Ramble On - Down East Circle Route

Friday, 26 July 2019

Mile 1364-1473: Bras d'Or Lakes & Cape Breton

Bras d'Or Lakes & Cape Breton
Current Location: St Peters's Marina
Date: July 17-26
Mile: 1364-1473
Locate: Ramble On
Locate: Finnish Line 2.0
Google Photo Albums: St Peter's, Crammond Islands, Beaver Island, St Peter's, Baddeck, Cape Breton Driving Tour, Ben Eoin & Louisbourg, St Peter's

For any who don't know (I didn't really know much before planning for this trip), the Bras d'Ore Lake (often called Lakes) is an inland salt water lake on Cape Breton that is connected to the outside via two natural channels on the north east, and by the man made St. Peter's canal that enters from the Strait of Canso at the south-west (this is how we arrived and departed).

It is a beautiful escape to a cruising ground that is protected from ocean swell and has may islands to explore and anchor at. Similar to the Thousand Islands in that there are secluded anchorages everywhere, but different in that there is good sailing to get to each anchorage. It's not hard to find a nice 15-30 nm sail to get to your next anchorage.

Some scheduling issues meant that we had a few days with Bob, Tarja, Chris M., Linda and I before Tarja had to drop Chris M. off and Shediac (where he had left his car when he joined the expedition) and pick up Ben who was flying into Moncton (many thanks to Tarja for being such a trooper doing so much driving). This meant a few days cruising and then back to St. Peter's for an exchange of crew.

As an extra bonus, we had plans to meet with friends and fellow KYC'ers, Peter and Ze, and they had a wedding to attend in Nova Scotia, and were going to treat us to a few days of driving and exploring Cape Breton, where Ze grew up!

St. Peter's

Teamwork?

Locking through

We departed Hawksbury bound for the town of St. Peter's. To get there, we would have preferred to take the inside passage between Ile Madam and mainland Cape Breton, but the swing bridge that would make that possible was not yet finished.

The sail on the outside of Ile Madam was nice and the winds were cooperative.

Crammond Islands

Small wharf and old building
from a time gone by

So after a night at St. Peter's we set out for some nearby anchorages so that we could end up back at St. Peter's where Tarja had left her car. First stop ... the Crammond Islands. This was about 20 nm away down the SW arm of the lake. We had a great sail, with building winds.

Marble Mountain?

Before we got there we stopped by "Marble Mountain". There are marble & gypsum veins all over the landscape here. This location was reputed to have clear waters that looked particularly vibrant with the white marble rock in bottom. While we did find the location, we didn't get the spectacular view we were hoping for. What we did find was the remnants of a quarry and a mine with signs that this was a big operation some time in the past.

Windy out there,
nice in here!

From there, we continued a few more miles to find our anchorage tucked between the Crammond Islands. It will breezy all night, but we were well protected and had a nice evening. Chris hopped in Bob's inflatable kayak and explored the area.

Beaver Island

Since we had to get Tarja back to St. Peter's Marina first thing the next morning, this anchorage needed to be close by. For this we chose to anchor behind Beaver Island.

It was a flat calm evening and very pleasant. Linda and I dropped the dinghy down and did an evening explore around the island. We saw several jumping fish, likely targeting the many insects at dusk.

Back to St Peter's

Heron with the best view!

We left our anchorage at 7am to get to St Peters and drop off Chris M. and Tarja. Tarja (chauffeur extraordinaire!) would spend the day driving, first to drop Chris M at his car in Shediac, and then to Moncton to pick up Ben at Moncton Airport. Linda and Bob did some provisioning.

The local bakery was open and Linda was delighted to discover it made the baked goods in the authentic German style. They even had "Bienenstich" pastry, one of Linda's dad's favourites.

Jetski, dock whips!! abomination

I busied himself with various boat repairs, a full topside cleaning and maintenance.

