To Jeddore Harbour

Friday the 28th June, the day after the OCC gathering at the Armdale YC, was departure day for Bonny, Zora (Rhys) and  and Linnea (Joshua and Emmey). We were all bound initially for Jeddore Harbour about 40 miles to the east and therefore a comfortable daylight sail. 

I got up at 0700 with the intention of leaving by 0900, but by the time I had the dinghy on deck and all the other pre-departure jobs done - including laying down the route on Navionics on my phone for use in the cockpit (I had had no luck in finding Nova Scotia charts on the now, out of production, Compact Flash Cards, required by my old, but reliable Raymarine Chartplotter mounted in the cockpit) and on OpenCPN on the Raspberry Pi.

It seems that the marine electronics industry is beset by the same malaise as the domestic appliance industry. Old, slightly clunky, reasonably simple, and highly reliable and long lasting pieces of kit, have been superseded by flashy, complicated, poorly designed and highly unreliable pieces of kit. These of course, use consumables such as data cards that are incompatible with the previous generation of products. Clearly a completely deliberate ploy to force sailors to 'upgrade' to the new generation of kit designed to fail on the expiry of the warranty, forcing the sailor to buy a replacement. And so it goes on. Bloody insane and shouldn't be allowed. 

Anyway, I can't afford a new Chartplotter and so that's why I use the far from ideal solution of Navionics on my phone when I 'need' to access a chartplotter in the cockpit.

God we've gone soft, read that again - "....need to access a chartplotter in the cockpit...." It wasn't that long ago that such gizmos simply didn't exist but we (usually) managed to get from A to B without mishap. We noted the navigational aids, if any, that had been provided and the contours of the coast, and where the rocks and shallows were and piloted our way through the passage using dead reckoning whilst taking bearings on the various features and double checking their characteristics with the information provided on the paper chart on the chart table. 

One would often be uncertain of one's exact position for a while until everything fell into place, but I don't think I ever turned up outside a destination, only to discover at the very last minute that I wasn't where I thought I was. Why did I mention that? You'll have to wait until the post after this one to find out!

My troubles started immediately on trying to raise the anchor. The fault that I thought I had sorted re-appeared and I had to go through the same palava as before to raise the anchor only this time I managed to avoid falling down the companionway steps and I remembered where the isolator switch was. It was rather comical really. I was repeatedly running back and forth the length of the boat to switch the Windless on and off. Finally it was up, without any apparent serious damage being done to the windless, although the control solenoid, which I now suspected was where the fault lay, probably took an additional hammering.

I briefly considered abandoning the trip again, but the weather for the day looked perfect and bad weather was on the way. If I didn't go now, I'd be stuck here for another few days. My stay at Armdale and the visits to Halifax had been most enjoyable, but I was yearning to find wild Canada. Besides which, John and his lovely wife Heathet were expecting me for dinner and that would be followed by another session with them and the crews of Zora and Linnea! 

So, thrusting concerns about how on earth I would raise the anchor next time, to one side, Bonny followed Zora down the North West Arm.

Initially I motored after Zora whilst I tried to rinse the foul smelling Armdale mud off the anchor (I swear that the early settlers not only took the names of English towns with them, but that they also dredged the Medway and took its mud with them too).

Once the foredeck was reasonably clean I unfurled the genoa, switched the engine off and with the wind behind us, shadowed Zora down 'the Arm' and into the main Halifax waterway. Once out of the harbour our turn eastwards put the wind on the beam and so the mainsail went up too.

It was a delightful, if occasionally chilly day, with the wind varying from light to fresh and the sun playing hide and seek with the clouds. Zora being slightly longer than Bonny gradually drew ahead and after a couple of hours, Linnea, longer still, who departed after us, passed Bonny.

About halfway into the passage Rhys radioed me to warn me of strong winds ahead that had required him to put two reefs in mainsail and genoa. Bonny is under canvassed in light airs and so I decided she should be OK with a single reef in the mainsail and none in the genoa. Experience has proved that she points closest to the wind under this configuration if conditions allow (we would need to harden up later) and with the wind off the land we were enjoying a near flat sea - perfect sailing conditions. So I went up on deck and put the reef in. Sure enough a few minutes later we had winds of 20 knots gusting to 25 and Bonny started getting into her grove. The distance between Bonny and the other two boats that had been gradually increasing now started to reduce as she charged along with the bit in her teeth. 

