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!

Bermuda to Nova Scotia - Days 6-7, 12-13/6

Sunset curtesy of Vince

Well at long last the force seems to be with us.

Late yesterday afternoon a weather update gave us reasonable hope that we may after all be able to make port before the disorder from Florida catches up with us if we changed course to head for Shelburne, to the west of our original destination on Lunenberg and 40 miles closer. The course change should enable us to catch more favourable winds for longer which should reduce the drain on our dwindling deisel stocks. So that's what we did.

So far (at 0400) it's proved to be a good choice. We've averaged around 4.5 knots in the right direction and am getting a little bit of help from a light south westerly breeze. Latest weather projections confirm we should pick up a sailing breeze by about 0900 this morning.

In the meantime we enjoyed another very pleasant day in warm sunshine and for the second day in a row picknicked alfresco in the cockpit with a late light lunch of crispbread and - in my case pate, in Vincent's peanut butter and a cold beer.

The late light lunch followed, also for the second day in a row, a late cooked breakfast to reward the crew for stoicism in the face of 'the force's' earlier, unwarranted and malicious threatening behaviour. 

For a while it looked like Bonny would have to endure a good pasting by the disorder from Florida and/or days more at sea struggling to make progress under sail having exhausted our diesel supply. This meant The Mate faced the prospect of missing his pre-booked and paid for flight home AND his pre-booked and paid for weekend in Venice with his partner, Despina. He was not at all amused and I don't suppose she was either!

Barring significant misfortune, those outcomes now seem unlikely. We do though still have a couple of gremlins to keep in check. Bonny's electrict auto steering system went AWOL for a couple of hours the evening before last and we had to steer by hand. So far (0430) however, the misdemeanor has not been repeated. Of greater concern is the reappearance of the engine's occasional faltering. I had hoped that Rob's ministrations in Bermuda had banished the problem but unfortunately not. Hopefully, the engine will continue to recover from its occasional stutters for the remainder of the passage.

Of course there is also the nagging concern about fuel. Will we have enough? Not sure if I have mentioned this before but we don't have a functioning fuel gauge and therefore can't be certain about how much we have left. Based on previous experience I think we have enough for 3 days worth of motoring. That's up at 0945 tomorrow (Saturday) morning. I also have 25 litres in jerry cans, enough for 10 hours. I just hope my sums are right!

Vince stood his first night watch of the passage last night enabling me to get a few hours uninterupted sleep for the first time on the trip - what luxury! Thankfully he had an absolutely gorgeous night for it. The best night for star gazing since leaving the UK almost one year ago!

It's not possible to capture the majesty of the starscape on camera, but Vince got this impressive study of the moon's reflection in the ocean...

It's such a shame that Mick missed it though. During our Atlantic crossing we had complained to each other how disappointing the night skies had been, but last night was simply awesome. We'll probably get fog before long and so it may prove the last we see of the stars for the remainder of this passage.

I hope we also see some whales before Vince leaves for home. The lack of wild life on the trip to date has been in marked contrast to the numerous sitings during Arctic Smoke's Atlantic circuit of 2015 then 2016/17. The last siting I recall was of a few dolphins off Madeira last August. Since then not a minnow (apart from the Mhai-Mhai that Mick and I somehow contrived to catch).

We crossed the Gulf Stream yesterday.

and it's now distinctly chilly. I have longs and a fleece and light 'waterproof' top and trousers on, for the first time in a year! When we left Bermuda the sea temperature was 26.5°, now it's 13.5° with an overnight air temperature of 15° replacing Bermuda's balmy 23° nights.

The skipper wrapped up for his first chilly night in over a year!

I finished writing the above at dawn...

This is probably going to sound rather strange to land people and even sailors who have not yet sailed the waters of Nova Scotia for the first time, but since we crossed the Gulf Stream yesterday morning and increasingly as today unfolds, (Friday 14th - that was close) I'm feeling we're only now, really "going foriegn". This despite the fact that we're approaching the coast of a developed western country.

Seeing 'the gateway to Nova Scotia' ....

.... materialise in front of my eyes, probably heightened the sense of other worldliness I was already experiencing. No doubt the 'disorder from Florida' has something to do with it too, as have the gremlins that have taken up residence in the engine, auto steering and fuel tank. The knowledge that we will almost certainly be enveloped by fog before we arrive and will therefore also be using the radar for the first time 'in anger' is another factor too.

