War ship in Halifax
McNabs Island at entrance of Halifax Harbour
Harbour Front in Halifax
Cruise ships visting Halifax
Jack in the old days
Miss B
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Pictures of Halifax Nova Scotia
Pictures of Nova Scotia
Ferry that runs between Dartmouth and Halifax
Halifax to Bar Harbor
Halifax to Bar Harbor Maine
Halifax:
We arrived in the fog and to all Jack’s best abilities on
constant checking the weather, we end up leaving in the fog.
While we were in Halifax we did enjoy a few good meals. For those that we visited in Halifax we
visited the Armview Diner at the Armdale Rotary in Halifax. We had breakfast
which was very good and generous portions. It was located across from the
Armdale Yacht Club, a short dinghy ride and about a five minute walk.
It just happened that our daughter Colleen arrived the next
day for a company conference and guess where they were going for dinner, that’s
right to the Armview. We were invited
along and met many of Colleen’s
co-workers. It was a very interesting evening and once again the food
was very good. We would like to thank David and Leo from Harper-Collins
Publishing for allowing us to spend some time with them.
Back to our day to day stuff, we are still trying to figure out our
refrigeration problems. It is not a
problem where we have no cooling but it is only cooling when the fridge wants
to. It seems if we are hooked up to
shore power it will work sometimes but when we are underway it just turns off
and on constantly. We finally had a fridge
guy come down but no results.
He was very nice and
went home and researched the problem and it kept coming back to a voltage
problem. So as our house bank batteries are 6 years old, we replaced them. Not a problem, right. We are in Halifax. Wrong. We
had to order them so there goes another day. We did get them and fortunately Matt
(Colleen’s Husband) arrived the day before and was able to give Jack a hand
installing them.
Guess what same problem we have been adding extra ice and
reduced the size of the fridge to save on the use of the batteries. We will
have it looked at in Shelburne.
Well the rest of our time was spent doing some tourist stuff
with Colleen, Matt and Sam. We went to
Peggy’s Cove, then to Lawrencetown Beach, which is a beach on the ocean It used to be a sandy beach, where as a kid
we used to build sand castles and play in the waves but now the beach is
covered in beach stone that is constantly being washed ashore, very little
sandy area which is a shame. Many years
ago they but a ban on taking the stones form the beach well maybe they should
allow some trucks to come in and clear them away so you can use the beach again
just my opinion.
The next day we walked the waterfront and there was a
sailing vessel at one of the docks named Lady B. She is 147 foot long sloop, there is a website
if you like to look at luxury or what I thought was luxury until we arrived in
Bar Harbor. Lady B came to Armdale and
blocked half the channel but like any large boat, she attracts a lot of
attention.
Finally we leave Halifax in the fog once again and I still
do not like it. As we are leaving we could hear fog horns but Jack assured me
that they we coming from the land but then they seem to be getting closer and
then out of the fog was a huge cruise ship not close enough to cause any
problems but a little unnerving. It was a
Disney cruise ship as there were Mickey Mouse ears on the smoke funnels.
Finally we get out of
Halifax and we had to wait until later in the day for the fog to clear. I must say, I’m still not fond of the fog but
as long as we do not have to maneuver into an unknown harbor, it is tolerable (my
(Linda’s) opinion is that there should not be such a thing).
We arrived in Lunenburg, we anchored in the harbor for the
night amongst five or six classic schooners.
We went ashore, took some pictures and had dinner and watched some of
the Olympics, then went back to the boat and crashed. It is amazing how tired you get being out on
the ocean all day.
The next day we were off to a little place called Brooklyn
N.S. It was a small little town with
basic services but a dock for the night with power for $30.00. We took a stroll
and had a few cold beers. People offered
to take us into Liverpool but we had what we needed and decided to stay close
to home.
Then we were off Shelburne, guess what surprise sun and calm
seas, glassy actually. Sounds boring to
all those people who like high winds and sailing at 30 degrees, well we had a
very good day enjoying the sun for a change.
I was reading and Jack said look at that over there. There were some whales about ¼ mile away off
our port side. Not close enough to get a
picture but something that you will remember. One had its head completely out
of the water, what is called spy-hopping, they do this to have a look around
them. A minute later another one
completely breached the water and came crashing down, causing a huge splash. A little later as now we are watching out for
whales, we see more coming to the surface and swimming along and then they
would dive showing off their tails as they went under. We got a picture but it looks like a spot in
the ocean. I guess I need a camera like
Ty’s to make it worth telling. Well the whale watching lasted for about an hour
and just as we decided they were gone Jack was telling me about these birds he
saw yesterday and there they were again tiny little things.