Soon, our ideal course, shaving the outlying shallows and rocks to close the mouth of Jeddore Harbour, called for hardening in the sheets and close hauled sailing. We were now making up to windward of Zora and closing all the time. Another message from Rhys - "expect very strong gusts where I am now". I was having the time of my life. Bonny was flying, no way was I reefing again and although the autohelm had everything under control these were conditions when one wanted to coach every inch of progress and fraction of a knot out of the old girl - time to take the wheel!

We continued to edge to windward of and gain on Zora, who was soon motoring into the headwind blowing out of the harbour. Bonny charged onwards on a heading that would intercept Zora further in the approach channel. As we closed, Rhys kindly dallied to take photos of Bonny flying in all her pomp, including the one at the head of this post and this one too...

His crewmate, took some video too which will hopefully turn up at a later date.

Then it was time to calm down, hand the sails and follow the other two boats under power up to the head of Jeddore Harbour where John and Heather live and where their boat, a gorgeous and very well kept, Luders 38 is moored. 

I picked up John's visitors' mooring at about 1730 and an hour later he collected me by dinghy for dinner at their beautiful home overlooking the head of the natural harbour.

Heather had laid on a gorgeous curry and we dinned in fine style as we chatted and devoured each other's histories and exploits as well as the delightful food.

After dinner the other two crews joined us for drinks, minus Emmey who unfortunately was not well. A great evening followed of course, with Rhys crew mate, the star of the show as she regaled us with her account of her major project, still underway, to convert her recently acquired, but far from new sailing boat, to all 100% electric, including the drive unit. A very skilled and accomplished lady indeed! She'd been inspired to take up sailing by Rhys after a chance encounter with him in Ireland a few years ago, as he and his now wife, Niamh were fitting out Zora which they had bought as a steel shell.

We also heard more stories from John and Heather about their fascinating pasts and ocean wanderings. He's the son of an Africans, South African Diplomat and ex professional photographer who spent much of his life in England where he owned an MG and played rugby for the then prestigious Richmond Club. Heather's a native Nova Scotian Canadian, whose grandfather was a merchant Captain in the dying glory days of square rigged sailing ships. I wish I had found out more about him, his commands and his career. Hopefully, I will have a chance to do so in the future.

Like Rhys, Joshua and Emmey are bound for Greenland on their way home to Sweden. An experienced engineer (as is Rhys) he engaged Rhys' crew mate in in-depth conversation about her project. It was fascinating to listen to their ideas and suggestions about how best to tackle the various challenges she faces, even if most of it did go way over my head.

Eventually, the evening drew to a close and us visiting sailors returned to their boats. John and Heather had made us all so welcome. 

It would appear that every Canadian is friendly and obliging. I asked John about this. "Oh yes, but wait until you get to Newfoundland, they're even friendlier there. One miserable morning I was trudging in the pouring rain from the marina into the local town when one of the very few cars on the road passed me going in the opposite direction. He, a complete stranger, turned his car round, pulled up wound down the window and said "get in" "but...." I said, "get in" he said again. So I did. "Where are you going?" I told him. He took me to the store. Waited while I shopped, then took me back to the boat!"

The next morning Zora and Linnea would be leaving for St Peter's on the south of Cape Breton - their next stop en route to Greenland, and I would be getting stuck into another attempt to repair Bonny's windless.

Halifax Days

After saying goodbye to Vince at the airport I caught a bus back to Halifax. The, roughly 45 minute journey, cost me all of 3$CAN!

Back in town, my first priority was to get a haircut. The regular price was a pretty steep $40CAN so I opted for an Apprentice at $30 and he did a good job.

Then I went up to the Citadal/Army museum on top of the hill overlooking the city and harbour and had a look around.

Pretty impressive too!

I don't think I have ever read the Japanese surrender speach before. Pretty chilling both because of the words themselves and because of 'what might have been' had the bomb not existed. The price of American victory with peace was clearly horrendous.  What would the price of continued war and possible American defeat have been? 