Tarja and Ben arrived back at St Peters around 7pm, and Linda had our boat-made lobster Mac and Cheese with Bacon waiting for them (made with lobster we had purchased along the way, perhaps in Escuminac)

Baddeck

With the crew exchange complete and Ben on board, we left St Peter's the next morning headed for Baddeck. The weather was lovely and we had enough wind for a close reach. Ben sailed on Ramble On with me, and Linda sailed with Bob on Finnish Line so he wouldn't have to solo it. Tarja drove and met us at the dock in Baddeck.

Finnish Line clearing the
Barra Strait bridge

Along the way, we needed to pass through Barra Strait. There is a double lift bridge for the highway and a swing bridge for the rail. The rail bridge is left swung open, until a train needs it. The lift bridge is used for car traffic but opened on demand for boats that cannot pass underneath. The bridge operator is very pleasant and casual. We radioed as we approached and the bridge was open when we arrived. Just before the Barra Strait, on the south shore near McKinnons Harbour, were huge, striking patches of white, outcroppings of gypsum.

Protected harbour with mooring field

We were able to continue our sail until the final approach to Baddeck harbour. As we got close, you could see the large striking property of Beinn Bhreagh, the home of Alexander Graham Bell! The Beddeck harbour is really pretty--an idyllic bay behind Kidston Island.

'

There is an iconic lighthouse at the point, yachts of all shapes and sizes at mooring balls, a large wharf with a tall ship so tourists can go for a day sail, and to top it off, a local resident playing bagpipes (we later found out that he not only plays at the wharf, but walks the streets of the town, playing all the way)!

Ramble On @ Baddeck Marine

So cool, want one!

We stayed at Beddeck Marine, and will keep the boats here when we explore the Cabot Trail by car for a couple of days. The marina had recently undergone some construction for a new travel lift, so the grounds ashore were a little disorganized and muddy, but there is a nice marine store and washrooms, and laundry.

Kidston Isl Light

Kidston Island has a small wooden lighthouse at the north-east end. The Lions Club operates a small swim beach at that end as well, and organizes a pontoon ferry boat to run kids back and forth from the mainland. There is a changing station and lifeguards as well. Ben and I hopped in the dinghy to head over to explore. Once there we found trails through the woods one of which took us through to the other side of the island and then out to the lighthouse and then back.

Another highlight of being in Baddeck was heading to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum and taking some time to learn more about his time and continuing inventiveness while living in Baddeck. He spent much time working on hydroplanes, kites and airplanes. There was a full reproduction hydroplane (the "HD-4") as well as portions of the original that had been sitting on the beach at his Beinn Bhreagh estate from the early 1900's after the tests where completed until much later. The Canadian Navy built an experimental hydrofoil submarine hunter (1968-1971) named the Bras d'Ore as a nod to Mr. Bell!

Beinn Bhreagh (hard to see)

Aside from the well known pursuits, Bell had broad interests much of which stemmed from his father and corresponding early work in teaching deaf people to speak and in a "Visible Speech" program he developed.

Cape Breton Exploration by Car

Over the next few days we were going to get a personalized tour of Cape Breton from the point of view of a local (Ze), but first we had a boat pizza night with the who gang on Ramble On. We've done this a few times, and it's been a real treat. Dough made on the boat, local seafood toppings (bought next door to the marina from Captain Caper's Fish & Chips) as well as other gourmet pizza varieties. Having the round "kettle" style BBQ work well for this, but it is a "one at a time" affair so a different pizza slice arrived about every 10 minutes!

Following our intrepid leader!

The next morning, Peter and Ze arrived back at the marina where we loading into their's and Tarja & Bob's cars and our driving tour began. For most of us, we were passing places names we had only seen on maps before: Mabou, Inverness, Margaree Harbour etc. This took us right past the Glenora Distillery where we stopped for a tour, lunch and a tasting. The distillery also boasts a Inn right on premises, and the grounds and facilities were top notch.

Avoid the one on the left!

