Days 31-32, July 18-19 -- Round Trip from Baddeck to Maskells Harbor -- 10NM

Maskells is only five NM from Baddeck but we jibed our way there and tacked our way back, using genoa only in moderate air. ILENE was heeled and Lene was happy.

In fact, on the way back we went the long way around, through Baddeck's western entrance, to prolong the sail.

I had bothered two friends and arranged for a technician to come look at our inverter, which had stopped working. Not a critical piece of equipment unless you consider our vacuum cleaner an essential appliance. Columbus didn't have one. Anyway, I discovered the cause: I had shut off the "Ship's Power" breaker! This did not affect any other electrical functions we use except the vacuum cleaner (and the heat gun used to soften rubber hoses to get them off and on their metal or plastic hard attachment ports.) I was able to cancel the service call.

At Maskells we made friends with Dave and Jane on  s/v "Romana", a very seaworthy and spacious older Corbin yacht, a brand that I was not familiar with, and  Al and Alta of s/v "Deliverance, a smaller Beneteau with a distinctive red swoosh on its freeboard. Nice folks; well they are sailors. after all -- from the north seaward coast of Cape Breton. They were rafted to each other on a mooring which the owner of the land in that area makes available, first come, first served, at no cost. We anchored and the place is big and deep. We were in 25 feet, no risk of grounding. Another extremely quiet night. Our new friends' boats at dawn. ?They had invited us for happy hour the evening before and we gave them a tour of ILENE after breakfast.

  Deliverance had left early for Baddeck on a grocery run and we saw and hailed them as they were leaving with their provisions.
As we left we shot Maskells' lighthouse,

and the entrance, between the two headlands, from a distance.

Maskells is the exception to the rule I reported earlier about the answer to the question: "What is your favorite anchorage?" Several folks said Maskells.
Here is the view on our paper chart and in the cruising guide.

We were in the NW cove, said to be the favored spot. There were five boats all in all, three in the cove.

Back at Baddeck, blogging, shopping, and planning for both a two day road trip and the arrival of our friend, Bennett, from New York. He will sail with us for five days, while we hit some new spots on our way back to St. Peters.