St Anns Bay

By the time we had breakfast, the interest in discussing the alarms that went off during the night waned. There didn’t seem to be any fish in the shallow waters of the bay, so we departed after a quick swim. When the dinghy was pushed towards Salty Ginger, Georgi got brave and jumped onto it to see what the humans were up to in the water.

In the light winds we set the spinnaker, and yet again the wind was directly behind us, so wing-and-wing it was. There was a lonely sailboat that went deeper into St Patricks Channel and until we were much closer to Baddeck that was the only traffic on the water. Just south of Baddeck we found quite a few sailboats: we had to navigate through a regatta with some 15 boats. They were all going upwind, so I had to do my best not to interfere with them. Once we entered the Great Bras d’Or, again we were alone.

Since the wind died down, I let the kids spend some time on the inflatable. The rascals wanted to protect their hands with gloves, and of course, one glove was lost when Alex flew off the pillow. The rest of the way under the bridge and through Point Noir narrows was quick since the current was helping us. The clouds disappeared and it was rather warm, Salty Ginger’s speed almost exactly matching the wind speed.

The current through Point Noir was very strong. The wind also picked up and we entered the Gulf of St Lawrence at 11 knots! Now we had to round Cape Dauphin to get to Fairy Hole, the cave which was pointed out to Mark and I by the locals last week. The wind that was with us for the last few hours now was in our face, but despite the few miles of water from St Anns Bay to where we were, the chop was not that bad.

Fairy Hole

The steep rocky shoreline was quite impressive! We had no trouble spotting the cave and the little beach nearby where one could land. The question to which I did not know the answer was what kind of bottom we would find. I attached a trip line to the anchor and in it went and set right away in the strong wind. Salty Ginger was safe in some 20 feet of water.

Of course the motion of the boat was quite different from the motion of the dinghy. The up and down motion made it challenging to attach the engine and to embark. Julia opted to swim ashore, and the rest of us got there in two trips: I took the kids first and the picked up Dima and Diego.

The boys found remnants of lobsters (ok, we believe that they exist here) and a few other stinky treasures which ultimately had to stay ashore. The waves entering the cave made low slurping sounds making it kind of magical to be inside. The name does fit the place.

Before swimming back, Julia and Alina found small mussels on the rocks which they harvested for appetiser. The wind was still blowing, so between the water temperature and going out into the wind, the girls were freezing and needed to bundle up and drink some tea.

St Anns Bay

Between the sandbar on the west side and Englishtown on the east side runs a cable ferry. We saw the cars being loaded onto the ferry, so clearly it was still in operation. They didn’t come on the radio first, but as we neared the narrows, the captain hailed us. I said I would like to coordinate our passage and he kindly let us through.

By now the current reversed and sucked us into the whirlpools inside the bay. We anchored well out of the channel and the kids under the supervision of Dima and Diego went fishing. The school of mackerel was swimming under and around Salty Ginger, so the fishing was ridiculously easy: lower the sabiki rig to the bottom and within seconds there would be a bite. Most fish were too small to keep and had to be thrown back. Julia doesn’t enjoy the game of catch-and-release, so she stayed inside and cooked the dinner, which was followed by a game of picture codenames and a few songs.

The night was quiet. Not just in comparison to the night before. It was just wonderfully quiet. I got up at sunrise to go to the bathroom and saw gorgeous red outline of the horizon with a few clouds. The sun was rising behind Cape Dauphin, so knowing that I won’t see it come out of the water, I went back to sleep.

The morning fishing was different: the bites were not nearly as frequent, but the fish that Alex pulled out were significantly larger than what we got last night. We’re definitely all set for a fish-based menu today!