Tangier Harbor, Nova Scotia

Thursday, September 4, 2008

044-47.760 N
062-41.340 W

Ahoy from Tangier Cove, Nova Scotia!

I'm happy to report that we made it out of Liscomb Harbor and we made a 41 mile run down the coast. I wasn't quite sure that was going happen as we had intense, boat rattling, thunderstorms last night that lasted until about 4 AM, but this morning we awoke to light winds out of the SW. We also had dense fog/mist; the kind where every surface just drips water and it's just shy of raining. We hoped that the winds had been light enough for long enough to allow the seas to lay down.

The two motor yachts that were in the harbor with us left before we did. We talked via the VHF and they said that the sea state was much better than it had been yesterday and that they were headed on to Halifax, which was 83 miles away. We couldn't make that in 1 day, so we planned on stopping at a mid-point. When we cleared the shelter of the surrounding islands, we had 4-6' seas, with the occasional 8 footer thrown in. Luckily the wave period was about 7 seconds, which makes them not steep (which have periods around 4 seconds) but also not like the long Pacific ocean swells that are more like 12 seconds. The major issue was that they were on the beam, which rolled us like crazy. The winds were from the SW, which is the direction that we're headed, so there was no way to put up the sails to provide stabilization. So we just rocked and rolled.

As the morning progressed the waves shrunk and it also became apparent that they were coming from all directions. I guess that because the winds have seemingly been from every direction over the past few days, so these were leftovers from the various blows. That made selecting an anchorage interesting, as we had to find someplace that had protection from everything from E to NW, which covers about 205 degrees. We picked Tangier Cove which was reported to have great holding and it was well protected. We had a beautiful trek along the islands lining the harbor. I'd love to see Nova Scotia in nice weather!

Yesterday it rained all morning, but after lunch it stopped and Sue and I visited m/v Canim to share our various cruising guides and to discuss our various routing options and potential anchorages if the sea state made it too uncomfortable to continue. We also got to look around Canim (which means Big Canoe in the Chinook Indian dialect). This was the first time that I had ever been on a classic motor yacht of this caliber. Despite the fact that all of the floors and furniture were covered with cloths while the crew moved the boat without the owners being on board, it was a stunning boat. She's 96', was built in 1929 and has had owners such as the actor Buster Keaton and Clessie Cummings, who installed the two 850 cubic inch Cummings engines that still power the boat. Julie Andrews used to charter the boat on a regular basis. Their web site, http://www.canim-yacht.com/main.html has lots of wonderful photos and info and is well worth taking a look at.

Canim and the other motor yacht, Sea Myth, both go a lot faster than BlueJacket, so they should both make Halifax today. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning and should be there by mid afternoon. We need to have the jib repaired, so we'll be there through Monday, especially since the remains of hurricane Hanna will be coming through on Sunday with forecasts of 40-60 kts of wind.

-- Geoff & Sue

For the cruiser:

We anchored in 14' MLW in mud in Tangier Cove, which is just N of Hog Island and provides 360 degree protection. We have a bit of a fetch to the W, but even with 20 kt winds, we only have <1' waves. I'm picking up an unencrypted WiFi signal. This is yet another beautiful harbor.

Log ID: 1279