Days 13-14, June 30 - July 1 -- Port Mouton to Lunenberg and Lay Day There 42.2 NM

It was a rather dreary passage with a heavy haze -- but not fog -- but it made for bad photos. We got underway at 8:15 and docked at the other end at 3:15. Rain had been expected but we had very few drops when we were setting out and then none until a very heavy downpour after we were safely at our dock in Lunenberg. The interesting thing was the wind: we were motoring and then it looked like a strong wind from the same direction as the waves, hitting our starboard quarter. I told Lene that by flying the genny, without the main, we could stabilize the rolling-- and it worked. It also gave us speeds of up to 8.3 knots for the middle section of the passage. When around the capes and islands to enter the big bay took us on a course that the wind was directly behind us, we had to use the engine again, instead of the sail.
(With the strong winds behind us we rolled down the thick clear plastic sheeting that surrounds most of the sides and the back of the cockpit (think shower curtains). This was the first time we have used this protection since we obtained it in 2015. It worked! Cut the bone chilling wind.)

Rounding the last cape and heading in the last six miles to Lunenberg put the wind at our port beam and I wanted to sail again. Lene asked me to put out only the small jib and not the Genoa. Boy was she right! For the next half hour the winds were at 30 to 35 knots. With just the small headsail and no main or engine, we were heeled and making 6.5 knots.

We are alongside Zwicker's Dock, managed by a man named Mosher. Both are names steeped in Lunenberg's history we learned. No water, no electric, no help getting tied to the dock but $1 per foot (Canadian) per night. To port of us is the big scallop trawler "Maude Adams", operated by the Adams and Knickle, Ltd, which was founded in 1897. Scallops are popular here.

We went ashore for hot showers and groceries, including the famous Lunenberg sausage which is supposed to be eaten with fresh sauerkraut; that treat is in our future.  I looked for screws to replace those phillips head ones ruined when I took up the cabin sole. I also wanted a pair of needle nose pliers because ILENE's went missing a while ago. Lunenburg Boat Locker was locked, but its proprietor, Doug, heard me rattle the door, opened it, told me that he did not sell pliers but did have screws. I asked for ten of the correct size but then realized that Lene, who had gone ahead for her shower, had my money. I said I'd get them the next day, but that would be July 1, Canada's nation day (150th!) and he would be closed. Doug said, "Just take them as my gift; welcome to Lunenberg!" The anchorage portion of the harbor behind Lene:

These loudly painted buildings would be more brilliant if the sun ever comes out.

There is a whole street of galleries, but only so much one can do in one day. We visited the Lunenberg academy, a marvelous Victorian structure used as a public school -- on Kaulback Street -- no relation to me.
We each got hats

and had a good dinner at the Salt Shaker Deli, a water view restaurant.

We visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, a five minute walk from us. Not whaling (except for a small section on "Camp Norway" a settlement of Norwegian whalers who were trapped on this side of the Atlantic during WWII) but just about everything you could want to know about commercial fishing and local history. One exhibit was on cod fishing on the banks in the age of sail. They attribute the fisheries to the discovery of Cabot on the 1500's. I told them about Mark Kurlansky's theory, in "Cod: The Fish That Changed The World", that it was Portuguese fishermen who discovered America and the fertility of the banks. Mark's proof: drawings showing that they brought back bakala, dried cod. Where did they dry it if not in America. The museum showed a lot of details about the process of long lining from dories, and from Schooners, to the press by which dried fish were packed into barrels and stenciled with the brand name.

They had an aquarium, a section on native american fishing and a big display of the storms of August 1926 and 1927 in which several boats were lost. A room memorializes the fishing men who died over the centuries including Moshers. This naval action between a trawler and a German sub reminded me of such an action scene in a poster I saw in Portland Oregon a few years ago which is in this blog.

And speaking of submarines and the fact that we travel with feline crew, how's this:

The museum had two large retired fishing boats to be boarded and inspected, one sail

and one power,

The retired captain of the "Cape Sable" told me, based on the bright lights on the boats what we passed during the night of our passage to NS, that the boats were probably "Herring Seiners," which use the light to attract fish.
 We got some Canadian dollars at a bank ATM. They only cost about 75 cents a piece, but for small purchases the locals treat US dollars as dollars so we get ourselves a nice discount by paying in Canadian cash.