They were calling for light wind building to 20 out of the SE which should be a great sailing day. On Wednesday they were talking about 20 out of the SW so we wanted to put some miles on and get off the Eastern Shore before the SW came back. We departed Liscombe at 0645 and moted out the river to te ocean. The wind was light and we had a lot of miles to put on so we motored until the breeze filled in around nooin and then we coniued on under main and jib with some assistance from out motor to keep our speed above 7 knots. We had a great day but the wind never really fill;ed in from the SE it was maily out of the South, no worries though and we passed Halifax at around 1800 hrs and were snuggly Anchored in Rogues Roost by 2000 hrs that evening. This was the last of the big mile days and we were going to relax for a few days in the Roost since rain was forecast for Wednesday.
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Aftyer double checking the weather several times and bailing out the dinghy which was full of water form the previous night we left Louse Hrbr around noon with a forecast of 25 - 30 out of the N or NW and 2-3 meter waves. Once we cleared the coastal hazards we were able to carry on under reefed main and jib, wow it was nice just saling. the breeze continued to build untli we had over 30 knots with large seas that we were coastingf over. The boat was still over powered and we were getting lots of weather helm so with a bit of a struggle we furled the jib completely and carried on under reefed main at 7 knots, wow. Other than the breeze the day was bright and sunny. however evry now and then we would take a wave that would cover the entire boat from end to end running down the back of the bimini. By the time we tuened up the Liuscombe river at 1700 hrs you could hardly see through the dodger with the salt spray we had taken. We pulled into one of our favorite little ancorages just inside Riley Island and ended the day with a hot shower nad homemade pizza on the boat. This was a good day where we learned a few more things about ourselves and Rose Lee.
Going from Halifax to Cape Breton is a pretty nice trip usually accomponied by our predominant SW wind, however returning to Halifax from CB is another story and can really be a nasty trip if the weather is not in your favour. I had been watching the weather for a few days local, marine and predictwind my app that helps with departure planning. Today Sunday they were calling for N-NW 20-25 with 2-3 meter waves, and Monday was NW 25-30 backing to SE on Tueaday and then 20 + out of the SW for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and thats not great! So we decided that we would make some miles today even thought the seas were pretty big. e wentb through the St Peter's lock at noon and made our way out towards Chedebucto Bay. The wind was in our favour so we were soon able to shut down the engine and carry on under full sail. We had a great sail across the bay and the seas didnt bother us to much until we cleared Andrews Channel just beyaond Canso and made our way back out into the Ocean. Our originall plan was to anchor in Portage Cove at the SW end of Andrews passage, but we had quite a roll and were unfamiliar with the entyrance so we decided to carry on to Louse Harbour which looked a bit easier to get into. When we changed plans to carry on for another 5 miles to Louse harbour we had to get back out in the ocean and it was around 1700 hrs so we had to get going. The waves were quite big as we re-entered the ocean some as big as 5 meters and Rose Lee was riding up and over them and down the other side. You know the waves are big when your whoe 47 foot boat can ride up one side and down the other. As soon as we turned we were able to get some sail up to stabilize the boat for our run down to Louse Hrbr we everaged between 8-9 until we were ready to turn in which only took less than a hour to reach. With the big rollers coming in we slowed the boat as much as possible but still were doing 7 knots as we enters the narrow entrance to Louse hbr. Once we made it in through the entrance we found a nice protected cove and set the anchor very securley knowing that the wind was coming up tonight (this was a perfectly protected cove from all sides and was rated R3 so I decided I dindt need an anchor snubber:(. I regretted my decision when I was on deck rigging a snubber at midnight with 25 knots of wind, thunder and lightening crashing all around (I won't make that mistake again). We never got much sleep on Sunday night, no waves but continuous thunder squalls with lots of wind.
We had a very relaxing day in St Peters, I got a haircut and we also got cought up on a litte shopping and laundry. After having a nice meal on the boat we made our way up to McBouch's Irish pub for some live music by Ross Rankin. The music was great and we were rewarded with a dry walk home to the Marina (no rain yet).