The tasting was interesting as it started with an unaged whiskey, strait from the still. This stuff was awful and in my mind tainted the rest of the tastings. It was only after abandoning any hope of finishing that first sample, and letting it's taste fade away that some of the others began to show some promise. In the end, I picked up a bottle of the "Battle of the Glen". So named for the nearly 10 year legal battle with the Scotish Whisky Association that argued that they weren't allow to have "Glen" in the name.

Feet in the water at Inverness

From there we continued our driving tour, stopping a scenic lookouts and various placed along the way while passing by or through places like Maragaree Harbour, Grand Étang, Cheticamp and Petit Étang until we formally entered Highlands National Park.

Skyline Trail

The scenery along this shore became steadily more dramatic as we progressed. The shoreline cliffs and geology became progressively taller and more beautiful. The focal point of the day was our stop for a hike on the Skyline Trail. This was a 5 km hike through scrubby and and stunted forests but with the terminus at the most spectacular peninsula with a vista with few equals.

Pleasant Bay

That evening, with everyone a little tired, we found our destination for the night. This was the "pinkest" hotel around called the Midtrail Motel & Restaurant located just at north edge of Highland National Park in Pleasant Bay. We ate at the hotel restaurant, and conked out in our rooms for a well deserved sleep.

The next day we continued our exploration of the north-east end of Cape Breton passing though places like Meat Cove, Aspy Bay, Dingwall, then back down into the park area to Ingonish.

Visitor keeping distance from corpse

Along the way we stopped at Cabot Landing Provincial Park. A small park with a nice beach.

Of a personal note, Ze's grandfather had made some of the bronze plaques on display at the park. It is thought that John Cabot may have landed in this vicinity. We enjoyed stretching our legs here with a short walk along the beach.

Ingonish

Our plan was to head to the Keltic Lodge for a hike along the "Middle Head" hiking trail, but first we passed our lodging for the night so we stopped at the Driftwood Lodge to get ourselves checked in. A quaint place right along the shoreline with a slightly hippie feel about it. We could see the Keltic Lodge across North Ingonish Bay. This is where we were heading next.

Middle Head Trail

Don't ... be Superman?

To get to the trail, you enter the Keltic Lodge grounds and continue past the various posh resort buildings until you get to the beginning of the trail. This trail spent a good amount of time going through wooded areas with rough rocky and rooty paths. As it progressed, and we worked out way further out and up on the peninsula the woods began to clear and we could see the rocky shoreline on each side. Again, the end of the trail was marked by spectacular views in all directions looking down on the rough Cape Breton shoreline.

Soaking in the view

We departed the Keltic Lodge site and headed back to scout for someplace to eat. Along the was stopped for some shopping. After some asking we identified our place to eat (where the locals go) and we had hearty servings of seafood! After that, we drove back around the bay again, but this time we were going into the Keltic Lodge to listen to some music. A guitarist and local fiddler put on a great show that had everybody tapping their feet at one point or another.

Back to Baddeck and to Ben Eoin

clubhouse

The next morning, we had to get back to Baddeck to rejoin our boats and continue our voyage. Our next destination was Ben Eoin which had us heading back through the Barra Strait bridge, and then turning north-east to head up the East Bay of lake to the Ben Eoin Yacht Club & Marina.

This will be the eastern most point in our adventure. We hit the northern most point going along the Gaspe peninsula (440nm west and 300nm north of Kingston), and Ben Eoin represents about 700nm east and 100nm north of Kingston. New York will be the most southerly point, and Oswego will be the most westerly point. This point also represents about 1400nm (2600km) of distance traveled. This is just over half way in mileage and in day.

Ben Eoin Harbour

The club has the newest facilities we had experienced so far. The docks, electrical, buildings, and grounds were immaculate. It was here that we had a second KYC re-union of sorts. Tom and Sue, who we had "found" in Bouctouche, had indicated that might be heading to the Bras d'Ore Lakes and sure enough were able to get to the club shortly after we arrived (though they had to navigate through the start of a evening race which they start from the shore at the mouth of the harbour!) In addition to that Rick and Laura we also able to make it to the club after setting up camp at Mira River Provincial Park where they were camping on their maritime camping vacation. We ate with the whole gang at the club that evening.

