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.