As we are watching them they seem to jump out of the water
but did not fly. Then we realized they were fish and they were being chased by
a large tuna about 5 feet long. He
jumped out of the water partially and the a minute later, it jumped five feet
out of the water after the small fish. It was no mistaking the type of fish, and
guess what we do not have our fishing lines rigged up yet.
Shelburne was a straight forward harbor to get into, but it
is two hours from the ocean. We took a
dock as we had arranged to have someone to look at the alternator. Well he came down to look at it, he
determined that our problem was the voltage regulator. The company that we had look at it said their
supplier was closed and that they wouldn’t know anything until Monday. Well we found out West Marine carries them. We ordered one and had it shipped to Southwest
Harbor, Maine. That way we could pick it
up when we got to Bar Harbor.
We met up with Cheryl and Norm from Asylan’s Wind and caught
up on the gossip. After speaking with
them we decided not to go to Yarmouth as the approaches left little to be
desired and Norm said it is always foggy there. Well that decided it for me. I’d rather be on the ocean for awhile longer
than have to go into a port with lots of shoals in the fog and the tides are
about eighteen feet there.
Once again checked the weather and saw a good weather
envelope to cross over from Shelburne to Bar Harbor, so we got ready to leave. We got
up early and once again fog. I’m
starting to think I am cursed. We left
anyway hoping it would clear once we get away from shore but no we had to wait
until about 10 that night.
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
You all know the song farewell to Nova Scotia, well now I
know the meaning of it. If I am ever back it will be flying or driving never by
sea again. Linda’s thoughts.
The next morning the sun rose and it was clear and light
winds. Finally got some sails up and we took turns catching a few needed naps.
I must say that there never a lack of adventure on this
route. We are approaching Bar Harbor and Jack read somewhere there are seven
million lobster traps in Maine. I think that there must be one million approaching
Bar Harbor. They are in water that is
over 200 feet deep and spaced about 70 to 100 feet apart. They have them in the
area where there are mooring balls, buoy markers, channels and any other place
you think of. We were lucky going slowly we managed to get through the mind
field without getting snagged on anything. I have some pictures but you need an
aerial shot to do it justice.When we got to Bar Harbor we had to wait for customs. They had to come from Bangor about an hour
plus away. The custom officer was really
nice and issued us a visitor’s permit that is good for Canadians for one year
at a cost of $19.00.
Bar Harbor is located on Mount Desert Island and is home to
Acadia National Park. They provide free
bus service over the whole island. We
went to Southwest Harbor and picked up our parts by bus. They ask for donations. It was about a 35 minute trip which isn’t bad
for a few bucks.
We had dinner ashore and returned to the boat with
groceries, parts for the boat and ice. Hopefully tomorrow we will get our
problem solved once and for all. There
are a lot of bars in Bar Harbor and the night life goes on until the early
hours.
A large cruise ship just pulled in I have a feeling they
must have a few traps under their hull and they don’t seem to be bothered by
them. Jack is busy getting the voltage
regulator replaced and I am updating the blog.
There are about six 100 foot plus power boats here, but the harbor is a
working harbor with 95% of the moorings taken up with fishing boats and very
few pleasure boats.
For pictures you will have to check out next posting.
See you soon. Jack and Linda
For pictures you will have to check out next posting.
See you soon. Jack and Linda
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Charlottetown to Halifax
Charlottetown to Halifax
Well last time we spoke we were in Summerside PEI, our next stop was in Charlottetown PEI. To get there we had to go under the confederation Bridge which spans from New Brunswick to PEI. The structure is quite impressive. It is so large you cannot get it in one picture. We took a video of it but I have not figured out how to put it on the blog yet. Where are you Donato. I will add a few pictures.
Well we got to Charlottetown without incident and we had a slip close to the marina office. We spent the next day checking out Charlottetown and doing the tourist thing. They have a very interesting downtown area with lots of good places to eat. At the marina, there were all sorts of tourist shops and the city also had various bands playing in a parkette right beside the marina, some of them were quite good.
