Aug27 - Canso to Mahone Bay

It's been a long time since we found internet!

The forecast was for light winds so we left Canso at 6:50 with the two other boats we met in Canso -- Carpe Diem and Cirrius. It was partly cloudy but not a bad day. We went through St Andrew's Passage then out into the Atlantic. It was still pretty rough because of the high winds the past few days. We thought we'd hang in until around 1:00 and then pack it in if it didn't get better. Fortunately it did get better and the seas were pretty smooth by 11:00 -- still too rough for school though! We went all the way to Liscombe and were tied up there around 5:00. We saw the parents of two of Darla's singers and they thought our trip sounded pretty neat! We went for a swim in the pool and had hot showers and then went out for supper at the restaurant with the folks of the other two boats.

We left Liscombe at 6:30 on the 22nd with a plan to have a fairly short day and go to Pope's Harbour but the seas were fairly smooth (still too rough for school) so we kept going to Owl's Head and were anchored in Southwest Harbour around 4:00. We had a great time exploring on shore -- there were great tide pools and lots of rocks to climb on. We had pizza for supper and that was a little more work that I expected!

It was really foggy when we woke up around 6:00 so we didn't leave until 8:10. It was clear leaving the harbour and then the fog rolled back in so we turned on the radar. We arrived in Halifax harbour early in the afternoon and decided we should sail up the waterfront before we went to Armdale. We had a great sail with all sails up and a beautiful sunny day. We saw a whale right beside the boat, Theodore Tugboat was out for a harbour tour and we saw our old boat Misty out for a sail. When we were heading up the Northwest Arm towards Armdale we saw Andrew Wolfsen out on his deck, so Dave gave him a call on the cell phone and he invited us to go over for a swim on Sunday. We tied up at the fuel dock and had to wait a while to get fuel and find out where the guest dock was so it was 7:00 before we were finally tied up for the evening. A little while later we saw Graeme Caskey of M'Lady who used to sail out of Pictou and then Dartmouth. It was an eventful day.

On Sunday the girls all "went to the mall" while Dave did some chores around the boat. Then we went to Andrew's for a swim which was lovely. It was another busy day.

On Monday, Doreen came to Halifax and took us shopping. The girls were so excited to see her! After Doreen left we went to Dartmouth were Dave had a dental appointment and then went to visit Al MacPhee while we got groceries. After all that we got the laundry done so it was a really long day.

On Tuesday we had more errands to run and then Annie and Dave took the car back to Andrew MacPhee. We left the dock at 1:00 on our way to Rogues Roost. Unfortunately we hit a rock ledge on the way into the anchorage but no harm done I guess -- I'm glad we're steel!

On Wednesday we sailed in the rain to Mahone Bay. We had another busy day and then went up to Mum and Andy's for supper.

August 20, 2008 - Canso N.S.

Well... We've rented the house, returned the leased car, parked the truck and closed up the cottage and packed the boat - seems like we're ready to go! It is an amazing amount of work to get ready to go away for a year.







We left Baddeck on Sunday in the rain and headed to Orangedale. By the time we got there it was sunny and the girls went fishing on the wharf. I spent more time stowing and tidying. Later in the day we went to the Orangedale train museum for our almost annual visit.





On Monday we got the dinghy up on the davits and got a few more things done and then headed to Marble Mountain. It was a lovely day and we had a great time at the beach swimming and collecting snails and starfish. We had great bbq'd salmon for supper.

Kristen at Marble Mountain

















On Tuesday we had a great sail from Marble Mountain to St. Peters and we got fuel and water at the Marina then tied up on the lock wall. We got some groceries and picked up a few other things in St. Peters. We considered locking through in the evening, but decided to stay on the lakeside for the night so the girls could have one last swim in the Bras D'or Lakes.







Dave at the lock











Today we locked through at St. Peter's and left the lakes. The forecast was for about 25knots NW so we knew it would be a windy day. Sure enough it was quite windy crossing Chedebucto Bay so we decided to head into Canso rather than to try to go farther. There is a great little marina here (with access to wireless internet) We went for a nice walk and went to a national historic site commemorating the settlement at Grassy Island around the same time as Louisbourg. Not a great forecast for the next couple of days so we'll see what tomorrow brings...

Wednesday August 13

Wow - it was almost a sunny day! A few showers meant we still didn't get any painting done on the deck, but it was great to get the clothes dried out and tidy the boat. The girls were in sailing school and then went exploring on Kidston's Island with Thomas and Janice from Lady Fish. After their walk they went swimming at the beach at Kidstons and then came back to Bird for some more swimming.

Dave got the oil changed and the filters changed for both the oil and the fuel. He finished plumbing the new water tanks.

Tomorrow we plan to go back to the cottage for one more night to finish packing and get the grass cut. On Friday it's back to Pictou to drop of the truck and to pick up a few forgotten items at the house.

August 12

Well it's hard to know when to start this log of our trip. Does it start when we leave Pictou? Cape Breton? Nova Scotia?

Right now we are in Baddeck, in the rain, still. It feels like it has been raining for weeks...

We arrived in Cape Breton in late July and the boat was in Whycocomagh for just over two weeks. Last Saturday we spent the night in Washabuck, then on Sunday we spent the night in McNaughton's Cove -- very near the cottage. On Monday the kids were back at sailing camp in Baddeck and Dave and I moved the boat to Baddeck.

The list of things to do before we go is getting shorter... but we need a sunny day to get the deck painted.