Baddeck

We’re in a place not only with decent cell signal, but also with WiFi, so I can finally upload the pictures from my phone and have something other than text in the blog entry! I will also go back to the previous post and add some pictures. Eventually.

The spin project

I started Monday morning by thinking about how I can secure the tack line for the spinnaker so that it won’t rub against metal and yet won’t fall off the roller. The setup with the block was great on the starboard tack, but when Salty Ginger was on the port tack, the line started to chafe. We just didn’t run the spinnaker in strong winds and not for long, so it hasn’t completely chafed through, but it was clearly damaged and therefore with the help of a knife became a bit shorter yet again.

Mark and I brainstormed solutions that could be done with the materials aboard. It was clear that the block has to be low. Even tying a tight loop over the roller to secure the block created chafe points. I saw a stainless tube and proposed to cut it to the right length and make an opening in the middle for the shackle which would hold the block. Cutting stainless takes time, so we didn’t rush into that project. And then Mark proposed to cut the plastic roller instead. If it is not useful (the boatyard couldn’t find a roller of the right length), then at least we can repurpose it. That worked beautifully, so I hoped that we could try it out later in the day.

Swinging and swimming

A few years ago we set up a swing rope with the spinnaker pole. It was fun, but initially the configuration was a bit dangerous. This time I ran the lines a bit differently and used that stainless pipe that we didn’t cut earlier to create a more comfortable handhold than just the line. That worked great! Sasha was busy with work, but the rest of us were busy jumping into the water for quite some time.

Katya stayed on the inflatable pillow. As of the day before, she wanted to take a ride in quieter protected waters. Her brother joined her and although she was close to pushing him off a few times, the two of them rode until the exit from the harbour. Then Katya came aboard and Pasha stayed to try to catch the waves in the open water. But the winds were much lighter and there were no waves, so he got bored pretty quickly.

Pringle Island

The cruising guide describes the island as having abundant blueberries, so there was a good reason to go there, besides just wandering around, which in itself is a good reason to go to a

shore. When we were getting close the wind picked up to 15 knots, but the place we chose for anchorage provided excellent protection from the waves and to large degree from the wind. For lunch we finished the leftovers. Course 1: mackerel soup. Course 2: clam chowder (that Anton bought for Leo in Trader Joe’s). Course 3: potatoes and котлеты (meat balls).

I packed my T-shirt, camera, sunglasses and shoes into the dinghy, wished everyone a good ride ashore and started swimming to the island. It turned out to be rather helpful. The lake bottom was rocky and shallowed a few meters from shore to the point where the propeller would have caught the boulders. The engine was raised and I pushed the dinghy with its passengers towards the beach.

Blueberries were nowhere to be seen, so we split: Sasha and I went one way, the rest of the crew in the other direction. I noticed some bushes that looked like gooseberry, but they had no berries. There were also bushes that looked potentially like blueberry plants, but again no berries, not even the green ones. Then I saw two gooseberries on a bush. And a moment later Sasha, who walked anhead, exclaimed “oh-ho, that’s like in grandmother’s garden!” Indeed there were 4 or 5 gooseberry bushes that were covered in berries. Most of them were ripe, but some could have used a few more days to come to perfection. We overcame the problem of not having a container by putting them into the bottom of my T-shirt and then went along the beach aiming to go around the perimeter of the small island.

Going into the forest was not attractive. The first time we did it, we didn’t find anything interesting. And the second time I went in, I got 5 mosquito bites in 3 seconds and hurried out onto the beach with 5 more mosquitoes sitting on my legs. Grr.

On the windward side of the island (the winds are predominantly southwest here) we found a bunch of smaller mussels attached to rocks and then we saw Mark. He showed us a plant with green berries that might become ripe blueberries eventually, but their blueberry search also resulted in finding a different berry: raspberry. Not only that, they saw a deer who was feeding in the raspberry patch. Since they went into the forest for much longer than we did, they were a bit scratched up.

Dead run (everyone’s alive)

Away from the shelter of the island we found 18-20 knot winds blowing exactly in the direction where we wanted to go. We opted to go under the main and genoa instead of flying the spinnaker, so we haven’t exercised the new setup yet. We flew the sails wing-and-wing and Salty Ginger sped towards the Barra Strait at over 7 knots. Driving was fun, not too hard given that the waves behind us were lake waves and not ocean waves. Here is a short video to show what it was like.