As we are behind schedule we moved on to Ballantyne's Cove located in St. Georges Bay, Nova Scotia. Once again the wind was not in our favour and the motor is on again. It was a quiet little cove that said there was anchoring available but that has changed as they have installed slips and charge you $30.00 for the evening with no power. They have a fish and chip stand and that is all that was around. They were good and some people on motorcycles pulled up and said that the fish and chips were best in the area. So we watched the sun set and snugged down for the night. Once again we were the only ones on board for the night. This is mainly a commercial fishing port and we found out that it is one of the best areas in the world for tuna fishing.
The weather forecast on ugrib was to be fair with about 15 knots of wind. Environment Canada was stating that there were wind warnings. When we got up it was like glass with gentle rollers and we started off to the Canso Strait. Needless to say Environmental Canada won this day and the winds picked up and made for a very uncomfortable day with the pitching and rolling all day and mixed in some hazy patches. The seas were about 8 to 10 feet with winds from the north at 25-30 kts. After an hour we were committed to go to Canso rather than return to Ballantyne's Cove. It would have taken 4 to 5 hours to go back pounding into the wind and seas and 3 to 4 hours to carry on to Canso. We carried on.
On our port side we could see a tug pulling a barge behind it heading for the Canso Strait. To get through the strait you have to go through a lock and a swing bridge. Well it would not have been to bad except the tug got there first and we had to circle in the channel as there was no where to tie up and it was very rough. It took about an hour to get the tug and barge through the lock. While we were circling we saw a bottlenose dolphin. While we where pounding into the waves the engine started to overheat just as we were going into the lock, but everything turned out OK.
Once we were through the lock the wind died down and the seas were much calmer and we pulled into Port Hawkesbury at the Canso Straight YC. We had to tie up to a fixed dock with the stern hanging out about 15 feet. There was some people to help us tie up and they showed us how to secure the boat on a fixed pier with tidal fluctuations. Spring lines are the most important and the bow and stern lines are left slack.
We needed provisions and so off we go, just a short jaunt but it was uphill all the way. They had a small town with everything you need. Coming back to the boat was a breeze, all down hill. Well Jack made two more trips up that hill the next day. We also meet an American couple who are travelling up to Lake Erie. I definitely would not want to be going that direction. The wind and tides are against you for most of the day. We heard from Ce Sera Sera over the VHF radio and they were going to the Bras d' Ore lakes in Cape Breton. We'll see if we hook up with them later on.
Well we are now going to the serious part of Nova Scotia, where you really have to be on the ball as far as navigation goes. Charts are a definite advantage as well as a good chart plotter. The coast is rugged and rocky. You have to go ahead dead slow when entering coves and anchorages and watch for rock outcroppings. Leave lots of clearance just in case. We left Port Hawesbury and went to Andrew's Passage in a small bay called Portage Cove. The buoys were small and hard to pick up. We went into a bay that was unmarked after we left the channel but had good depth, 30 to 40 feet. We found depth of 12 feet but did not have enough swing room as when looking over the stern, the rocks were too close for comfort so we had to raise anchor and move. A local came out in his boat and showed us a good place to anchor in 30 feet of water.
We had good holding but it was windy for most of the night. Calm in the morning and once again off we go down the coast, our next planned stop was for Tor Bay. We decided to get some sailing in and went off the coast and of course the winds kept increasing and then when we tacked after about two hours the wind changed direction and once again we are heading into the wind. Waves were about 10 feet and the winds where up to about 25 knots. Well at least the angle was not bad for entering Tor Bay as the wind was coming from the west we thought we would be protected, but once again the cove had a depth of 30 feet plus and the wind was creating many whitecaps in the bay. We spent about an hour checking the anchor alarm to ensure we were not drifting. The wind was blowing so hard that when we wanted to drop the anchor the wind kept blowing us into deeper water. Another experience learn as the boat was being pushed back so hard the chain came flying out of the locker with no way to stop it. Now we know how to deal with another situation. The next day they forecast was for winds from the south at 25 to 30 kts, we stayed put for another night. FUN FUN FUN.
The next day we were off to Liscomb Harbour. Let me explain something about the way they name some of these places down here. Just because it's called Liscomb Harbour or Tangier Harbour, it's not what you have in mind as a harbour. There may be a small government wharf, but that's all and 4 or 5 houses, that's it, nothing else. You don't even bother to go ashore. We spent a good night in Liscomb and headed off to Owl's Head Cove. Once again fighting the wind our plans to go to Owl's Head Cove have been diverted to Tangiers Harbour. The centre of the channel is riddled with rocks which are buoyed if that is what you can call it. Jack decided to use the only area that had enough water without being side by side with the rocks. Getting out was a breeze as we just follow our track in as we got in okay so we should get out alright and we did.