We made plans with Rick and Laura to informally meet up at Louisbourg Fortress historic site the next day.

Louisbourg Fortress

Sea facing entrance gate

The next day, after about an hour drive, we arrived at the fortress entrance and parking area. This was my first time here, and it is an impressive site. The current building were re-built from barely more than rubble in the 60's and 70's putting the unemployed coal miners to work. The scale of the building project in hard to fathom. The King's Bastion itself is a massive building that must be a 1000' long. Let alone the rest of the small city that has been reproduced.

We had an enjoyable day wandering the village, looking at the various snapshots back in time, talking to the period dressed staff (who spoke and played their period part when they interacted with you).

The Kings Bastion

We bought some locally made bread and ate lunch in the peasants restaurant which fed you authentic food for the period in a building with tables and table ware appropriate to the time.

Preparing to fire!

Very much looking
the part

A highlight to the day was getting Ben signed up to participate in the cannon firing exercise. You pay a small fee for this activity, but they dress you up in 1745 period costume, and provide you with a hour of training before you get to light the cannon as part of the gunnery crew for all visitors in the fort to see. Ben more than looked the part with his long hair in a pony tail under his tricorn hat. (skip to about 3:40s for the real excitement)

We returned to the marina after bidding Rick and Laura adieu and good travels in their camping expedition. Everyone was a little tired and sun baked. The next day we would be heading back to St. Peter's Marine for our last night in the Bras d'Ore Lakes before heading back out through the canal to continue our journey westward along the eastern shore of Nov Scotia.

Obediently lined up to enter

Single file only

In the morning, we found a busy line up to get through locks. There were three sailboats and three motor boats waiting to exit the lakes. Once the very large motor boat cleared the canal coming in, the 6 of us quickly scooted in and got ourselves tied up for the short drop down to ocean level.

Locking through was easy and calm as it was when we entered.

Off we go towards Halifax and beyond.

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Mile 1226 -1339: Ballantyne's Cove to St Peter's N.S.

Ballantynes Cove, Hawksbury, St Peters's
Current Location: St Peters's Marina
Date: July 14, 15, 16
Mile: 1226, 1304, 1339
Locate: Ramble On
Locate: Finnish Line 2.0
Google Photo Albums: Ballantynes Hawksbury St Peter's

Ballantynes Cove

Followed us for ~30nm?

Cape George Light

While the winds were up, then down, and then back up and then quite breezy near the end of our 40 mile leg south-east, the sea-state was continuously lumpy. The swells were a couple of feet high, but because the period was so short, they were quite uncomfortable. A couple of times we would punch our bow through the next wave bringing some water along the foredeck. As we approached the Cape George Point where we would turn for protection, a wind line crossed over us from the east, and added about 10 extra knots to the wind speed to add insult to injury.

Our destination, Ballantynes Cove, is a small fishing harbour that also includes a number of docks for recreational boaters. It is located just inside Cape George Point. Tall, red earth cliffs surround the area with the point topped by an old lighthouse. The harbour, protected by stone breakwaters, is just a mile or two around the point, and reasonably protected from the swells.

Finnish Line entered a little before us and just as we entered the

Rain just getting started

harbour it started to rain. Buy the time we had fenders and lines on, and were coming into the harbour to find our slip, it started to pour. Bob was standing at the dock to catch lines along with the poor girl working the marina. Unlike Bob, she had no raincoat on. As soon as we got ourselves secured, we sent her away to try to stay dry. Marriah said "no problem, I have three changes of clothes here." Sounds like she's accustomed to expecting the unexpected.

Harbour full of red

At that point the skies opened up and we experienced the biggest downpour of our trip so far. We quickly installed our awning and watched the rain from a little bit of protection. I pulled out the boat soap and scrub brush and took advantage of the fresh water dousing to do a bit of cleaning.