When we were closer to the draw bridge, the angle to the wind did not allow us to fly both sails: the jib was fully blanketed by the main and was flapping helplessly. In any case we would have to take them down before motoring through the draw bridge, so the genoa was rolled in and the mainsail moved us forward at just over 5 knots.

The waves get kind of focused by the narrows, so it became choppy, which is what we expected having read the description before. And then Salty Ginger accelerated to 6.5 knots. We now had 23 knots of wind behind us. Much better than in our face. We saw a sailboat go in the other direction under motor and it did not look pleasant.

The bridge operator was waiting for us, so as soon as we pointed the bow into the wind and rolled the main in, he started the bridge opening sequence.

As soon as we passed the bridge, the nasty chop stopped and we were in practically flat water. The genoa brought us quickly into Maskell’s harbour, a pretty and well-sheltered cove.

Eagles don’t need cell coverage

Before we even dropped the anchor, Katya and Pasha noticed an eagle sitting in the trees. There were two other boats at anchor. The hills blocked all the wind and it was very quiet. The phone reception was pretty much nonexistent. Sometimes messages would go through, but placing calls was not possible.

Pasha flew the drone to take some more aerial pictures. In the meantime we observed the eagles and an osprey.

After dinner (Mark marinated chicken thighs and Sasha cooked quinoa) when it got dark, Mark noticed a bunch of fish attracted by the lights of the cabin, so the 3 of them went fishing. Sasha and I stayed in the cabin and sang songs. First in Russian and then in English when Mark joined us. The siblings tried to fall asleep earlier since we agreed to get up to see the sunrise.

Rich colors

According to the almanac the sunrise was scheduled for 5:43, so we set alarms for 5:30. When I opened my eyes I saw clouds above the cabin, but still decided to peek outside to see what was happening. Indeed, there were clouds above us, but off in the distance was a clearing and the sun started to illuminate the edges of the clouds that were reflecting in perfectly still water. Getting out of bed early was definitely worth it!

Crepes under spinny

Almost everyone went to bed after watching the sunrise. At the very least, Katya, Pasha and I. Sasha was working when I got out of bed at 7:15. Over coffee I was taking notes and around 9 we started the engine, picked up the anchor and motored out of the cove. Outside there was a gentle breeze, again southwesterly, so it was finally time to try out the new setup for the spinnaker. On the starboard tack it flew beautifully! No chafe!

I went below to start the breakfast and Sasha asked me if I were making crepes. Oh! Yeah! That sounds much better than whatever I was planning. Mark was steering. In a few minutes we had the batter ready. Halfway through, I had to stop the heat to help jibe the spinnaker. The last crepe came off the pan when we dropped the anchor at Baddeck.

On the hill to starboard we saw quite a mansion on the hill. Who could possibly live there?..

The unbelievably well-known person

The main reason why we pulled in early into the harbour was the fact that Sasha had to work. We left him on the boat and took Satly Ginger ashore. Not quite on the first try we found the dinghy dock of Baddeck Marine and went exploring. It is a village, not a town, so we didn’t need that much time to figure out what was where. Compared to St Peter’s it definitely has a charm, though. There are boutiques, a few cafes & restaurants. Now, on the one hand I now have 3 passwords to 3 different WiFi points, but neither of them seems to work reliably… Sometimes my phone creates a more reliable hotspot.

Of course, we knew that Alexander Graham Bell’s museum was in Baddeck, but what we did not know was that the mansion that we saw used to be his estate! The museum is quite lovely and we learned that not only did he work to teach deaf kids to speak (research inherited from his father). His wife was his student, who lost hearing at the age of 5. But after the invention of the phone he improved on the sound recording device from Edison, laying the path to the gramophone. He thought about how desalinated water could be made in quantity to improve remote island life. He worked with the Wright brothers on developing a flying machine and in collaboration with … established a world record of a foiling watercraft at over 100 km/h. What a remarkable person!

At 3:30, Pasha and Katya were sure that we should pluck Sasha out of the boat and get him to enjoy the museum as well. I let them explore the shops in the village and went to get their father.

The Malykhin family is leaving tomorrow. Mark and I will continue to explore the lakes, and perhaps beyond. The internet is not stable, so I can’t upload more pictures. Go figure. Even my camera doesn’t want to talk to my phone to get the photos peeled out of that storage. I guess it’s time to go back aboard and enjoy WiFi-free time…

(Not-so) Little Harbour

We took Gerry’s rule to relax seriously on Sunday morning: almost everyone slept in and we started quite late with our breakfast. Mark tried fishing, but the only thing that he caught was a crab that wound itself on the line.

