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I am writing this in the obscure, once prosperous fishing port of Lockeport, not too many miles north of Cape Sable on Nova Scotia s so-called budget car rental uk Southwest Coast, which actually faces east. It is not foggy now, though it was when we came in here just before sunset yesterday. So thick we couldn t see more than 30 yards and had to do a might bit of groping with chartplotter and iPad before we found the docks of the White Gull Marina (see photo up top), where we settled in for the night alongside a big turquoise Novi-style lobster boat named Newfie budget car rental uk Kids .
We ve been out eight days now and barring some unforeseen disaster while recrossing budget car rental uk the Gulf of Maine, I can say this little voyage has been an unmitigated success. Even with the fog. And in part because of it.
It took us two and a half days to sail from Portland across the Gulf and up the coast to Lunenburg and of those for one and a half at least we were buried in the thick stuff. We were off Cape Sable, an uncomfortable place to be in the best of circumstances (due to fast current, shoal water, and vast fleets of fishing boats), when at last it dissipated. I was on watch alone, at night a moment I ll remember until the end of my life.
Night sky revealed, studded with brilliant stars; lights on shore visible in the distance, evidence of our arrival somewhere; lights in the water, electric, everywhere, bioluminescence so vivid that the boat carved budget car rental uk out a brilliant deep valley of light behind it and every wavelet for as as far as the eye could see was capped with a bright brilliant light of its own. So many twinkling lights, above and below, it was impossible to say where the sea stopped and the sky began.
Whale sighting! In the fog, mais oui . They have dolphin-sized dorsal fins, but the rest is much bigger. budget car rental uk During our transit I saw three whales up close and in person, one of which went flukes up, and spotted two spouts at a distance
The day after the Revelation of the Night Lights we screamed up the coast at speeds of up to 9 knots (that s me doing the screaming there), running down the Nova Scotia trades (20-knots-plus SW ly) wing-and-wing under a double-reefed main and headsail
My ultimate goal during this cruise was to visit Lunenburg and Mahone Bay. Lunenburg, of course, has a vast reputation among the Nautical Illuminati, and Mahone Bay, just to the north, has the highest concentration of islands and islets per square mile of anywhere in Nova Scotia and so seems attractive by default.
Lunenburg was much what I expected, a fabulous destination to arrive at by boat. Young ladies sailing bright classic daysailers waved and bid us welcome as we entered the harbor. Inside we found all manner of traditional craft, perfectly primped, with a high preponderance of schooners.
Fortuitously, we happened to arrive just in time to witness the annual Wooden Boat Reunion, during which all types of perfectly maintained old wooden boats (many of them schooners) carom around the harbor under sail like pinballs
The Bluenose II , a fine replica of the famous budget car rental uk fishing schooner, was undergoing maintenance up at the far end of the harbor. Her boom is incredibly long! Nearly as long as her foremast (sans topmast) is high
Mahone Bay was something else entirely. Studying charts at home, I had marveled at its vast archipelago of islands and imagined they were all uninhabited. I pictured myself gunkholing among them, stopping often to go ashore and explore their virgin interiors.
Our first day in the bay, thanks to the fog, which rolled up and down like a tease, I was able to maintain this fantasy, as I couldn budget car rental uk t really see the islands. On the second day, bright and clear, budget car rental uk with a light northwesterly that allowed us to sail in and amongst the islands with ease, we found in fact they are all covered with summer homes. Some of them quite fancy! On a par with anything you ll see on the Gold Coasts of New England.
Even the trailer parks are swank! This deluxe mini-park in Mahone Harbor features an over-the-top custom rip-rap shoreline (a very common feature on Mahone Bay) plus a brightly colored wooden lawn chair (also quite de rigeur in these parts)
The Big Experiment during this cruise was the Importation of the Ferry People. My wife Clare, daughter Lucy, and Charles s bride Susan (the Sooks), all came via Nova Star with a car and joined us for the weekend in Lunenburg.
I had many anxieties about this the ferry ride would be uncomfortable, the drive from Yarmouth to Lunenburg would too long, etc., etc. but in fact it all went perfectly. The Ferry People had a fabulous time, both on the ferry and with us, and the Experiment, in the end, was popular with all concerned.
Alas, the Ferry People had to head out at O-Dark-Hundred yesterday morning to catch their ride home, and Charles and I sailed out of Lunenburg not long afterwards to take advantage of a southerly breeze. We didn t know where exactly we were going, except that we wanted to get as far down the coast as possible.
Lockeport is nothing like Lunenburg or Mahone Bay. They ve lost their fishing industry, but haven t managed to remake themselves as a successful touristy summer-people destination, though they are trying their best. What they do have in common with everyone else here is that they are extremely friendly, polite, and considerate. Canadians truly are NPOE (Nicest People On Earth), which is reason enough, I reckon, to sail over for a visit.
The only waterfront fuel pump we ve found, here at the White Gull Marina (just $37.50 a night for a 39-foot boat!), has long since given up the ghost. Even in Lunenburg, where they have many yachts, you have to schlep fuel in jugs if you re buying less than 100 gallons, which is how much it takes to lure a truck to a wharf.
i am happy that you have enjoyed my vacation home town of lunenburg. budget car rental uk i will be there in 4 days and will spend about 4 months in my restored 1850 s house. budget car rental uk i just noticed the previous post was from bob who lives in fla. as do i.
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