Well it took us twelve days to cruise from St Peters to Southwest Harbor, Maine. Leaving Bras d’Or Lake the same way we arrived we transitted the St Peters lock/canal on a beautiful day and followed a sloop on thru. Since the weather was cooperating we decided to make it a long day. So eleven hours later we inched into a very small anchorage behind Tuffin Island. Desolate and beautiful Tuffin Island is one of those anchorages you want to do in settled weather. It’s tight and narrow with a rocky coastline. The evening was perfect.

We awoke to nasty weather. It had been forecast but the change in wind made this anchorage untenable. We knew a protected anchorage lay four hours west so we weighed anchor at 7:30 and left. While it was the right decision to leave this particular anchorage the seas we encountered were the worst in our nearly four years cruising. The wind was a consistent 20 knots but the waves were steep and nasty. I did not want to tax the autopilot and hand-steered the entire way. Four hours standing at the wheel is tiring and we were glad to drop the hook at Tangier Cove and regroup. We ended up staying two nights as the weather did not abate. But on the second morning things looked promising and we pulled out. It was to be another long day but when we pulled into Cub Basin eight hours later we knew we had chosen the perfect spot.

A trip to Nova Scotia isn’t complete without a visit to Peggy’s Cove. We had been there a month earlier by car but after leaving Cub Basin we cruised up the coast to get a look from the sea. It is definitely a tourist attraction as the crowds onshore attest.

After passing the lighthouse and crossing the bottom of Mahone Bay we turned to starboard and motored into Lunenburg Harbor. The town of Lunenburg became a favorite of ours on the voyage up the coast and another stop on the way back home was essential. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is well worth a visit although the attached aquarium was laughable.

Our last stop before our long run to the states would be Carters Beach. Located approximately 50 miles Northeast of Cape Sable the anchorage offers not only a protected basin but the nicest beaches on Nova Scotia. With real sand! We had been told they rivaled Bahamas Beaches and while I think that’s a stretch they were beautiful. We met two couples on the beach who were traveling on a sailboat together. One couple was from VT. We invited them on board that evening for cocktails and found out they ski (Stowe) in the winter and live onboard in the summer. Sounded familiar.

Two days spent at beautiful Carters Beach was a perfect way to end the Nova Scotia excursion. We had spent 45 days cruising Canada and covered about 1,000 miles. While the weather could have been better we very much enjoyed the trip. The people were all friendly as were the boaters we met along the way. The 27 hour trip back to Southwest Harbor was uneventful. We leave again in about an hour for a few days cruising around the Maine Islands and a stop in Rockland. The weather looks perfect.

We left Southwest Harbor, Maine on July 10. We crossed the Gulf of Maine and pulled into Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The trip took exactly 24 hours. The weather cooperated and we had very smooth seas and light winds. Cath took her usual 8PM to midnight shift and said it was uneventful. However my shift got very busy at about 3AM. In the span of two hours no fewer than eight southbound sailboats crossed my path. Two encounters required course changes. These boats, it turns out, were returning to their respective ports having just competed in the Marblehead to Halifax race. It was fun to track them all on radar.

Shelburne is an official maritime port of entry into Canada. The Shelburne Yacht Club assists visiting boaters by allowing them to tie up at the fuel dock to contact Canadian customs. Our call went very smoothly. Often they will come to the boat and inspect you but we received our document number over the phone and were done.

We anchored in Shelburne Harbor for two nights. Shelburne is a small but beautiful hamlet founded in 1783. Many of its building date to 18th century. It still has an active fishing industry and shipbuilding industry.

Lunenburg was our next port of call as we began our slow crawl up the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. The eleven hour trip was again perfect with no wind and smooth seas. We did have the thrill of seeing many Minke whales. One we almost hit but at the last second it dove under the bow. I was not able to photograph any of them but below is a pic from the web. This is what we saw; back and fin only as they briefly surfaced.

