Leaving P.E.I. behind and heading to Bras d’Or

We are hopping along the south shore of the Northumberland Strait, and getting into another province. After going through Quebec and along P.E.I, missing New Brunswick we are hitting some hidden gems of Nova Scotia anchorages.

Summerside had been a wonderful stop but the weather was forcing us to leave before our buddy boat Europa could catch up. Saturday promised a good day of sailing east and breaking up the trip to the Canso Strait between Nova Scotia’s mainland and Cape Breton. We did get to start the day with a wonderful close-reach sail under the Confederation Bridge – what an impressive structure – but as usual the wind became less and less. 

Instead of spending 10 to 12 hours to get to Merigomish we decided to try Big John Bay or Tatamagouche Bay (possibly Brule Harbour), as their was a little wind from the SW in the forecast for the night. As we were approaching the bay another boat’s course was converging with ours. SV “Mischief” was heading to the same place but then seemed to tuck into the first sheltered bay just south of Saddle Island and north of Malagash Point. It’s a sandy bay and they were definitely anchoring there. It looked good and zooming in on Navionics did show an anchorage with very good reviews. Perfect! We set the hook and boy did it set – beautiful sand. There’s a beach right at the end of the bay and shallow sandy bottom for swimming. As we brought the dinghy to shore following our boat neighbours, we learned that they had just come across from Charlottetown and often enjoyed this area but had never anchored here before either. We spent an hour walking the warm beach and water along the shore, watching little crabs, fish and the occasional jelly fish float about. What a relaxing spot – of course there was hardly any wind, but the holding is so good that any S/W wind shouldn’t be an object. Our first anchorage in NS was one of the nicest so far on the trip. In the evening we were watching the tide go out and revealing a whole sand bank connecting Saddle Island to the mainland. Kids from a motor boat that had come in were “walking on water” or that’s what it looked like from a distance. We had anchored in 13′-14″ and by 9:00pm just a half hour before low tide were showing 8′-9″ Even if we had touched bottom which we never did, it would have been fine as it was mostly sand. The night was so quiet, we slept like ‘babies’ (maybe teenagers is more appropriate!)

sunset at Saddle Island

Another calm sunny morning greeted us and we knew that we had to move as the lovely SW breeze was going to turn NE and become much stronger. We needed to move the 40NM east to Merigomish bay to find some shelter for a few days. A 7 hour motor sail with the jib got us there with lots of time to anchor and explore. Already from a far we could see the beautiful beaches that stretch along the Nova Scotian shore in this area. Melmerby Beach Provincial Park being one just to the west of an opening into Merigomish Bay. It felt strange to be going very close by beaches and shallow areas while following the well buoyed channel further inland. This area has numerous islands and sand spits to manouver around, but there’s good depth for a boat with a 6′ draft. We came in at mid tide and went for about 5NM snaking along turning west at Betty’s Point. There is an anchorage marked in the main channel but it looked like it would be more exposed to easterly winds. So we kept going, and went into the little dead end bay called Blackhall Gut – not the prettiest name but what a gem. We anchored in about 17′ in mud bottom with great holding. Surrounded by pretty cottages on the one side and woods on the other. It really felt like we had taken our sailboat into Algonquin Park. The shore was so close, we could hear the wind in the trees but there was no wave. No other boats were anchored here, only one little sailboat on a mooring a little further up. 

It was only early afternoon, so we hopped in the dinghy to explore. We had spotted some people on the dock next to us and went to introduce ourselves. Nick and Sheila, who had had a cottage here for over 20 years, were thrilled to have a sailboat anchored here and so happy to share the beauty of this place. They had owned a larger cottage in the same bay and had just recently moved to this smaller place (still quite large and beautiful). They shared with us how to get to the different swimming spots and off we went to explore with a stop at the recommended Savage Point sand spit for a little walk on the beach. The hermit crabs were so plentiful here that I had a hard time not taking one home for Momo to play with. I love these little creatures and can spend hours watching them. 

In fact, there was no shortage of wildlife to keep us entertained here. Dave spotted another pilot whale just around this area. Where we were anchored the mussels and oysters where so numerous that a boat came by every morning and a guy with a dive suit and a snorkel would wade around the shore filling a floating box while his female helper would clean them and fill them into buckets on their runabout. A pair of Bald Eagles were eying up Momo as a tasty snack and we had to make sure he didn’t venture out on deck while we weren’t watching or we might have seen Momo going airborne. 

The first morning I went to check on the snubber and anchor chain, a crab had taken residence on the chain – maybe he/she was planning to stow-away? 

We met another friendly local couple later that night when we were relaxing on our boat. Lin and John, came by in their pristine 2005 Chris Craft and also told us how glad they were to see a sailboat anchored. They told us of the sailboat that had been anchored here during last September’s hurricane Fiona (’22). The whole area had taken major damage with many trees down, which could still be seen. Also, the surf had been quite high and damaging as the storm came in during an especially high tide. The sailboat was unscathed though – proof how sheltered this anchorage is. John and Lin made sure to offer any help if we needed it, even a spot at their long dock should we want to fill up with their well water or need some power. And they were really hoping that more sailboats would come!

