0845 Monday
Yesterday I spotted two huge ocean sunfish. At first their fins look like a shark until you notice that they tend to tilt at an angle. By late afternoon I spotted a great black-backed gull and a puffin circling the boat; both were sure signs that we were getting closer to Nova Scotia.
At about 0400 today we rounded Brazil Rock off of Cape Sable. Brazil Rock is the traditional turning point for eastward bound vessels heading to Nova Scotia. Fierce currents swirl around the area as the Bay of Fundy fills and empties twice a day on the tides. The Bay of Fundy has among the highest tides in the world, rising and dropping 40 feet or more with the pull of the sun and moon on the earth's waters. One always has to be careful rounding Brazil Rock to avoid getting pulled in too close to the many shoals off of Cape Sable.
Yesterday we passed German Bank, the first of the many fishing banks along this famed coast where schooners from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and Gloucester, Massachusetts fished for cod. As I write, we are just north of Roseway Bank and Baccaro Bank. Further south and east is La Have Bank. Beyond Halifax are Emerald, Sable, Middle, Canso and Banquereau Banks, all traditional fishing grounds. Making our way through these waters has me thinking of the 1926 Gloucester dory fishing schooner, now a National Historic Landmark berthed in Gloucester. I ponder the many trips she and hundreds of others made to these fishing grounds, bringing fish home to feed a growing nation over the centuries. I am on the board of the organization that owns and operates schooner Adventure and always marvel at the rich history of a nation represented by that vessel.
In our three person crew, a fellow board members from Adventure, Greg Bover, is aboard for the legs of this voyage to Halifax and on towards Newfoundland and the realm of the Grand Banks. I have known that Greg for a few years and been amazed at his talents as a craftsman, working magic in wood from items as simple as a napkin holder to a two-story pipe organ. He is proving to be a delightful shipmate as well.
Greg and I are also joined on this leg by Carl Doane. I count Carl among my oldest and best sailing friends. Together we have been on sailboats doing passages from Fort Lauderdale to Massachusetts, two Newport Bermuda Races, a few Marblehead Halifax Races and more. Seven years ago Carl and I made this run from Massachusetts to Halifax double-handed; he knows these waters. Back in 1987 Carl and I helped my parents sail their boat from Manchester, MA to St. John's, Newfoundland. Carl is good to have aboard.
Yesterday was Fathers Day. I want to send my love out to my dad in North Andover, MA. He and my mom took my brother, sister and me on countless sailing adventures as a family. Together they inspired my own sense of adventure and desire to explore the world and other peoples through my sailings. I would not be here, doing this thing I love, without the appreciation they instilled in me. Happy Fathers Day, Dad!
We now have about 70 nautical miles to the entrance of Halifax Harbour. From the buoy off the entrance it is another ten miles up into the Northwest Arm to make our destination. I hope by midnight tonight we will be tied up at a slip at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. We have a 10-15 knot southwesterly and are also boosting our speed in the lighted following winds with help from the diesel engine. Bill
