Scary Day on the water

Hi F and F, 

After a leisurely morning. We left for our next port of call Halifax , capital of Nova Scotia.

Decided to stop on the way into Mahone Bay as we had heard about its quaint town and more importantly it had a working pump out! The pump out equipment in Lunenburg  had not  been used all summer the dock master said!  Young Luke at the dock helped  us out and very quickly did the pump out which makes us suspect the gauge was wrong.Will check that tomorrow.

Walked on into the town and had lunch at Joanne's marketplace  mentioned in our guide book.Lovely fresh baguette sandwiches and coffee to sustain us for the next few hours.Took a walk along the road to see the three churches side by side .Anglican, Luthern and  United.No Catholic Church in sight for some reason . Walked back stopping in the little Free Settlers Museum and learnt some history there.

Turns out the settlers came over by boat leaving from Rotterdam, Netherlands.Made up of German ,Swiss and Dutch immigrants. They arrived in Lunenberg where they got to draw lots for land.Each male settler was give a garden lot, a 30 acres lot and a 300 acres lot. Not bad for a start in the new country!

We had a delightful two hours there then headed back to out boat on the free dock and retraced our steps out to the entrance of the Bay turning left this time.

The winds had got up a bit and there was quite a chop on the Atlantic Ocean. The NE direction meant  we were taking on the waves head on so there was a bit of banging going on but not too bad to start with. Again two bigger waves would come  in very close succession, in between a series of smaller ones.

Going was a little slower today around 13 to 14 mph but the boat was handling it well.

As we got closer to the last main point  called Sambro Ledges the wave action got quite big  probably 7 to 8 ft and strong winds and we experienced some big waves and chop and nasty slamming of the boat hull. Probably the worst we have experienced so far.

Poor Lady Erica to be subjected to such conditions,fortunately she held up well  even if her passengers were not so comfortable! It was with great relief we turned the corner and had the wind and waves almost behind us for the last 45 mins ride into the Royal Squadron Yacht Club Marina. It was wonderful to be greeted by Wayne the very friendly and helpful manager of the YC.

Safely tucked up after refuelling and a wash down , we relaxed ,had dinner on board and thanked God for a safe journey.

Over and Out ,

S and S