberries along the way. There is another trail about two or three miles out of town that takes you to the famous balancing rock, but we weren’t able to make that hike, as a line of thunderstorms were forecast to roll through on Monday and we wanted to stick close to the boat.

Boar's Head Light in Tiverton

Campobello and Grand Manan

  We had a rather lumpy passage from Roque to Campobello.  The forecast early in the morning was for light W winds, which we’d hoped would help knock some of the punch out of the swells. But out beyond Roque the W wind became SW and it was gusty, pushing against the tide flowing toward us along Grand Manan passage for the first few hours.  It didn’t seem to get much better even when the tide was with us.  

But we made it Head Harbor, Campobello and managed to check in both with the ArriveCAN app and the phone number.  Tip for anyone heading for Canada: once you get to your Canadian check-in point, fill out all the information in the app, using that dock’s address as your ‘destination’ and when you get the confirmation code, then call them.  I called first and they asked for the confirmation code, so I had to call them back.  Despite that, checking in was very simple and took about thirty minutes total.  No one needed to come to the boat.  

North Head Harbor Grand Manan

We tied up to a very large fishing vessel which conveniently left all its lights on, and it was a very bright night.  The weather was good for an early morning passage to North Head Harbor in Grand Manan, so we left right after breakfast.  The seas were very calm, but there were intermittent patches of thick fog.  In North Head we were directed to a spot on the end of the dock inside the breakwater, where we had a good view of much of the surrounding activity.  They are dredging to expand the harbor haven for fishing vessels, and a seaweed harvesting operation was in full swing.  This is also where the ferry terminal from St. John comes.

North Head isn’t a very big town.  Everything they have to offer is walkable from the harbor.  The people are very friendly, from the wharfinger (harbor master) to the post mistress, and all were ready to answer any questions we had.  We walked to a nearby ‘hiking park’ - a private campground that hosts several cliff trails and set off on a well-maintained trail to view the rock formation known as Hole in the Wall, and then continued on the red trail all along the cliff until we came to the lighthouse. 

We saved the actual lighthouse for the next day.  It’s a cute eight-sided structure and for a small fee you’re allowed to go all the way to the top where the lens is.  The view is spectacular.  In fact, all the views here are spectacular and there are many places to stand or sit and just look out over the water.  

Swallowtail Lighthouse

One thing to note:  there is no bank or ATM available to get Canadian money.  The ice cream stand, cafe, post office, and pharmacy all accepted credit cards.  The Wharfinger, Jeff, and the hiking park obligingly took our US dollars.  

Dan in the top of the Swallowtail lighthouse.

Roque Island

      We spent Saturday in Somes Sound and passed through a rainshower en route to North East Harbor, to stop for a quick visit with trawler friends.  We had planned to travel with them to a nearby anchorage and spend Sunday and Monday keeping their company, but their plans changed, and so instead we stopped for a quick raft-up and dropped off some of Dan’s brownies.  Always good to see them.  Maybe we’ll be able to connect on the water another time.

We decided to head down east to Roque Island.  This is a beautiful archipelago just east of Jonesport, and one of our favorite places to visit.  There are several little coves and harbors and a lovely mile-long beach with very fine sand.  Of all the places to anchor here at Roque, the anchorage right in front of the beach is the most popular with cruisers.  These islands are privately owned, but only one is inhabited, and only in the summer.  The owners are cordial about visitors, but have posted limits - half the beach and nothing inland - which still gives us visitors plenty of sand to walk or picnic on.  

The passage was a little rougher than we would have liked - there was a brisk wind and a heavy following sea - and as we approached the Jonesport thorofare the sky was getting dark.  A line of thunderstorms were heading our way.  We made it to Roque before our paths crossed, tucking into Bunker Cove, an extremely protected anchorage.   The rain cleared briefly Sunday evening to allow for a picture, but then a thick fog draped over us for the night and the next day.  Undaunted by the damp, we took a dinghy ride around to the beach and went for a walk on Monday.  

After a night of rain, Tuesday dawned foggy and we’d had enough of the damp.  We turned on the propane heater to take the chill out of the air and dry things out a bit.  Then suddenly it all lifted.  The sky was blue and the sun was hot.  What a difference a few hours make!  We moved the Willie Dawes over to the beach and took another long walk after lunch.  We felt it would be too rolly there for the night, with the swell coming in off the Atlantic, so we raised anchor and moved over to Lakeman Harbor, to the east of the beach for the night.  There are three or four other boats here at Roque, but we have Lakeman Harbor all to ourselves.

At first it looked like we’d be spending much of this coming week here at Roque, but a weather window has opened up and we’re going to be heading further down east.  The hoped-for plan is to check into Canada tomorrow afternoon, hopefully in Campobello or perhaps Grand Manan. 

Bunker Cove during and after the fog.

Heading Down East

       We drove out to Wisconsin, taking our time to travel along back roads through New Hampshire and Vermont instead spending all our time on the interstate. 

Waterford NY/Erie Canal

We made a stop in Waterford, NY, at the beginning of the Erie Canal, to drop off a couple of large poly-ball fenders for anyone to use to traverse the locks.  Perhaps they’ll be there next year when we are there to begin the Great Loop!

The Memorial Gathering for my mother was as it should be - lots of stories, lots of laughter, too much food.  My mother would have loved being the center of such attention!  It was great to see all my siblings and to have them get to know our two wonderful daughters-in-law.  We live in several different states, and though we are in touch electronically, it has been many years since we have all been together in person. 

We got back to Maine on Wednesday July 13.  Tommie the cat was pretty standoffish with us for leaving her behind, but has forgiven us now that we have all moved back onto the Willie Dawes.  We spent our first night aboard on a friend’s mooring in Pulpit Harbor and then had a lovely, leisurely cruise over to Blue Hill Bay where we grabbed a mooring for the night.  This beautiful little place is one of our favorite places - it offers serenity and beauty and usually no one else is here.

 

Sunrise in Blue Hill Bay

We hung out all afternoon and much of the next morning before moving on.  Today (Saturday, July 16) we are anchored at the head of Somes Sound.  It’s lovely here as well, though the Sound is always busy on the weekend.  The Friendship Sloop Society is hold a regatta here today and we did a very slow pass as we admired those beautiful boats.  

Friendship Sloop Regatta, 2022 Southwest Harbor