There was not too much to do before we could leave St Peter’s: get a few more groceries, pump out the holding tank and take out the trash. Much of it happened in parallel, so by 11 we were underway.

Meandering to the lake

The engine was needed for all of 5 minutes to unfurl the mainsail and off we were on our way through St Peter’s inlet. The cruising guide description matched our experience precisely.

Sailing through this inlet is the nicest possible introduction to the Bras d’Or Lakes. A fair breeze and extremely smooth water offer a rare combination. It’s a lovely experience, especially after the challenges of the waters that you need to cross to get here.

After our experience walking through the village of St Peters and looking at the small harbour, I told Sasha, that perhaps I will get bored in the lakes. However, sailing through the inlet is definitely not boring. The islands created major wind shifts as we sailed. Mostly the wind was behind us, but then sometimes we would find ourselves on a close reach even though our course stayed the same.

And then we saw the opening into the Lake. A huge body of water, where the wind was no longer shifting, but blew steadily from the southwest. First at 15 knots and then building up to 20 (right as Katya and Pasha finished cooking), so that we had to reef both the main and the jib in order to be able to eat. And we were still doing 7 knots. Sort of in the direction we wanted to go, but we still didn’t have a clue as to where we would spend the night.

Jumping in the waves

Pasha inflated our inflatable “pillow” on the dock, so once he had a few minutes to digest lunch, he was ready to jump into the water to bounce around. First Sasha went with his son together. With the sails reefed, we were only doing 5 knots, but with two people it was bouncy enough, so Sasha came back on the boat but Pasha decided to stay. Seeing that we could only get to 6-6.5 knots, I partly unfurled the main, so now we could get up to 7 to provide an ultimate bouncy experience. We managed to do everything under sails, either heaving-to or just pointing Salty Ginger into the wind to slow down for drop off and pick-up.

Since we have enough experienced sailors aboard, I had a chance to go as well. Bouncing was fun, but then I tried shifting the balance to one side or the other. Swinging to the right and to the left of the boat while riding the edge of the inflatable was a lot more intense. On the windward side there were a lot more waves and I kept shaking the salt water off my face all the time. On the leeward side Salty Ginger was creating a much calmer sea state. After some 10 or 15 minutes my forearms were exhausted and I was ready to come back. Pasha was intrigued by the new technique and went back. He was swinging right and left and after 10 minutes he signalled that he was done.

Remote scenery

We decided to spend the night in Little Harbour, but on the way there we wanted to take a peak at the nearby islands and a former quarry at Marble Mountain. The islands look a lot greener than the ones that we have seen offshore. We rolled the mainsail in and enjoyed the scenery in the waters sheltered by the islands. Compared the ocean the sea state is, of course, very calm.

Katya took the helm and steered the boat into the Little Harbour. The charts do not show a clear depth contour at the entrance, but the cruising guide assured us that there would be at least 18 feet of water. We aimed through the center of the narrow entrance and were inside a huge pond. There are a few houses on the shores, but largely the shoreline is undeveloped, so finding a spot where only the forest was off our stern was easy. Two or three other boats are anchored.

The water was balmy! Even Mark was convinced that it was time to jump in and he went off the side with a big splash. And as expected, salinity of the water is way lower than out in the ocean.

In the mud and sand near the shore we discovered mussels and small oysters. Perhaps we’ll go foraging at some point with the next crew.

Katya and I went through the cruising guide and the chart to scope out the itinerary for the next couple of days before the 3 of them have to depart.

Pasha decided to try flying the drone in the wind and discovered that it compensated for the windy conditions very well and he took videos of Salty Ginger and the surroundings from quite far away above the forest.

The stars on the moonless night were very bright. I even convincingly recognized Ursula Minor. The Milky Way shone brightly and I was lucky to see two shooting stars.

Relax

Sailing without a plan

One of the decisions that we postponed as long as we could was where would we go to after Sable Island. Well, we knew it would be going north, but we didn’t pick a place. Early on we decided that going to St Pierre & Miquelon would be too much. Even if it would have been great to get some French croissants and wine. We considered going around Cape Breton Island on its eastern side, but between the sailing distance and uncertainty of which places we would ultimately want to see, we rejected the option of entering Bras d’Or Lake from the east. Canso, right on the tip of the NS mainland sounded interesting at first, but then the cruising guide kind of steered us away from that. It mentions Guysborough as a nice place to visit, so we set the direction towards Canso, and kept thinking what we should do. Ultimately we decided to go for Arichat, a small village on Isle Madame — Guysborough would be too much of a loop.

