Corbett's Cove, Bras d'Or Lake, Nova Scotia

Monday, August 25, 2008

045-40.380 N
060-49.260 W

Ahoy from Corbett's Cove on the Bras d'Or lake of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia!

How's that for a mouthful? But it certainly describes where we are. If you look at the map above, you'll see that we're in a lake named Bras d'Or (translated: the golden arm) which runs SW to NE across Cape Breton Island. Cape Breton is about 90 miles long and is the northern most section is Nova Scotia. The Bras d'Or lake, which kind of resembles a hand with 3 finger, stretches for about 52 miles.

Yesterday we made the 68 mile trek from Ballantynes Cove to our current location, which is just inside of the southern end of the lake. We motored across St. Georges Bay in light winds and then entered the Strait of Canso, which separates Cape Breton Island from mainland Nova Scotia. Right after we entered the strait, we had to go through a lock as large as the locks on the St. Lawrence. This lock is there to control current flow as there can be huge tidal differences between Northumberland Strait on the western coast and the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern coast. Before the lock was built the current could reach 6-7 kts, which made it unusable. Now it's one of the deepest ports on the east cost of North America.

When we went through, there wasn't much tidal difference, but they made me hold my position in the middle of the lock (without lines) for about 15 minutes while waiting for some opposite direction boats to show up. Holding yourself steady in a 76' wide lock with a wind blowing from the side isn't the easiest thing to do, but I managed just fine. I was glad when the other side of the lock opened up!

As we crossed St. Georges Bay I noted a brown stain in the air downwind of strait and wondered what was causing that. That became apparent as soon as we passed through the lock and saw a series of huge industrial plants, all of which were belching smoke into the air. There was a large gypsum plant, a power plant and an oil refinery. The dichotomy of the wind generator with the waste gas flare tower behind it made me smile. I titled the image "Clean Energy?"

From there we banged a left hand turn and headed towards the Lennox passage, which is a winding route through islands and reefs. The wind had picked up and was on our beam, so we could have sailed, but I was leery of having to deal with sail changes while winding though rock strewn areas. In retrospect it would have been OK, but that's a lesson to be remembered for my next trip here. The Lennox passage takes you through miles of rolling hills and desolate woodland. It's really quite beautiful, and sparkling sunshine certainly helped. Note, that it only got to 71 yesterday for a high.

After passing though a bridge with 3 kts of current flowing with us, we eventually got to the St. Peter's canal and lock which lets you into the Bras d'Or lake. This lock, which is a tidal lock, doesn't allow water to flow in from the southern end and the only water that enters is from a narrow entrance on the northern end. As a result the tidal range of the lake is only 6" compared to the 5' typical range outside of it. After tying up at the far end of the canal and briefly exploring the town of St. Peter's, we headed to Corbett's Cove, which is just a few miles away.

I knew that a cold front was coming through, so I wanted to spend at least one night anchored in beautiful tranquility and be able to enjoy a sunset from the cockpit before the clouds and rain arrived. I wasn't disappointed. Today has been a lay-day as we woke up to the sounds of rain pelting the deck and fog, which when it lifted every once in a while, would allow us to see shore. But the good news is that we used the time to plan our passage down Nova Scotia. Tomorrow we're headed N to Baddeck where we hope to rent a car and explore Cape Breton.

-- Geoff & Sue

For the cruiser:

The Down East Circle Route guide states that you should tie up on the S end of the canal if you want to explore the area. That's wrong, as they want you to tie up at the N end of the canal. However, I don't think that anyone would enforce that rule.

We anchored in 12' in Corbett's Cove, which was just 2.5 miles from the end of the canal. Holding was very good and the scenery is very nice, with tree lined hills. The far end does have power lines running though it and you can see houses across the lake, so it's not like you're in wilderness. The good news is that I can pick up 2 unencrypted WiFi signals about 1.5 miles away, so that's how I'm sending this!

Log ID: 1271