Lunenburg is a town of fair size with a population more than double that of Shelburne. The harbor has plenty of room to anchor and is fairly well protected. Founded in 1753, Lunenburg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The town is replete with restaurants and shops many in historic buildings. The town has been a factor in many wars from the early 1700’s through WWII. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is here and the replica schooner “Bluenose II” is operated by the museum and based here. On our second day in port we watched the Bluenose depart. Turns out it left for Halifax, our next port of call, and we would be its neighbor on the Halifax piers.

Lunenburg is also home to the Canadian Dory Racing Association. Below is the fascinating history of this Association and its sister club in Gloucester MA.

In 1951, Lloyd Heisler of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia and Tom Frontiero of Gloucester, Massachusetts, met in a bar in Lunenburg. They began a conversation that turned into a debate about which dory rowers from which fishing town were the superior rowers. They decided that the only way to settle the matter was to challenge each other to a race. Tom took the idea of this challenge with him back to Gloucester and the process of the International Dory races had begun.
In June of 1952, Lloyd and his dory mate arrived in Gloucester, Massachusetts to settle the bet. Although the race did go to the Canadian team, the competition and comradery that developed between the two fishing towns could not be forgotten. Every June since 1952, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia sends their best teams of rowers from each category to race against their American counterparts in Gloucester, and every August since 1952, Gloucester teams take their turn coming to Lunenburg to race in Canadian waters. This year will mark the 63rd anniversary of dory racing and the tradition is still going strong. These past 63 years has continued to strengthen the bond between these two fishing towns, and every year we once again look forward to some fun and competition with our American friends. Dory racing is a part of our heritage and we hope to continue this tradition many years into the future.

We loved the town and will stop again on our return to the states.

Fog. We weighed anchor at 6:30AM in pea soup fog. With our fog horn automatically blasting every two minutes we crept past Battery Point light house and down the bay to the Atlantic. The fog remained and we navigated the six hour trip by radar and chart plotter. As we approached Halifax harbor the fog lifted slightly but than returned not lifting till we were just off the commercial piers.

The next couple of days would bring near perfect weather and no fog. Our pier assignment was also perfect. There is no real marina on the waterfront and a development group runs the piers and assigns the berths. As luck has it we were berthed next to Bluenose  II. We were also the smallest boat berthed. About a half mile down the waterfront are the cruise ship berths. In for two days was the Queen Mary 2 prior to departing for Southampton England.

Halifax is a small, manageable city with a population just under a half million. Named after the Earl of Halifax it was founded in 1749. The harbor is the heart of the city but also saw one of the greatest Canadian disasters in history. Know as the Halifax Explosion, this catastrophe occurred on December 6, 1917. The SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo. The French ship caught on fire igniting her cargo and causing a cataclysmic explosion. More than 2000 people were killed and over 9000 injured. The blast was the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons.

The current city is a major cultural center. It retains its maritime and military traditions and is home to a sizable Canadian navy. Fort George located on Citadel Hill was first fortified in 1749. The Citadel was never defeated because it was never attacked. The story told is that numerous commanders including General George Washington spied on the fort but declined to attack due to its impenetrable design.

The waterfront is the heart of the city on the weekends and we really enjoyed the crowds and show.

The Halifax Public Gardens are a must see. Established in 1867 the Victorian style formal gardens encompass 16 acres. The original bandstand, circa 1887, was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and still stands today.

 

Berthed at Museum wharf we had a really short walk to the Maritime Museum. It is a fascinating museum with scale models, full size boats, and exhibits about the Halifax explosion, the Cunard family (Cunard Lines) and other historical events.

We rented a car for a day and drove to Peggy’s Cove, a picturesque cove an hour from Halifax. I was last there 40 years ago and tourism has taken over. It’s still a nice landscape and cove.

We leave tomorrow and won’t see another marina for at least a week. Our last night in town will probably find us at The Old Triangle Irish Ale House. There is a band playing tonight who we caught a couple of days ago.

