Saturday, August 15, 2015

Musings from the fog off Nova Scotia

Musings from the fog off Nova Scotia


After a rainy afternoon in Baddeck we caught a nice weather window and left the Bras d’ Or smoothly with the kind help of the lock operators at St. Peters. Since the waters were mostly calm we crossed the Canso Channel to the harbor of Canso – just at the tip of mainland Nova Scotia.  This protected harbor offered a secure anchorage for the night.  The town was picturesque from the boat dominated by a square white church and simple buildings drawn by children, but we did not get off to explore. As we relaxed we were treated to one of the most colorful sunsets of our trip.  The next evening on the news we heard and saw photos from all along the coast taken by others who enjoyed the same vibrant scene. (And we thought we were special!)




In the morning we left with the wispy fog to feel our way out to the Atlantic.  Once off shore the swells did not set well with my stomach – my theory is because I could not see the horizon – it was cloaked in fog until about 2 in the afternoon.  

About the time the fog finally lifted we were headed into shore for a night in Fisherman’s Harbour.  With a little afternoon sunshine we explored in the dink – slipping on the slim and seaweed encrusted rocks to reach the shore which had little more than bigger rocks to offer.  It was a little exercise off boat which made a nice change.  Then Steve made a diving examination of the stern thruster – the pesky thing is once again not working up to standard.  We are not sure if the problems relate to our “oops” in the Bahamas or something new….  Always something to keep the big guy busy.  We are happy to report that the fog horns and the black box crafted by Tommy are working perfectly – perhaps too perfectly if one is on deck and unexpectedly the horns are activated.  (chalk it all up to exercise – vertical leaps and accelerated heart rate???) 






One additional lesson from the last few days – the coast of Nova Scotia is rough and has some high cliffs which seem to impede the radio signals. Stations come and go at random. However, for a long stretch we had the best country western station – almost all the songs were sung in French.  Even the ones we knew in English sounded better in French. We might have discovered the best way for us to listen to Country Western music?  Just a bonus for cruising in the waters off “Acadia”.

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