......on to Ballantynes Cove..........

Thursday August 25^th we received a call from the harbourmaster at the Hector Quay Marina. He stated that he was calling all his patrons to inform them that they may be pulling all of their floating docks in light of the local warnings coming from Environment Canada about the onslaught of Hurricane Irene coming up the eastern seaboard and heading for Nova Scotia.  He was calling early so that people could make decisions and arrangements to pull their boats from the harbour.   We looked at our upcoming sail plans and decided to contact Ballantynes Cove to see if they may have a place for us.  

Our sail plan from Pictou had not included Ballantyne’s Cove as a port of call. We had intended to sail to the Strait of Canso, through the lock there and into the Atlantic Ocean , hug the coast to Tor Bay where we would enter into Charlos Cove, where our friends Doris and Wayne live. It was a long run but we knew we were up for it. The government dock in Charlos Cove is a stone’s throw from their house and we had planned to leave Bridlewilde there next to their boat, the Lady Dor, under their care, until we were able to return for her for the 4 day trip from there to the south shore.  And as we all know, plans made can be broken and it seemed that Hurricane Irene was putting her hand to that.

Ballantyne’s Cove staff were very cordial, invited us to their harbour and had ample dockage room in a very protected area for us.  It was located in St. George’s Bay, on the north western side of the bay,  a 45 nm run, about an 8 hour sail from Pictou and on the route to the Strait of Canso.  The cost was $20/day compared to the haul out cost at Pictou and the $50/day at the Hector Quay.  Another no brainer decision on what to do!  We considered it for a minute and accepted the berth at Ballantyne’s Cove.  All we had to do was get Bridlewilde there before the storm.

Bruce and Belinda wanted the road trip to Pictou and to pick us up the following day in Ballantynes  Cove.  They had never been there but had connections there and were killing 2 birds with one stone and they had the time. So when Keith had the following weekend off we prepared to take the next step with our boat. We sailed out of the Pictou Road on Saturday August 27^th  at 10:30 am on Day 43 toward Ballantynes Cove.

                                                        

It was such a beautiful day. We had not taken Dawson intentionally because we were concerned about hurricane weather affecting us but the day was calm and  the waters of the Northumberland Strait were equally as calm.  We were able to sail the first 5nm and hoped for better wind along the way but the only wisp we received was upon our departure.  We doused the sails , we could not even motor sail,  what little wind there was coming to us directly on our nose. So we motored the remaining 40 nm.  We had so wished Dawson was with us. He would have loved the motoring and we saw numerous minke and finback whales, seals and black porpoise throughout the entire route.  The terrain here is varied and the land elevation much higher.   We were exiting the Northumberland Strait and the waters were becoming much deeper. (Thus the good feeding grounds for the marine mammals we were seeing)  The conditions were good – we averaged 6 knots all day and arrived in Ballantynes Cove well before supper time.

Ballantynes Cove is a lovely small jewel of a harbour. The cove is surrounded by the large red cliffs similar to those one would see in pictures of the coastline of PEI with green hills above them.   There is a small but easily accessible channel into the harbour and the basin inside is deep. The harbourmaster explained that there was very little tidal range and the floating docks were relatively new.   We could access the electric power from the poles on the shore but our cord was not long enough to reach our boat as we had been given a secluded berth in case of the storm.  So it was a great hurricane hole location for us.  There were few sailboats visiting so we had space but there were quite a few visiting mackerel fishing boats tied up at the fisherman’s wharf. We were told that if there were many pleasure boaters at the floating docks, excess pleasure boats were welcome to tie at the fisherman’s wharf also  There re is a large Bluefin Tuna sport fishery out of this port.   Shortly after we arrived,  3 large tuna sport fishing vessels came in for the night. They unloaded their passengers and gear and loaded up for the following day’s trip.  The boats have a huge tuna chair mounted to their sterns where the pleasure fisherman is seated and strapped into once he has a fish on the line.  Apparently, it may take 3 to 4 gruelling hours or longer depending on the size of the fish to land the catch. The harbour is very active and the people of the community are pleasant and accommodating.  There is a local chip truck (that also sells ice cream) situated to the back of the wharf that sells fish and chips and great chowder.    get ice cream or take out treats from the chip truck or just sit and relax. The wharf is supported by the government of Canada, fuel is sold here, one can get a pump out, there are clean washrooms and showers and the view from the hill above it is spectacular.  There is also a little shop with a few fishing supplies available for those that fish.  This little harbour could easily become one of our favorites with no trouble at all.

We wandered about for quite some time before we had a lovely BBQ steak supper that Keith prepared on our little hanging BBQ that he has mounted on the pushpit on the stern of the boat.  I had found the bottle of rum that had been buried in the hanging locker – we thought Ben and Kyle may have found it when they were living aboard way back in Waupoos but  it was me who had lost it – anyway we sure enjoyed finding it!

On Sunday we prepared the boat for a hurricane should it arrive.  Other boaters in the area were keeping us updated with the most recent weather watch news and it had been severely downgraded for Ballantynes Cove and taken off all the lists for heavy weather.  So again, we noted to each other, that things that happen are meant to be.  We were obviously meant to be there with our little boat.  Bruce and Belinda arrived to take us home again and helped us finalize the work and haulage to the car.   We have wonderful family and friends who love us.  We are so fortunate to be able to spend time them and we so thankful for their company.  We were back at home in the valley before dark deep in thought  about how soon we would be re-boarding Bridlewilde to bring our little boat into the Atlantic and down the eastern shore to home.