Looking back through our log book I was surprised to see how many days I wrote “Woke up to fog.” It certainly has been foggy. And drizzly. We left Port Mouton in the fog, arrived at Port Medway in the fog, and left there in the fog. We spent two nights in Port Medway. The town is very quiet and we saw very few people out and about, even when the drizzle let up enough for to go ashore for a walk. More charming Victorian homes, and remnants of busy sawmills and shipbuilding, but little else. The cafe/convenience store which offered fresh baked goods, sandwiches, and music in the evenings has closed and with it, someone later informed us, the community has fallen apart.
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| En Route to The Hollow |
We made our way from to Rose Bay where the fog suddenly lifted and the temperature rose about fifteen degrees. Our hoped-for destination was Lunenburg, but we didn’t count on this being the start of a four day dockside music festival, and there was no room for us - no berths, no moorings, no room in the anchorage. So we went around into Mahone Bay and found a sweet anchorage called “The Hollow,” a basin nestled between three islands. There were others anchored and even party-rafted there, but we found a relatively private spot along Ernst Island’s shore. We spent the evening watching baby ospreys take turns flying to and from their nest while mama osprey supervised from a nearby tree.
Rogue's Roost
We’d heard and read about Rogue’s Roost, labeled the prettiest anchorage in all of Nova Scotia and decided to make that our next day’s goal. The guidebooks list it as a “must go” for all cruisers. One review called it “Hebridian” in scenic beauty. So we headed out - in the fog - across Mahone Bay, skirting St. Margaret’s Bay and Prospect Bay, and into Rogue’s Roost. Once again the fog lifted as we left the bays behind. Rogue’s Roost is everything the guidebooks promised, and more. The surrounding land is held in trust, so there is no development. The hills are thick with scrubby pines and brambles and covered with erratics - large boulders dumped willy nilly by glaciers. The guidebooks mention a “well-worn trail” up Roost Island for a spectacular view, but though we circumnavigated the island in the dinghy, we didn’t find the trail, nor did we see anyone up there. We did see and meet several local Nova Scotians - one group of men motored into our anchorage and entertained us with an eclectic playlist of music that included the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies show, John Denver’s Thank God I’m a Country Boy, and Roger Miller’s King of the Road while they drank beer and hung out. Not long after we met Bill, from another vessel anchored in the other basin in Rogue’s Roost, and his friend Arthur, whom Bill was helping set up a float. The float eventually sported a cooler, lawn chairs, and an umbrella. Arthur has planned to build a bunkhouse on it as well.
Arthur's Float
The fog rolled in an out all afternoon, and settled in for the night. It was quite thick and wet when we left mid-morning to head back west into Mahone Bay, and it stayed with us until we got to Deep Cove.
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| Sunset in the Fog at Rogue's Roost |
We stayed here seven years ago when we were touring the east coast of Nova Scotia. We were saddened to find it fairly built up: there are several docks along the narrow entrance channel now, and the basin itself has about twenty moorings. Still, it’s fairly quiet and very protected, and there is another osprey nest with young flyers to watch.
Willie Dawes at Rogue's Roost
Entrance to Deep Cove
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