 

 

 

 

It’s been many months since the last post. Big Smile spent the winter safely huddled indoors at the Hinckley yard in Southwest Harbor Maine. The Hinckley yard is enormous. The waterfront site is where boats are stored and maintained. Their manufacturing site is inland about 30 minutes away. According to the locals it was a brutal winter so indoor storage turned out to be a good investment. That said, despite Hinckley’s pristine reputation, I am not happy with their service. From what I have been told by several boat owners and a marina manager, the Hinckley operation suffered through a couple of debt ridden takeovers. Staff was cut and morale suffered. There are new owners now and improvements are being made but damage was done. They are busy however turning out new boats, a testament to an improved economy for some.

Our many months ashore were very busy. We got to spend some time at Lake George and more importantly time with our friends Bob and Tibby and John and Marion. Bob and John each have sailboats on the bay and fall sailing is a delight. Bob also has a deck boat and his “toe dipper” cruise helped celebrate our wedding anniversary.

After closing up Lake George we returned to Vermont for the balance of the fall and winter. While some dread the winter we enjoy it. This season Vermont was blessed with over 150 inches of snow. This made for some awesome skiing and snowmobiling. Temperatures remained below freezing the entire winter so the snow just kept on piling up, at least here in the northeast. Elsewhere, like Colorado and other parts west, it was a different story. Snow was scarce.

Unfortunately Cath broke her ankle at Smugglers Notch the first week in January. Since we had a 10 day trip planned to Colorado she had one goal. Recuperation. The doctor said it would take about six weeks to heal enough to ski and that was enough time to allow her to ski on vacation. But she missed some great skiing back east.

After a week of skiing at Snowmass with Tara and Andrew they returned home and we continued on to our friends home in Breckenridge. Jim and Beth we had met the year before in the Exumas. They are also skiers and their home has an awesome view of the Breckenridge slopes. It was a fun three days and we thank them.

On a more somber note, while we were skiing at Breckenridge we learned that John and Marion’s son Matt had a tragic accident in Tahoe. He hit a chairlift stanchion and broke vertebrae resulting in paralysis from the chest down. As of this writing he, with the help of countless friends and family, is slowly recovering and adapting to a completely different way of life. Cath and I wish him the best.

For a few years now my “employer” Stratton Mountain has held a 24 hour charity ski event. This year I decided to join the Resort Host team. While I was sick as a dog that week and was not much help to my teammates we finished in the middle of the pack. Not bad considering how small our team was.

So the winter ended and April arrived. In order to avoid some of the “mud” season in Vermont we planned a trip to Spain with a quick first stop in Portugal. It was a fantastic 15 day tour. All of the 23 tour mates were great and Antonio, the full time tour guide, was superb. Lot’s of photos here.

Before leaving Vermont for Big Smile we decided to pull the trigger on a large home project. It will include an addition and land clearing to provide views of the Green Mountains across the West River valley. The land clearing started two weeks prior to our leaving so we were able to get an idea of what the cleared view will be.

So we are now on Big Smile for the next six months or more. We will spend a month at Dysart’s Marina in Southwest Harbor. Since we have a car we will also do lots of land exploring. Southwest Harbor is located on Mt. Desert Island (MDI), home of Acadia National Park. Acadia is the oldest national park east of the Mississippi and was originally named Lafayette National Park. In the fall of 1604 Samuel de Champlain observed the island and named it Mt Desert.

The season here in Maine starts late and ends early. We launched before Memorial weekend and maybe 5 percent of the boats were in the water. Each day more Hinckleys splash and many come to Dysart’s Marina for a couple of days before moving on to their summer destination. It’s a beautiful parade of classic sail and new Hinckley power boats.

After a wonderful month at the lake we packed up a rental car and drove to Washburns Marina in Solomons, MD. A couple of days of provisioning and we were on our way taking the slow path to Maine. Our goal was to get to Southwest Harbor Maine around September 20 and as I write this we are sitting in Gloucester Harbor on September 7 so we are making progress.