We are bound for Halifax. Well it called for fog patches clearing by noon, guess what, we are in Nova Scotia. We started off in a light fog and once we cleared the channel and rounded the safe water buoy the fog gets thicker so on comes the radar.
We think that the fog will lift soon as we can see some sunny breaks coming through and as soon as they appeared they disappeared as quickly. For the next 30 miles we are in fog with visibility starting at 2 - 3 miles and then reducing to 1 mile then down to 200 yards when we entered Halifax Harbour. We expected the fog to disappear but no we never saw the coastline or Halifax as we sailed into the harbour.
The sound of fog horns from ships near by is a weird feeling. Jack would answer each call with the blast of our air horn. It is amazing that you can tell that the ship is moving away just by the sound. To my relief we crossed over to the northwest arm in Halifax where the ships do not go and we can look for a slip or anchorage. Finally when we get to Armdale YC and the fog disappears and it's sunny. All in a half a mile.
Well it is now Aug. 3, 2012 and we are still in Halifax. Several reasons, our daughter Colleen was down on a business trip, her husband Matt and our grandson Sam arrived on the Aug. 2, 2012. We also spent time with relatives and much needed down time. Jack has been busy doing upgrades and replacing batteries on the boat.
The weather looks promising over the next week with a few showers but who knows when you get up you check the weather visually and make your decision from there.
Well am going to let Jack add details to this blog and lighten up the mood. Nova Scotia from the seaside is not one of my favour places.
We will post the pictures in a few days when we get to Chester or Lunenburg.
Bye for now
Jack and Linda
Well last time we spoke we were in Summerside PEI, our next stop was in Charlottetown PEI. To get there we had to go under the confederation Bridge which spans from New Brunswick to PEI. The structure is quite impressive. It is so large you cannot get it in one picture. We took a video of it but I have not figured out how to put it on the blog yet. Where are you Donato. I will add a few pictures.
Well we got to Charlottetown without incident and we had a slip close to the marina office. We spent the next day checking out Charlottetown and doing the tourist thing. They have a very interesting downtown area with lots of good places to eat. At the marina, there were all sorts of tourist shops and the city also had various bands playing in a parkette right beside the marina, some of them were quite good.
As we are behind schedule we moved on to Ballantyne's Cove located in St. Georges Bay, Nova Scotia. Once again the wind was not in our favour and the motor is on again. It was a quiet little cove that said there was anchoring available but that has changed as they have installed slips and charge you $30.00 for the evening with no power. They have a fish and chip stand and that is all that was around. They were good and some people on motorcycles pulled up and said that the fish and chips were best in the area. So we watched the sun set and snugged down for the night. Once again we were the only ones on board for the night. This is mainly a commercial fishing port and we found out that it is one of the best areas in the world for tuna fishing.
The weather forecast on ugrib was to be fair with about 15 knots of wind. Environment Canada was stating that there were wind warnings. When we got up it was like glass with gentle rollers and we started off to the Canso Strait. Needless to say Environmental Canada won this day and the winds picked up and made for a very uncomfortable day with the pitching and rolling all day and mixed in some hazy patches. The seas were about 8 to 10 feet with winds from the north at 25-30 kts. After an hour we were committed to go to Canso rather than return to Ballantyne's Cove. It would have taken 4 to 5 hours to go back pounding into the wind and seas and 3 to 4 hours to carry on to Canso. We carried on.
On our port side we could see a tug pulling a barge behind it heading for the Canso Strait. To get through the strait you have to go through a lock and a swing bridge. Well it would not have been to bad except the tug got there first and we had to circle in the channel as there was no where to tie up and it was very rough. It took about an hour to get the tug and barge through the lock. While we were circling we saw a bottlenose dolphin. While we where pounding into the waves the engine started to overheat just as we were going into the lock, but everything turned out OK.
Once we were through the lock the wind died down and the seas were much calmer and we pulled into Port Hawkesbury at the Canso Straight YC. We had to tie up to a fixed dock with the stern hanging out about 15 feet. There was some people to help us tie up and they showed us how to secure the boat on a fixed pier with tidal fluctuations. Spring lines are the most important and the bow and stern lines are left slack.
