More about Maine and Then Nova Scotia

The narrative about Maine and Nova Scotia continues.

We set off from Boothbay Harbor around 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 5, sailing on a deep broad reach with 6-10 knots of southwest wind, heading to Eastern Egg Rock, the site of the first restored puffin nesting site in the world. Like many Maine coast seabird colonies, nesting seabird populations were diminished and eventually extirpated by a combination of egging, hunting for meat and feathers, and displacement by expanding herring gull and great black-backed gull populations that increased in response to fishing practices and municipal waste. The methods initiated here in 1973 have been replicated dozens of times worldwide to help endangered and threatened seabirds. The seven acre island is uninhabited except for a half dozen staff and volunteers who manage it during the breeding season, April through August. Our best sighting of the puffins was a group floating on the choppy surface near the western shore.

Puffin houses on Eastern Egg Rock

Puffins floating on the water

Sherri on the bow looking for puffins

After circling around the northern tip of the island, we set our course for Monhegan Island, sailing close-hauled, heeled over to an almost uncomfortable degree, arriving there around 3 p.m. and picking up a mooring ball in the northern and calm part of the harbor. Quickly, we tidied up the boat, put the outboard on the dinghy and headed to shore. We carried the dinghy above the high water mark on the partially sandy beach and began to explore. 

Fisherman's shack at Fish Beach

Sherri and Peter on a dirt street on Monegan Island

Lawn in front of the Island Inn

Northern anchorage of Monhegan Island with Mantra on the right

First, we walked along the narrow roads to the main part of the town. There are a few hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns, galleries and cafes near the main wharf where day trippers and vacationers arrive and leave by ferry. Mooring balls in the main harbor secure fishing boats, and there are three mooring balls for transients such as us north of town. (We were greeted by a friendly local man, who was obviously waiting for us in his golf cart; he was there to collect a mooring fee if we were staying the night. It was free otherwise, but Peter gave him $10 for the convenience of a mooring ball.) 

Lush purple lupine bloomed outside a gallery aptly named the Lupine Gallery, and we spent some time looking at art work and books there. Peter bought a book written by a woman who had gone to remote Mantinicus Island for a year to teach and fell in love with the small community and the island and stayed. 

Enis and Peter in the Lupine Gallery

Peter and Enis outside the Lupine Gallery

On the way up to the lighthouse, we passed a plaque commemorating Captain John Smith, who, after helping to found Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, expored and charted 3000 miles of coastline on the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608, and then the coast of New England in 1614, having returned to North America from England. His explorations and published works were intended to encourage English colonization of the "New" world. 

Plaque for John Smith

We reached the lighthouse at the top of a hill 170 feet above the high tide line. The current granite tower was built in 1850, replacing the original 1824 lighthouse, which had been badly damaged by storms. The light had ten lamps with 16-inch reflectors, a Welsbach mantel fired by sperm oil, and a weight-powered rotary mechanism. The still-operational light now is powered by solar panels. From this height, we could view the entire town of Monhegan, with the cemetery just below us.

Monhegan Lighthouse

View from Monhegan Lighthouse

From the lighthouse, we headed toward the eastern coast of the island, ending up at White Head. Granite cliffs, covered in places with lichen and vegetation, rise steeply 100 feet or more above the open ocean. White gulls swoop by and cluster among the rocks. On the boat we had needed long pants, a couple layers on top plus our foulie jackets, but we were much to hot with all those clothes and had to strip down to one layer.

Enis, Sherri and Peter and surplus clothing at White Head

Gulls resting on the rocks

Sherri near the edge of the cliff

Common pheasant in the grasses

After enjoying the vistas and the natural features close to us, we continued on in what we hoped was the right direction to return to town. We passed along through dense vegetation, on a boardwalk over boggy areas, and above cobblestone beaches until we were back on the edge of town, with its weathered shingled houses and beautiful gardens and dirt roads. At a small cafe, we stopped for refreshments. A can of Diet Coke and a can of local beer cost $14, but we were thirsty.

Red clover above Gull Cove

Enis on the boardwalk

Cinammon fern and red spruce

Peter walking on the trail among multiflora roses

Gardens and shingled houses

Another garden and house

Returning to Fish Beach, we were happy to have our extra clothing, as the temperature is much cooler by the water and even more so on the water. We waded into the cool water and jumped in the dinghy, leaving the soil of the United States for international travel. 

