Days 49 and 50, August 5-6 -- Port Mouton to Shelburne and Lay Day There -- 30 NM

Fog in the morning burned off before breakfast. We had such a lovely easy passage on a crisp clear sunny day with reefed main and genoa. We were on a port reach at speeds that averaged a bit more than six knots, depending on wind speed, with the lovely swoosh of ILENE's hull through the water being the only sound once we got out of the harbor. Such a contract to the day before.

We passed the Gull Island Light.

I noticed that Eldridge has a list of all of the "lights, fog signals and off shore buoys", in geographical order, along Nova Scotia's East Coast. This light is called Lockeport Light, with Gull Rock located off Lockeport. Eldridge tells us it flashes white every 15 seconds and blasts its horn every 30 seconds. The light is 17.7 meters high (56 feet) with a range of 12 miles. On a nice sunny day we did not see the light nor hear the horn.
Once we turned north, up into Shelburne Bay, the wind was behind us. I sailed wing on wing at five knots until we had to turn a bit to starboard to avoid a fish farm. Then we furled the genoa and motor sailed. There is a big tidal current in the Bay and it was with us. and the motor was now running strong and a big bind came up. All told we were making 8.5 knots up the bay.
In Shelburne we met up with Bill and Sandy on their lovely newish 45 foot Nordhaven luxury trawler, "Lucille".

We first met them in Maine in 2007 when they sailed a Saga 43, and introduced themselves to us. We reconnected in the Caribbean and in North Carolina and will see them again, later this month in Belfast, Maine. They are great people, very knowledgeable, and very helpful. They first told us about sailing to Nova Scotia's Bras D'or Lakes and later about the Cabot Trail. We had dinner with them at a local restaurant featuring fried everything,

and next night a shared dinner aboard Lucille which was much healthier.







I finally got a walk through the town and saw this sign on a residential door.

It refers to the fact that the builder was "loyal" to the British Crown and had left the southern colonies when we revolted in 1776; his defining characteristic was his anti revolutionary views and actions.
We walked to the Sobey's supermarket on the main road leading out of town, a big one. Lene asked if they provided rides back to the yacht club (like the market in St. Peters does) and they said no but the couple behind us said they would take us. Lene insisted on buying them and us a coffee at the local Tim Horton's, a large one. We have not met any Canadians who are not friendly and helpful.

The port is much more full now, in mid season than when last we were here. The biggest thing in town is a gathering of schooners (aft mast taller than fore mast) for a week of races. There are about fifteen of them of all sizes and descriptions. It is a classic look that has largely gone out of favor. Some are quite lovely.

Our next stop is Maine and the conversation and thought process is when to leave. After going south through Shelburne Bay we will head west around the southern tip of Nova Scotia --  Cape Sable. Rounding capes is always a tricky business and Cape Sable is no exception. It is the eastern headland of the Bay of Fundy with its massive tides of billions of tons of water rushing in and out. The currents they produce run back and forth, east and west, at up to four knots! Think Hellsgate or The Race, but for more than 30 miles! So the trick is to get to a particular red and white buoy, a few miles south of Cape Sable at the precise time that the east-flowing ebb stops and the west-flowing flood begins at that buoy. The ebbing tide will help us get to that buoy faster and when the ebb ends, the flood will help push us west faster. And the buoy in question is 37 miles from our mooring in Shelburne so we have to estimate our speed, divide it into the miles to get the time to depart. And we have to plan this calculation for several days (the magic moment gets about an hour later each day) and pick the day with the best weather, in terms of rain, wind direction and speed and fog.
Over our steaks and wine, with Bill's help, we decided to leave our mooring at 9:40 a.m., on Monday August 7, to get to the buoy at 3:40 p.m. But more updated weather next morning suggested delay. The total passage, whenever we go, is about 165 miles and should take 22-25 hours, mooring to mooring.