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