Our Summer Cruise 2019

 

Sunday, June 30

 

Going Nowhere Last Night With This Ball of Clay

 

Cross Island to St. Andrews-by-the-Sea - 36 nm

 

This Sums Up the Weather Today for Most of the Day!

A dull, occasionally wet, and foggy trip from Cross Island to St. Andrew, New Brunswick. Yesterday, we had scrutinized the tide tables and the iPhone app recommended to us by a guy in NE Harbor to try to determine the best time to go through the Narrows between the mainland and Campobello Island. We have done this at least three times and never got it quite right. Information on the best time is very hard to find even from locals. Each tide, a huge amount of water (700 billion gallons) funnels in or out of this very narrow passage from Passamaquody Bay to the Bay of Fundy resulting in peak swirling currents of up to 8kts under the bridge over the Narrows.

The Narrows

As you can see from the photo above, this is a very narrow channel roughly 250 feet wide with several large bridge piers. Our app assured us that 10:15 am was time for slack water at high tide so we left Cross certain we would have it nailed. Little did we know! It appeared it was close to high tide as we made the turn at West Quoddy Head towards the Narrows with perfect timing.

As we neared the area that funneled down to the bridge, it was clear that we were not at slack water with a strongish current coming towards us; it only got worse from this point on as we neared the bridge. The boat was being buffeted from all directions making steering very difficult as the bridge piers got closer and closer and I was struggling to keep the boat centered. Talk about white knuckles and an adrenaline rush! We made it through without hitting the bridge and figured we had around six knots of current. Carrie Rose also made it through.

By the way, our GPS relocation we did in Bar Harbor appears to be successful with no further issues!

In our postmortem discussions, we found the timing problem; the app was using Atlantic Time (one hour different from Eastern Time) even though the locations in the app were in the Eastern Time zone. We actually got to the Narrows one hour too late - as the water was rushing out of the Bay.!!

The rest of the journey, even though in dense fog, was a breeze and we made St. Andrews and our mooring ball with no issues. Customs was an issue for the first time ever. Normally we just call in, answer a few questions and we are done. Today, two Customs guys were on the dock and took issue with us bringing a bag of garbage off the boat and Judy being on the dock. Dean shouting at one Customs guy to be quiet as he was on the phone in the office didn't help. It wasn't exactly "Welcome to Canada" as they made us bring the boat to the dock although they then never checked anything.

The wharf guys treated us well, remembering us from last year and made sure we were all set for our stay.

St. Andrews-by-the-Sea in 1904

Monday, July 1

Happy Birthday Canada!

 

Happy Birthday Cormac - our Grandson!!

Not the best of weather this morning as we arose an hour later as we were now on Atlantic Time; at least it will be getting light at a reasonable hour and the sun will not be setting at 8:15 pm. This marks our thirteenth time in Canada for Canada Day.

After getting the boat decorated with all of the different flags we have accumulated over the years we had some leisure time before heading to town to meet up with Dean and Charlotte for the Parade. As in previous years, the town was jammed with people; they estimate Canada Day draws around 20,000 people in for the festivities that start at dawn with a First Nation celebration.

Charlotte and Dean Getting Into the Festive Spirit!

Following a parade of vintage and veteran cars came the Parade led by:

The RCMP in Full Dress

and:

The Sea Scouts

followed by the Pipe Band of New Brunswick, the Shriners and a number of local floats.

 

 

Next stop in the busy day was our salmon burger and bratwurst before heading off to a memorial/concert at the Kingsbrae International Residency for the Arts (KIRA) center.

Unfortunately, we had to leave before the end of the concert to be clear of the wharf by 6:00 pm; firework set-up begins then so we had dinner on the boat and hung around until the fireworks began at 10:00pm, past our bedtime!

 

Tuesday, July 2

STB at the Dock Getting a Pumpout and Taking on Fresh Water

 

Two of the Late 1700s Buildings

In town early this morning to do some laundry and get a few groceries and enjoy the sun while have a good coffee at Honey Beanz on Water Street. By the time we got back to the boat, there was a dramatic change in the view with barely room to get the dinghy out from behind the dock.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the sun.

Wednesday, July 3

 

What a difference less than a day makes in the weather. Quite miserable and much cooler than yesterday. It was a good day to run the genset for a while to top up the batteries (no solar today), cook a couple of meals in the crock pot, read and generally veg out.

Thursday, July 4

Independence Day

Happy July 4! Not a big day of celebration in St. Andrews and pretty low key for us. We did get some commiserations from our Canadian friends.

 

Another beautiful day after a foggy start with lots of sun in the forecast. This morning, a small cruise ship, "Grand Mariner" arrived and took up the whole of the dock at the end of the wharf. Several similar cruise boats come in every year.

We were originally meant to have a rental car delivered early this morning but the expected car was not turned in so we changed our plans for the day to include a visit with Dean and Charlotte to the Kingsbrae Gardens, a short walk away, up King Street.

For a very small town of around 2000 people, St. Andrews has an impressive collection of churches of all denominations.

One of the Many Churches on King Street

The Gardens were originally part of the grounds of a house owned by John and Lucinda Flemer, local philanthropists, and already had fine extensive gardens. After the 27 acres were donated to a foundation to establish a formal public garden, work began to plant the entire area and, in two years, it was opened to visitors in 1998, The Garden features a 40 piece sculpture garden that includes winners of the annual Canadian Sculpture Competition, a working Dutch Windmill, ponds, streams, a rose garden, large perennial garden, orchard and more.