The new master stateroom cabinets installed at Washburns match the existing perfectly and all of the other contracted maintenance work was completed. Only the Garmin chart plotter warranty replacement was not ready as Garmin did not ship it in time. The unit installed last year works but quits if you flush the head, use the thrusters or engage the anchor windlass. Quirky to say the least. Garmin has agreed to allow Hinckley to replace it this fall so we have learned to reboot the system after each flush.

Our first two days traveling were perfect. Light breeze and brilliant sky. Night one was spent on the Sassafras River and we had the privilege to witness the “supermoon” while at anchor.

From the Sassafras it is an 11 hour run to Cape May NJ. The trip takes us through the C&D canal and down the Delware River to the Cape May Canal. We were last on the C&D in 1988 when we purchased our classic, 1966, Morgan 34 sailboat and sailed her back to Long Island Sound. That trip also showed us how dangerous alcohol stoves can be as we managed to catch the curtains on fire in pea soup fog. This trip was less eventful. The C&D is an interesting waterway. Originally conceived in the 1700’s actual construction took years with lack of funds a big impediment. Finally in 1829 it opened for business. Since then numerous improvements have been made to accommodate larger ships and the current version is 14 miles long, 450′ wide and 40′ deep.

The lower Delaware river does nothing for us and we powered down it as quickly as possible. On the NJ side is the Salem Nuclear Power plant giving us another good reason to move quickly.

Cape May is a fun town and since we had not been there in decades we were looking forward to our stay. We had originally planned to anchor in the harbor and we did the first night. However upon waking in the morning we found a sailboat practically tied to our stern and decided to grab a slip at South Jersey Marina. It was perfect. Tara decided to drive down from Philadelphia to join us and we spent a fun two days visiting the beach and walking the streets looking at the old Victorians.

Cape May still has a sizeable commercial fishing fleet and the boats looked to be in good shape. There was a superb retail fish market a short walk from the marina which we visited both for dinner and fresh fish.

We decided to make a big push from Cape May and travel the entire length of New Jerseys Atlantic coast and anchor somewhere behind Sandy Hook. We left Cape May shortly before 10AM and headed north. Passing Atlantic City the first building we noticed was Revel Casino. It was the newest and already it has closed.

We rounded Sandy Hook after midnight and found our preferred anchorage inhabited by dredges. The only other choice at that hour was tucking in behind the Atlantic Highlands jetty. We found a spot and dropped the hook at 1:30 AM with the NY skyline to the north.

The next morning dawned clear and cool. It was not a typical August day in NJ. We had reservations for Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. We know it well having kept a power boat there for two years and of course because I worked in Jersey City. The view of lower Manhattan is always thrilling no matter how often you see it. By water its a powerful sight to behold.

Our two days at Liberty Landing were busy. Friday we walked the state park that abuts the marina. It is a great public asset and draws visitors from all over. You can access the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from the Park or just enjoy the over 1200 acres of landscaped landfill that was once the terminus of the Central Railroad of NJ and the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

If you were alive on 9/11 and have any connection to New York you cannot help but notice the void in the Manhattan skyline. I watched that day unfold from my old office in Jersey City. I will never forget it and we made plans to visit the recently opened 9/11 Memorial and Museum. We took the ferry directly from Liberty Landing to lower Manhattan and walked to the museum. We had 3:30 entrance reservations which we had purchased online. Suffice to say it is a powerful museum and should be visited by all. We spent hours viewing the exhibits and watching the films.

That night we got together with an old business friend and his wife at a nice Italian restaurant in the Village. The following night we had dinner with another old business friend and his wife after cocktails on board Big Smile. It was a fun whirlwind stop.

Leaving Liberty Landing we proceeded around the tip of Manhattan and up the East River. Many iconic photos have been taken from spots along the river and I need to post a couple of my own. The day was perfect and we hit the current at the right time.

