As cold, foggy and dreary as yesterday was, today turned out to be bright, sunny and warm. We discarded our outer layers and eventually got to shorts and tee shirts. Cats somehow prefer to lie on owners' clothing as compared to any other soft place.
Underway from 8:45 and attached in the lock of the St. Peters Canal at 4. Boat speed was variable between four and 7.5 knots depending on the wind speed and direction. Continuing east along the SW coast, the wind was reliably on our starboard quarter. as the course curved to port, the wind came to the port quarter. When we rounded the shoals off Cape Canso and turned north to cross the large Chedabucto Bay for the ten miles to the outlying islands off the Cape Bretons, the wind stayed at our port quarter but the landmass blocked the big ocean rollers. From miles away we saw a huge tanker heading west into Chedabucto Bay, which is about twenty miles long. Having no great distance to accomplish, we were content to sail along at 4 knots and even the cats enjoyed the air.
We passed Cap la Ronde, huge but not as big as Gibralter, at the edge of Isle Madame
and the light on Point Jerome marking the entrance to the St. Peters Canal.
We had seen a sailboat, miles ahead of us, our first sailboat underway since entering Nantucket except for a lot of daysailing in Halifax. It was ahead of us in the canal, a Beneteau. Like almost all the other boats at the marina, it is Canadian flagged; I guess we are a bit early in the season for the U.S. boats here.
We called ahead and followed the Lockmaster's instructions: Call on VHF Ch. 10 when 15 minutes away, put out fenders and prepare for a port side tie up with bow and stern lines only. We came to the lock a bit too fast, but the fenders saved the boat from scratches. In the lock we were raised two feet to lake level and then passed the new drawbridge, connecting the two halves of Cape Breton Island as they were before the canal cut them in half.
At the extremely friendly and helpful St. Peters Marina we were tied up at the T dock and have enjoyed the immaculate showers with lots of hot water. it costs $1.30 per foot (Canadian) and includes free electricity and good wifi. When we came in and I asked to register and pay, the manager said, "We trust you, pay when you leave."
A decent dinner at a roadside family restaurant, some groceries, and this sunset at 9 pm. the first night.
Then a work day, cleaning, laundry, groceries, hardware store for the needle nose pliers that I could not get in Lunenberg, post office and postcard. And i did some special tasks. I finally commissioned the watermaker with some advice from Brian of Headsync. It seems I call him with a new question every year. This time, after I replaced all three of the filters the machine repeatedly shut down and told me to check the filters! Brian told me to program the machine from its own control panel to disable the filter alarm. I also discovered a small leak, about one drop for ten seconds, from the line carrying the newly made fresh water from the machine to the tanks.
I also "fixed" the new windlass, which was "slipping" when confronting big loads. I read the manual which told me that it has a clutch which was too loose and how to tighten it. No more slippage.
Then a long walk down to see where we came in and along the canal and its lock and out to the lighthouse before we had dinner at the restaurant at the Bras d'Or Lakes Inn, the closest to fine dining we will get on this island.
We have reached the Lakes, our destination and we're ready to enjoy them! We're trying to decide in which of the many spots in them to anchor.
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