From 5:30 onwards we had decent wind. It rained a bit, so the deck and the sails were clean, then the rain went away and there was some sun shining through the clouds. Sasha came out around 7 and Mark came out at 7:30 or so. Pasha and Katya were sleeping. Then the wind picked up and we started heeling. Our expectation was that one of them would come out pretty quickly out of the cabin that they are sharing. Turned out that Katya rolled onto Pasha, so they kept sleeping for at least half hour at a relatively steep heel angle until they woke up and came out.

The wind was steady with a relatively flat sea, so we handed the wheel to Katya, who hasn’t sailed before, so that she could get a feel for steering the boat in perfect sailing conditions.

As we were at the entrance of the inner harbour, the wind died down. English breakfast and coffee were ready, so we slowly drifted under mainsail alone while enjoying the meal.

With only a couple of miles left to go, the engine was on, the mainsail furled, and we followed the advice of the cruising guide to go into the easternmost part of the harbour and drop the anchor there. Suddenly the VHF came on. “The sailing vessel that is going towards Isle (ah-eel) Madame Boat Club, please come in.” We responded and ultimately got an invitation to pull into the club. Why not? We didn’t have a plan for where we would spend the day nor the night, and perhaps we could learn something from the locals.

We were greeted by two gentlemen on the dock who took our lines and welcomed us ashore. For all of $67 we could stay the night, get access to the “pristine showers” (per cruising guide and totally true) and use the fresh water to clean up the boat after the passage. They even offered us a ride to the grocery store or the hardware store should we need that.

The club is on the opposite side of the bay from the village, so the options for getting into “downtown” were an hour-long walk or dinghy across. We opted for the latter, and the guys pointed out a spot where we could land. There was more useful information we did get from them. One of our ideas was to go around Isle Madame on the north side through Lenox passage, but we were informed that the bridge is not operational, so we wouldn’t be able to pass! Well, we know how we get to St Peter’s.

Once the boat was practically spotless, life vests washed, jack lines stowed and laundry loaded, we hopped into the dinghy and motored across the bay. 

The “downtown”

Arichat is not exactly a tourist trap. Its location on the hill is somewhat similar to Lunenburg, but the village is much smaller and doesn’t have the same charm. The French landed in the area in 1600s in Port Royale and according to historians mixed with the local Mikmaq population: interracial marriages were common and both groups learned from one another. The French named this colony Acadia. Abundant coastal fishing led to significant expansion of the colony and fuelled the growth of Arichat to the point where it was home to multiple wharves. I’m sure having a big protected bay helped. In mid-1700s the British fought for the control of the region and seeing the Acadians not exactly amenable to becoming British subjects, plundered towns and deported a large number of people. Ultimately some form of bilingual coexistence prevailed, at least in some regions of Nova Scotia.

After landing the dinghy on a small beach we had to walk down a street with no sidewalks, but then route 206 which runs a bit higher parallel to the shore did end up having a sidewalk, so the last 50 meters to the cafe we were finally off the road.

One of the things that was immediately clear: this island is bilingual. Yes, the guys at the dock both spoke French and English, but then all the official signs were duplicated. It took me a while to decipher “Ch Binets Ln”: “Ch” for chemin and “Ln” for lane. The fact that it was (almost) always “Ch” first and “Ln” or “Rd” last helped.

At the cafe, which also serves as a gas station and a gift shop, we were informed that the espresso machine is broken. They had a choice of sandwiches, but otherwise nothing particularly interesting food-wise, so we continued down the street until we saw a little restaurant specializing in “seafood and home cooked food”.  There was a variety of food on the menu: fish & chips, burgers, and even liver & onion. Figuring that we are in a place that was heavily influenced by the French culture, Sasha and I opted to split the liver and a haddock. Both were ok, but the flavors definitely drifted far away from the French cuisine.

The waitress, a young girl, said that she grew up in a bilingual household, but since her father did not speak French, she mostly spoke English. Oh boy, was her French accent thick. No, it was not a typical American accent, it was a mixture of Canadian French and English, and it took all of my concentration to understand her. And then a quarter of the words she said while speaking Frenglish were English.

We visited the church Notre-Dame de l’Assomption built in the 1830s. From the water it gives a certain charm to the village. Inside was not pompous, but pretty and it was worth our time.

Fishing and scavenging

I spotted a bight on the nearby Jerseyman island which looked quite promising for mussels. The low water was due at 7:30pm, so for the first time that day we were somewhat time constrained. Mark got new lures for mackerel, Sasha and his kids got ice cream, and we went back to the club house.