I was convinced that we were about to plunge into thick fog when 'the gateway materialised, but the localised fog proved to be merely a harbringer of things yet to come - probably!!!

The anticipation and excitement is building. 0845, 85 miles to go, still motor sailing making all possible speed - 5k at 22 rpm plus mainsail and genoa to make use of the light south westerly breeze and the engine just stuttered again. I'm already imagining spouting whales. If only!

Meanwhile the 'Disorder from Florida' is catching us up. But IF the engine holds out and IF we don't run out of fuel and IF the weather/winds favour us just a little....

[insert windy graphic]

we should just about slip into Shelburne before Bonny is overtaken by disorder.

A couple of days before we left Bermuda I prepared Bonny for possible bad weather on the trip ahead. That included: bending on (fitting) the storm trysail - you can just about see it in the blue sail bag at the foot of the mast (zoom in) ...

....; rigging the emergency forestay, onto which, the storm jib, would - if required - be attached; and checking out said storm jib to ensure the hanks were all in place and in working order. It was a bright sunny day about 27°. A friendly American paddled by in his Kayak and looked around the wonderfully named "Convict Bay"; "are you expecting bad weather?" he enquired with a broad friendly smile. "I'm hoping not, but heading up to Nova Scotia in a couple of days, so just in case." "Ah, good thinking" came the reply. Then, he went on to recount that he had got thrown across the cabin off Bermuda and cracked a rib (like Rob but less badly)  and this was his first day he could get off the boat since arriving three days ago.

Hopefully 'the force' will spot the Trysail in its bag and conclude "there's not much point in giving them a hard time, they're prepared, let's go look for easier prey".

Well, it wasn't quite spouting whales, but at 1115 we were visited by a pod of common dolphins come to welcome us to Nova Scotia!

Photo by Vince.

110 miles in last 24 hours. 70 miles to go!

A peek into 'tomorrow' i.e. post midday today. We switched off the engine at 1300 and Bonny is now proceeding under sail alone!

Bermuda to Nova Scotia: Days 5-6, 11-12/6/24

First a correction the previous Post. It did originally say we covered 87 miles, it should have said, and now does say, 56 miles, which is pretty dam miserable. But that's behind us.

On to 'this' 24 hour period.

It started as the previous one finished with Bonny drifting aimlessly around the north atlantic ocean without a care in the world.

By 1500 the wind returned and we were making reasonable progress at 4-5 knots. By 0500 the breeze died to less than 10 knots which, in very sloppy seas, prevented any progress from being made. So the engine went back on until 0800 when, with a little more wind and a flatter sea, we were sailing again - until 0945 that is, when the breeze died completely and the engine went back on!

All in all a very frustrating period and so we decided an up-date was called for. 

Thats when we discovered the disorder in Florida and that it was expected to migrate up the eastern seaboard of North America, all the way to Canada! No, not Trump's barmy army but the weather. So whilst the constitution of the USA wasn't under further threat, mine certainly was. You can read all about it in the previous post.

So, feeling rather chased, we motored on, hoping we would arrive before the disorder affected Nova Scotia and our route towards it. Whether our fuel stocks would last the course was in the balance and depended on how much of the last 300 miles we would be able to sail.

By midday we had made 122 miles over the preceeding 24 hours.  A decent start.

Will Bonny get a pasting before finding refuge. How long will it take to get there? [Non spoiler - given the constantly changing forecast it could take anything beteen 3 days and 7 days] Where is there? 

Will we run out of chocolate? Will Vince catch his plane on the 22nd?

Stay tuned!

Bermuda to Nova Scotia (June '24) bonus edition: a Windy/not windy development!

The reason for the brief update yesterday is all because of too much wind and not enough wind, or rather because the Skipper and First Mate/Chief Technology Officer, spent hours studying the vagaries of the developing weather situation along the North American seaboard from Florida up to Newfoundland and the implications for Bonny's travels and travails.

The Graphic below shows a high level view of the situation as forecast by the USA's National Hurricane Centre - but please note this is NOT a hurricane, but a disturbance that has less than a 40% chance (the lowest metric) of developing into one. A fuller explanation is given in the text beneath the graphic which you can zoom in on.