The cruise out Long Island sound was uneventful. Our goal for the day was Northport on the north shore of Long Island. I had been in contact with a friend I work with at Stratton Mountain and we both wanted to show each other our boats. We managed to raft up the next day and give each other a tour of our respective boats. Jorge’s boat is a brand new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey which contrasts completely with our trawler. It was good to see Jorge and we wished him fair winds.

From Northport we continued on to Port Jefferson a harbor we had not seen in decades. We then bounced across the sound to Connecticut and anchored in a picturesque little community called Sachem Head. Many beautiful homes dot the shoreline including one with a minature version of Stonehenge.

Continuing our trip eastbound we pulled into a small harbor on Fishers Island. Although only a couple of miles off the Connecticut coast Fishers Island is actually part of Suffolk County NY. It is also very exclusive with a year round population of about 200. Kayaking was superb and the waters were exceptionally clean.

Newport RI was our next stop and we were looking forward to going ashore as again it had been many years since we were last there. On approach we came upon two great sights. First was the USS Saratoga. This Forrestal class supercarrier was commissioned in 1956, the year we were both born. She was decommissioned in 1994 and after many attempts to preserve as a museum it was sold for scrap to a Texas company. We happened to have seen her as she was being towed out of Newport where she had been stored after decommissioning.

Entering Narragansett Bay we came upon the Newport Bucket Regatta. These are not your typical sailboats but very large yachts with professional crews. The photo below is of “Meteor”, a 52 meter monster.

The old Nantucket Lightship has been converted into a luxury yacht and is available for charter. Newport is a fun town and a boating paradise.

Now it was time to head further up the Narragansett to visit Cath’s brother Barry and his wife Rebecca. Their beautiful home on Touisset Point has a gorgeous south facing view down the bay and fortunately for us it also is a relatively short dinghy ride from a well protected anchorage on the Kickemuit River.

After two great days with Barry and Rebecca we headed back south to Jamestown RI where we were getting together for dinner with some friends from NJ. Jamestown is a more laid back town directly across from Newport. We picked up a mooring at Conanicut Marina in the center of Jamestown and had a fun two days exploring the island by foot. Also a great dinner with our friends Gordon and Janet.

Leaving Narragansett Bay we headed east to spend a few days on Marthas Vineyard with my cousin Nance and her family. It was a fun 7 hour run which took us up Vineyard Sound and past Cuttyhunk Island and the other islands of the Elizabeth Island chain. Interestingly all but two of the islands are owned by the Forbes family. Cuttyhunk and Penikese are the exceptions.

Our Vineyard destination was Oak Bluffs harbor as we had slip reservations at the Oak Bluffs Marina. We got a great slip assignment closer to the jetty and away from the town noise. Not long after securing the lines and plugging in the electric Nance and her daughter Kelly were on board. The next three days and nights we caroused with my cousin, her husband Rob and two grown children Kelly and Dave and their respective boy/girlfriend. It was a blast. They have been vacationing on the Vineyard for many years and know it inside and out. We had only been there once before. I will let the photos below show how much fun we had. Cath and I thank Nance and family for being such gracious hosts.

Eventually we had to leave and head to Nantucket. It’s an easy 4 hour motor eastward and upon arrival we contacted Nantucket Moorings for our mooring assignment. They run a first class mooring operation with clean, sturdy gear. We had reserved five nights and were glad we did. We fell in love with the island and its architecture. We learned there is an architectural code as well as a dress code so of course I purchased my Nantucket red hat. We rented a “barely” two up scooter for a day and also bought a three day public bus pass. Both modes of transport worked well and we got to see most of the island. There is certainly no shortage of money here but what impressed us was the access to the beaches. They were all different but all accessible.

Nantucket ended the month of August for us and we pulled out Wednesday after Labor Day. The weather for the month was beyond expectations. It was cooler, no doubt, but with little to no humidity. Also barely a drop of rain. We are on our way to Maine.