We needed provisions and so off we go, just a short jaunt but it was uphill all the way. They had a small town with everything you need. Coming back to the boat was a breeze, all down hill. Well Jack made two more trips up that hill the next day. We also meet an American couple who are travelling up to Lake Erie. I definitely would not want to be going that direction. The wind and tides are against you for most of the day. We heard from Ce Sera Sera over the VHF radio and they were going to the Bras d' Ore lakes in Cape Breton. We'll see if we hook up with them later on.
Well we are now going to the serious part of Nova Scotia, where you really have to be on the ball as far as navigation goes. Charts are a definite advantage as well as a good chart plotter. The coast is rugged and rocky. You have to go ahead dead slow when entering coves and anchorages and watch for rock outcroppings. Leave lots of clearance just in case. We left Port Hawesbury and went to Andrew's Passage in a small bay called Portage Cove. The buoys were small and hard to pick up. We went into a bay that was unmarked after we left the channel but had good depth, 30 to 40 feet. We found depth of 12 feet but did not have enough swing room as when looking over the stern, the rocks were too close for comfort so we had to raise anchor and move. A local came out in his boat and showed us a good place to anchor in 30 feet of water.
We had good holding but it was windy for most of the night. Calm in the morning and once again off we go down the coast, our next planned stop was for Tor Bay. We decided to get some sailing in and went off the coast and of course the winds kept increasing and then when we tacked after about two hours the wind changed direction and once again we are heading into the wind. Waves were about 10 feet and the winds where up to about 25 knots. Well at least the angle was not bad for entering Tor Bay as the wind was coming from the west we thought we would be protected, but once again the cove had a depth of 30 feet plus and the wind was creating many whitecaps in the bay. We spent about an hour checking the anchor alarm to ensure we were not drifting. The wind was blowing so hard that when we wanted to drop the anchor the wind kept blowing us into deeper water. Another experience learn as the boat was being pushed back so hard the chain came flying out of the locker with no way to stop it. Now we know how to deal with another situation. The next day they forecast was for winds from the south at 25 to 30 kts, we stayed put for another night. FUN FUN FUN.
The next day we were off to Liscomb Harbour. Let me explain something about the way they name some of these places down here. Just because it's called Liscomb Harbour or Tangier Harbour, it's not what you have in mind as a harbour. There may be a small government wharf, but that's all and 4 or 5 houses, that's it, nothing else. You don't even bother to go ashore. We spent a good night in Liscomb and headed off to Owl's Head Cove. Once again fighting the wind our plans to go to Owl's Head Cove have been diverted to Tangiers Harbour. The centre of the channel is riddled with rocks which are buoyed if that is what you can call it. Jack decided to use the only area that had enough water without being side by side with the rocks. Getting out was a breeze as we just follow our track in as we got in okay so we should get out alright and we did.
We are bound for Halifax. Well it called for fog patches clearing by noon, guess what, we are in Nova Scotia. We started off in a light fog and once we cleared the channel and rounded the safe water buoy the fog gets thicker so on comes the radar.
We think that the fog will lift soon as we can see some sunny breaks coming through and as soon as they appeared they disappeared as quickly. For the next 30 miles we are in fog with visibility starting at 2 - 3 miles and then reducing to 1 mile then down to 200 yards when we entered Halifax Harbour. We expected the fog to disappear but no we never saw the coastline or Halifax as we sailed into the harbour.
The sound of fog horns from ships near by is a weird feeling. Jack would answer each call with the blast of our air horn. It is amazing that you can tell that the ship is moving away just by the sound. To my relief we crossed over to the northwest arm in Halifax where the ships do not go and we can look for a slip or anchorage. Finally when we get to Armdale YC and the fog disappears and it's sunny. All in a half a mile.
Well it is now Aug. 3, 2012 and we are still in Halifax. Several reasons, our daughter Colleen was down on a business trip, her husband Matt and our grandson Sam arrived on the Aug. 2, 2012. We also spent time with relatives and much needed down time. Jack has been busy doing upgrades and replacing batteries on the boat.
The weather looks promising over the next week with a few showers but who knows when you get up you check the weather visually and make your decision from there.
Well am going to let Jack add details to this blog and lighten up the mood. Nova Scotia from the seaside is not one of my favour places.
We will post the pictures in a few days when we get to Chester or Lunenburg.
Bye for now
Jack and Linda
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