The wind picked up to 15 knots, but leaving the dock was easy: the wind swept us away from it and I just had to motor forward.

At Jerseyman island the anchor held right away. The chart says that the bottom should be rocky, so we attached a trip line to the anchor, but when we pulled the anchor up it was clear that the bottom was thick mud.

Rowing towards the nearest shoal covered in seaweed took all of 3 minutes: the wind was taking us directly there. Before we reached it, Mark caught the first mackerel!

An hour later we had half a bucket of mussels and 8 oysters. But rowing back was not easy. The wind picked up to 20 knots and kicked up waves. The combination was quite a force that pushed the bow away from our intended direction. Katya and Pasha were rowing, but since their power was not equalized, the dinghy was zigzagging back and forth. As soon as the bow would get caught by the wind, the dinghy would start to quickly turn away from it and then it would take a while before the bow was pointed into the wind. I was “directing” the operation from the back: “Pasha, stop”; “Pasha row”. Then I saw Mark signal me that he was ready to throw us a line. I signalled him back not to do it: I was pretty sure that the brother and sister would want to persist till we reach the mothership. After all they eagerly opted to row together.

Aboard we found Mark with a few fish. He threw the small ones back and was very giddy about the success. He handed the rod to Pasha and then to Katya. Each caught one fish pretty quickly. By the time it was Sasha’s turn, the fishing luck ran out, so after he cast the rod in vain a few times we picked up the anchor and went back.

Docking with a side wind of 15 with gusts to 18 looked a bit challenging. Since the dinghy was still in tow, Mark and Sasha rowed ashore. Pasha on the bow and Katya on the stern were ready to hand them the dock lines. I backed in, ready to abandon the attempt should the wind start to sweep the bow into the shoal some 20 feet to leeward. The decisive manoeuvre worked on the first try!

Late dinner

We had quite a bit of work to do: pick up the laundry, clean the fish, start cleaning the mussels. Mark and I went to the clubhouse to clean the fish, thinking that maybe we can eat there. However, once we started to clean up after the fish were gutted, we realized that we may not live up to the cleanliness of the club house, so we left the kitchen as spotless as it was before and decided to eat aboard.

Sashimi for appetizer and grilled fish with potatoes for the main course arguably was tastier than the local flair. After dinner we took showers in the club house and ended up having tea till 1am. We were not doing an overnight. We were getting into a much more relaxing mode.

Off to the Canal

We took it rather slow in the morning. I made a tuna salad for lunch, we took out the rest of garbage and recycling. Mark caught a couple of mackerels and filleted them to make ceviche. At 11 we left the dock, unrolled the main while motoring against the wind to the buoy marking the first shoal and then turned off the engine and sailed. On the south side of Isle Madame the wind was in our back, so we set the spinnaker.

At 2pm the wind gods decided to take a break. Sails down, the usual four of us jumped into the water.

When we were ready to come out of the water, Neptune came back from his coffee break, so we just set the jib (yes, the captain will sometimes sail without a huge foresail!) and proceeded north toward the entrance to St Peter’s canal.

The attendants at the canal informed us that the locks were already opened in our direction, so we should just pull in. This was the first time any of us transited a lock, so I was a bit nervous, but the two women who greeted us were very helpful and nice. Mark asked them about fishing and once he was allowed to cast the line while we were waiting for a fishing boat (that ultimately misjudged their timing), he and Pasha were busy.

The gates closed behind us, then the gates opened in front of us. The rotating bridge was turned and we proceeded into Bras d’Or Lake.

St Peter’s

The attendant a the marina told us to take any of the red buoys. Each buoy was occupied by a cormorant drying its wings. Dinghy unfolded, lowered into the water, engine attached, we were at the dock.

I could read some hesitation in the facial expression of the young fellow who said that we could go into the village. “There are couple of restaurants,” he said. Indeed, that is an accurate description of St Peter’s. The harbour is lovely! The ice cream, according to the rest of the crew, not so much.

Back at the dock we met Gerry, the fellow who runs the marina. He informed us that we could get propane refilled, but only on Monday, and elsewhere on the lake the ride will be much longer. As we were ready to part, he looked at us sternly and said, “there is only one rule here, and if you can follow it, then we will have no problems.” Seeing our questioning looks, he added, “relax, that’s all”.

Aboard we had part two of the seafood feast. We may not specialize in cooking it, but the fish soup made from what remained after filleted mackerels and mussels steamed in white wine was our version of local flair.