 

Friday morning we dropped Andrew and Nicole at the Great Guana Ferry dock. Albury’s Ferry runs regularly scheduled service to Marsh Harbor. From there a quick taxi to the airport and back home in a few hours. Our trip would take much longer. The plan was to head thru the “Whale” to Green Turtle Cay where we would spend a night at the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina. Weather was perfect and no Atlantic swells kept us from transiting the whale. Three hours after leaving Great Guana we were at the Bluff House dock. As it was Memorial Weekend a Big Bill fishing tournament was taking place. Between Bluff House and Green Turtle Club we counted over 25 fishing boats that night. Bluff House has a small but nice beach with a beach side bar. We spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting in lounge chairs.

After breakfast we headed out for the 8 hour run over to Great Sale. The weather was good and so was the fishing. We alternated between catching Cero which we kept and Barracuda which we cursed.

This last leg was to be our longest yet. Great Sale Cay to Charleston SC was a 385 mile run. The multi day forecast called for light winds and small, short period seas. The first 65 miles are on the Little Bahama Bank where water depths are consistently 12-20 feet. With auto pilot steering we spent the day looking for sharks and other sea creatures in the crystal clear water. It is easy to know when you have left the bank. In the span of two miles you go from depths of 30 feet to well over 1,000 feet deep. Color changes are quick and fishing, at least for us came to a quick stop. We caught only one immediately after leaving the bank but it turned out to be the largest Cero we caught the entire trip.

It is approximately 320 miles from the exit point of Little Bahama Bank to the Charleston SC Harbor entrance. It is also a straight line with a compass heading of almost due north. After leaving the bank, wind and seas remained flat for hours. Around 4:30 PM our radar began to pick up thunderstorms building to the west. We could see the sky darken and while pelting rain is annoying it is lightning that always concerns us. It never rained but what we saw at about 5:15 two miles off our bow was something we had never witnessed. Dropping out of a cloud was a large waterspout. NOAA identifies two types of waterspouts, tornadic and fair weather. We were ignorant of the distinction at the time and all we thought about was the strength of a tornado. Since our radar showed the line of storms moving to the northeast we altered course to the west and proceeded to put away anything loose and check all our tie downs. By time we were done the waterspout had disappeared. Getting back on our heading we got a camera and waited. At 5:30 another one appeared two miles or so off our bow and heading slowly towards us. This one we were able to get a picture of as we altered course to port. The waterspout only lasted a few minutes but it was intimidating.

The line of thunderstorms continued for a couple of hours but we did not see another waterspout. Unfortunately the storms wreaked havoc with the seas and the rest of our trip would be much less pleasant. Seas built out of the northeast and as we approached the Gulf Stream the collision of the two elements kept our stabilizers working overtime.

This was a 51 hour trip requiring two overnites. It is very difficult to adjust your biological clock to the watch system you have set up. One night is easy. By the second night my midnight to dawn shift was tough. It was made tougher by the fact that we were approaching Charleston SC shipping lanes.

At 2 AM radar and AIS showed several ships within twelve miles all heading in different directions. The Port of Charleston is big, ranking 8th in the US in dollar value of goods handled. The entrance during the day is straight forward although you do pass container ships at very close range. At 9:30 AM we pulled into Charleston Harbor Marina, 51 hours after leaving Great Sale Cay. Our friends on Silver Heels would arrive the next day having left the Bahamas 70 miles east of our jumping off point.

Two days later we left Charleston for Wilmington NC. We arrived at the mouth of the Cape Fear River at 2 AM and had to drop the hook right off the channel for a few hours sleep before continuing up the River to Wilmington.

Big Smile docked in Wilmington for about two weeks while we headed north by car. On June 17th I flew down to pick her up. I left Wilmington the next day and six days later we were docked at Washburn’s Boat Yard in Solomons, Maryland. It was my first long distance single-handed cruise and all went smoothly.

Big Smile will spend the month of July at Washburn’s getting some upgrades and maintenance work completed. We will rotate between Vermont and Lake George. If all goes according to plan we will leave Solomons by August 1st and head to Martha’s Vineyard and beyond.