Monday, August 29, 2011

Hurricanes, Halifax and More Blue Bags

All is well here in Mahone Bay, on a beautiful sunny Monday, but very windy day, post Irene. We holed up last night in a well protected anchorage, and thankfully, for this part of Canada the hurricane was a non- event-- very reminiscent of our experience a year ago with hurricane Earl. The following post was actually ready to go last Thursday, but for many reasons, technical (no internet!) and otherwise (just busy!) it was delayed. So here it is.
Rainbow over Chester


It would be so much easier if I blogged more often. Now I have too many photos to share, too many places to describe and without my calendar/ log, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you where we’ve been. Once past Lunenburg, distances between destinations are short and we’ve come and gone from some favorite spots several times. 

We’re in Halifax now, which we’ve rediscovered after our visit here three years ago and find we’re really enjoying the town, the vibrant waterfront and just being here. The difference in our attitudes is certainly in large part due to being in the center of things; this year Carry On is docked in a new, attractive area of the waterfront rather than sitting in the northwest arm of Halifax Harbour at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Club.The yacht club is two connecting buses away from the city, or a rental car is essential --and the slip prices are unreasonably high. The wake from passing ships, tugs, pilot boats and pleasure boats can be a little rough here, the dock power is less than what we require, but we’re making do and as they say, location is everything.

We’re relaxing between guests and happy that Hurricane Irene has not prevented our friends from coming this afternoon as planned. We’ve done some revision of our original plan, as we’ll need to hole up for a couple days and likely will do the trip back to Salem in two hops rather than one long 40 hour trip. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
At my last post we were in the Gold River on a Saturday night, a pretty spot for an evening, but without internet or a place to go ashore, we were underway early Sunday for Chester. We had a lovely day walking around this pretty small community, a summer place for generations of Americans, many from Connecticut and Philadelphia. Alas by sunset, the internet was iffy and the sky was clouding up. We woke to a gray morning and Paul had coffee while I walked. We looked for a solution to our internet problems and were directed to the Lido Pool, where the wifi service for the harbor is housed. After much discussion of potential problems, but no with solution, we dinghied back to the boat as the rain began to fall in earnest. Finally, late in the day the sun came out and we were treated to a spectacular rainbow.

Main Street, Mahone Bay
Trio of Church Spires, Mahone Bay
Waking up to what looked like more rain (no internet, therefore no weather forecast!) we decided to head back to Mahone Bay where our wifi reception was at least passable. What we thought might be one night there turned into three, as the wind howled and waves rolled up the harbor while thunder boomed and lightning crackled. We consoled ourselves with  pasta and chocolate over what seems to be the prevalent weather pattern this summer. It can make a person begin to feel crazy.
En route to Hubbards Cove we passed a long, low ledge sitting just barely out of the water. I commented to Paul how easy it would be to miss it in fog before modern navigation aids and asked its name. Since its name is Seal Ledge and I needed something to amuse myself, I got out the binoculars to have a look. Sure enough, there were 50 or 60 seals sunning themselves on Seal Ledge-- very aptly named!  Too far away for a photo, sadly.

We had long planned to visit the Hubbards Cove Farmers Market on Saturday morning and had made plans with Canadian friends from three years ago to meet for Friday night dinner there. We were slightly disappointed in the market, although we’re not quite sure why. We remembered two wonderful blue grass bands at our last visit and this Saturday featured a lone singer with a wimpy mandolin. And where was the young woman who sold the organic catnip toys that Bubba loved so much?

Rogue's Roost

We were anxious to get to Halifax on Sunday to be ready for our guest from Tokyo, so we left Hubbards Saturday morning after the market and splitting the trip in half, visited another new anchorage. We’d heard about Rogue’s Roost before and been warned not to go there on weekends to avoid the boom box crowd. We decided to go for it anyway, despite it being Saturday night. I have to say that Rogue’s Roost is one of the most spectacular anchorages we’ve ever seen. The rock formations all around us were magnificent and the terrain up the grass covered slopes was strewn with huge boulders, remnants of the glaciers that receded thousands of years ago. It was a beautiful evening with an almost full orange moon, a starry sky unmasked by city lights, and as we left early the next morning, the sunrise was reflected in the perfectly still water. 


Tucked In, Rogue's Roost

Our jet lagged guest arrived on schedule in Halifax Tuesday and promptly went to sleep after lunch. We had a full day Wednesday and visited the Citadel, had lunch and sampled the wares at a pub known for its Nova Scotian beers. Amazingly we were still alert enough to visit one of the more incredible used book stores we’ve ever seen.

Paul and I’d been to the Citadel three years ago, but somehow this year we accidentally arrived for the firing of guns and the noon bagpipe ceremony, the largest displays of the day. I was captivated by the hat of the guard in the entryway and asked him about his very tall and showy hat. I wasn’t sure whether it was fur or feathers, but he explained that the lower black part was ostrich feathers and the upper white part was feathers from an African Vulture. I’d hate to think he was fooling with me, so I took that at face value. It was a hot day and he assured me the hat was actually quite cool, only a little itchy sometimes. I can only imagine.
Fine Feathered Hat

We wanted to show our guest the anchorage at Rogue’s Roost, so we stopped there Thursday night and Friday made the trip back to Lunenburg, so he could experience this United Nations World Heritage Site and its unique waterfront. On Sunday we were back in Chester, this time to much nicer weather. We took a very long walk, spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, reading the Times online and had dinner at a lovely inn in town.


