Whales and Pirates
We saw several more whales coming back down the Bay of Fundy, some just broke the surface in the distance and some breached noisily, coming down with a huge splash of water. There are several species here – finbacks, minkes, humpbacks and the endangered right whale.
We had two last stops in Canada, in the neighbouring islands of Grand Manan and Campobello. Both rely heavily on the fishing industry, the harbour in Grand Manan had been neatly dynamited out to provide deep water for the large fishing fleet.
The water around the islands is a good feeding area for whales and several boats offer whale-watching trips. As we left Grand Manan Island, we passed close by a couple of whales, lifting their tails out as they dived, this makes them easier to identify and we think they were humpbacks.
Five minutes later, thick fog came pouring round the tip of the island and we were soon engulfed in fog, visibility reduced to 200 feet, but bizarrely, the wind sprang up at the same time so we were able to sail through the whiteness. The fog had completely disappeared by the time we arrived at Campobello Island, 10 miles away.
We moored on the busy fishing pier and were greeted by a group of obviously disappointed tourists who announced that “there’s nothing here, no grocery store, no tourist shops, no café.” Nevertheless, Dave got talking to a semi-retired fisherman and within five minutes, he had whisked us off for a private tour of the island in his car, gift shops and all!
By the time he brought us back, the tide had dropped by ten feet and we motored round the island and back into US waters. We once again visited Eastport, the easternmost town in the States. We had originally planned to stop just long enough to check back in with Customs but ‘Ros Ailither’ was due for a repaint and a combination of good weather and the hospitality of Bob at The Chowder House made us decide to stay and make use of his facilities.
Two days later, the boat was freshly painted blue but then it was time for Eastport’s first annual Pirates Weekend, which sounded too tempting to miss. We were talked into joining a pirate’s race along with the two sailing charter boats from Eastport, and one from across the border in Canada – a truly international race!
Bob supplied pirate flags to string from the crosstrees and John from the store decked us out with pirate costumes. We picked up a motley crew, armed ourselves with old bread rolls and prepared for battle. In true pirate style, we fired the engine to assist the sails and bore down on the other vessels. We managed to catch the two local boats and bombard them with soggy bread, but the Canadian boat got away from us so we fired the rest of our missiles on the unsuspecting audience on the quay. Suffice to say a great time was had by all!
We had two last stops in Canada, in the neighbouring islands of Grand Manan and Campobello. Both rely heavily on the fishing industry, the harbour in Grand Manan had been neatly dynamited out to provide deep water for the large fishing fleet.
The water around the islands is a good feeding area for whales and several boats offer whale-watching trips. As we left Grand Manan Island, we passed close by a couple of whales, lifting their tails out as they dived, this makes them easier to identify and we think they were humpbacks.
Five minutes later, thick fog came pouring round the tip of the island and we were soon engulfed in fog, visibility reduced to 200 feet, but bizarrely, the wind sprang up at the same time so we were able to sail through the whiteness. The fog had completely disappeared by the time we arrived at Campobello Island, 10 miles away.
We moored on the busy fishing pier and were greeted by a group of obviously disappointed tourists who announced that “there’s nothing here, no grocery store, no tourist shops, no café.” Nevertheless, Dave got talking to a semi-retired fisherman and within five minutes, he had whisked us off for a private tour of the island in his car, gift shops and all!
By the time he brought us back, the tide had dropped by ten feet and we motored round the island and back into US waters. We once again visited Eastport, the easternmost town in the States. We had originally planned to stop just long enough to check back in with Customs but ‘Ros Ailither’ was due for a repaint and a combination of good weather and the hospitality of Bob at The Chowder House made us decide to stay and make use of his facilities.
Two days later, the boat was freshly painted blue but then it was time for Eastport’s first annual Pirates Weekend, which sounded too tempting to miss. We were talked into joining a pirate’s race along with the two sailing charter boats from Eastport, and one from across the border in Canada – a truly international race!
Bob supplied pirate flags to string from the crosstrees and John from the store decked us out with pirate costumes. We picked up a motley crew, armed ourselves with old bread rolls and prepared for battle. In true pirate style, we fired the engine to assist the sails and bore down on the other vessels. We managed to catch the two local boats and bombard them with soggy bread, but the Canadian boat got away from us so we fired the rest of our missiles on the unsuspecting audience on the quay. Suffice to say a great time was had by all!
posted by Katie at 8:48 PM
2 Comments:
Oh I love the clothes can just see You Both on Topsham Quay in them on Your return lol.
Love to You Both from Jill & Nikita xx
Hi Dave, Hazel. I just checked out Trawler Travels to see how you’re both doing. What a fantastic journey, think it’s great. I printed off some photos to show everyone how you’re getting on. That amazing beach was the best – everyone drooled over that one. If I can’t think of where to go for a holiday I’ll ask you two. Anyway just a quick hello, the blog is cool, keep it up. Later ;)
Jamie Paddock
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