A Spy, Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore and Brown Water

A sailboat shared our first anchorage on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia.  (Louise Harbor, Seal Cove)

Comments by other boats mentioned the lack of cell service in Seal Cove because of the high cliffs.  After experiencing
Newfoundland, we just didn't see any!

We cruised by Canso, a major fishing port on the tip of the eastern Nova Scotia mainland.

Dick and I on Salty Paws spent four nights at Liscombe Lodge while waiting for sea conditions to improve.

Heavy rains the day before made the trails impassable, but were able to ride mountain bikes
to Liscomb Falls.

Molly at the wheel in seas that she likes!

Molly, my spouse, is a saint.  In our numerous travels on Salty Paws she has broken a toe in rough conditions, experienced the boat broaching, and stressed through too many times when seas and winds greatly exceeded what was forecasted.  She has reached her limit on open-water passages, and, as many of you know, Molly opted out of this adventure after Quebec City and was replaced by our friend, Dick Klain.

What I did not realize, is that her level of discomfort does not diminish when she is ashore and I am out in open water.  She can monitor Salty Paw’s progress in real time using the Garmin weblink http://share.garmin.com/CruisingonSaltyPaws that picks up our location, speed, and direction via satellite.  Perhaps, this is a mistake to have such technology!  During last week’s 200-mile crossing from Newfoundland to Cape Breton our buddy boat Vega and Salty Paws stopped half way across.  We quickly received a satellite text from Molly:

Molly: “What is going on??? Why the slow speed and change of direction??? Is it too rough? Are you turning around?

Me: “You are a spy!  I was legally emptying the contents of the composting toilet into the ocean!”

Molly: “Yes, I am a spy!”

The Garmin weblink shows our route to-date and the present location of Salty Paws along with boat speed and direction.

80 miles from any shore Otto adjusted a line on his bow while
I dumped out the contents in our composting toilet.

That passage across Cabot Strait was relatively smooth, and we were able to average around 14 mph.  We approached the Cape Breton coast as the sun set with still 30 miles to go.  Soon, the half moon was behind a cloud, and we were in complete darkness except for the lights from the still distant shore and the navigational lights on our two boats.  If you have not navigated at night, or even if you have, the lights and distances can be very deceiving.  A light that appears close, can be far away, and a light that appears far away can be close.

This is like what we saw in
the sky.  Downloaded from
Yahoo images.

From this distance we saw white, red, and green lights providing passage to three different harbor entrances.   Using the chart, I was able to discern the correct one although what seems just a couple of miles away was 10.  Then, we saw a large red circle in the sky in front of us.  At first, I was thinking that Canada has developed some new high tech navigation aid.  Then we realized that it was from fireworks on the shore.

Vega and Salty Paws tied up to a fishing boat off Little Bras d'Or.

Finally, we reached calm waters just inside Little Bras d’Or and pulled into the nearby fishing port around 10:30 pm.  There was no room to anchor, but I was able to call out to someone on shore who immediately gave us permission to tie up to a fishing boat.;  Once Salty Paws was secure, Vega tucked in next to us.  Otto, Dick and I then unwound with Bourbon or Scotch along with a nut mix and peanut butter and saltines.  We finally took for our berths at 11:30 pm or so.

Our next day’s 70-mile passage through the Bras d’Dor Lake was a little rough but manageable until we got to the main part of the Lake.   While the forecast was windy but calm seas in the Lake, we got the wind and 4-5 foot seas on top of each other.  The text comes in almost immediately:

Molly: “You have slowed down.  Are you in rough seas?  Should you be out there?”

Well, here she had me, but I had altered course to get to the lee shore as quickly as possible.  I soon was able to text “We are fine, but the conditions in the middle of the Lake were worse than forecasted.”  We later learned that the forecast for Bras d’Or Lake always understates the impact of winds for the center of the Lake!  Shortly thereafter the call came in:

Molly: “Dick in his emails tells it like it is with the weather, but you don’t share with me how bad it is.  I want to know all the details!” 

Me: “But I haven’t even done my blog yet for this section.”

What am I to do?  At least when Molly was with me, she never accused me of sheltering her from the facts because she was experiencing them directly!   Of course, if the weather cooperated and was always calm, that would be no issue. 

We ended our boating day at St. Peter’s Marina, near the canal used to exit the western end of Bras d’Or Lake.  Shortly after arrival, Vega was pulled out of the water.  Otto then gave us a quick tour of the town in his truck before he departed to drive to North Sydney to pick up Rob, who left his boat, Sea Hag, in Newfoundland, and took the ferry back to Cape Breton.  Rob had earlier decided not to chance the crossing with us, and would get his truck and trailer in St. Peter’s and go back on the ferry to pick up his boat.  Rob texted us a goodbye message the next morning, and Otto came by so we could give each other big hugs on our successful adventure.  He then drove the 1,500 miles home to Webster, New York, in two days!

Our route through the islands.  Blue is for 
August 28th.  Red is for August 29th.

I felt like I was in Maine while cruising
through the Eastern Nova Scotia Islands.

Salty Paws with Dick and me is now cruising down the eastern Nova Scotia coast, which could easily be mistaken for Maine.  The coast is dotted with islands, mostly covered with spruce and fir, and lined with solid granite shores and rocky beaches.  For the next three days we docked at Liscombe Lodge Resort as while waiting for seas to calm down from numerous thunder storms and Franklin, the hurricane that is far offshore.  Seas along the coast have had up to 10-feet swells with an 8 second period.  Our threshold is no more than 3-foot swells with at least a 6-second period.  We will soon learn if seas have quieted down enough as we will leave the Liscombe Lodge.  At the recommendation of the tour boat operator here, we are leaving Friday afternoon, September 1st, rather than early Saturday, September 2th, because the wind today is off the land. Our next major destination is Halifax.

The water color as we enter the
 mouth of the Liscomb River.

I should mention that the fresh water flowing in the ocean throughout Atlantic Canada is brown in color.  This is not due to pollution, but rather the tannin from decaying vegetation.  It also occurs in Maine and other states that are heavy with vegetation, but it is much darker here.   In the Newfoundland outports, this is also the color of the drinking water as it comes directly from streams and lakes without filtration.  Interestingly, the color disappears in the winter due to freezing and/or less plant decay.

Below are pictures that highlight our 3-day stay at the Liscombe Lodge dock.

Liscombe Lodge is a somewhat tired, but welcomed resort on the Eastern coast in rural Nova Scotia.
It started as fishing camp in 1960, was purchased by the province in 1976 in their effort to promote tourism and returned to private hands in 2020.

Dick and I used the Lodge's bicycles to bike to Liscomb Falls and the Liscomb Fish Ladder on a rough dirt road, often covered with water from all the rain.

Panaroma showing Liscomb Falls to the left and the swinging bridge.

Adjacent to the swinging bridge is the part of the large pipe for the hydroelectic plant built in 1903.
It funneled water from the falls through a turbine.  The plant operated for a few decades and gave rise
to the need for a fish ladder to help spawning Atlantic Salmon.

Here we are standing at the top of the fish ladder. The high water level obscures the fish ladders below,
but one can make out some of the ladder sections.

The hot tub and pool were a nice distraction, and I learned that Dick used to be a competitive swimmer at the University of Connecticut.

Any chess players out there? The queen pawn opening is one of my favorites!