To my thinking at least, the Emperor's protestations about only wanting to protect his country, ring rather hollow, but ultimately he made the right decision for the benefit of all. But given what's going on in the world today, it seems that many of those in power don't learn by the mistakes of their predecessors.

Then I walked back to the boat.

I spent most of the following day on the boat pottering about - the first day without Vince - it was a little strange and of course I missed him loads.

The next few days however, saw a flurry of social activity. Rhys and Niamh offered me a lift in their Uber to go shopping and the next day to do the laundry. I also met up with Michael and Sabine on their boat  Blaubeere moored in the marina and a couple of days later we had dinner in the yacht club.

Then Rhys managed to get the two of us berths on a boat competing in the Armdale Yacht Club's regular Wednesday evening race around 'the cans' (a short race) in the 'upper arm' (the name of the stretch of water). 

It turned out the boat (a Sigma 36 - Sharon wanted me to buy one when I was looking for a replacement for Arctic Smoke) to which we were allocated, was owned and skippered by one of Rob's sons. Rob being the guy that Fred and Muna (local OCC members who we met Lunenberg) introduced me to. I hope you're keeping up? 😁

The rest of the regular crew comprised Rob, his other son and one of his pals. The race only lasted 20 minutes but we were probably out on the water for a couple of hours and whilst we tried to look like we knew what we were doing, I suspect the regular crew would have been faster without our help.

Fortunately whilst the race was keenly fought, everyone was also very relaxed and the beers and other drinks were passed around even before the starting gun - which we only just made thanks to a temperamental engine!

The Armdale guys were a really friendly bunch. I just hope that any Canadian sailors venturing to the UK, get treated as well as we were by them.

Just before we went off to the races we bumped into Michi and Steffi from T'Aima, who Vince and I met in Shelburne. With their arrival, there were four OCC boats in the Armdale Arm and Rhys (who's a "Roving Rear Commodore" of the OCC) had tracked down two other boats (one Swedish and one Australian) who were interested in joining and so he organised a get-together for us all at the Armdale Yacht Club. John, the OCC Port Officer for Halifax also came along as did Michael and Sabine and so we had quite a gathering, which continued on Rhys' boat when the yacht club closed. However, I'm afraid that once again I forgot to take photographs.

I had made an attempt to leave Armdale on the Wednesday, but the Anchor windless was playing up and so aborted the trip - which was probably just as well otherwise I would have missed out on all the fun. 

It was actually quite a nerve wracking and bruising episode. First the dam thing wouldn't run. Then after prodding and tapping it did. Then the dam thing wouldn't stop. I dashed back to cockpit and inside to kill it with the isolator switch, slipped on the companionway steps and took a right wolloping. Nothing broken but I'm still sore days later, when I pull ropes or wind winches etc. Knocked stupid I forgot where the isolator was for a while! Anyway eventually I found it.

Later I took the deck switch apart and with Rhys help cleaned it up and re-installed it. Problem solved or so I thought!

Stay tuned!

To Halifax and Goodbye to Vince

Moonlight over Bonny at anchor in Halifax's North West Arm

An early start on Thursday 20th June saw us drop our mooring at 0625 and motor down Lunenberg harbour in light airs on a beautiful sunny morning. Two hours later as we exited the outer reaches of the harbour the breeze increased and we were soon sailing well. 

I spotted a sea otter in the harbour and two more as we passed "Big Duck Island"  to our east at about 1300 (there are hundreds of delightfully named islands and bays along this coast). Shortly afterwards the wind dropped to nothing and a very sloppy confused sea got up, perhaps due to the relatively shallow water - about 15 metres deep. So the engine went on and we motored for the next 2-3 hours. It clouded over and got pretty chilly. Then the wind returned and we had a fine sail eastwards to Halifax Harbour. By this time we had a few layers on and it was perfect conditions for Vince to show off his new Halifax jacket!