The core of this system is a developing area of low pressure, which the various weather forecast models show will track north eastwards up past Nova Scotia over the next week or so, bringing strong winds with it. These circulate in a counter clockwise direction. This means that Bonny's position, relative to the centre of the low, once it is within roughly 75 miles of her, will determine what wind direction and strength we will experience.

Bonny has been in an area of no wind for the last 30 hours and has been motoring northwards at between 4 and 5 knots in an effort to arrive off the coast of Nova Scotia before the worst weather arrives.

We have two challenges to manage. The first is that our fuel supply is limited to about 3 days of motoring and we must make sure we have fuel to burn for about the last 24 hours. This is not just so we can manoeuvre the boat in confined waters with no or contrary winds, but because we may also need to use it to generate electricity to power the ship's instruments, including the radar. Fog is an ever present risk in these parts and radar will help us spot vessels not transmitting on AIS (fishing boats often don't and apparently many yachts in these waters don't use it for some reason). Fog of course means we can't use our solar panels to charge the batteries!

So we can't afford to run out of fuel close to the coast. The catch, of course is that we don't have enough to simply 'steam on' regardless. If we did we would run out before we got there! So we have to decide when to stop the engine and simply wait for the wind.

Welcome to challenge number 2. The developing weather is currently very unpredictable. The forecasts are changing at every six hourly update. So far, the one thing the updates have had in common is that calms are predicted to follow Bonny to every possibe wind area within range, as if she was a magnet. Every area of wind we find in the forecasts, evaporates just as we predict Bonny would be most likely to crawl up to it at a sedate 4 knots (the maximum speed we can assume because of the fuel situation)! To say it's frustrating is the understatement of the century. I'm almost convinced that maligment forces are at work!

One piece of good news is that we have now crossed the notorious gulf stream which can flow up to 4 knots in these parts. It may not sound that much, but gale force winds against or even across the stream's direction, can give rise to very unpleasant seas. It's one joker that 'the force' has played to early!

Another positive is having Vince on board. Never have I encountered a situation in which slick IT user skills have been so helpful. One of the benefits of running the engine continuously, is that we have unlimited electricity to power Starlink (and to make and heat water - I had my first hot shower for a year today). That means we can use the Windy App and in less than an hour of playing with it, Vince bought the Premium version and mastered it's features; enabling us to run a range of course and speed scenarios against the developing weather situation.

Unfortunately, thus far, each one ends with 'the force' declaring 'check mate', but as the main event closes in on us, our decision making will be as informed as it's possible to be.

It's such a shame Windy doesn't provide a download option, because it's features are so superior to PredictWind's standard Offshore App; the principle App for offshore sailors. To 'enjoy' its premium features, one not only needs a subscription - fair enough - but also extra bits of expensive physical kit. I suppose Windy must run its processes on its servers where computing power and storage are virtually unlimited, rather than on one's relatively low powered hand held device.

So that's the situation. I'll try and continue to post daily updates.

Bermuda to Nova Scotia - Days 4-5, 11-12/6

Apologies but this will be brief due to other demands on time, about which more detail tomorrow hopefully.

The 24 hour period from noon to noon started well in fresh winds and two reefs making good progress but by 0800 on the 11th we were becalmed and the engine went on to maintain the batteries while we got a forecast. At 1000 the engine went off and we drifted. We were still drifting by noon on the 11th, the end of the 24 hour period and the time covered by this post.

We made a paltry 56 miles in the period.

Spoiler alert - there's worse to come!

Bermuda to Nova Scotia: Days 3-4: 10/6-11/6

Well the grib indicated a choice between heading further east and getting some very strong winds from behind (if everything worked to plan, but if it didn't and we got trapped on the west side of the low, we'd get clobbered by equally strong winds on the nose); or staying on a northerly course and face the prospect of hitting calms tomorrow (Tuesday) morning which may last a day or so. 

I chose the latter! 

We continued to make pretty good progress through the day and overnight averaging around 5 knots, then at 0530 the wind veered suddenly and we had to go close hauled. By 0750 we were becalmed. 

We motored for a couple of hours to charge batteries, but then drifted again beyond midday when the coverage of this blog post ceases!

Covered 87 miles in the preceding 24 hours.

Spoiler alert - got going again at 1500 with a completely unforecast SE wind!