Port Mouton, Nova Scotia

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

043-55.920 N
064-49.680 W

Ahoy from Port Mouton, Nova Scotia!

A cold front came through last night with lots of rain. It also brought NW winds, which was exactly what we needed in order to sail to our next destination. We weren't certain if we would spend another day in Lunenberg or move on, but when I got up I saw that we had light winds out of the NW which meant that the seas should have died down and that we could make the passage to Port Mouton.

It was close to 8 AM before we were able to cast off, as we needed help to drop our lines due to the high docks. We talked to the people who owned the boat which had broken free the night before and it was very clear that they were upset over the event. Who wouldn't be!?! They charter the boat and had just returned with guests earlier that evening. After spending several hours cleaning up, they headed home, only to have the mooring fail soon thereafter. They were very nice and apologetic, but we basically had no damage, so there was no issue between us. I was just happy to have been there to help, otherwise their boat could have been beating against the dock for hours before anyone noticed.

We headed out of the harbor and raised the main and jib. As we began a series of right hand turns to the SW, we lost the protection of the land and the winds picked up to 15-20 kts. We started to turn more into the wind and I reduced the main by putting in 2 reefs. That worked for a while, but eventually the winds were blowing a consistent 20 kts, gusting to 25 kts, so we dropped the main and sailed along on the jib only. That flattened us out and we were cruising along at 5-6+ kts, which is very respectable!

As we were sailing along, I was looking at the charts trying to decide where to anchor. Sea Myth had recommended this bay as an anchorage, but clearly they hadn't been here in NW winds as the suggested anchorage was severely exposed to these winds. Believe it or not, there are beautiful white sand beaches here and that's where they recommend anchoring. We tried to anchor on the SE side of Spectacle Island, but only found a rock bottom. The book suggested anchoring along the channel into the main harbor, but that was too shallow for us. Eventually we ended up getting the hook somewhat set along the NW coast in small rocks, but I wouldn't want to rely on this to hold us in anything strong.

Before I forget, when we first tried to anchor, we were next to Massacre Island. Earlier we passed by Hell Shoals and Coffin Island. Where do they come up with these names?

Tomorrow we're headed to Shelborn Harbor and then to Yarmouth and then to Maine.

-- Geoff & Sue (where it's supposed to get to 41F tonight!)

Log ID: 1282