Red run-off entering the harbour

Once the rain settled down a bit, you could still hear some small waterfalls in the background rushing with rain runoff.

After shot .... you can see the hard transition in the distance

The soil and landscape around here is similar to PEI ... red. The fresh water that was now flooding down the hill sides and into the harbour (that's where the three separate water falls/rivers and culverts terminated) was VERY red. Being fresh water, with doesn't readily mix with the salt water. The result was a harbour full of red fresh water, flowing out of the harbour mouth and into the surrounding salt water, and not really mixing at all, and forming a distinct line of separation. It wasn't until morning that the colour of the water returned to normal.

Ramble On among the fishing boats

Our slip was located on the opposite side of the harbour to where the fishing wharfs and the marina office was ... where the washrooms and laundry where located. On one of Linda's trips around the harbour to use the facilities, she noticed one of the fishing sheds had it's doors open. Upon sticking her head in and looking about she struck up a conversation with the technician doing off-season repairs. He was very friendly and informative and took the time to explain the use of the tanks and the lobster fishing side of things once the lobsters are brought ashore.

The tank at Ballantynes Cove was built to hold up to 50,000 lobsters. Their claws are banded and are the lobsters are kept 100 to a crate, which are then submerged in the large pool. The pool is highly regulated for temperature and salinity, to keep the lobster in a calm dormant state. A few degrees warmer and they can become aggressive with each other or start molting.

Apparently there is a website where you can enter the number that is printed on the elastic claw band
so that the fisherman who caught the lobster can be identified. He said this is quite popular in Europe where they are very interested in proof of sustainable fishing practices. I learned that there are three categories of lobsters: caners-that will be processed before they are sent to market, Canadian-sold live but around 1 lb, and American-sold live and are 1-2 lb. Although called American, it just means that they're acceptable for the international market. He told me that Yarmouth has a larger storage facility and they are building one to house up to 1 million lobsters that will also hold them for longer periods so that live lobsters may be available year round.

Also part of the marina office was a Tuna Interpretive Center. Up until this point, the fisheries were predominately lobster, crab, oysters and mussels. Here was the first time we had seen anything about the tuna fishery. The centre was a one room display, but although small had interesting information about the fishery. Marriah told Linda that it can cost up to $2000 for 4 guests to go tuna sport-fishing (catch and release) for a few hours.

From here we would leave in the morning to head for the Strait of Canso!

Hawksbury/Strait of Canso Yacht Club

New snuffer worked perfectly!

Our sail from Ballantynes into the Strait of Canso started off with a perfect opportunity to put our spinnaker snuffer to work. We had a comfortable reach all the way, and snuffed a couple of times to sort out minor rigging issues. Ultimately we had to fire up the motor in order to make it to Port Hawksbury so we didn't arrive in the dark.

Large quarry on west side

By the time we approached the strait, the wind had piped up again to about 20 knots. There is a man-made causeway across the strait (originally called a "Gut" as is common on the island) completed in 1955. As a result, there are locks and a swing bridge on the Cape Breton side of the causeway. The lock manages the difference in water level that result from tides and flow on each side of the strait.

Finnish Line exiting lock

As we approached the lock both Finnish Line and ourselves mistook a red range light for the lock light when, in fact, there was a very small traffic light at the lock entrance which neither of us saw until quite close. It was green and may have been for quite a while. Our passage through the lock was complicated by the stiff breeze from behind in addition to a bit of following current. Both Finnish Line and ourselves had a hard time keep aligned in the lock due to the wind pushing out sterns out from the wall. Fortunately, it was only about a 2' drop so it didn't take long.

Evening view from CSYC

Once we exited the lock, we had only 3 nm to go before we arrived at the Strait of Canso Y.C. (the same entity as the Hawksbury Marina) where we would be staying for the night.

Hot steaming ... industrial!