Then suddenly as we rounded Chebucto Head on the west side of the entrance to Halifax Harbour we were hit by a blast of hot air and the temperature shot up from the low teens to the high twenties. I had had doubts about the accuracy of the forecasted heatwave, but it suddenly found us with a vengeance. Quite extraordinary. Layers were quickly stripped off and replaced with shorts and T-shirts.

We sailed in increasingly fluky winds up the outer (natural) harbour until the wind at first died completely and then headed us as we entered the North West Arm. So the engine went on again and we motored the remaining few miles up to the anchorage at the head of the Arm.

The skipper faffed around for a while trying to find the best spot to anchor and in doing so nearly ruined the Bluenose's (a semi open keelboat of about 20 feet) evening race 'around the cans'. A bit late, I realised that the buoy I had asked Vince to steer round was a race marker and that the fleet of Bluenoses was bearing down on the marker and on Bonny in double quick time. We JUST managed to get clear of the buoy before they arrived to round it.

Later when I made contact with Rob (a local sailor with whom we were put in touch by Fred and Ouna, local OCC members who we had met in Lunenberg) I discovered that he was in the race! In keeping with the warm and friendly people we have met everywhere thus far, Rob was most generous as to the impact of my antics and assured me the Bluenoses were a nimble bunch and that no offence was taken.

As we finally got our anchor down we were greeted from the nearby shore by two figures waving their arms at us. It was Michael and Sabine from Blaubeere who had left Bermuda a week or so before us. Shortly afterwards, we joined them for dinner at a nearby pub. The temperature that evening was a staggering 30°C!

I was amazed at how cool the boat was down below, despite the Carribbean temperature and then concluded it must have been down to the water temperature, which, of course, was nowhere near that of the Carribbean sea!

The next morning I contacted fellow OCC member and Roving Rear Commodore, Rhys, of SV Zora, who I had just missed in Lunenberg. It turned out Zora was just a couple of hundred metres away and we had passed her as we came in to anchor. We had a quick chat when he and Niamh passed by in their dinghy and subsequently spent a lot of time together.

After a cooked breakfast and a short dinghy ride to the nearby public dinghy dock, Vince and I headed into Halifax on foot to see the sights and we weren't disappointed. It was a gorgeous day and Halifax is an attractive and vibrant city with lots to see. First stop was a funky coffee shop...

... on the edge of the downtown district and then a Guinness at an Irish Pub downtown.

Then we wandered around the colourful and busy water front ...

and did some shopping, phoned home, had a cocktail overlooking the harbour..

... and then a late fish and chip lunch along with the local dish - "Poutine". Chips and Gravy with cheesy bits mixed in. Not their finest product I have to say!

Then a long leisurely walk back to the boat via the rest of the water front area...

and the beautiful public gardens. 

We stopped and listened to a choir practising and to the end of a classical musical recital. 

The next day, Saturday, was departure day for Vince. After, one last cooked breakfast we took an Uber to the airport, from where Vince was soon to discover that his journey home was going to be anything but smooth sailing.

After checking in and then a coffee we said our sad goodbyes. It had been a great couple of weeks and of course Vince's first ocean passage, which he took to extremely well.

The storm that never was (at least for us) first frayed our nerves and then became the villain we outwitted together. Its associated calms and the potential long delays they threatened, caused, for Vince in particular, great frustration as the prospect of missing his flight loomed large for many hours, until suddenly we found the fair winds we needed. Our anxieties then vanished and were replaced with anticipation about how we would spend the week ahead.  

The challenge of a seven day ocean passage, followed by a week cruising the Nova Scotia coast and visiting the three iconic ports of Shelburne, Lunenberg and Halifax, made the whole trip a memorable and truly enjoyable experience with my youngest son. 

Landfall, Shelburne and Lunenberg

The famous Bluenose II - replica of the fastest ever Grand Banks Fishing Schooner.

The final night time and early morning hours of our passage to Shelburne provided delightful sailing after which we moored up at the small marina there at 0715 on the 15th June.

Our final approach up the flooded river valley was a little nerve wracking because, with no wind and in pouring rain, the engine decided that it really had had enough and died repeatedly. Fortunately it was always coaxed back into life and we moored up without mishap.

Shelburne is a pretty and historic port with a rich and diverse heritage being both a major settlement of the black community who escaped slavery in the south....

