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