The Bluenose Coast

Monday, July 31, 2017 we left the Northwest Arm in Halifax Harbour. It took a while to raise the anchor because with the anchor came up 50 lbs of kelp! But before we could leave Halifax, we had to take a side trip long the waterfront to see the tall ships again. It was a wonderful sight!

One of the container Docks at Halifax Harbour

Tall Ships on Halifax's waterfront

More Tall Ships on Halifax's waterfront

More Tall Ships on Halifax's waterfront and some Navy Ships nearing the Narrows

Container Ship Tiea entering Halifax Harbour

Then we left the harbour and rounded Chebucto Head and made our way westerly towards Prospect, NS. We tried to anchor outside Prospect, but the anchor would not hold in the soft mud, and instead found a more secure anchorage a few miles to the north behind Purcell's Island.

The next morning, we continued westerly, but with the goal of visiting Peggy’s Cove by dinghy, we had to be strategic. We anchored to the east of Peggy’s Cove near West Dover, off of a group of islands that protected the bay from the Atlantic’s swell. It was a short sail, so we completed a few maintenance chores on board, then got into the dinghy to go exploring.  The scenery here is unbelievable! Rugged white granite islands with hardly any soil, vegetated with shrubs and stunted spruce trees.

The water was crystal clear, and we were amazed at the biodiversity in the seabed! We found an island that we could land, and hiked around. Just beautiful!

In the afternoon, we decided to go into town. We saw a very nice fishing village of West Dover, with many lobster traps neatly piled on the docks. We stopped at “Shaw’s Landing” to sample their menu, and had mussels, fries, and a couple of Keith’s. They advertise on their road sign: “Beer and Lobster - enough said.” The food and the service was excellent, and no wonder they are recognized by TripAdvisor and claim to be the best seafood place in the Maritimes!

View of West Dover's fishing fleet from Shaw's Landing.

August 2 ,2017, we got up, had breakfast, and got in the dinghy and headed southwest to Peggy’s Cove! The seas were calm as forecasted, with just a bit of a swell. As we neared the famous lighthouse, we took a few pictures. There were already quite a few people there, and it was only 9:30 a.m.! 

Dinghying around Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

We dinghied around the lighthouse and into the Peggy’s Cove Harbour – that was a beautiful sight!  Very picturesque with fishing boats, protected historic buildings, docks piled up with lobster traps, rope and floats… and the rocky landscape. We tied up at a dock and walked to the iconic lighthouse. With our sea legs, we were staggering all over the road, but the cars and busses were patient. The lighthouse was freshly painted white and red, and sitting on smooth white granite with the Atlantic in the background was stunning!!

Fishing buildings and Peggy's Cove Harbour

The iconic Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

We went back to our anchorage and made way to Mahone Bay, as we sailed past Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse, packed with hundreds of visitors. A beautiful sailing day! We anchored between the Second Peninsula and Heckman’s Island, with a pretty landscape all around us: the open bay to the east; to the south, some houses nestled in the trees with docks and moored boats; then a forested point with a fine sand beach, and a hillside with some land cleared for pasture and a barn, a few horses, and a “green-gables-style” farm house; to the north, where we entered the bay, a dairy farm with a number of buildings and a herd of Holsteins.

Beautiful scenery near Heckman's Island

A dairy farm near the anchorage - and the fog rolling in in the distance...

The fog begins. Further pictures are just gray.

Then the fog rolled in – thick! We couldn’t see a thing, but we knew we were surrounded by beauty!

In the morning we rounded Heckman’s Island and the shoal ground east of the Eastern Points, and turned west into Lunenburg Bay. As we rounded the breakwater protecting Lunenburg Harbour, our jaws dropped at the beautiful sight in front of us!  Beyond words, we just laughed! 

Old Town Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Lunenburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognised for preservation of Old Town, for having the best example of a British Colonial grid-pattern street layout, and for it’s authenticity as a working town.  The entire 48 blocks of Old Town Lunenburg are also a National Historical District. The buildings are colourful and well preserved. An awesome sight!

Zwicker Wharf's dinghy dock

Ironworks Distillery

We needed to fill our tanks with water, and were fortunate to find a spot at Zwicker Wharf in downtown Lunenburg. Afterwards we did groceries, and left the dock for the anchorage by the mooring field across the harbour channel. We dinghied back to Zwicker Wharf’s dinghy dock and explored Lunenburg by foot.  The next day we walked more, and saw more. And we ate seafood, and visitied National Heritage Buildings and took in the sights.