We had a very short motor over from Dominion cove located in St Peters inlet just past Dr. Island. We will be staying for a few nights in St Peters to check out a bit of their entertainment and wait for a weather window to head SW. The weather is calling for lots of wind and rain so St peters is a great place to hang around waiting for a forecast. The boat is all fueled up and we topped off our water tanks so we are ready to go when things are looking better. Tonight we ate at LKouies cozy corner and had their homemade Chinese food which was excellent. We came back to the club top find a great jam seesion in progress on the front deck of the St Peter Marina (three guitars and a fiddle) you have to love Cape Breton.
After getting a bit of ice we departed our anchorage in front of the Baddeck Yacht club around noon with the intention of heading down to west bay and exploring a few anchorages there that we haven't tried yet. Once we came around Kidson Island the wind was piping up to around 20 out of the SW So we set genoa up and shut down the motor and had a great sail to the Barra Straight Bridge averaging around 6.5 with just the genoa flying, sweet. Once we made it though the lift bridge we realized that we realized that West Bay was going to be an upwind slog so we opted instead to head for St. Peters Inlet and have a nice sail. The conditions were excellent about 18 knots of breeze and we averaged 7.5 all the way to the inlet where we finally had to start the motor (one of our nicest sails to date). Joyce picked out the anchorage called dominion cove and we were treated to bald eagles and great holding. Today Joyce helmed the boat while we anchored which was new to her but she did a great job and
Since Wayne and Gwen brought us some great weather Joyce and I have decided to stay and enjoy Baddeck for a few more days. We got out for a nice long walk this morning which we had been missing out on with the amount of sailing we have been doing. After our walk and a quick shower at tyhe Marina we decided to try out the High Wheeler Cafe for Breakfast. This cafe is great they have lots of homemade baked goods and fresh fruit etc.. Their brekfast sandwich was delicious. I picked up tickets for the local Ceilidh later that evening at St. Micheals Parish hall which seats about 50 and is an ideal setting to enjoy some traditional Cape Breten tunes. For the rest of the day we strolled around Baddeck and visited the yacht club to check on the race results and enjoy an efternoon refreshment. Soon it was time to head up to the hall for some music. We were entertained by a fiddler being back up by the piano, and in adition we were given a few lessons in gaelic and treated to some great stories. There was one portion of the evening where they were looking for four couples to volunteer for the square dancing set. Everyone was reluctant to raise their hand so Joyce and I got up a three other couples sooned joined us. The square dancing was great fun and hilarious to participate in luckley we had a patient teacher who was able to kind of keep us on track, but it was like hearding cats, way too funny and a great work out! We laughed our way back to Rose Lee and celebrated on board with a night cap to a day well spent.
Since Wayne and Gwen were nice enough to bring the good weather with them we made the best of it and the four of us had a nice walk about through town, hitting all the hot spots including a brief stop at the Bell museum. We checked out the shops and had a great breakfast at the "The Three Doors Down Diner". What a nice day to spend with Wayne and Gwen. Like all these perfect days they go too fast and we said goodbye to our guests at 1600 hrs since they were heading for the last ferry of the day to Prince Edward Island they had a bit of a drive. Until next time guys:)
We got underway at a reasonable time and were sad to be leaving the Washabuck river behind. We motored over to Baddeck which was about 3 miles away under a beautiful sunny sky. We Anchored just to the north of the Baddeck Yacht club where we had been before and found the holding to be excellent. We had another great set on our 1st try. Our timing was perfect and we received a call from Wayne and Gwen shortly after anchoring that they had made it to Baddeck and were ready for a pick up. We zoomed in and grabbed Wayne and Gwen and spent a bit of time relaxing on the boat for a bit before heading ashore to get some lunch. our 1st meal of the day. After lunch was finished we headed back to the boat to go for a sail. We had great conditions and our folks really seemed to enjoy the afternoon and we were able to sail get in pretty close to get a good view of Bein Breigh, Alex and Mabel Bell's homestead. After returning we re-anchored in our original spott and settled in for a fun evening. What a great day/night and to be able to share it with Wayne and Gwen was great. From their accounts the forward birth ius very comfortable and they enjotyed a good nights rest. |
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