As we still had things we wanted to see and do in Halifax, we left Chester early Monday morning, but the pitching and rolling, even with our stabilizers deployed, was severe. After four hours, we had all had ENOUGH and ducked back into Rogue’s Roost for shelter from the waves, wind and rain. Luckily the next morning was much calmer-- we left early and had an uneventful journey back to Halifax. Our voyages have often been interesting and beautiful at times, but sometimes uneventful is just the right note!
Just a few footnotes on the “blue bags”-- I got enough free samples at a Halifax waterfront event to carry me and my garbage all the way back to Massachusetts and more importantly, learned that their real benefit is that they are clear. I have been adhering to my own policy of recycle in one bag and combining the garbage and compost in another. As we were stuffing our garbage/ compost blue bag into a receptacle along the way, our guest, who is from the Netherlands, blithely informed me that if you mix the wrong things in Holland, your garbage is searched for your name and address and the offending items are mailed back to you along with a fine. Yikes. I will be dreading the next forwarded mail from Green Cove Springs!










Sunday, August 7, 2011

Trawler Trash Trauma



Brooklyn Fishing Fleet
We had a lovely evening on anchor at Carter’s Beach, but woke up to a windy and rainy Saturday morning, exactly as forecast. With more dire weather warnings as the day developed, the Navigator strongly suggested that we seek shelter for the rest of the day and night in Brooklyn, a very small town near the small town of Liverpool, with its very own paper mill and tiny yacht club/ hot dog stand. The trip was not too rough, and just a bit wet hauling anchor and getting underway. 


We radioed ahead on VHF to see if there were moorings or dockage available for a boat our size and got not the expected answer back on VHF, but did see two men standing on the slightly rickety looking dock waving us in. What the heck, we thought and rigged the dock lines and started in as the rain began falling harder. The dock volunteers caught our lines and were exceedingly accommodating-- they directed us in to the little clubhouse, gave us maps of the area and instructions on how to sort our garbage. 

Blogger at Work
Seriously, Nova Scotia takes garbage seriously-- or I should say, recycling, which seems to be a two part thing, composting and garbage (the leftovers of the previous two (or three) things. It’s defined down to potato chip bags (garbage) fish bones, meat skin and fat and fruit peelings, etc (compostable) and milk containers, glass and plastic bottles (recyclables-- there is something called “blue bag” which I can’t seem to figure out). Those of you who know me well know that I’m very committed to recycling. My husband calls me the Recycling Queen-- but I am intimidated. I have always managed a separate bag for the wine bottles, empty cans and plastics under my sink in addition to the big normal garbage bin, but compost too? I can’t disagree with the wisdom of the plan, but complying on a boat, even a 56 ft trawler, feels a bit more than I can manage. And now I’m nervous every time I need to dispose of trash-- what if they catch me putting compost in the garbage?


Lunenburg Approach
We had a nice rainy day on board in Brooklyn with eggs, sausages and toast for lunch and about 4 pm the sun came out, just enough time before showers and dinner for a nice long walk. On to Lunenburg the next morning in dazzling sunshine and fairly comfortable seas. We’ve been to Lunenburg before, but had a good time rediscovering old things with our guests and finding a few interesting changes on the waterfront. Lunenburg’s town center runs along the shore and up a steep hill, with buildings neatly painted in dark reds, shades of blue, a few grays and an occasional green or yellow-- it’s quite a sight coming in from the water. I perched on the deck and took about a dozen pictures, but I really don’t think I captured the affect.
Dory Shop, Lunenburg



Our guests left mid week on a very rainy morning, baggage neatly wrapped in garbage bags of different sizes and hues; all of us in foul weather gear survived the wet trip in the dinghy, actually two trips for the guys and the luggage. Breakfast out, reward for enduring.
The weather really didn’t want to clear up, despite a ray of sunshine here or there. The wet drizzle, grayness and fog persisted until on Friday we decided we needed a change of scene badly. The short trip up to Mahone Bay was easy, we anchored and went exploring. Mahone Bay has a certain tourist charm, but little seemed changed since our last visit except, happily, the major upgrade of the local grocery store. I had looked forward to revisiting this port and couldn’t quite figure out why I felt a little funky that night. I mentioned it at dinner and Paul concurred, suggesting that maybe we needed new horizons. 

At Anchor, Lunenburg Harbour

That sounded good to me, so after a few errands in the morning, we took Carry On exploring. We poked around Oak Island, Indian Point, many other islands and coves and anchored near the mouth of Gold River. The change of scene felt good, along with the first really sunny day we’d had in about a week. Today we headed to Chester, a half hour run, we will take care of some business there tomorrow morning, then take the ferry over to Tancook Island just for fun.
Using the “SPOT” isn’t rocket science, but if any of you noticed, our large blob of an arrival at Lunenburg seemed to have been by air. In our excitement at reaching Lunenburg and sunshine, we forgot to turn it off. And as we discovered on the trip over the Gulf of Maine, there is a finite number of tracking points. Maybe we need to buy stock in a lithium battery company!