The next day we relaxed in the morning and then dinghied our bikes over to the boat launch beside Nick and Sheila’s place. They were letting us put our dingy on their property while we went for a ride. 50km might not sound that far a ride to some of our old riding friends but let me tell you, off the settee, with our last ride being on flat P.E.I., this was quite exhausting. First, we had to ride around Fraser Mountain into New Glasgow, where we found a nice place to have lunch on a patio, then we followed the Pictou river north through Pictou Landing and then along the coast to Melmerby Beach. It was a great ride with lots of beautiful views and the beach and dunes were quite impressive. 

We sheltered here for another day and night, with high winds and lots of rain, but it was so nice and quiet. Nevertheless, we had promised to meet our son Evan and his girlfriend Kare in Bras d’Or on Friday and it was now Wednesday, so we needed to get going and get around Cape George, a large promontory that lay in our direct path to the Canso Strait, between Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. We had to travel NE along the shore to go around its most northern point and then on a SE course down toward Havre Boucher, the anchorage our friends Marie-Claude and Frank had recommended. It’s in the perfect spot to do the trip into Bras d’Or, a large inland lake area (really an estuary) with lots of islands and anchorages in the middle of Cape Breton. It is connected to the Atlantic Ocean and has brackish water.

Getting into Bras d’Or was pretty easy. First, we had to get into the Canso Strait proper by locking through the Canso Lock. After all the locks in the St. Lawrence this was pretty uneventful. After calling on channel 68 on our VHF the lock master let us go right in and given the option to tie up or hover in the middle of the lock, we chose the later. It was slack tide so the difference in water levels between both sides was minimal. The lock master was a very friendly chap who chatted with us the entire time, giving us tips for the further trip. Once he opened the swing bridge which is the connection between Nova Scotias mainland and Cape Breton Island and leads the Transcanada Highway and a railway across, we were free to proceed. Just like all the other St. Lawrence Seaway locks this one is large enough to hold lakers and salties, but it is free which is a nice change.

After about another 10NM we turned more east into the Lennox Passage north of Janvrin Island. Here we had to request a bridge opening of the scariest lift bridge we encountered so far. We had been warned about the strong currents that run through here and luckily it was not a windy day, but the bridge opening is extremely narrow and the bridge only lifts from one side which makes it look like you might hit it if you are not far enough over. It all went smoothly although it looked ominous. And we were a lot more fortunate than one of our friends. Colleen and Brian on SV Bricolanto had to wait hours for a bridge opening a few days later, as the bridge was having some electrical difficulties – they made the best of it and anchored so he could fish and she could get some computer work done. Sailors! They make the best of every obstacle.

The last lock and bridge to get into the Bras d’Or Lakes is located at St. Peter. It is the cutest lock, with friendly Parks Canada staff and very picturesque surroundings. People are fishing on the pier, there’s a beach and trails. The lock has lines with loops and you just hand a bow and a stern line to the lock staff who feed them through the loops and hand them back to you to hang onto. Once they close the lock doors behind and open the doors in front you wait until they jump into their truck and drive to the other side to open the large new swing bridge. Then they radio you the ok.

We spent the first night at St. Peter’s Marina right to the north of the lock in Strachans Bay. It’s a super friendly marina with a low key atmosphere. Gerry’s motto is to make your stop as easy and accommodating as possible. They have all the amenities from showers, laundry, diesel, gas and pump out to groceries, bakeries, restaurants and liquor store a short walk away. We made use of the dock to do a bike ride to Battery Provincial Park which gave us some stunning views over St. Peter’s Bay on the Atlantic side. There’s also a hiking/mountain biking trail along the shore going west past the canal. Unfortunately, this area had just seen a major rain storm and it got a little too muddy for us to go too far.

In fact, the weather forecast didn’t look all that promising for our weekend with the kids. However, forecasts luckily aren’t always to be trusted and it turned out to be the sunniest weekend Bras d’Or had seen in weeks. We sailed to an anchorage just 9NM away at Chapel Island, where we spent a couple days exploring by dinghy, swimming and catching up. The water here was so much warmer than on the open Atlantic; I measured 22C. We saw lots of crabs and some bigger jelly fish. Chapel Island is a sacred indigenous site and home of St. St. Anne Mission, an important pilgrimage site for the Mi’kmaq and a National Historic Site of Canada. As usual, when you are having fun, the weekend went way too fast and we dropped Evan and Kare back at the marina where they had left their car. We would see them again at the end of the week when we made it to Halifax.

Below is the summary of Travel for this week. Click here if you want to see the track.

Date	Description	Distance	Time
July 8/23	Summerside P.E.I. to Saddle Island anchorage, west side at the mouth of Tatamagouche Bay	46.93NM	8:29h
July 9/23	Tatamagouche Bay to Merigomish Bay (Blackhall Gut anchorage)	40.23NM	7:04h
July 10/23 to July 11/23	Blackhall Gut anchorage	NM	h
July 12/23	Merigomish Bay (Blackhall Gut anchorage) to Havre Boucher anchorage	53.12NM	10:44h
July 13/23	Havre Boucher to Saint Peter’s Marina	35.59NM	7:56h
July 14/23	moved to anchorage in Strachans Bay (beside the Saint Peter’s marina	NM	h
July 15/23	Strachans Bay anchorage to Chapel Island anchorage	9NM	4:15h
July 16/23	Chapel Island to Strachans Bay anchorage	6.2NM	2:23h
9 days	Total	191.07NM	40:51h