The Gardens were not in their prime yet due to the cool and wet Spring but peonies, roses and the early perennials were in full bloom. Others should be coming soon as the weather turned out to be one of the hottest days yet.

 

 

 

 

A Whimsical Play House in the Childrens' Garden

 

A Real English Garden - My Mother's

Enterprise Car Rental in St. Stephen came through earlier than planned and the Manager drove our car to the wharf where we met him and drove him the 20 miles back to his office. Due to the problems with the rental, he gave us a two day rental for the price of one day; our rental ended up costing only $48 split two ways!

Friday, July 5

It's going to be a very hot day in St. Andrews; meant to hit 85°F here and 90s in Fredericton, our destination for the day. On the road by 9:00 am and in Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick, in time for mid-morning coffee. Unfortunately, the colorful Changing of the Guard and the Pipe Band were called off because of the high temperatures. Not a good thing when you are wearing a woolen shirt and a thick woolen uniform jacket and trousers.

What We Would Have Seen if Cooler

While drinking our coffee, I noticed that there was going to be a Noon Hour organ recital at Christ Church Cathedral that was already on our list of things to see. Timing worked out well and we were soon taking our seats (or pews) for the concert of Organ Imperial music by David Drinkell, the Cathedral Organist. He played a good selection of music from Sirs Arthur Bliss, Edward Elgar, Henry Wood, William Walton and Denis Bedard (a respected Canadian composer of organ music).

Interior of Christ Church Cathedral

"Rule Britannia"

 

Exterior of Christ Church Cathedral (Built in 1853)

The concert ran long which was fine with us as the organist was very good and we had a chance to explore the Cathedral with a personal guide no less.

Hungry by this time, we walked the short distance back into the center of town past some the historic homes dating back to the mid 1700s and had a good lunch at Isaac's Way by the river.

Our next stop was the "new" Brunswick Legislative Assembly building a few hundred yards away.

"New" Brunswick Legislative Assembly Building

The building opened in 1882 after the old Assembly was destroyed by fire. Coincidentally, plans for this building had been drawn up just prior to the fire and all of the existing building's art work and records had been removed from the building; almost if someone had known there would be a fire? The massive building, designed in a Second Empire style, was completed in two years with workers cutting stones overnight and then laying them during the day.

Originally, housing two legislative bodies- the Senate and the Assembly - the body now has just an Assembly that governs the province. They provided an excellent individual tour for just the four of us.

The Senate Chamber - Now Used for Committee Meetings and Ceremonial Activities

Legislative Chamber - Completely Restored To Its Original Condition Recently

It was soon time to head back to the boat for the evening.

Saturday, July 6

As we had the car for another day, we decided to drive North to St. John following the Bay of Fundy Scenic Route. Leaving early, we were the only people on the road as we stopped for a while in St. George, a small town up the Magaguadavic River. Just by chance, we turned off the main road as we spied the River and found this very scenic view looking towards the old pulp Mill. Clearly the River is not really navigable this far up although there are buoys just a short distance downstream..

River Gorge

The route wandered along the shore with occasional glimpses of small bays and coves until we turned off for Dipper Harbor where we had overnighted on a previous water trip. It was low tide in the well-protected harbor.

With the lobster season almost over in Canada, most of the fleet was in the harbor until November when the season opens again. Several scallop draggers were also in. Some serious lobster boats go out from here!

 

Fog Coming in at Dipper Harbor

After a short stop at its Visitor Center, we were in damp and foggy St. John. The city has some of the foggiest weather in Canada with something like 30% foggy days, one of the reasons the capital was moved to Fredericton in 1785. For some reason, St. John is not that endearing to tourists - it does have a very good indoor market similar to those in Europe but lacks much surviving history. This is due to multiple fires that have occurred in the past including one in 1877 that destroyed 40% of the city.

St. John has developed the waterfront with a boardwalk and an inside pedestrian route from the convention center to the indoor market but is more of a commercial city. The weather wasn't conducive to exploring outside so we settled for spending time in the market and having lunch there.

The Unthinkable!

 

All the Good British Stuff

One of St. John's big attractions are the Reversing Falls where the St. John River empties out into the harbor area. Many years ago, there were a series of waterfalls at the location which were flooded by rising sea levels. Now, they form an underwater barrier to the massive 28 foot tides that surge through St. John and result in huge turbulence twice a day. Unfortunately, the Falls observation area sits on the opposite shore to an immense Irving paper mill which is very unattractive. They must make all of the toilet paper for Canada here!

Irving Tissue Paper Mill

Timing didn't work the best for viewing the Falls with turbulence just starting to build with a noticeable increase in the 20 minutes we were there.

Some Early Signs of Turbulence

This is what the Falls can look like at their peak!

 

Major rain and winds were forecast for later in the day at St. Andrews and Dean and Charlotte had to row their dinghy some distance to their boat so we left late afternoon and took the highway back - only about an hour. Timing was good; winds were building and the rain arrived just after getting on the boat.

31 Knot Winds But Small Rain-Flattened Waves

 

The Aftermath As Fog Rolls In

One of the wharf boys had arranged for someone to pick us up in St. Stephen after dropping the rental car off and I wasn't looking forward to getting drowned dinghying to shore. Our ride was delayed until late and the rain broke and fog moved in over the water; on land completely clear! At least we got the car back and stayed dry.