...and a Loyalist strong hold during the American war of independence....

My first duty on arrival was to report to the customs and immigration authorities. This was done by phone and fortunately the yacht club/marina provided a payphone on its veranda from which I could make the free call.

After a 10 minute wait I spoke to an officer who asked all the usual questions about where we were from, last port, next port what were our plans, passport numbers drugs, guns, money etc. Then a wait for another 10 minutes while he processed all the information and then, "welcome to Canada, enjoy your visit and safe sailing". And that was it. No need to wait for a face to face visit which I had heard that others had to go through. Perhaps Brits get treated more leniently?

A snooze followed and then a late breakfast and then we signed in at the marina and went exploring.

First and major point of interest was the Dory Shop and Museum. It was 3pm and it closed at 4, so in we went and it really was a sight and experience to behold. We were given a tour by a very knowledgeable guide who took us through the history of the humble Dory and this last remaining fully kitted out 'factory' (my term) in Nova Scotia. 

It's particularly intriguing because of the life of one man, Sidney Mahaney who started work there building Dorys at the age of 17 in 1914 and carried on doing so until the age of 96!

I used the word factory because the shop operated a production line system with different sections of the dory made at dedicated work stations (by hand) until the final one, where all the sections were assembled together. So much for Henry Ford!

The Dory is of very simple construction and was built in huge numbers around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.

With a flat bottom curved up slightly fore and aft and cut frames onto which clincker (overlapping) planks are clenched longitudinally it was the perfect mass production boat.

It became the work horse of the Grand Banks fishing industry quite by chance. Originally, they were THE vessels used by the inshore fishing industry. In the early years of the off-shore industry, the rich cod stocks off the coasts off Nova Scotia and New Foundland were fished from the decks of the Grand Banks Schooners by fishermen trolling long lines over the side. 

Then someone noticed how stackable the Dory was (with its flat bottom and removeable thwarts (seats)). "Why not take a load out on the schooner, then we can launch each of them with a two man crew who can then lay multiple long lines. We'll catch loads more cod more quickly that way".

It worked perfectly and before long every Grand Banks Schooner operated that way and the production of Dorys rocketed to keep up with demand.

The multiple two man crews would be launched from the schooner at dawn after a hearty breakfast, and row off to lay their first long line of hooks. Then they'd return for lunch, collect another long line kit, and go off again and lay that. Then they'd return to the first one hoist in their catch then hoist the second catch before returning to the schooner, hopefully before dark to off-load their catch onto the mother ship where it would be gutted, salted and packed into the hold.

It was exhausting and dangerous work and hundreds were lost at sea over the years..

We enjoyed our short stay in Shelburne immensely and were treated so well by the friendly locals. In addition to our visit to the Dory Shop Museum....

I fixed the engine (I think 🤞) - just by tightening up a few hose clamps and bleeding the fuel line. 

We made new friends - Michi and Steffi on board Ti'Ama a Boreal 47, an aluminium go anywhere expedition boat. Vince had asked me what my ideal boat was and the next morning it was parked in front of us!

Vince and I went Kayaking in jellyfish infested waters..

We left Shelburne on the afternoon of the 17th for an overnight sail to Lunenberg, another historic port and home of the famous Bluenose. 

We arrived at 1030 on the 18th June and picked up a mooring opposite the historic port...

Our timing was perfect - Bluenose was to start her summer cruise of Nova Scotia the following day and so we had time to visit the famous ship.

Later we found a BBQ restaurant - Vincent's favourite eatery and had an excellent bbq supper.

The following day we visited the Fisheries Museum and most impressive it was too..

After the museum we visited the local craft distillery and came away with a few samples!

Then we met up with new OCC friends Fred and Ouna who live just outside Lunenberg and are preparing their boat for a major cruise to the Carribbean, the Azores and Europe. We spent a thoroughly enjoyable few hours with this immensely friendly, interesting and helpful couple. I very much hope we'll meet them again when they get to Europe and the UK.

Today (Thursday) we're sailing to Halifax in the sunshine but in a chilly wind. I can't quite believe the forecast of 29° for Halifax!