Our initial stop was the gas dock. The marina attendant was on lunch break when we arrived, but after a short wait, we were able to fuel up. To our surprise, however, the marina only accepts cash! So Linda walked a km to the nearest ATM so that we could make payment. The club/marina was a nice building, with a odd "U" shaped dock system that required us to walk away from the club, along a interesting wooden wave attenuator, and then back to the club. Bob and Chris ventured into town for a short walk and explore.

Loading up on something dusty

All of us were kept amused by the train engines the were being shunted around, in particular right beside the clubhouse. Lots of rumbling diesels, clanking tracks, engine horns, and other noises that broke the quiet at regular intervals. There is a bunch of heavy industry nearby and saw our triplet of engines appearing at various factories and industrial site a mile or two away.

St. Peter's (Bras d'Or Lake)

Seals feeding at the tip
of Isle Madam

Porpoise

Today we departed Hawksbury to head into the Bras d'Or Lake(s). We might normally take the inside route through the Lennox passage, but the bridge has been under construction since the spring. The latest news reports were from April and had estimated completion as June 30. However, after interrogating all our sources, we determined it was not yet open.

Cormorants doing their job

The bridge was suffering from problems of expansion in the heat, and at one point the local fire department was unable to get to the island because the bridge would not close properly and the fire consumed the building. Until the repair work began, the decision has been closed for safety. Thus mariners have had to take the longer route around Ile Madame. Not a big deal as it only added a handful of miles to the leg.

Jerome Point Light

We had a great sail around the island, and after we rounded, we took a north heading to find the entrance to the Bras d'Or Lakes. The entrance to the lake is via the St. Peter's canal which is tucked into a small bay. The entrance is almost indistinguishable except for a small lighthouse nearby.

Exiting traffic

Once close we circled around, while in radio contact with the lock people, to peek down the small canal to see the progress of the boats exiting the lock. It is a very short canal, with just a couple hundred yards on each side of the lock. But in high season (mid-July through mid-September) they lock through anywhere from 20 to 40 boats a day.

Then us!

The lock is a national historic site, and this was their 150th year in operation. As a result, we got a cute little certificate for passing through. We're boat 261 this year! The lock is similar looking to the Rideau locks (older stonework structures, pretty grounds, etc.) but the lock are hydraulically operated and the gates are more modern steel structures.

There is also a new (2 years old) swing bridge that passes over the canal (an upgrade to the old single lane bridge). Once we passed the bridge we were quickly into the "lake(s)", and after erroneously following the buoyed channel the wrong way (and then questioned by Finnish Line on the radio as to "um, where are you going?") we turned left and headed the short distance to the St. Peters Marina.

The marina is located at the end of a small quiet bay that contained a number of mooring balls as well. We were greeted at the dock by the full staff (training day?) of about 5 people. As friendly as you could ask for!

The marina was owned and run by the Lions Club. It's located on a small hill overlooking the docks and the bay. There is a large lounge and kitchen for use by the boaters and regularly used for evening ceilidhs.

Fender boards against rock walls
of lock

The town of St. Peter's is only about 15 minute walk from the marina, and contains a Coop grocery store, NSLC, Home Hardware, authentic German bakery (Carmen's), and a handful of other stores plus a few restaurants, Mac Bouche being one of them. This was where we had dinner our first night, accompanied by a open mic ceilidh. Each entertainer was allowed three songs. The most unique act was a former local, "Chuck", who was more of a poet than a singer, but sort of said his poetry to a melody. The content was mostly about the rat race in Toronto and comparison to his old life in Cape Breton. Chuck had two other songs that followed the same melody (no chorus, just verse after verse). I wish I had made a short video of it! The other entertainers were mostly local. The content was purely from a maritime perspective, and for the most part quite good.

Our schedule going forward is to head out for a few nights to some nearby anchorages, and then return where Bob's crew, Chris M. would catch a ride to Shediac with Tarja and at the same time she would pick up Ben from the Moncton airport to have him join for a week while we explore the Bras d'Ore Lakes.

While in the lakes we will connect with Peter and Ze and perhaps will cross paths with Tom and Sue again.