We were doing 7 - 7.5 knots pretty consistently out there with full sails and the usual starboard wind, though it was closer to our beam and even a bit more forward at times. Underway from 8:30 to 4 pm. The distance is a pretty accurate estimate but not exact because I do not have a real paper chart of the details of this part of the coast, though I've been feeling safe about navigating using the two electronic displays and a very small scale paper chart. Saving money on charts is never smart.
Coming out to sea via Sheet Harbor (not the way we went in) was fun. Beautiful granite ringed the various empty anchoring bays, topped with conifers. As Tom of "Gypsy Soul" had told us, Nova Scotia is like Maine, but on steroids! We passed the usual assortment of interesting and beautiful rocks and islands, such as this light on Beaver Island.
It was cooler and more overcast than the day before, slightly less visibility but still at least six miles, and again, no other boats are out here. But the winds remained great. I took a brief nap to warm up and so did Alfie, under the dodger. At age ten, she is not a kitty any longer -- more a seasoned veteran of the seas.
We had options of either Lipscomb Bay, nearer, or a number of anchorages in Country Harbor and its next door neighbor, Isaacs Harbor and had plenty of time to go to the further destination. Once we headed in to Isaacs Harbor the winds got light and directly behind us so we tried wing on wing for a while before the wind died almost completely. Our next destination, St. Peters, is the entrance to the Bras D'or Lakes. Isaacs Harbor offered a town dock, at Goldsboro, a mile further in, that charges $.50 per foot ($.38 per foot in US Dollars. Electricity is $.50 per night, though we did not need electricity). We were greeted by Michael, who, among other things is a delivery captain and was very helpful in tying us to the old fixed dock. I like this picture of a modern boat in such a traditional setting!
Michael's wife was there too, and later Mike, in red, the harbormaster, came by.
They warned us, when we said we would like to take a walk, to stay on the harbor side road rather than venture inland where the insects would drain our blood. The nearest store, not that we need anything, is about a one hour drive. They used to mine gold here in Goldboro (pronounced gold bra) and have plans to reopen the mines.
The dock has an "interpretive center" which could serve as a meeting room for this tiny town. Its walls are a museum showing the industries that have sustained it: fishing, lumbering, ship building, gold mining and natural gas (which was brought to land here from fields near Sable Island, about 100 miles off shore. But tourism is not a listed industry and neither is farming.
The center also sells ice cream, chips, candy and soda.
We took a walk along the shore of this long bay to a church, but inspection showed that it had neither a cross, a name, a denomination or a congregation. It is apparently a relic of better days when it was Methodist.
Another view of I
LENE at the dock, but from the church, showing the way to the sea through which we sailed in. At suppertime we could not see the end of the dock due to a thick fog.
The Atlantic Maritime Provinces, including Nova Scotia, are the poorest, per capita, in Canada. It rained at night; and the fog was replaced by rain at night and we thought that if it cleared up enough we could leave as late as 2 pm for Yankee Cove in Whitehead Bay, only about 25 miles away tomorrow, cutting the run to St. Peters into two parts. But the fog lightened but lingered so we called it a lay day and plan to get to St. Peters tomorrow.
Reading, blogging, navigating, eating and a walk, along the same road but southbound this time for a view of the other option for us,in Isaacs Harbor -- Webbs Cove,
behind Hurricane Island, to the left of Lene. Barely visible is the ithmus connecting the island to the mainland, which goes underwater at high tide in srtong southwesterlies.
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