Sunday 5th July.

No wind, so we motored the 8 miles to St. Peters, 45 39.69N 060 52.54W.  The lock attendants were very friendly and helpful, as was Jerry at the marina.  We filled up with gas then docked and set about doing laundry and re-provisioning.  

Very nice small marina.  We’ll be returning here in 10 days or so to meet Brenda and Vin and the other members of the Blue Water Sailing Club cruise, so we’re not spending too much time exploring today. 

We did however try the local tavern.  We ordered 2 beers and dinner.  The beers arrived and we were asked to pay for them (cash).  Apparently, they have a separate system for accounting for alcoholic beverages - weird.  I guess we looked like the kind of people who would drink the beers and run!

Returned to the boat and spent half an hour swapping stories with the couple on the boat behind us about our respective adventures in Newfoundland.  Then the bugs forced us back inside. 

Ships Log: 4582.2, Todays Log: 8, Seasons Total: 134.3

Saturday 4th July.

The sun was out, winds were light, then moderate, then light so we motored, then sailed, then motored again, then sailed …  Overall a very pleasant day’s sail in a beautiful area.  Our guide says it’s a preview of the Bras d’Or lakes, so we think we’re in for some good sailing. 

We got to Burnt Island Bridge at about 3pm.  This is a lifting bridge, and we were expecting to wait a few minutes before the bridge opened.  We were informed that the bridge could not open because it was too hot, (although we didn’t think it was particularly hot), and we would have to wait perhaps 2 hours.  So we dropped the hook with another sailboat that had arrived the same time.  The bridge did not open until 7:15pm, so we changed our plans and anchored in Poulamon Bay, 45 35.05N 060 59.34W, which was only 5 miles beyond the bridge.  The good news is that Ron was able to fix the cabin fan while we waited. 

We must be getting used to this stuff, ‘cause we arrived at Poulamon Bay at 8:15pm, dropped the hook, grilled the salmon, boiled the potatoes and veggies and were dining by 9pm. 

Oh yeah, and we hoisted the bullet and connected to wifi again.  So far not one single night without wifi!

Ships Log: 4574.2, Todays Log: 28.1, Seasons Total: 126.3

Friday 3rd July.

We had an unpleasant surprise in the morning.  Ron went to pay our $10 docking fee (as advertised in our guide book and on the dock), only to discover that the $10 rate only applied to transient fishing boats.  Apparently it’s not enough to have a fishing rod on board – you actually have to work as a fisherman to qualify.  So we paid up $32.  Oh well, not a big disaster. 

The forecasted winds indicated that we would have another fast beam reach to Havre Boucher so we went for a walk along the hiking trails before setting off.  Teresa was the first to spot the deer ticks, and then we both found them regularly.  So we stopped frequently and removed them all before they dug in.  We had a clean up session, (both inspecting each others hair, back etc. ), when we reached the road.  Back at the boat we took our shoes of and Teresa found another 3 and Ron 1!  Uugh. 

We set off shortly after 2, and the promised winds didn’t materialize – they were too light to sail so we motored in hot sunshine and flat calm seas to Havre Boucher, 45 41.21N 61 31.29.

 Ships Log: 4546.1, Todays Log: 20.4, Seasons Total: 98.2

Thursday 2nd July.

We left with the intention of going to either Havre Boucher or Ballantynes Cove, depending on the winds.  They were forecast to start off SW and then back to SE which would have made Havre Boucher the favoured destination.  But the wind shift didn’t happen and since we could fetch Ballantynes without tacking, that’s where we ended up.  We had a brisk beat starting out with winds of 20-25 knots and 2 reefs in the main.  Gradually the winds calmed down a little to 14 – 17 knots, until it was time to drop the mainsail, when they piped right back up to 22 knots again!  Nice.  All in all a pleasurable sail, albeit a little lumpy at times. 

Ballantynes Cove, 45 51.50N, 61 55.13W, has a tiny harbor with a few fishing boats, and some floating docks for pleasure craft.  It also has showers, Fish n Chips, and WIFI that we could see from the boat thanks to our Bullet.  The moon is especially beautiful over the harbor tonight.

Ships Log: 4525.7, Todays Log: 37, Seasons Total: 77.8

Wednesday 1st July.

As today was Canada day, we expected the town to be buzzing.  It wasn’t, but no matter, we cycled 7.5 miles to the Glenora Distillery, north of Mabou.  This is currently the only distillery in North America producing single malt whisky.  We took the tour, and of course had to sample some whisky.  We had lunch at the distillery, and maybe one of us sampled a little more!  Then we rode home. 

In the evening we visited The Red Shoe Pub.  Many Cape Bretons have Scottish ancestry and the Celtic traditions are still very much alive here.  Looking at the roadsigns, you may think you were in Scotland since most of them are in Gaelic as well as English.  We had a delicious dinner and then were entertained with a traditional Celtic music evening.  The place was full of locals and it was hopping – square dancing and all.

Ships Log: 4488.7, Todays Log: 0, Seasons Total: 40.8

Tuesday 30th June.

We have met several good friends here – Louis & Hélène, Pierre & Émilie, Tom & Clarissa, Terry & Jeannine and of course Eric and today we’re setting off, so it’s a little bittersweet.  The sweet part is that we had a 12knt beam reach all the way to Mabou, 46 04.32N 61 24.49W.  In fact it was a little too perfect.  Mabou has a shallow entrance and fast outgoing current, so we really didn’t want to arrive until 4:30pm, when the tide was rising at its maximum rate (thus minimizing the outgoing current).  So we ended up reducing sail, simply to slow the boat down!  And Ron had time to re-splice the remaining 3 dock lines while underway. 

We made the harbor entrance just on time, entered without problem and anchored at the end of the harbor close to the town of Mabou.  The setting was beautiful and we had a very quiet and peaceful first night at anchor.  We even found a WIFI hotspot via our Bullet.  Not bad having WIFI while at anchor!

Ships Log: 4488.7, Todays Log: 40.8, Seasons Total: 40.8

Monday 29th June

Our last day in Souris.  Pretty cool, very windy with waves coming over the breakwater.  Spent the day preparing for our first passage of the season.  Filled the water tanks, stocked up in groceries, plotting tomorrows course and uploading to the chartplotter.  Several  jobs  that we take for granted during the sailing season but that’s a little foreign the first time each year. 

Back in Vermont, during the spring we bought some new dock lines and Ron spliced the loops in the ends.  Now we discover that some of the loops were too small!  Often, when finishing a splice, the ends are melted to seal them.  This time, fortuitously, Ron taped them instead.  So we discovered that they could be unspliced and respliced.  1 down, 3 to go …

We finished the day with a meal at the Sheltered Harbour Café, (where we had intended to go last night), and had a very pleasant dinner with Tom and Clarissa.