Enis and Peter getting ready to return to Mantra

Back on the boat, we made preparations such as installing jack lines, securing the dinghy on deck, hanking on the staysail, and checking our life vests before our departure from the Gulf of Maine. I made us a hearty meal and sandwiches for the next day. 

We dropped the pennant to the mooring ball at 9:45 p.m. with 10 to 15 knots of wind from the southwest. Enis took the first watch. Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, July 6, Peter joined Enis and they put one reef in the sail as the wind was just below 20 knot from the southwest. Enis went to bed, and we were flying over the water up to 9 knots with Peter on watch. Sherri stood watch from 5:30 to 8:30. and, since Peter was up then, she went back to sleep. A second reef was put in around 10 a.m as the wind increased to 22 knots, still from the southwest, as haze settled in. Around 1 p.m., our speed was reduced by an adverse current around Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. A third reef was added as we headed closer to directly east as the apparent wind was 24 knots. Still, we were flying. Throughout the day, we continued to take turns on watch and slept a lot when off duty. On Monday, July 7, just before sunrise, at 4:45 a.m, we jibed and headed north-northeast toward Lunenberg. By 6:30, the sun had come out and the win had decreased to 15 knots, so we took out the reefs. 

Setting off from Monhegan Island on July 5

Sunset south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, July 6

Enis on watch

Peter at the helm, taking a watch

When we set off from Monhegan Island, we had intended to reach Shelburne, Nova Scotia, to clear in with Canadian customs and immigration, but it became apparent early on that we were traveling above our expected speed, and we sailed past the entrance to the Shelburne Harbour. At 2:30 in the afternoon on Monday, we were anchored in Lunenburg Harbor, having averaged 7.25 knots for the crossing.

We stayed anchored in Lunenberg for two nights. After we had settled in and talked with fellow sailors who came by in a dinghy and provided us with useful information, we headed to the dinghy dock at Zwicker Wharf. Old Lunenburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated because it is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Established in 1753, it has retained its original layout and overall appearance, based on a rectangular grid pattern drawn up in the home country of England. 

Prior to the arrival of French Acadians in the 1620s, the Mi'kmaq had inhabited the site in the summer months for centuries. The Acadians and Mi’kmaq co-existed peacefully and some intermarried, creating networks of trade and kinship. However, throughout the 1700s, the British and French were at war several times, and under the 1713 Treaty of Utretch, France ceded Nova Scotia to the British. The British sought to settle the land with loyal subjects and recruited more than 1400 foreign Protestants, mostly artisans and farmers, from Germany, Switzerland and the French principality of Montbéliard to immigrate.

The immigrants landed in Halifax, where after a wait of up to three years, they were provided a town lot on the south-facing slopes in Lunenburg as well as a garden lot outside the palisades, which were assigned to them by the draw of a card from a deck. They were also supplied with lumber and nails to build their homes. These people came from agricultural backgrounds but found it nearly impossible to cultivate the land and therefore turned to fishing. In the 1800s, Lunenburg prospered through shipping, trade, fishing, farming, and shipbuilding.

The houses and commercial buildings are painted in bright colors. The sloping hills mean that the rows of buildings rise from the waterfront and are quite impressive from the boat.

Lunenburg from Mantra at anchor in the harbor

Our first day, we just walked around, admiring the architecture and bright colors and enjoying a day of fine weather. Over 90% of the buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries and some have unique architectural features and decorations. We had a great dinner outdoors at the Salt Shaker Diner before returning to the boat for the night.

Brightly painted buildings on Pelham Street

Victorian era house

Bright yellow house

Italianate building

Blue building with hanging fish sculpture

On the main streets of town, 44 of the utility poles on Lincoln and Montague Streets have hanging metal sculptures of marine life. 

Atlantic Cod

Bivalves

Yellowtail flounder

Swordfish

Redfish or ocean perch

We have now docked on the lively city waterfront in Halifax, which we explored yesterday evening. More later. Eventually I will catch up. I will add more photos to this post this evening or tomorrow.