Back in Nova Scotia

There is some pleasant news to report. After 57 47 years Makina has returned (or been returned) to Nova Scotia where the Cabot-36 series was manufactured. Coincidentally enough the first port of call was the Canso Canal which, itself, is situated on the fair Isle of Cape Breton where the Cabot-36 series was manufactured.

The passage from Summerside, PEI to the Canso Canal was another challenging one of fighting winds, currents and tides. First the tides...

My boat neighbor at the Summerside Yacht Club was a very helpful fellow called Greg. He was helpful to me literally before there was even a chance to step off of Makina. He and another neighbor, John, were there to meet me coming into the transient dock and took my lines thrown to them.

Greg is planning a trip to the Caribbean which he intends to depart on tomorrow, Oct 10th. It is not his first time down that way so was familiar with the Canso Canal as well as insightful tips for the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia to Halifax.

He explained that when ebb tide happened in the Northumberland Strait, between PEI and NB, that the tide exits from both the west and east side of the Strait. The two different directions to the tide happens at the narrowest part, which just so happens to also be the place where the Charlottetown Bridge crosses.

Greg suggested starting out about 2 hours before high tide, which should place me at the Bridge for high tide. That part of the plan worked out well and high tide found me approaching the Charlottetown Bridge.

Of course since leaving Quebec city the wind was again in my face, except for the run from Gaspe to Summerside. It seemed too risky to put up any sail while soloing under those wind alert conditions due to my recent shoulder injury.

The splitting of the tide due to the narrow point in the Strait is not an exact science. There are likely many factors that go into it. The wind in my face and tossing up swell with short choppy troughs was no doubt one of them. The result was that the benefits of the ebbing tide was not seen by me until well after the bridge, though the sight was something to behold in terms of modern marvels.

The rest of the passage gave me those short choppy waves so it was a lot of pounding on route. This was evident with a little clip created with Anne Bonny in mind, as she is always interested to know my galley gourmet. It is not clear to me if my meals like canned ravioli heated in their tin in boiling water gives her a chuckle or if she is genuinely impressed with my galley culinary style. Anyway, this one's for you Annie...

Because of having to fight the wind and swell my speed did not meet planned expectations. It ended up having me arrive at the Canso Canal after 22:00 on Tuesday; having left Summerside at noon Monday.

The delay left some concern about my diesel supply. The supply itself came down to one extra 20L jug so it was about 5 hours of passage too close. The other factor that had my concern was in the rough swell it was damn hard to put fuel in the tank without spillage and more importantly sea spray making its way into the supply. Others have told me that it can be the end of a diesel engine getting water into the fuel tank.

Navionics had the instructions to raise the Canal on channel 11 or 16 on VHF. After a number of attempts to contact them it was decided that something was wrong with the radio.

Me and Pierre had had similar no answers from different Marinas on the route. We had just assumed that they were not monitoring their radio and we would normally resort to a cell call. There was no cell number given in the Canal's documents.

With the red light appearing on the entrance of the Canal it was a hard balancing act. How to approach close enough to get someone's attention on shore by shouting while not, at the same time, causing any infractions to the safety of canal traffic.

On the first attempt up to the first red light there was no luck and it was needed to abort and pull back from the entrance and circle round for another attempt. On the second attempt a green light came on, while at the same time leaving a red one on as well. This was taken to mean proceed with caution; which it probably was not. An orange light instead of red would probably be used for that. However this was no time to pussyfoot around as diesel was down to my last 20L surplus jug and sleep could catch me on me feet at any moment having over 30 hours behind me already and a couple of more hours left until finding my safe port at the Strait of Canso Yacht Club who were expecting me.

Each fill up of the 5 20L jugs had me a bit stressed and every effort was made to keep the water where it belonged; outside of the vessel and in this case the diesel tank. You can see the spray on the cap of the tank as it is locked down in the following picture. It did not miss a chance to try getting in.

Finally while coming abeam of the red light my Hellos finally got a reply. A very understanding young lady came down the lock to answer my pleas. Explaining that my suspicion was that my radio was not working she took all the pertinent info required and was very understanding to my apologies; finally opening up the train bridge and letting out the lock to let me through.

The current from the lock and in the subsequent waters off Port Hastings gave me a bit of a surprise. The Yacht Club was given a call and due to the lateness of the hour it was not expected that there would be any welcoming committee; however Bert said that if the winds were giving me trouble to give a call back as he lived very near to the Club.

After a couple of tries it was evident that Makina might be made to come alongside the dock yet whether she would remain there when leaving her to tie up would be another matter. At the risk of having a ghost ship adrift in Port Hawkesbury's Harbor Bert was given another call and champ that he was he was there in ten minutes just as the skies had opened up and a cold sheet of rain was coming down. What a champ!

A nasty rain storm was unfolding above deck while dry cloths and heat was administered below deck. After a small snack no time was waisted climbing into my bunk and 12 glorious hours of sleep were had in which Pierre finally got his new boat in my dreams. Wish the make was more clear yet it seemed some type of prototype that seemed like something Pierre may like.

Awoke to a blustery day, yet the sun was out and laundry and showers were available. Also a safe port to plan the final passage to Halifax. Life is good, it's just too damn short!

May the wind be at your back!